Episode 37 University Challenge

'University Challenge.

'Asking the questions, Jeremy Paxman.'

Hello. The end is nigh.

Around 130 teams had ambitions of getting here tonight.

After 3,039 studio questions, only the best two in Britain remain.

In just under 30 minutes, one of them will take the trophy

and join the immortals.

Now, Trinity College Cambridge arrived here by beating

Christchurch, Oxford, Peterhouse, Cambridge,

the London School of Oriental and African Studies,

and the reigning champions, the University of Manchester,

whom they had to beat twice,

both in the quarter-finals and again in the semis.

Let's meet the Trinity team for the last time.

Hi. I'm Matthew Ridley.

I'm from Northumberland, and I'm studying economics.

Hi. I'm Filip Drnovsek Zorko. I'm from Slovenia,

-and I'm studying natural sciences.

-And their captain.

Hello. I'm Ralph Morley.

I'm from Ashford in Kent, and I'm studying classics.

Hello. I'm Richard Freeland.

I'm from Cowbridge in Glamorgan, and I'm studying mathematics.

APPLAUSE

Now, the team from Somerville College, Oxford,

also arrived with a fearsome reputation.

They've beaten Pembroke College, Cambridge, York University,

Clare College, Cambridge, Southampton University

and the London School of Oriental and African Studies.

Let's say hello to the Somerville team for the last time.

Hello. I'm Sam Walker from Stafford, and I'm studying physics.

Hello. I'm Zach Vermeer from Sydney, Australia, and I study law.

And let's re-meet their captain.

Hi, I'm Michael Davies, I'm from Blackburn in Lancashire,

and I'm studying politics, philosophy and economics.

Hi, I'm Chris Beer.

I'm from Blyborough in Lincolnshire, and I'm studying English literature.

APPLAUSE

OK. The rules are constant as the Northern Star,

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

Who's this? In childhood, he was given the Duchy of Aquitaine,

his mother's patrimony.

As a youth, he joined a rebellion against his father, the king.

As king himself, he spent years

in military campaigns outside England...

Richard the Lionheart?

It is indeed Richard I, yes.

APPLAUSE

First blood to you, then, Somerville,

and your bonuses are on wealth and riches.

Firstly, "the chief enjoyment of riches

"consists in the parade of riches."

Which Scottish economist wrote those words in a work of 1776?

-Adam Smith?

-Yeah.

Adam Smith?

It was, yes.

"To be clever enough to get all that money,

"one must be stupid enough to want it."

Who wrote those words in The Wisdom Of Father Brown?

-GK Chesterton.

-GK Chesterton.

Correct. Give the word that completes this remark,

which has been attributed to L Ron Hubbard.

"If you really want to make a million,

"the quickest way is to start your own..." What?

Religion?

-I think it is, yeah.

-Cynical! Religion.

Religion is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

Right, ten points for this starter question.

In mathematics, what word describes a polynomial

having all its terms of the same degree,

or a linear equation with zero constant term?

In more general speech, it refers to something uniform in nature...

Homogeneous.

Correct.

APPLAUSE

Your first bonuses, Trinity College, are on the River Danube.

1992 saw the opening of a 170km-long canal

linking the Danube with which river,

an important right bank tributary of the Rhine?

THEY CONFER

Somewhere in Germany.

Isn't the Moselle in France?

Moselle's in the West.

-The Elba?

-Elba?

No, it's the River Main.

What two-word name is given to that section of the Danube

which flows through a gorge,

forming part of the border between Serbia and Romania?

-Anyone know?

-That's a bit too far away from Slovenia.

-The blue Danube?

-Blue Danube?

No, it's the Iron Gates.

And around a third of the Danube's total length is in which country,

whose capital is often described as the Queen of the Danube?

The...Czech Republic?

Hang on, what's on the Danube? Belgrade is on the Danube.

Romania?

Hungary?

I reckon it might be Serbia.

HE WHISPERS

Hungary?

Hungary is correct. Ten points for this.

What two-word term was coined in 1967

by the physician Edward de Bono

to describe a problem-solving method...

Natural thinking.

Correct.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on the German scientist Gustav Kirchhoff.

In the early 1860s, Kirchhoff worked with his countryman

Robert Bunsen to discover rubidium

and which other metallic element? The most alkaline

and electro-positive element, it's used in photoelectric cells.

THEY CONFER

Caesium?

Correct. Kirchhoff and Bunsen used which brand of optics

to discover these two new elements?

THEY CONFER

Spectroscopy?

