Anthony Smith

Who is Anthony Smith?

Anthony Smith is, among other things, a writer, author and former Tomorrow's World television presenter. He is perhaps best known for his bestselling work The Body, which has sold over 800,000 copies worldwide and tied in with a BBC television series, The Human Body, known in America by the name Intimate Universe: The Human Body. The series aired in 1998 and was presented by Professor Robert Winston.

Smith read zoology at Balliol College, Oxford, became a pilot in the RAF and went on to write as a science correspondent for the Daily Telegraph. He also worked extensively in both television and radio, writing for several natural history programmes.

Smith's first expedition was to Persia, exploring the Qanat underground irrigation tunnels. This expedition was documented in his book Blind White Fish in Persia; a species of fish that he discovered is named after him.

In 1962, he led "The Sunday Telegraph Balloon Safari" expedition, also with Alan Root and others, flying a helium balloon from Zanzibar to East Africa, and then across the Ngorongoro crater. The following year he became the first Briton to cross the Alps in a balloon. Smith now resides in London, UK, but has continued both travelling and writing well into his later years. In 2000 he wrote The Weather: The truth about the health of our planet and in 2003 wrote The Lost Lady of the Amazon: The Story of Isabela Godin and Her Epic Journey, detailing the experiences of Jean Godin des Odonais.