Anthony Smith (explorer)

Anthony Smith
Anthony Smith in 1995. Photo by Ali Akbar Abdolrashidi.
Born	(1926-03-30)30 March 1926 Taplow, England
Died	7 July 2014(2014-07-07) (aged 88) Oxford, England
Nationality	English
Alma mater	Balliol College, Oxford
Occupation	Explorer, author, balloonist
Known for	Sailing across the Atlantic Ocean on a raft
Notable work	The Body (originally published in 1968 and later renamed The Human Body)
Television	Tomorrow's World presenter

Anthony Smith (30 March 1926 – 7 July 2014) was, among other things, a writer, sailor, balloonist and former Tomorrow's World television presenter. He was perhaps best known for his bestselling work The Body (originally published in 1968 and later renamed The Human 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 1977 he returned to Iran with a film crew and two cave divers Martyn Farr and Richard Stevenson who explored the cave where had found the new species of fish.

In 1962, he led "The Sunday Telegraph Balloon Safari" expedition (with Douglas Botting), Alan Root and others, flying a hydrogen balloon from Zanzibar to East Africa, and then across the Ngorongoro crater (documented in Throw Out Two Hands). The following year he became the first Briton to cross the Alps in a balloon.