Correct. And finally, Kirchhoff formulated two laws

concerning electrical networks.

The first states that the algebraic sum of the currents

in all the conductors that meet in a point is what value?

THEY CONFER

Zero.

Zero is correct. We'll take a picture round.

For your picture starter, you will see a stamp

depicting a scene from a novel by Jane Austen.

For ten points, I want you to give me the name of the novel.

Is that Pride And Prejudice?

It is indeed, yes.

Where Lizzie Bennett comes face-to-face

with Mr Darcy's portrait.

So, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Pride And Prejudice,

the Royal Mail released a set of stamps based on Jane Austen's works.

You'll see three more stamps from the set,

and for each, all you have to do is name the novel represented.

Firstly:

Could that be Northanger Abbey?

Northanger Abbey is... Northanger Abbey?

Correct. Secondly:

Is that Persuasion, possibly, down in Lyme Regis?

Persuasion?

Correct. Finally:

-Sense and Sensibility?

-I think so.

-Sense and Sensibility?

-No, it's Emma.

Ten points for this. According to Kipling,

what aren't to be found east of Suez?

Hillaire Belloc is said to have suggested adding the words

"Candidates should not attempt more than six of these..."

The Ten Commandments.

Indeed.

APPLAUSE

Right, your bonuses are on man, gods and mangoes.

Which mogul emperor is said to have planted 100,000 mango trees

at a location in present-day Bihar state?

Noted for his religious tolerance, he reigned from 1556 to 1605.

-Akbar the Great?

-Akbar.

Akbar the Great is correct.

Which political leader's image appears

on the so-called mango reliquaries?

They commemorate in wax or plastic the gifts of the fruit

he presented in 1968 to propaganda teams

working in universities and factories?

THEY CONFER

Mao Tse-tung? Or... I don't know.

-Could be.

-I don't know.

Mao Tse-tung?

Correct. In Hindu statuary, which elephant-headed deity

is often depicted seated beneath a mango tree?

Ganesh.

Correct. Another starter question.

Which city's cathedral has been described as

"the decorated cathedral par excellence"?

Known as Isca Dumnoniorum in Roman times...

Exeter.

Exeter is correct.

APPLAUSE

And your bonuses are on the works of Emile Zola

in the words of JG Patterson in the 1912 work, A Zola Dictionary.

In each case, give the French title of the novel from the description.

Firstly, the story of that terrific landslide

which overwhelmed the second empire.

It's a story of war, grim and terrible,

of a struggle to the death between two great nations.

THEY CONFER

Pass.

It's La Debacle.

Secondly, a terrible study of the effects of drink

on the moral and social condition of the working class in Paris.

The effects of intemperance are shown with grimness of realism

and uncompromising force.

THEY CONFER

Are we going to try that?

Nominate Ridley.

Therese Raquin?

No, it's L'Assommoir.

And finally, a novel dealing with the labour question

in its special relation to coal mining.

The scene of the book is laid in the north of France

at a time preceding and during a great strike.

-Nominate Ridley again.

-Therese Raquin?

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

Listen carefully and answer as soon as your name is called.

If two parallel plates separated by one millimetre

are charged to a potential difference of 1,000 volts,

what in volts per metre

is the electric field strength between them?

One.

Anyone like to buzz from Trinity?

A million?

One million is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

Right, your bonuses this time, Trinity College,

are on fine art and music in the words of historian Kenneth Clark.

"The Verrocchio is light, nimble, smiling and clothed.

"The Michelangelo is vast, defiant and nude."

These words from Clark's Civilisation compared two sculptures.

Which biblical figure is the subject of both?

David.

Correct. Clark likens the differences between the two Davids

to the progression between two composers,

both born in the second half of the 18th century.

Who are they?

THEY CONFER

Mozart and Beethoven?

Correct. Clark compares the departure of the lovers

in Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte to the 1712 painting

Pilgrimage to Cythera.

Who was the artist?

-Yes, 1712.

-Could that be...

Velasquez?

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

Which well-known song has been described as beginning with

a series of questions, to which the answers are...

Blowing in the wind?

No. I'm afraid you lose five points.

..to which the answers are "no", "no", "no", and "no",

and "get them yourself".

Are any of you going to buzz?

You're going to kick yourselves. It's Jerusalem. Ten points for this.

Which year saw the births of Marlon Brando and Jimmy Carter,

the deaths of Lenin and Franz Kafka...

1926?

No, you lose five points, I'm afraid.

The first performance of Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue,

and Britain's first Labour government under Ramsay MacDonald?

1924.

Correct.

