1
00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:05,960
Hey everyone and welcome back to
the Understandable English 

2
00:00:05,960 --> 00:00:11,440
Podcast. 
In today's episode, we are going

3
00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:17,240
to be talking about famous 
British inventions. 

4
00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:25,120
You might be wondering what is 
an invention or discovery? 

5
00:00:26,080 --> 00:00:31,440
An invention is something that 
someone comes up with. 

6
00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:40,600
So someone thinks and they have 
a new idea and they go, whoa, I 

7
00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:46,200
have discovered or I have come 
up with an idea to make 

8
00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:53,200
something or fix a problem. 
That person then creates or 

9
00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:56,440
invents what they are thinking 
about. 

10
00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:04,360
So it means to create or design 
something that has not existed 

11
00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:11,840
before, so to invent. 
And an invention is the noun 

12
00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:15,040
version. 
So it is something that you have

13
00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:21,000
created or designed that did not
exist before. 

14
00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:27,880
So the UK, the United Kingdom 
was famous for many, many 

15
00:01:27,880 --> 00:01:32,840
inventions. 
And this goes way back into 

16
00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:38,880
history because the UK was a 
really strong centre for 

17
00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:46,480
science, for education and 
discovery as well as inventions.

18
00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:54,520
So one of the greatest British 
discoveries was the theory of 

19
00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:58,960
gravity. 
This was by a brilliant man 

20
00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:04,680
called Sir Isaac Newton in the 
17th century. 

21
00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:11,360
He discovered or revealed the 
laws of motion and the concept 

22
00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:15,440
of gravity. 
That might sound a little bit 

23
00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:22,640
complicated, but Simply put, 
these laws explain how things 

24
00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:27,720
move and why things fall to the 
ground. 

25
00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:34,560
So thanks to Isaac Newton, now 
we understand why apples fall 

26
00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:39,240
from trees. 
Another one of Sir Isaac 

27
00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:45,360
Newton's inventions or 
discoveries was the reflecting 

28
00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:50,720
telescope. 
So telescopes changed the field 

29
00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:57,680
or area of astronomy. 
So studying the sky, stars, 

30
00:02:57,680 --> 00:03:06,240
Suns, space, the telescope which
was created by Sir Isaac Newton 

31
00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:11,920
completely changed this space 
and this area of science. 

32
00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:19,160
Another really important 
invention was the steam engine 

33
00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:28,920
and this was invented by Thomas 
Savory in 1698 and it was 

34
00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:34,280
something called an atmospheric 
pressure steam engine. 

35
00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:40,200
And these were extremely 
important because over the next 

36
00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:47,920
100 years many other inventors 
changed the design and 

37
00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:54,440
eventually made a steam engine 
that was small enough to use for

38
00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:58,640
trains. 
For example, Another crazy 

39
00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:04,440
invention from the UK was 
something that you might not 

40
00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:11,040
expect came from Britain and 
that is the chocolate bar. 

41
00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:16,440
So the idea of the modern 
chocolate bar, and this was 

42
00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:24,160
invented in 1847. 
Without a doubt, the absence of 

43
00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:28,880
chocolate bars would be a real 
tragedy for the modern world. 

44
00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:36,880
However, it was invented and 
created thanks to the work of JS

45
00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:44,720
Fry and Sons in 1847. 
So they came up with the formula

46
00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:53,120
or the recipe for mixing coca 
powder, sugar and coca to form 

47
00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:59,360
true chocolate bars, which as we
now know have changed the world 

48
00:04:59,400 --> 00:05:04,160
forever. 
Another great invention which 

49
00:05:04,280 --> 00:05:10,200
actually links back to the 
engine, the steam engine was the

50
00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:18,320
first ever public railway and 
that was created in 1825. 

51
00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:25,240
This railway so for trains, ran 
between a place called Stockton 

52
00:05:25,800 --> 00:05:32,080
and Darlington in England, and 
as we now know, this would be 

53
00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:38,200
the first of many around the 
world, quite similar to this, 

54
00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:43,000
the very first underground train
system. 

55
00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:49,920
So the metro or underground as 
some people call it was also in 

56
00:05:50,280 --> 00:05:58,720
the UK and as well as that there
are just so, so many modern day 

57
00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:06,080
household appliances, so 
electronics or devices that we 

58
00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:09,920
use which were invented in the 
UK. 

59
00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:16,280
This is everything from the 
modern radio that people use to 

60
00:06:16,280 --> 00:06:22,160
the very first automatic kettle 
so for boiling water with 

61
00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:30,640
electricity and to even the 
Hoover so the vacuum cleaner or 

62
00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:33,920
the lawn mower so for cutting 
grass. 

