5. GPS

Aleks Krotoski explores technological innovations and cultural events from the age of communication.

Soldiers traditionally learned to find their way around with a compass and a map.

Aleks explores how the Global Positioning System (GPS) transformed navigation during the first Gulf War in 1991.

An early brick sized GPS device is on display in the 'Information Age' gallery at the Science Museum in London. This gallery tells the story of the evolution in how we communicate with with each other. The objects in the exhibition represent cultural moments from the last 200 years - not just technological innovations.

Aleks tells the story of the development of GPS, from its first use by the US military to now being a part of every modern mobile phone.

With:

* Dr Tilly Blyth and Dan Green of London's Science Museum
* Historian Professor Jeremy Black of Exeter University

And Aleks meets a British soldier whose life was saved by it in the first Gulf War.

Producer: Deborah Cohen

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2014.