Dr Erica McAlister of London's Natural History Museum takes a look at some of the entomological pioneers, whose groundbreaking observations and experiments have led to some truly innovative developments.

She unravels the mystery behind the nervous system of the cockroach. It appears to be anatomically hard-wired, yet has an extraordinary flexibility that enables it to adopt new behaviour in matter of minutes or hours, It would lead to proof of the controversial idea that nerves and hormones form an intimate and influential relationship with each other, and the birth of the field of neuroendocrinology

With contributions from Historian and zoologist Prof, Matthew Cobb (University of Manchester), Prof. Stephen Simpson (Director Charles Perkin Centre Sydney), neurobiologist George Stefano.

Producer Adrian Washbourne Show less