Episode 17 University Challenge

APPLAUSE

University Challenge.

Asking the questions, Jeremy Paxman.

Hello. 28 teams qualified to appear in this competition,

but now with the first round matches completed,

we've already lost 12 of them.

And their groans can sometimes be heard

rising from the oubliette under the studio floor.

16 happier teams will now play in the second round

where a win will place them in the quarterfinals.

The team from Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge,

beat King's College, Cambridge in their first round match

with an impressive margin of 195 to 60.

They were strong on mythical creatures,

archaeological sites in Africa, world events since 2001 and Tilda Swinton.

But may have spent some time since that appearance

swotting up on the women in the life of Edward IV.

Let's meet them again.

Hi, I'm Nicholas Bennett, I'm from London and I'm reading mathematics.

Hi, I'm Ellie Thompson, I'm from Nottingham and I study physics.

Here's their captain.

Hi, I'm Thomas Hitchcock, I'm from Ashford in Kent

and I'm studying natural sciences.

Hi, I'm Dan Wilson, I'm from Buckinghamshire

and I'm studying German and Russian.

APPLAUSE

Now, the team from Imperial College London had a very convincing win

over Reading University in round one with 285 points to 110.

Despite being a team of self-proclaimed science geeks,

they were strong on the history of Tasmania, plays by Tom Stoppard,

the boroughs of New York, but when it came to the novels

of DH Lawrence, they seem to have got no further than Sons And Lovers.

Let's meet the Imperial team again.

Good evening. My name is Ben Fernando,

I'm from Birmingham and I'm studying physics.

Hi, I'm Ashwin Braude,

I'm from North London and I'm also studying physics.

And this is their captain.

Hello, I'm James Bezer.

I'm from Manchester and I'm also studying physics.

Hello, I'm Onur Teymur,

I'm from London and I'm studying for a PhD in mathematical statistics.

APPLAUSE

OK, fingers on the buzzers, here's your first starter for 10.

What word is this? You may give the verb or the noun formed from it.

Used by Shakespeare to mean eat or feed,

it came to mean "read in a desultory way."

Since the 1990s, an agent noun formed from it

has become the standard term for a programme

used to access the world wide web.

Browse. Browse or browser is correct, yes.

Right, the first set of bonuses, Imperial College,

are on the Apollo 11 moon landing.

Firstly, the common name of which raptor

was given to the lunar module of the 1969 Apollo 11 mission?

Eagle? Eagle. Correct.

The command module was named Columbia after the Columbiad,

the giant cannon from which a spacecraft is fired

in which author's 1865 novel, From The Earth To The Moon?

Jules Verne. Correct.

Three new minerals were discovered by the mission.

One was named Armalcolite,

taking letters from the surname of Armstrong, Aldrin

and which astronaut who remained in the command module?

Michael Collins. Correct. 10 points for this.

Probably coined in the late 19th century,

what Greek-derived term denotes the movement in art, music

and architecture that was a reaction against the ornamentation

of the baroque and rococo,

and sought to return to the simpler forms of antiquity?

Classicism?

Anyone like to buzz from Imperial? One of you may buzz.

No-one confer.

Neoclassicism. Correct.

Right, your bonuses are on novels published in 1928, Imperial College.

In each case, identify the work by the extract from its opening lines.

"He - for there could be no doubt of his sex,

"though the fashion of the time did something to disguise it -

"was in the act of slicing at the head of a Moor."

MUTTERING

I don't know. No. Forget that.

I've no idea. Pass.

We don't know. It's Virginia Woolf's Orlando.

Secondly -

"'Sent down for indecent behaviour, eh?'

"said Paul Pennyfeather's guardian.

"'Well, thank God your poor father has been spared this disgrace, that's all I can say.'"

Decline And Fall. Decline And Fall. Correct.

"Ours is essentially a tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically."

Great Gatsby? Great Gatsby?

No, it's Lady Chatterley's Lover. 10 points for this.

In physics, one of the first successful applications

of general relativity was an accurate explanation of the advancement

by 43 seconds each century of the perihelion of the orbit...

Mercury. Of Mercury, you're right.

Right, your bonuses this time, Imperial College, are on zoology.

