Episode 28 University Challenge

APPLAUSE

University Challenge. Asking the questions, Jeremy Paxman.

Hello. So far, we've seen University College, London, Manchester University

and St George's, London, win the first of the two quarter-final victories

our draconian rules demand if they're to secure a place in the semi-finals.

Tonight, Oxford plays Cambridge

with two sister colleges competing

for the first of their quarter-final victories.

Whichever team loses will then have just one more chance to stay in the contest.

A full copy of the quarter-final procedure is available on our website - in Sanskrit!

The team from New College, Oxford,

dominated Homerton College, Cambridge,

throughout their first-round match

and were 85 points ahead at the gong.

They then had a slow start against York University in Round Two

before drawing even around the half-way mark.

After which they had things pretty much their own way

and eventually won by a margin of 70 points.

With an average age of 20, let's meet the New College team again.

Hello. I'm Remy Beecroft.

I'm from Hertfordshire, studying Psychology and Philosophy.

Hi. I'm India Lenon.

I'm from London and I'm studying Classics.

-And their captain.

-Hi, I'm Andrew Hood, from Warwickshire, studying Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

I'm Tom Cappleman from Bracknell in Berkshire

and I'm studying Mathematics.

APPLAUSE

Also with an average age of 20,

the team from King's College, Cambridge,

took their time getting here, losing their first-round match

against the medics of St George's, London.

They survived by the clemency of the highest-scoring losers rule

and then they, too, beat Homerton College, Cambridge, in their play-offs.

Round Two saw them win against Warwick University

even though they scored their points only in the opening and closing minutes.

Let's see if they can manage to stay alert throughout the whole contest this time

as we meet them for the fourth time.

Hello. I'm Curtis Gallant.

I'm from north London, studying Classics.

Hi. I'm Amber Ace, from Crieff in Perthshire, and I'm also studying Classics.

-And their captain.

-Hi. I'm Fran Middleton from Chorleywood in Hertfordshire

and I'm doing a PhD in Classics.

Hi. I'm James Gratrex. I'm from Leeds and I'm reading Physics.

OK. You all know the rules better than I do, doubtless,

so fingers on buzzers. Here's the first starter for ten.

What surname is shared by the 13th-century philosopher and scientist

also known as Dr Mirabilis,

a philosopher and statesman knighted by James I

and a Dublin-born artist who painted the 1945...

-Bacon.

-Bacon is correct, yes.

Your bonuses are on rule books, King's College.

First published in 1844,

the book commonly referred to as Erskine May

is a reference work detailing the laws, privileges and procedures

of which body?

-Stars.

-No, Parliament.

Also known by the name of the peer who endorsed them,

"No shoes or boots with springs allowed",

and "no hugging",

are among the rules drawn up in 1867 for which sport?

-Boxing?

-Boxing.

Correct. Marquis of Queensberry's rules.

"Of obedience", "Of humility" and "Of excommunication for faults"

are chapters in the monastic rule of which saint

who gives his name to a major monastic order?

Benedict. Or Dominic as well.

I don't know. I don't know which one.

-Francis of Assisi?

-No, St Benedict.

Ten points for this.

From the Greek for "belonging to the whole world",

what adjective is used to...

-Cosmopolitan.

-No, you lose five points.

..is used to mean representing the whole of the Christian church

and is specifically applied to the General Councils of the early church

and of the present-day Roman Catholic church?

-Catholic.

-No, it's ecumenical. Ten points for this.

What polygon links the 18 segments of the James Webb space telescope mirror,

20 of the faces of the Buckminsterfullerene molecule,

most of the basalt columns in the Giant's Causeway...

-Hexagon.

-Hexagon is correct, yes.

Your first set of bonuses, New College, are on roses.

"Gather ye rosebuds while ye may

"Old time is still a-flying

"And this same flower that smiles today

"Tomorrow will be dying."

Who wrote those words in a poem in a poem of 1648,

part of the collection known as Hesperides?

-John Dunne.

