About the Book:

Britain has long been recognized for its pivotal role in the development of documentary cinema, yet its fine tradition of scientific and medical documentaries remains unknown.

Films of Fact is the first in-depth history of the subject. It describes how science films for the public began with amateur naturalists and inventors, and that science, technology and medicine were highly significant subjects in the heyday of British documentary between 1930 and 1950. This study demonstrates how science became a treasured part of broadcasting amidst the birth of postwar non-fiction television; central to the narrative is Paul Rotha, a pioneering advocate of science documentaries from the mid-1930s onwards and a significant figure in the evolution of documentary at the BBC in the 1950s.

Written by Timothy Boon, a historian of science specializing in the public culture of science, this volume is a landmark text on a crucial yet rarely explored aspect of British public culture. Discussed are films such as Cheese Mites (1903), The Coming of the Dial (1933) and World of Plenty (1943), and television programs including Eye on Research (1957-1961) and Horizon (1964 onwards).

What people say:

"This succinct, well-crafted overview of the history of the science documentary in Britain... adds another perspective to the genre of documentary film... Highly recommended." — Choice

"A welcome contribution to thinking through the issues of science in public in the twentieth century." — Metascience

"...the scope of its analysis makes it essential reading for historians of science and technology who wish to utilize film, and, by the same token, for media studies scholars who seek engagement with the scientific and the technological." — Medical History

About the Author:

Timothy Boon is Chief Curator of the Science Museum, London, where he has worked in various roles since 1982. He is a historian and curator of science, technology, medicine and films, and has published extensively on these subjects, including Films of Fact: a History of Science in Documentary Films and Television.