APPLAUSE

Somerville, these bonuses are on the solar system.

Assign each of the eight planets a numeral

based on its order outward from the sun,

with Mercury being 1 and so on,

and then give the answer to the following calculations.

Firstly, the sum of all moonless planets.

Mercury, Venus...

THEY CONFER

Three.

Three is correct, yes,

Secondly, the third most massive planet

multiplied by the planet with the largest satellite.

Uranus?

THEY CONFER

It's Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus. They get smaller.

Yeah, but it's the one with the most massive satellite.

Times seven, times something.

I think Saturn might have the biggest.

It's going to be Jupiter. 35, yeah.

35.

No, it's 40. It's Neptune times Jupiter.

And finally, the least dense planet minus the second-largest planet.

Saturn and Mercury...

Least dense? The gaseous planets...

THEY CONFER

Six.

No, it's zero, because they're both Saturn.

-Oh!

-Right.

We're going to take a music round now.

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

For ten points, I just want the name of the composer, please.

PIANO AND STRING MUSIC PLAYS

Rachmaninov?

It is Rachmaninov.

Piano Concerto number two in C minor.

That was one of the top 30 most popular choices

among listeners of Radio 4's Desert Island Discs.

Your bonuses are three more classical pieces

that made that list, and in each case,

I want the composer and the title of the piece.

Firstly, the composer and the name of this piece

that came number 28 on the list.

CHORAL MUSIC

Allegri's Miserere.

Correct. Secondly, the composer and the name of this work,

at number six on the list.

STRING MUSIC

Sounds romantic, doesn't it?

THEY CONFER

Barbour's Adagio for Strings?

No, it's Mahler's fifth.

And finally, the composer and the name of this piece,

the number one choice.

STRING MUSIC PLAYS

THEY CONFER

Vaughan Williams, and that's The Lark Ascending.

It is. Yes, well done. Ten points for this.

Which philosophical text of the 2nd century AD

begins with these words:

"From my grandfather Verus, I learned good morals..."

The Meditations Of Marcus Aurelius.

Correct.

APPLAUSE

Right, these bonuses are on philosophy.

Which British philosopher argued that the traditional conception

of the human mind as an entity occupying a physical body

is based on what he called a category mistake,

in the 1949 work The Concept Of The Mind?

Is this...Ryle?

I've never heard of Ryle.

THEY CONFER

It rings a bell for me.

Ryle.

It is, Gilbert Ryle, yes.

By taking this step, Ryle challenged the traditional distinction

between the body and the mind,

delineated by which French philosopher? Born 1596...

Descartes.

Correct. What four-word phrase did Ryle use to describe the doctrine

underpinning what he viewed as the logically incoherent

dogma of Cartesian dualism?

Is it the ghost in the machine or something like that?

-It's the right number of words.

-OK, ghost in the machine.

Correct. Ten points for this.

Mammals such as dogs that are born naked,

blind and immobile are termed altricial.

What word is used to describe those such as horses

which are born with hair...

-Precocious?

-No, you lose five points.

..such as horses which are born with hair or fur, able to walk

and with their eyes open?

They're called precocial, not precocious,

that's a different thing altogether.

Ten points for this, listen carefully.

Ten of Canada's 13 provinces and territories are larger than the UK.

For ten points, name two of the three that are smaller.

Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia.

Correct, the other one is New Brunswick.

You get a set of bonuses, this time on dual-gender French nouns.

That is, those that have identical spelling

but a different meaning depending on if they're masculine or feminine.

In each case, I want you to spell the word described.

Firstly which noun, when masculine,

means a kitchen utensil used to shape a finished dish,

and when feminine, indicates a bivalve mollusc,

often served in a wine and onion sauce?

-Escargot?

-No, maybe moule.

-Moule?

-Like mussels.

-M-O-U-L-E.

-Correct.

Secondly, which short word, when masculine,

means a way or method, and when feminine, fashion?

-Mode.

-M-O-D-E.

-Correct.

Which word means a turn, trick or outing when masculine, and when

feminine, a tall, narrow structure with its base on the ground?

-Tour? T-O-U-R.

-Well done. Ten points for this.

Including the lyrics "Tears, idle tears"

and "Now sleeps the crimson petal, now the white..."

-The Princess?

-Indeed, well done.

Right, your bonuses are on religion in AD 373.

St Ephrem, who died in 373, was a noted writer of hymns

and treatises in which liturgical language,

a variety of Middle Aramaic?

-Is it Syriac?

-Yeah, could be.

-Syriac.

-Correct.

