Matthew Bannister on:

Geoff Crowther, the global traveller, writer and map maker whose work helped to build the success of the Lonely Planet guide books.

Isamu Akasaki, the Nobel prize winning physicist whose discoveries paved the way for LED lighting.

June Newton, who was a successful portrait photographer using the name Alice Springs to avoid comparisons with her husband and fellow photographer Helmut Newton.

Les McKeown, the front man of the Scottish boy band The Bay City Rollers. At their height the band provoked the same hysteria from fans as the Beatles had done a decade earlier.

Producer: Neil George

Interviewed guest: Ashley Crowther Interviewed guest: Tony Wheeler Interviewed guest: Hiroshi Amano Interviewed guest: Professor Russell Dupuis Interviewed guest: Dana Thomas Interviewed guest: Billy Sloan Interviewed guest: Nina Myskow

Archive clips used: Newsnight: BBC One, TX 5.8.1999