Daily Mail - Daily Mail Weekend Magazine
ISN’T LIFE WON DERFUL?
He’s already made two brilliant series on the wonders of the universe and the solar system, now Brian Cox explores the mystery of life itself...
Professor Brian Cox is out of his comfort zone – in more ways than one. He’s floating in a metal cage beneath the choppy ocean waves off the coast of the Neptune Islands, a four-hour boat ride from Adelaide, Australia. His cage is being buffeted by a very hungry great white shark and Brian isn’t feeling very safe.
‘ My last dive had been in Brighton Marina, so this was quite a change,’ says Brian when he’s back on dry land. ‘Just before I dived, the skipper of the boat we were sailing on said the shark’s 3ft-wide mouths could swallow humans whole, which was a little disconcerting. But I soon put aside the danger. Going face to face with a great white was one of the most unbelievable experiences.’
It was also a very useful one, as Brian uses the great white to demonstrate the way creatures have evolved in order to survive on Earth as part of his epic new five-part series for BBC2, Wonders Of Life. The follow-up to the hugely successful Wonders Of The Universe and Wonders Of The Solar System sees Brian travelling the globe explaining the importance of science in shaping our world.
The first episode, called What Is Life?, traces the origins of man on Earth, with Brian using the chemical make-up of the volcanic Lake Taal in The Philippines to show how simple organisms would have first developed on our planet. The series then goes on to explore the senses, showing how animals such as the flat-headed catfish developed their sense of taste in order to catch prey in dark waters, and reveal how DNA mutations expanded the number of species on Earth. There’s a programme explaining how mighty beasts such as the great white shark were ‘sculpted by evolution’ so they could move efficiently through the water, and the final one asks why Earth is the only known inhabited planet in the universe and so rich in life.
The series is, by his own admission, a step away from the norm for the particle physicist. ‘I did feel out of my comfort zone, but only a little,’ says Brian. ‘Getting close to animals – often very close – allowed me to explain evolution using specific examples,’ he says. ‘And the series is my take – a physicist’s take – on life and natural history.’
Brian’s take on science has proved hugely popular so far – he’s credited with a resurgence in physics in schools and universities. He says, ‘It’s always been my view that science should be part of popular culture, so if I can inspire people to
take more of an interest in it, through education or through television, then great.’
And the success will surely continue with Wonders Of Life, although there’s no gain without pain. ‘I survived the encounter with the shark, but an eightweek-old lion cub scratched me, the flatheaded catfish bit me, a leopard in the Kruger National Park in South Africa got worryingly close to our Land Rover and I definitely felt tingles in my fingers after swimming with golden jellyfish in Jellyfish Lake, Palau, in the western Pacific. So I certainly suffered for my science!
‘I just hope the series successfully conveys how a few fundamental laws of science gave birth to the most complex and unique feature of the universe – life itself. It’s a remarkable and truly extraordinary story that’s well worth telling.’
Tim Oglethorpe Wonders Of Life, tomorrow, 9pm, BBC2.