A prominent opponent of Arianism,

which Bishop of Alexandria died in 373?

He gives his name to a creed that focuses on the doctrine of the trinity.

-Athanasius.

-Athanasius.

St Athanasius is correct.

Around 373, which saint founded the Abbey of Marmoutier,

just outside the present-day city of Tours?

There's a church dedicated to him on Trafalgar Square.

-I don't know, St Martin was from Tours.

-St Martin?

St Martin of Tours is right. Ten points for this.

Greta Garbo as Melpomene, the muse of tragedy,

and Virginia Woolf as Clio, the muse of history, are two of

the prominent people who appear in the mosaics

paving the floor of which...

-The National Gallery.

-Correct.

These bonuses are on tea production in West Asia.

Producing mainly for the domestic market,

Rize province is a major tea-growing area in which West Asian country,

one of the world's largest producers of tea?

-Could it be, um...

-Iran?

-Did Iran produce tea?

-Does Afghanistan make tea?

-Does Pakistan make tea?

-Shall I say Iran? Or Turkey?

-Go for Iran.

-Iran.

No, it's Turkey.

Tea accounts for around 20% of the agricultural output

of which country on the Black Sea?

It produced a large proportion of the tea in the former USSR.

-Georgia?

-Georgia?

-Correct.

The provinces of Gilan and Mazandaran,

south of the Caspian Sea,

-are tea-growing areas in which country?

-Is that Iran?

-Iran?

-That is Iran, yes. Right, another picture round.

For your picture starter you will see a photograph of a scientist.

To get ten points, you just have to name him.

-Alfred Nobel?

-Anyone like to buzz from Trinity?

Paul Dirac?

No, it's Nikola Tesla.

Picture bonuses shortly, ten points for this starter question.

Born 1821, which French chemist gives his name to a reagent

that contains a magnesium atom...

-Grignard.

-Grignard is correct.

So, Tesla, as you know, who was the picture starter,

gives his name to the SI unit of magnetic flux density.

For your bonuses, you're going to see

portraits of three more scientists who've given names to SI units.

In each case, I want the name of the SI unit.

Firstly for five, the SI unit named after this scientist.

-Um...

-Joule? Could that be Joule?

-Henri?

-Joule sounds...

-Joule?

No, it's farad, that's Michael Faraday. Secondly...

-Is that Volta, maybe?

-Volt.

Volt is right, that is Alessandro Volta. And finally...

-Is that Joule?

-I don't know. We don't have much to go by here, do we?

No. Darkness and light. Manichaeism. Um...

-Joule.

-No, it's watt, that's James Watt. Ten points for this.

Idealised rational acceptability under epistemically ideal conditions

is a definition given by the US philosopher Hilary Putnam

for what common five-letter word?

-Truth.

-Correct.

These bonuses, Somerville College, are on physics.

A space station in the low Earth orbit of 300km altitude

experiences what acceleration due to Earth's gravity?

Give your answer in metres per second squared

to the nearest whole number, please.

-Four?

-Isn't it...

Isn't it, is it not 9.8 or is that something different?

-No, because that's on the Earth. Four.

-Four.

-No, it's nine.

In a circular orbit, the square of the orbital speed is equal to

acceleration multiplied by what quantity?

-It's not the radius or anything like that, is it?

-Say radius...

-Sorry?

-Cube of the radius?

-Come on!

-Cube of the radius.

No, it's just the radius, bad luck.

Therefore with an orbital radius of approximately 6,700km,

what is the space station's speed in kilometres per second

to the nearest whole number?

-Oh, um...2,000.

-2,000.

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

What two-word name links a Colm Toibin novel about Henry James,

a nickname of the Surrey batsmen Sir Jack Hobbs,

and a Doctor Who character played by Roger Delgado and John Simm?

The Master.

The Master is right, yes.

Your bonuses are on a term from the Greek.

For the Greek meaning a stoppage, what noun means a slowing

or a halting of the normal flow of body fluids

or a state of equilibrium?

-Clog, blockage... Clot?

-That doesn't sound right.

-Just try it.

-Clot.

No, it's stasis.

In ancient Greek history, for example, the works of Thucydides,

the term stasis denotes what political situation?

What would you... How would you describe it?

-War?

-Rebellion?

Civil war? I've no idea.

War...

No, it's specifically civil strife and party factional feuds.

And finally, "Stasis in darkness. Then the substanceless blue

"Pour of tor and distances."

These words begin the poem Ariel by which US-born writer?

-Is that Sylvia Plath?

-Could be.

-Plath.

