BBC Sky at Night presenter Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock reflects on Isaac Newton’s legacy during visit to Woolsthorpe Manor near Grantham

Young minds enjoyed hands-on science experiments with a special guest at a historic manor.

Woolsthorpe Manor, near Grantham and birthplace of Sir Isaac Newton, hosted Dame Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock for a unique family event as part of the ‘Summer of Discovery’ campaign.

In an interview conducted during the event in August, the presenter of BBC’s The Sky at Night and chancellor of the University of Leicester discussed the importance of making science accessible to everyone.

She described her visit to Woolsthorpe Manor as an exciting experience, bringing Isaac Newton's life and work into focus.

While she was already familiar with Newton’s accomplishments, learning about his childhood and visiting his bedroom where he conducted experiments, made him feel more relatable.

She highlighted how discovering that Newton wasn’t considered a bright student humanised him, showing that even great minds share common struggles.

She said initiatives such as the Summer of Discovery play a vital role in sparking curiosity. Her passion for space, combined with her work on projects like the James Webb Space Telescope, resonates with young audiences.

Dr Aderin-Pocock, who has presented Stargazing on CBeebies and Out of This World on CBBC with her daughter Lauren, also revealed her ultimate dream—to travel to space.

Here is the full interview with Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock:

How has your experience at Woolsthorpe been today?

This is my third time at Woolsthorpe and I've loved every visit. The first one was a blur of excitement, especially seeing Newton’s bedroom and contemplating that.

On my second visit, I was working with the National Trust on its Time + Space Award, involving some amazing young people with some fantastic ideas. And Friday was a fantastic family day. It started off with really bad weather, but the weather improved as the day went on, and I was speaking to people, taking questions, talking about the work that Newton did and how that has affected my life. We also launched rockets which is always good fun. My rocket failed miserably - very embarrassing! But being here, in this wonderful family environment, in this wonderful historic place has always been a joy. And I think everybody has enjoyed today and I think me and my daughter especially so.

How does it feel to step into the footsteps of Isaac Newton at National Trust property Woolsthorpe Manor?

Coming into Woolsthorpe Manor has been amazing, because, of course, I was aware of Newton and the amazing work he did, but hearing more about his childhood really brought him to life. Going into his bedroom and seeing the possible shutter where he did his light experiment, just being part of that, has been incredibly exciting.

But also, it makes him more human. I think sometimes, people we hear of from the past, especially amazing people who came up with these amazing discoveries and ideas, they do seem like these icons on a wall - they don’t really seem human. But to walk in his childhood home and to find out, for instance, that he wasn’t considered very bright in school, makes you realise he was human and we have things in common. Understanding what sort of life he led really helps bring him to life.

Why are activations like the National Trust’ Summer of Discovery so important?

I think things like the Summer of Discovery are critical in getting people excited about science.

The Summer of Discovery has been set up by the National Trust at Woolsthorpe Manor to celebrate the work of Isaac Newton and get kids into science, which is fantastic. The property celebrates science in all sorts of different ways. Although they have experiments that are always here in the Science Centre, they have added the Summer of Discovery experiments on top of that. This means kids can come up here and play with things like Newton's Cradle and Air Rockets, and that's the sort of thing that youngsters love.

Having things like Summer of Discovery is critical because many people are scared of science and don't quite understand what science does. Using Isaac Newton as a great hook - virtually everyone has heard of him and what he did. Finding the great stories behind him, finding out about what he did and how all the new innovations he came up with were made when he was quite young, shows that scientists aren't just old grey men in ivory towers, that science is done by everyday people that live in houses like this, and some of them lived a long time ago!

What would you say to those children who are struggling to engage in science?

One thing I would say about science is that it covers such a wide range of things. I would say that in science, there is something for everyone. Science is in places that people don't expect - like how people are playing games for instance, such as in your mobile phone, or electronics. What we need to do is sell science better - that’s what I like to do as a science communicator.

Unfortunately, so many people are still scared of science. But it’s trying to break down those barriers and show that science truly is for everyone, science is important in everyone’s life. That’s one of the reasons why I try to break down the barriers. Because we don’t want just one demographic engaged with science, we want a wide range of people in science. To kids out there, I’ll say there’s a part of science for you, we just need to find it!

What is your big science dream and have you achieved it?

Throughout my life, I have had many science-based dreams. I wanted to be a space scientist, and I got to do that, working on some amazing missions like the James Webb Space Telescope and working on ground-based telescopes.

However, my ultimate dream is to get into space, and I haven’t achieved that yet. In some ways, if I don’t get to achieve that, I’ll be very sad, but just having the crazy dream of getting into space has drilled me on and enabled me to do things that I would’ve never thought possible.

Sometimes I think that people are worried about having a big crazy dream, as they think, “what if I don't make it?,” but you can have a lot of fun on the way! I still haven’t given up. It’s more of a retirement plan - I still want to get into space! I think the probability is getting better though, because of what I like to call the ‘battle of the billionaires’. It will enable more of us to consider getting out into space. So, I think I'll still make it!

Do you think there is life out there in space?

Oooh it’s funny, this is one of my favourite questions to answer! It’s a question that is fundamental to us - are we alone in the universe? In the past, we have been very conceited about our place in the universe - we’ve learnt, as astronomy has evolved, that we are pretty insignificant. I think it’s that insignificance that indicates to me that we are definitely not alone. I don’t believe in alien abductions or little green men, as the universe is vast, but at the same time, I think it would be a very odd universe if life just occurred here.

Looking at our galaxy, 300 billion stars, we know that most of those stars have planets going around them, so why would life just occur here? If you scale this up into the whole universe - we think there are 200 billion galaxies - again, there must be life out there. But again, the challenge is finding each other. If there is life out there, because the distances are so vast, how are we going to find each other? Hopefully they’ve got better technology and better temperaments than us, and we will all meet up eventually.

Tell us about your upcoming projects?

I have got two new books coming out. One is called Web’s Universe and the other is called the Story of The Solar System. Each one is very close to my heart. I worked on the James Webb Space Telescope, so Webb's Universe is very exciting for me, because it’s showing some of the fantastic images from the Telescope. In this I also talk about how we came to be talking about science together, so science from across the world - showcasing collaboration is lovely.

The Story of the Solar System is a very graphic book, so it has lots of facts and figures, but shown in a really accessible way. Actually, as a dyslexic, words can sometimes be my enemy, and so I love that if we can visually show facts and figures about the wonderful universe we live in, or the wonderful solar system we live in, it’s a wonderful thing to do. The artists and everyone that put everything together for the book have done a great job, it just looks amazing.

Longer term, we, my daughter and I, have a crazy idea. There’s still quite a few people who don’t get a chance to look up at the night sky. We want to make a star park and invite people to a dark area and we’ll look up into the night sky together. I just came back from Necker Island, and while I was there, I was guiding star-gazing, and I had a laser torch pointing out the milky way and the constellations and it just went so well. So I can imagine doing that - people can just sit back and relax and look at the night sky, and then perhaps have a barbeque after to celebrate. That’s our crazy plan for the moment!

For more information on Woolsthorpe Manor visit https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/nottinghamshire-lincolnshire/woolsthorpe-manor