The programme follows the changes in Man as he marches out of Africa, through desert and ice age, to leave the print of his hand in a dark Spanish cave.

As the ice retreats and the land flowers, Man the hunter turns to agriculture, domesticating plant and animal, imposing his will on the wild wheat and the horse.

The wandering nomads cease their migrations and settle in townships, learning new skills.

The programme follows the beginnings of chemistry: from the techniques of ancient metallurgy in China and Japan to the mystical searchings of the alchemists.

Mathematics is a way of describing the world that we see, hear and touch.

From the earliest times, Man has looked outwards from the earth and wondered at the movements of sun, stars and planets. The programme hinges on the crisis of the scientific conscience in the person of the astronomer Galileo and in the rich cities of Venice and Rome, the scenes both of his triumph and his punishment.

The universe of Newton, clear, English, stately, like the music and the great buildings of his century ticking away with a fine clockwork mechanism, wisely regulated by laws. Then the quizzical world of Einstein whose direct truth and questions could turn the dignified universe upside-down in the interests of a clearer understanding. We ride with Einstein on his beam of light to end our journey in our own century.