-Sylvia Plath is correct.

Four minutes to go, ten points for this.

For what do the letters P-I-E stand

when denoting the reconstructable common ance...

-Proto-Indo-European.

-Correct.

Trinity College, your bonuses are on words coined in the 20th century.

In each case, give the decade in which the following originated

according to the Oxford English Dictionary.

Firstly, for five points. Cubism, isotopes and profiteer.

-1900s, I'd say.

-1900s.

No, it's the 1910s. Second.

Disinformation, hallucinogenic, meritocracy and modem.

-Let's have it, please.

-'50s.

1950s is right.

Finally, biodiversity, liposuction, wannabe and shopaholic.

1990s.

No, it's the 1980s. Ten points for this.

Meanings of what four-letter word include

a colourful monocotyledon flowering plant,

a type of quartz and the contractile disc between the cornea

and the lens of the eye?

Rose.

No. Anyone want to buzz from Trinity?

Iris.

Iris is correct, yes.

Bonuses are on opening words in Shakespeare, Trinity College.

Twelfth Night begins, "If music be the food of love, play on."

What five words follow, and your answer has to be exact?

"Give me excess of it."

Correct. The opening two lines of Henry V call

"For a muse of fire, that would ascend"... what?

"The stairs of heaven."

No, it's "The brightest heaven of invention."

Julius Caesar begins, "Hence!

"Home, you idle creatures, get you home."

Followed by what four-word question?

"What is your trade?"

No, "Is this a holiday?"

Two minutes to go. Ten points for this.

Cape Agulhas is the southernmost point of which country?

It's name in Portuguese means "needles."

It lies 20 degrees east of the Greenwich Meridian,

marking the boundary between two of the world's major oceans.

South Africa.

Correct.

These bonuses, Trinity College, are on palaeontology.

Mississippian and Pennsylvanian are subdivisions of which period

of the Palaeozoic era?

Carboniferous.

Correct. Having wingspans of up to 70cm,

meganeura is a genus of the Carboniferous period

that resembled and is related to which present-day insect?

Dragonfly.

Correct.

Around 20cm long, hylonomus, which lived during the late Carboniferous,

is thought to be the earliest member of which class of vertebrates?

-Birds?

-No, definitely not birds.

Come on, let's have it, please.

-Say amphibians?

-Amphibians.

No, it's reptiles. Ten points for this starter question.

Shrewsbury Castle, Tintern Abbey

and St Magnus Cathedral in Orkney are among prominent buildings

made of what specific stone known by the abbreviation ORS?

Old red sandstone.

Correct.

These bonuses are on a Middle Eastern state, Trinity College.

Muscat is the capital of which sultanate

-on the southeast coast of the...?

-Oman.

Correct. The Omani territories of Madha

and Musandam are enclaves within which sovereign state?

Saudi Arabia.

No, it's the United Arab Emirates.

The Gulf of Oman is connected to the Persian Gulf by which strait?

Strait of Hormuz.

Correct. Ten points for this.

In the binomial of the common intestinal bacterium E.coli,

what genus is denoted by the letter E?

Escherichia.

Correct.

Your bonuses are on bears, Trinity College.

A bear and ragged staff appear on the arms of which English county?

-GONG SOUNDS

-Warwickshire.

Correct and at the gong.

Somerville College, Oxford have 135.

Trinity College, Cambridge have 240.

Well, you were two terrific teams

and, Trinity, you're the champions, well done.

To present the trophy is one of our leading writers.

As well as being a prolific and award-winning novelist,

she's written for the stage, radio and the press

and has a considerable presence online.

It's obviously some sort of compulsion.

She received an OBE for services to literature in 2006

and is the professor of new writing at Manchester University.

Please welcome Jeanette Winterson.

Welcome. Thanks very much for doing this.

-What did you think?

-Very impressive. Two great teams.

If it had been me on either side, I would have got about 20 points,

if that, and none of them on physics.

What a surprise!

Can I ask you to present the trophy to our winners,

-Trinity College, Cambridge?

-Yes, I'd love to.

APPLAUSE

Well done, that was brilliant. You looked very impressive.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

Great stuff, thank you.

-Thank you very much.

-Here we are.

-This is for you.

-Oh, thank you very much.

I'm sorry it looks like something from The Hobbit.

Thank you very much.

Well, that's it. Congratulations to both our finalists

and thanks to all the many teams who took part

and demonstrated yet again that

all this stuff about young people not knowing things is rubbish.

I hope you can join us for the next series.

Until then, though, it's goodbye from all of us. Goodbye.