-No, it was by Herrick.

"The rainbow comes and goes, and lovely is the rose."

Which romantic poet wrote those words?

-Byron.

-Wordsworth. Intimations of Immortality.

Finally, "Treaties, you see, are like girls and roses.

"They last while they last."

Who made this statement in a speech at the Elysee Palace in 1963?

-Charles de Gaulle.

-Correct. Ten points for this starter question.

The figure of which ancient Greek god

appears in the wedding procession of Theseus and Hippolyta

in The Two Noble Kingsmen, attributed to Shakespeare and Fletcher.

In As You Like It, he restores Rosalind to her father

and performs the nuptial ritual.

-Apollo?

-No. King's College, one of you buzz.

Hermes?

No, it's Hymen. Ten points for this.

The Australian philosopher D.C.Stove

used the name of which fictional character

to describe an effect whereby a philosophical theory

makes a sole exception of itself,

and thereby claims to escape from the fate to which it condemns all other discourse.

The idea comes from the words, "And I only am escaped to tell thee,"

in the character's epilogue to Moby Dick.

Ahab.

No. New College, one of you buzz.

-Billy Budd.

-Billy Budd?! No, it's Ishmael! Ten points for this.

What four-letter prefix links the name of the layer of the Earth's atmosphere

between the stratosphere and the thermosphere...

Meso.

Meso is correct. Yes.

These bonuses are on chemistry, New College.

The winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1903,

which Swedish scientist defined an acid as a substance

"that can yield hydrogen ions when it dissociates in a solution"?

-Niels Bohr?

-No, it's Arrhenius.

Secondly, based on independently postulated theories

by the Danish and English chemists after whom it is named,

which definition of an acid describes it as a substance

that can transfer a proton to another substance such as the solvent when it occurs in solution?

-We don't know.

-Bronsted-Lowry.

And finally, in 1923, which US chemist gave an even more general definition of an acid

as a substance with an affinity for electron pairs contributed by bases

which themselves contain unshared electron pairs?

-We don't know.

-Gilbert Lewis.

Right. Our first picture round.

For your picture starter, you'll see a map of the flight path of an air operation

of the Second World War.

Ten points if you can name the operation.

-Dambusters.

-Dambusters' Operation Chastise. Yes.

Your bonuses, New College, are maps of three more air operations of World War II,

all involving carrier-borne aircraft.

You'll see a mark on a map where the battle took place.

Five points if you can name the battle.

Firstly, this map depicts which sea battle?

-The Battle of Medway?

-No, I can't accept Medway. It's Midway.

Secondly, identify the sea port attacked here.

-Taranto?

-Correct.

Finally, this map shows the operation to sink which ship?

-The Bismarck.

-Correct.

Ten points for this.

"Nice to see you", "Tea, Ern", "Please yourselves", and "Ooh, no, missus",

are among over 1,000 catchphrases

displayed on a comedy carpet of concrete and granite

unveiled in October 2011 in which seaside town?

Brighton.

Anyone want to buzz from New College?

-Blackpool.

-Blackpool is correct, yes.

These bonuses, New College, are on 20th-century French theatre.

Firstly, for five points, the works of which French playwright

include Antigone in 1943 and Beckett in 1959,

the latter being adapted for the cinema with Richard Burton in the title role?

-Sartre.

-No, Jean Anouilh.

Secondly, for five points, one of the most prominent playwrights of the late 20th century

whose work includes Sallinger, Roberto Zucco and In the Solitude of the Cottonfields.

Bernard Henri Levy?

No, Bernard-Marie Koltes.

And finally, which 1955 play by Yasmina Reza concerns the argument between three friends

over a 200,000-franc white on white painting?

-We don't know.

-"Art".

Ten points for this.

Listen carefully. By counting the number of letters in each word,

the mnemonic "To disrupt a playroom is commonly a practice of children..."

-E.

-E is correct, yes.

Right. Your bonuses, this time, New College,

are on African countries and their coastlines,

according to the CIA World Factbook.

