GPS

Hidden Histories of the Information Age

Soldiers traditionally learned to find their way around with a compass and a map. Aleks Krotoski explores how 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 Krotoski 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 the Science Museum, historian Professor Jeremy Black of Exeter University and a British soldier whose life was saved by it in the first Gulf War.