From that of the Dutch physician who first identified it,

what name is given to the organ

in the hard palate of many vertebrates

that detects chemical stimulae?

The only one I can think of is Leeuwenhoek, but I don't think...

I don't think it is. Um... Leeuwenhoek?

No, it's Jacobson's organ.

What is the medical name of the first cranial nerve,

a branch of which transmits nerve impulses

from Jacobson's organ to the brain?

I think that's olfactory.

Give it a shot. Olfactory? Correct.

A main function of Jacobson's organ

is to detect chemical communication signals

between members of the same species.

From the Greek meaning convey, what term denotes such signals?

Pheromone.

Pheromone. Correct. 10 points for this.

The primary military objective of the French and British forces

in the Crimean War was the capture of which city and naval base?

Sevastopol. Correct.

So, Sidney Sussex, your first set of bonuses,

they're on quotations about art.

"A hint, don't paint too much direct from nature. Art is an abstraction."

Which French artist wrote those words in a letter of 1888,

a few weeks before travelling to Arles to stay with Van Gogh?

(I think that's Gauguin. Yeah.)

Gauguin? Correct.

"Art is meant to disturb."

These are the words of which French artist, born in 1882?

His works include Houses At L'Estaque and Man With A Guitar.

Braque? Braque is correct.

"Art is not truth, art is a lie that makes us realise truth."

These are the words of which artist,

who, together with Braque, pioneered Cubism?

Picasso. Correct.

Time for the first picture round. For your starter, you'll see a map

of the present-day mainland United States

with a number of states highlighted, all of which attain statehood

under the United States' Constitution in the same decade.

For 10 points, just give the decade, please.

1770s? No. One of you like to buzz from Imperial?

1780s? It is the 1780s, yes.

So, you get the picture bonuses, then, Imperial College.

Three more maps, each showing a number of states

that attained statehood in the same decade.

For five points each, I want the decade. Firstly -

I've no idea. I think it's earlier. 1820s? 1830s?

1830s?

No, that's the 1810s, those states. And secondly -

That's quite late. 1860s. 1870s?

Could be. Late, later.

1860s? Correct. And finally -

It's 1950s. 1950s.

Yes, well done. Right, 10 points for this.

What three-word phrase is used frequently in the Book of Ezekiel,

in the King James Bible, to emphasise the prophet's humanity?

It was used as a title by Dennis Potter

for an influential television play of 1969,

and by Rene Magritte for his 1964...

Son of man. Correct.

Imperial College, these bonuses are on European history.

In 1514, Henry VIII's sister, Mary Tudor, married which French king?

He died the following year and was succeeded by Francis I.

No idea. Probably Louis.

Louis X. I don't know. Louis X?

No, it was Louis XII.

The mother of Henry III and the widow of King John,

which queen married Hugh X of Lusignan in 1220?

By her two husbands, she had 14 children,

all of whom survived into adulthood.

I need only her given name.

Matilda? Matilda? Maybe Matilda.

Matilda? No, it's Isabella.

And finally, in 1114,

which daughter of Henry I married the Holy Roman Emperor Henry V?

She later claimed the English throne

after it was seized by Stephen of Blois.

Must be Matilda. Yeah, probably.

Matilda. Matilda is correct. 10 points for this.

In 1867, which Swedish physicist

was the first to examine the spectrum of the aurora borealis,

detecting a characteristic bright line in its yellow-green region?

He gives his name to a unit of length equal to 1/10 of a nanometre.

Angstrom. Angstrom is correct, yes.

Your bonuses, Imperial, are on nettles in Shakespeare.

"Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety."

In which of Shakespeare's histories does Hotspur say those words?

Oh, Hotspur. No, sorry.

Um...Henry IV, Part 1? Correct.

"The strawberry grows underneath the nettle

"And wholesome berries thrive and ripen best

"Neighbour'd by fruit of baser quality."

These words of the Bishop of Ely refer to the transformation

of which title character after he accedes to the English throne?

Um... No idea.

Richard III. No, it's Henry V.

And finally, "We call a nettle but a nettle

"and the faults of fools but folly."

In which play does Menenius Agrippa say those words?

MUMBLING

I don't think it was. Um...

I don't think it's Julius Caesar. Julius Caesar? No, it's Coriolanus.

