This is an interesting book which focuses on certain aspects of British science and technology. In six chapters it tells David and Golliaf stories of small under funded British developments. Beginning with the UK's own rocket launchers 'Blue Steak', 'Black Knight', etc and ending with the ill fated 'Beagle 2' Mars Lander, it shows how British innovation has adapted to modern commercial pressures. Colin Pillinger, the man responsible for 'Beagle 2' may have played the press for all he could, but he did get the probe to Mars. This is not a book in favour of 'Ivory Tower' science for its own sake, but it does present six interesting technical stories. The choice of subject is good; as well as space exportation, there are chapters on the final commercial success on the Concorde, the development of the cellular phone network, the Elite computer game and the Human Genome Project. Apart from a few errors, particularly in the first chapter, the technical material is well presented. All-in-all an interesting read.
Faber and Faber, 252 pages