Every Christmas the Royal Institution of Great Britain presents a series of scientific lectures for young people. The series has been running since 1825 with topics ranging from astronomy to zoology.

This year the title of the series is “Hi-tech Trek”. The five episodes presented by Prof. Chris Bishop explore the science behind the digital revolution and the birth of the super computer. All episodes are being shown on Channel 5 at 19:15.

• Episode 1 (29/12/08) – Breaking the speed limit
• Episode 2 (30/12/08) – Chips with everything
• Episode 3 (31/12/08) – The ghost in the machine
• Episode 4 (01/01/09) – Untangling the web
• Episode 5 (02/01/09) – Digital intelligence

So far I’ve only seen the third episode (and learned to count in binary) but will be catching up with the rest on Demand Five where they’re available for 30 days after broadcast.