I was born on 4 July 1943 and I am best known for presenting programmes on Science and History, especially the TV series Local Heroes and What the Romans Did for Us. I currently work as a freelance photographer, writer and broadcaster.

Before presenting, I spent five years in publishing and 17 years at Yorkshire Television, as researcher and then producer of such series as Scientific Eye and Arthur C Clarke’s World of Strange Powers.

In 2014 was delighted to be awarded a medal by the ASME’s (American Society of Mechanical Engineers). The prestigious Ralph Coats Roe Medal  recognizes outstanding contributions toward a better public understanding and appreciation of the engineer’s worth to contemporary society. At the award ceremony I gave a talk about great British Engineers.

I am a member of societies as diverse as:

the British Toilet Association, the Bureau of Freelance Photographers, the Newcomen Society, and The Society of Dyers and Colourists; and a Patron of many more, from the Brede Steam Engine Society and the Ellenroad Steam Mill Engine to the Association of Lighthouse Keepers and the Bognor Birdman. See my Organizations page for the full list.

I have collected fourteen honorary doctorates, a Medal from the Royal Academy of Engineering for the Public Promotion of Engineering, the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation Medal from the Institution of Incorporated Engineers, and the 1999 Gerald Frewer memorial trophy of the Council of Engineering Designers.

I like to go every summer, if I can, to a woodwork course in Clissett Wood, west of the Malvern Hills in Herefordshire (see www.greenwoodwork.co.uk).  I have so far made two chairs and a bench, two tables, a roof for my straw-bale urinal, a folding tray for carrying tea to the bedroom and the garden, a bird table, and a hat stand, plus many bowls and spoons.

I am a keen supporter of several charities, including Wateraid  Practical Action and The Joliba Trust.

I am married to the psychologist Dr Susan Blackmore 

For more information about the Hart-Davis family see www.hd.org