Exploring the solar system

Inspiring Scientists is a series of resources to help develop students’ understanding and awareness of science and the diversity of scientists. The video profiles were commissioned by the Royal Society and carried out as an oral history project by National Life Stories at the British Library.

The resources showcase the life stories of British scientists with minority ethnic heritage and cover issues such as being a minority in science, influences in their childhoods and the fun and importance of science both to themselves and to the wider community. The activities that accompany the profiles relate to the area of research that the scientist is involved in.

You may have seen Maggie Aderin-Pocock presenting BBC’s The Sky at Night, asking Jeremy Paxman to hold a torch while she described a lunar eclipse, or on the sofa of a breakfast television show or The One Show talking enthusiastically about science. You may not know that she has hung out of the back of military aircraft photographing the vapour trails of missiles to improve fighter aircraft ‘countermeasures’, that she has improved metal detectors used to find unexploded mines, or that she has led projects to make instruments placed on telescopes or satellites to inspect the Earth and the Universe. You may also not know that she was born in London to parents who emigrated from Nigeria in the 1950s, that she was inspired by Einstein, the Clangers and Star Trek, and that she has, at times, struggled with reading and writing due to dyslexia. This is Maggie’s story.