Sense and Perception

Invent: To produce or contrive (something previously unknown) by the use of ingenuity or imagination. The world would be a much poorer place without our great British inventions - from cat's eyes to crossword puzzles, tarmac to telephones, steam engines to shorthand, pneumatic tyres to penicillin, British inventions have led the world. We Brits are a creative lot. Entrepreneurial Hubert Cecil Booth invented the 'Puffing Billy', the first powered vacuum cleaner, while John Walker was the bright spark who discovered matches in 1827. He coated the end of a piece of stick with chemicals which, when rubbed against a rough surface, burst into flames. And where would we be without flush loos? Invented by Sir John Harrington, not Thomas Crapper as many maintain, although Crapper was a nineteenth-century plumber who patented a few bathroom fittings ...These are called eureka moments, when chance and inspiration combine to create something wonderful. So, without further ado, let us take a closer look at those brilliant, sometimes slightly bonkers British men - yes ladies, sadly for us, they are (almost) all male - who have done so much to improve not only our daily lives, but who have also changed the world around us ...