10 points for this.

Give all four answers promptly if you buzz for this.

The elements of the periodic table belong to one of four main blocks,

based on their outermost elect...

S, P, D, F.

S, P, D and F, that's correct, yes.

Right, your bonuses are on medieval rulers, Imperial College.

From the 9th century, Baldwin Iron Arm

and his son Baldwin the Bald, were the first two rulers

of which historical territory which is now a region of Belgium?

Flanders or Wallonia?

Can't imagine... Maybe Brabant. Go with Flanders.

Flanders. Flanders is right.

Born around 980, Baldwin the Bearded expanded the domains of Flanders

to include which territory, now a province of the Netherlands?

It gives its name to a country in the South Pacific.

MUMBLING

Um, Fiji.

Netherlands, so Brabant...

MUMBLING

Say Zealand. Zealand? Correct.

In 1204, Baldwin IX of Flanders was crowned

Latin Emperor following the sack of which city during the Fourth Crusade?

MUMBLING

Try Jerusalem.

Jerusalem?

No, it's Constantinople.

Sidney Sussex, there's still plenty of time to come back,

we're not even halfway. 10 points for this.

"Why on earth was I lying on the back seat of a blue minivan

"with tinted windows? Good question."

This recollection of being driven to a meeting with Barack Obama in 2008

begins Hard Choices, a memoir of 2014 by which former US secretary...

Hillary Clinton. Correct.

Your bonuses this time, Imperial, are on the US journalist

and social commentator, HL Mencken.

In each case, give the one-word term for which he is providing

his own somewhat subjective definition.

Firstly, "The theory that the common people know what they want

"and deserve to get it good and hard."

Must be democracy. Democracy. Correct.

Secondly, "The inner voice which warns us that someone may be looking."

Conscience? Conscience? Correct.

And finally, "The delusion that one woman differs from another."

Feminism?

That's a dangerous answer!

Love. Love is right, yes.

We're going to take a music round now.

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

10 points if you can name the British composer.

GRAND, STATELY MUSIC

Vaughan Williams. No, you can hear a little more, Sidney Sussex.

OPERATIC SINGING

Benjamin Britten? No, it's Elgar. It's part of his Sea Pictures.

So, music bonuses in a moment or two.

10 points at stake for this starter question.

The name of what object was popularly applied

to the pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong in 2014?

It refers to the objects...

Umbrella. Umbrella is right, yes.

So, you recall, we've just heard

a bit of Elgar's Sea Pictures song cycle.

Your bonuses are three more pieces of music by British composers

all with maritime themes. Five points each time.

I would like the name of the composer, please. Firstly -

TRUMPET BLASTS

FEMALE VOICES: # After the sea-ship

# After the whistling winds... #

Do you have any better suggestions than Britten?

# ..After the white-gray sails taut to their spars and ropes... #

I've no idea really.

MALE VOICES: # Below A myriad, myriad waves hastening... #

Benjamin Britten? No, that's part of Vaughan Williams's Sea Symphony.

Secondly...

# Shine, shine, shine

# Pour down your warmth, great sun... #

THEIR CONVERSATION IS DROWNED BY MUSIC

John Tavener? No, that's by Delius, it's part of Sea Drift.

And finally...

# We sail the ocean blue

# And our saucy ship's a beauty

# We're sober men and true

# And attentive to our duty

# When the balls whistle free o'er the bright blue sea... #

Did one of them write the lyrics and one wrote the music?

THEIR CONVERSATION IS DROWNED BY MUSIC

Gilbert and Sullivan? Which one?

Any ideas? Come on! Gilbert?

No, wrong, it was Sir Arthur Sullivan. Bad luck!

From HMS Pinafore. Ten points for this.

"Peace, peace! he is not dead, he doth not sleep,

"He hath awaken'd from the dream of life..."

Written by Shelley in 1821,

these lines refer to which poet who had died seven weeks earlier?

No... Byron. No, anyone like to buzz from...?

Keats? Keats is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

Right, Sidney Sussex, there's a way to come back,

but you could do it, there's time.

Three questions on an international organisation for your bonuses.

Asean, that's A-S-E-A-N, was established in 1967

by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

For what does the acronym Asean stand?

