-If you had to describe the three most important scientific discoveries of ancient time, what would they be?
-That the world is round. That has been known at least since Aristotle’s time. Metalwork was another very important discovery. Neolithic communities were the first to make knives from copper. Paper was a very important discovery.
-What do you think the most important scientific discoveries since 1850 have been?
-That’s much harder. How about the car? And don’t forget the aeroplane - the first aeroplane was invented at the turn of the 20th century. There were also great medical discoveries around that time, such as penicillin.
-It’s amazing what people predicted. Which of our inventions were predicted by either writers or philosophers?
-A few people envisaged something similar to a plane. One writer described it as an iron bird with wheels. But it’s very difficult to predict, and some writers have even believed