Five points for this.

Ahead of South Africa and Morocco,

which country has the longest coastline of any on the African continent,

more than 3,000 kilometres in length?

Um, Mauritania?

No, Somalia.

Of the countries of West Africa, two have coastlines of less than 100 kilometres.

One is Gambia. Which is the other?

-Let's go Benin.

-No, it's Togo.

Benin is a bit longer, apparently.

Finally, the shortest coastline of any country in Africa

is 37 kilometres long

on either side of the estuary of which major river

after which the country is named?

INAUDIBLE

Nominate Beecroft.

-The Republic of Congo.

-No, I asked for the river. It's The Congo. Ten points for this.

The name of which flower can be preceded by the words

pot, corn, French and marsh?

It's sometimes said to be named after the Virgin Mary

and the common or pot species has the binomial...

-Marigold.

-Correct, yes.

New College, these bonuses are on thought experiments.

In his 1641 work, Meditations on First Philosophy,

which French philosopher examined the nature of scepticism

by invoking a putative "deceiver"?

-Descartes.

-Correct.

In the 1981 work, Reason, Truth and History,

which US philosopher considers the possibility

that life is a delusive experience

produced by the electrical stimulation of a brain in a vat?

-Hilary Putnam.

-Correct.

Born in 1831, which Scottish physicist

created a hypothetical demon in his Theory of Heat,

to illustrate the possibility of violating the second law of thermodynamics?

-James Maxwell?

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

Ten points for this. Listen carefully.

If the names of all the English cities

that contain a Church of England cathedral

are listed in alphabetical order,

which comes last?

-York.

-York is correct, yes.

Your bonuses, New College, are on given names and their anagrams.

In each case, give both words from the explanation or definition.

Firstly, the given name of the author of Nights at the Circus

and the principal ore of lead.

-No, we don't know.

-It's Angela, as in Carter and galena.

Secondly, the regnal name of six popes,

including one Englishman, and the derived Si unit of plane angle.

Radian and Adrian.

-Radian and Adrian.

-Correct.

Finally, the king of Wessex

who excelled in both rule and scholarship

and a term meaning wider at one end than the other, as of nostrils or trousers.

-Alfred and flared.

-Correct.

We're going to take a music round.

For your music starter, you'll hear a piece of classical music.

All you have to do to get ten points is name the composer.

Oh. Um...Schubert.

It is Schubert, yes. Symphony Number Eight.

Which you, of course, know was performed 37 years after the composer's death.

For your music bonuses, you'll hear three more classical pieces

first performed posthumously.

Again, in each case, I want the name of the composer, please.

Firstly, this French composer.

JAUNTY ORCHESTRAL PIECE

Nominate Gratrex.

-Delibes.

-No, it's Bizet,

his Symphony in C.

Secondly, this Czech composer.

DRAMATIC ORCHESTRAL PIECE

-Dvorak?

-Dvorak is correct.

Symphony Number One. Finally, the Italian composer of this opera.

WOMAN SINGS LAMENT

-Puccini?

-It is, from Turandot. Yes. Ten points for this.

In which order of mammals are the structures known as baleen plates seen?

Composed...

Um, whales.

Correct. Yes. Cetacea.

These bonuses, King's College, are on gases.

In joules per Kelvin per mole,

what is the numerical value to the nearest integer

of the gas constant that appears in the ideal or perfect gas equation?

8.21, so eight.

To the nearest integer. OK. Eight.

Correct. What name is given to the ratio of the molar volume of a non-perfect gas

to the molar volume of a perfect gas at the same pressure and temperature?

-No idea. Two to one.

-Two to one.

-No, the compression factor.

Derived from the Latin for "force",

what name is given to the series of coefficients

that appear in the generalised formulation of the perfect gas equation for non-perfect gases?

-The Latin for force.

-Oh, Latin for force. Sorry.

I don't know.

-Vis?

-No, it's virial coefficients.

Ten points for this.

The letters NSS stand for which pressure group?