63
00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:40,920
There are so many of these, and 
if I listed each tiny invention,

64
00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:48,040
I would be here all day. 
But one very important invention

65
00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:55,200
was the telephone, and this was 
invented by Alexander Graham 

66
00:06:55,280 --> 00:07:02,240
Bell, and this transformed 
communication around the world. 

67
00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:09,840
So Alexander Graham Bell was a 
Scottish inventor and he created

68
00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:15,520
the first practical telephone in
the late 19th century. 

69
00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:21,160
This device allowed people to 
speak to each other over long 

70
00:07:21,160 --> 00:07:26,800
distances and it changed the way
we connect forever. 

71
00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:35,760
So going to a bit more of an 
advanced invention and that is 

72
00:07:35,840 --> 00:07:42,560
the World Wide Web, which 
eventually led to the creation 

73
00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:48,440
of the Internet which you're 
using to listen to this podcast 

74
00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:56,600
and the World Wide Web. 
WWW was invented by Sir Tim 

75
00:07:56,600 --> 00:08:03,800
Berners Lee and this invention 
was born in the late 20th 

76
00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:09,240
century and it transforms the 
way that we share information 

77
00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:14,480
and communicate globally, so 
it's even more advanced and 

78
00:08:14,480 --> 00:08:18,480
better than that original 
telephone idea. 

79
00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:27,680
And finally, I would say one of 
the most important discoveries 

80
00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:34,039
from the UK was the science of 
immunology. 

81
00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:41,200
So that is the field of science 
relating to vaccines, so giving 

82
00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:46,720
people a vaccine to help prevent
certain diseases. 

83
00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:52,920
So this was Edward Jenner, who 
was an English physician, so a 

84
00:08:52,920 --> 00:09:00,800
doctor and scientist. 
And in 1796 he pioneered or 

85
00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:05,040
started this idea of 
vaccination. 

86
00:09:05,680 --> 00:09:11,640
And this helped stop the 
thousands and thousands of 

87
00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:18,560
deaths every year in the UK from
smallpox and eventually probably

88
00:09:18,560 --> 00:09:26,160
saved countless or millions and 
millions of lives by creating a 

89
00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:32,880
vaccine or a way to treat people
against this disease. 

90
00:09:33,680 --> 00:09:40,440
And this discovery was so 
important that Edward Jenner was

91
00:09:40,440 --> 00:09:47,640
declared or named as one of the 
100 greatest British people of 

92
00:09:47,680 --> 00:09:52,720
all time. 
So a really, really important 

93
00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:57,880
discovery and something which 
has changed the field of 

94
00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:02,560
science. 
And of course there are a lot of

95
00:10:02,560 --> 00:10:09,000
other not so nice inventions 
which are equally as 

96
00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:15,200
interesting, so inventions that 
were used for war, for fighting 

97
00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:19,280
and these are certain types of 
guns. 

98
00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:24,240
There was even the tank, so the 
modern day tank which was 

99
00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:34,040
created in 1914, so during World
War One as well as some certain 

100
00:10:34,040 --> 00:10:37,560
types of bombs and other not so 
nice things. 

101
00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:44,800
But I think in general, a lot of
these inventions that we've 

102
00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:49,840
talked about today are very 
positive and have changed the 

103
00:10:49,840 --> 00:10:55,320
world for the better. 
And even in the cases where they

104
00:10:55,320 --> 00:10:59,480
haven't changed the world for 
the better, they have definitely

105
00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:03,680
been impactful. 
So they have changed the world. 

106
00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:09,000
And what do you think is the 
best of these inventions? 

107
00:11:09,400 --> 00:11:14,280
Of course, there are a lot more 
that I haven't discussed. 

108
00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:19,640
I've just picked a few that I 
think are interesting, but I 

109
00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:25,360
would like to hear what are some
inventions from your country, so

110
00:11:25,360 --> 00:11:31,000
from your home country. 
And as well, don't forget to 

111
00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:36,360
check out the YouTube channel. 
So the Podcast YouTube channel 

112
00:11:36,640 --> 00:11:43,360
where I post podcast episodes 
with English subtitles so that 

113
00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:48,000
you can follow along and read 
while you listen. 

114
00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:55,200
And this channel is called 
Understandable English Pod or 

115
00:11:55,320 --> 00:11:59,160
Understandable English Podcast 
and you will find it. 

116
00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:04,280
Thank you for listening and have
a fantastic day. 

117
00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:05,520
Goodbye.