These adventures should teach us a bit of
RIC MONKMAN and Bobby Seagull are back on the road for yet another ‘genius’ adventure.
Following their previous success with BBC2’s Monkman & Seagull’s Genius Guide To Britain, the duo – University Challenge stars and real-life best friends – return with a three-part series that will see them travel the length and breadth of Britain on a journey through time.
The premise? Exploring their favourite scientific breakthroughs from the Industrial Revolution and the Victorian era, a period when scientific progress changed the world, and one that continues to influence the way we live today.
Expect stop-offs in 1759
Greenwich, home to John Harrison’s marine chronometer; 1824 Stoke on Trent, where they investigate a building material they believe is one of the unsung heroes of the Industrial Revolution – cement; and a remote Cornish beach in 1870 for the story of Britain’s first successful undersea telegraph line, to name a few.
So what else can Canadian academic Eric and London-born mathematician Bobby tell us?
Society always thinks that they are in a unique and special era and at the forefront of technology.
But things keep changing. When we look back at 1750-1900 we think of how far we have moved on.
In 100 years, they’ll look back at our time and think how far they have moved on from us. So I think watching the show should give us a bit of humility with regards to thinking that we’re at the leading edge of development!
He shows that despite humble beginnings, you can make a difference.
I was most inspired by Charles Darwin. He was able to use the financial and social resources available to him to develop one of the most revolutionary ideas in human history.
He did so in spite of mental and physical illnesses and the tragic loss of three of his children.
Tough question. Wouldn’t we all like to be Steve Jobs and the Apple team? How cool are they?! Science and tech is sexy!
I have been very impressed by online collaborative encyclopedias. I find it amazing that people from all over the world have worked together to produce a compendium of knowledge that is constantly updated and easily available.
Of course, I would rather be the brains behind something new than wish I had accomplished the work of others.
We got to know each other before University Challenge filming in Cambridge. I was in charge of organising practice quiz matches between different Cambridge colleges, like mini rehearsals of UC, with buzzers, questions and pretend Paxmans.
What I liked about Eric is that while he wanted to win, he always took pride in seeing me succeed as well. So our friendship is one of collaboration and enjoying seeing each other succeed!
I would not say we are particularly competitive with each other off-screen. We want each other to do well.
This was the case during University Challenge too. We wanted each other to win every match except the one in which Wolfson (Monkman’s team) faced Emmanuel (Bobby’s team).
I remember watching the new BBC series Civilisations with the wonderful trio of Simon Schama, Mary Beard and David Olusoga.
They are world class trained experts in their fields, as are the presenters of many BBC history shows. Eric and I have different specialisms.
I am a school maths teacher. We are not trained formally in advanced history but we are enthusiasts who are very curious about the world.
It is this enthusiasm that means that we can learn on our journey together with our audience.