Founded by Charles Bradlaugh in 1866, it describes...

-The National Secular Society.

-Correct.

These bonuses are on the solar system, New College.

The extensive volcanic region known as Elysium Planitia is found on which planet?

-Venus.

-No, it's Mars.

The Valhalla multi-ringed impact crater is on which moon of Jupiter?

-Io.

-No, it's Callisto.

Finally, which moon of Saturn has many of its geographical regions

named after mythological paradises

including the Ancient Egyptian Aaru,

Malaysian Belet and Sumerian Dilmun?

-Titan.

-Correct. Another starter question.

"Eternal President of the Republic" is, according to the preface of his country's revised 1998 constitution,

the formal...

Kim Jong-il.

No. You lose five points. ..the formal title of which political figure

who had died four years earlier?

-Kim Il-sung.

-Kim Il-sung is correct, yes.

Your bonuses are on a 16th-century pope.

Which pope gives his name to a reform of the Julian calendar

introduced in 1582?

It was finally adopted in Britain in 1752.

Gregor.

The fourth.

No, Gregory XIII.

At which event in Paris in August 1572 did Gregory celebrate with a Te Deum mass

and the striking of a commemorative medal bearing the Latin words "Ugunottorum Strages"?

-Easter.

-No, it's The Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre.

Finally, built by Gregory in 1574,

which palace in Rome has, since 1948,

been the residence of the Italian president?

-Sorry, don't know.

-The Quirinale.

Ten points for this. What final three letters link the surname of the author of The Motorcycle Diaries

and the first cricketer to score 500 runs in...

-A-R-A.

-Correct.

Your bonuses, now, New College, are on world rulers.

I will read a list of rulers who were on the throne or in power

during the first year of a given century.

In each case, just give me the century.

Firstly, Vasudeva the first of the Kushan empire,

Vologaeses the fifth of Parthia,

and the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus?

-The third century.

-Correct.

Yohl Ik'nal, queen of the Maya city of Palenque,

the Byzantine Emperor Maurice

and the Empress Suiko of Japan.

-12th.

-No, it was the seventh century.

Finally, Charles the Simple of France,

Arpad, Prince of the Hungarians

and Edward the Elder, King of the Anglo-Saxons.

-Tenth.

-It is the tenth, yes.

Another picture round now. For your picture starter you'll see a painting of a Biblical scene.

For ten points I want the name of the figure on the left.

-Bathsheba.

-No. Anyone like to buzz from King's College?

Jezebel.

No, it's Salome, the daughter of Herodius.

So picture bonuses shortly.

Another starter question in the meantime.

Mutually intelligible with Hindi to a great extent,

but written in a different script...

-Urdu.

-Urdu is correct, yes.

In the picture starter you saw a painting by Gustav Moreau

of Salome dancing before King Herod.

Your picture bonuses are three more paintings of Salome.

In each case, simply name the artist.

Firstly, for five, this Italian painter.

-Caravaggio.

-No, that's by Titian.

Secondly, this German painter.

-Who painted at that sort of era?

-It's not Hieronymus Bosch, is it?

Hieronymus Bosch.

No, it's Cranach the Younger.

Finally, this Italian painter.

-That could be Caravaggio. I don't know.

-Caravaggio.

It is, yes. Ten points for this.

In organic chemistry, which flammable gas

has the molecular formula C3H8?

Ephine? No.

Anyone like to buzz from New College?

-Propane.

-Propane is correct.

These bonuses, New College, are on lines about books in plays by Shakespeare.

In each case identify the play and the character speaking.

"Knowing I love my books,

"he furnished me from mine own library

"with volumes that I prize above my dukedom."

-Hamlet.

-No, it's Prospero in The Tempest.

"I'll read enough when I do see the very book indeed where all my sins are writ, and that's myself."

-Othello.

-No, that's Richard II in Richard II.

And finally, "Your face, my thane, is as a book where men may read strange matters."

-Macbeth.

-It is Macbeth, but the character?

-Macduff?

-No, it's Lady Macbeth. Ten points for this.

What word of four letters forms compound nouns when preceding fall, fill, form, line,

lord, lady, mark and slide?

-Land.

-Correct.

These bonuses are on physics, King's College.

The phase speed of a surface ocean wave travelling in deep water

depends on the restoring force raised to what power?

-Two.

-Two.

No, it's half.

Small waves on the surface of water, called capillary waves

are subject to what main restoring force?

-Air resistance.

-No, surface tension.

What is the dominant restoring force at larger scales?

You know, sort of gravity. The moon.

-Gravity.

-Gravity is correct, yes!

Four minutes to go. Ten points for this.

In which Asian capital is Coronation Park, the site of several durbars, or assemblies,

including one of 1911 that marked the coronation of King George V?

-Delhi.

-Delhi is correct, yes.

Your bonuses this time are on Greek mythology.

In each case, name the third member of the trio described.

As named by Hesiod, who is the third of the Graces after Aglaea and Euphrosyne?

-Charite, is it?

-Charite.

No, it's Thaleia. As named by Virgil,

who is the third of the Furies, after Alekto and Megaera?

I know this.

-We don't know. Sorry.

-It's Tisiphone.

And finally, also named by Hesiod,

who was the third of the Gorgons after Stheno and Euryale?

-Medusa.

-Medusa is right. Ten points for this. Three minutes to go.

Which major city in the Ukraine was the scene of the mutiny on The Battleship Potemkin

in 1905?

-Kiev?

-No. King's College, one of you buzz.

Dnipropetrovsk.

No, it's Odessa. Ten points for this.

Founded in 1961, the IUGS is a body devoted to international cooperation

in which field of science?

-Geology.

-Correct.

Bonuses are on ancient art, this time.

In which country is Blombos Cave, the site of the discovery

of several pieces of engraved ochre that date to before 75,000 BC?

-Norway.

-No, South Africa.

Discovered in the 1860s,

which cave in the Spanish region of Cantabria

contains rock paintings that date to around 14,000 BC?

No. Don't know. Sorry.

Altamira. Which cave in the Dordogne region of France

is also noted for its prehistoric rock paintings

discovered by accident by a group of children in 1940?

-Lascaux.

-Correct.

Ten points for this. The main cemetery of which city

is the last resting place of composers including Brahms, Schubert and Beethoven?

Berlin.

Anyone like to buzz from New College? Quickly.

-Salzburg.

-No, Vienna. Ten points for this.

A set of knotted cords hanging from a bar or central cord...

Incan empire. Incas.

Inca is correct, yes.

Your bonuses are on Scottish monarchs.

Which king of Scotland died fighting a rebellion at the Battle of Sauchieburn in 1488?

-James IV.

-No, James III.

James IV invaded England and was killed when his army was decisively defeated at which battle of 1513?

-Flodden.

-Battle of Flodden.

-Correct.

James V died in 1542

shortly after his army's defeat in which battle named in part after a major British estuary?

Come on.

-Tyne.

-No. Solway Moss.

Ten points for this. What illegal activity links "Swing" in 1830

with "Gordon" in 1780...

-Riots.

-Riots is correct.

These bonuses are about blood clotting.

During the blood clotting process,

which enzyme converts fibrinogen, a soluble protein,

into fibrin, an insoluble one?

Quickly.

-Protease.

-No, thrombin.

Which anticoagulant produced in the body

inhibits the action of the enzyme thrombin...

-GONG

-At the gong, King's College Cambridge have 125.

New College Oxford have 165.

Well, you were coming back at the end,

but you didn't come back far enough or fast enough, I'm afraid.

But you do get to play again, sorry to have to tell you,

and New College, you get to play again as well.

That's the first of your necessary two victories to go through to the semi-finals.

I hope you can join us next time for another quarter-final match.

-Until then, it's goodbye from King's College Cambridge.

-Bye!

-And goodbye from New College Oxford.

-Bye.

And goodbye from me. Goodbye.

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