Association of South East Asian Nations? Alliance.

I don't know what the first one...

Alliance of South East Asian Nations.

Nominate Wilson. Alliance of South East Asian Nations?

No, it's ASSOCIATION of South East Asian Nations.

Not close enough, I'm afraid. Secondly, for five,

the five original members were joined in 1984 by which Asian state

whose full name includes the word "Darussalam",

meaning "abode of peace".

Brunei?

Brunei is correct.

Which country joined Asean in 1999 as its tenth member?

It gained independence from France in 1953 and is a monarchy,

although its king was deposed from 1970 until 1993.

Cambodia?

Correct. Ten points for this.

Plancher-les-Mines in eastern France

and great Langdale in Cumbria

are prehistoric sites principally associated with

the production of which implements?

Pencils?

Anyone like to buzz from Imperial?

Hand axes? Yes, axe heads, axes, yes.

Right, your bonuses are on a language this time, Imperial.

What is the majority language of the countries that comprise

the Dach region, that is D-A-C-H?

Used, for example, in commerce and recruitment,

the word is an acronym

of international vehicle registration codes.

Must be German. Germany? German. Oh, German. German is correct, yes.

German is an official language

of which province south of the Brenner Pass?

Ceded by Austria after the First World War,

it forms part of the autonomous Italian region

of Trentino-Alto Adige.

South Tyrol. Correct.

German is one of the four national languages of Switzerland.

Can you name the other three?

THEY CONFER

Romansh, French and Italian.

Correct. Ten points for this.

Found in the Irish Sea, barrel, blue, campus

and lion's mane are species of which...?

Jellyfish. Jellyfish is right.

APPLAUSE

These bonuses, Imperial, are on sheep.

Described as very hardy with the ability to thrive

on low levels of nutrition, which breed of sheep

takes its name from the island group that includes Yell, Unst and Fetlar?

Is there a sheep called Shetland? Well, those are the Shetlands. OK.

Shetland?

Correct. Which white-faced breed of sheep takes its name from a range

of hills that form around 30 miles of the boundary

between England and Scotland?

They lie largely in Northumberland.

THEY CONFER

Nominate Braude. Cheviot. Cheviot is correct.

What is the most numerous sheep breed in Britain?

Found mainly in Scotland, it takes its name

from a characteristic of the upper body.

Blackface? Yeah.

Blackface? Correct.

We're going to take a picture round now.

For your picture starter, you are going to see

the central panel of a triptych.

Ten points if you can identify the artist.

Hieronymus Bosch.

It is indeed. His depiction of The Temptation of St Anthony.

Three more artists' interpretations

of how the devil tested Anthony's faith.

is to identify the painter of the work you see.

Any sort of weird painters, like...? Breugel?

I don't think it's Breugel. Unless you have a better...

Erm...Breugel?

Which one?

Peter? Peter Breugel, isn't it? Go on. Peter?

Which one?! LAUGHTER

Come on, I need... The Elder?

It's too late now,

Pick something, James.

That's Max Ernst.

And finally, a rather different form of temptation...?

Must be Matisse? Could be?

Listen carefully.

from three of the five letters with a value of four points

in standard English-language Scrabble.

W-H-Y. Correct.

APPLAUSE

In each case, I want the name of an element.

Firstly, which element has the same symbol

as that of the SI-derived unit of inductance?

H... H... Hydrogen! Yeah!

Hydrogen. Correct.

Ignoring case, which element has the same symbol

as that of the SI-derived unit of solid angle?

Steradian... Strontium.

Strontium. Correct.

And finally, which element shares its symbol

with the SI-derived unit of power?

Tungsten. Tungsten.

Correct. Ten points for this.

The departure of painters such as Kandinsky and Franz Marc

from the New Association of Artists in Munich,

led to the emergence in 1911 of which new movement?

Fauvism?

No, Sidney Sussex...?

Dadaism?

No, it's the Blaue Reiter, the Blue Rider movement.

Right, ten points for this. In information theory,

one of the most important tools in the spectral analysis

of steady-state waves

is named after which French mathematician and...?

Fourier.

Fourier is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

These bonuses are on Greek kings, Imperial,

as described in Homer's Iliad. The epithets that follow

are English versions that appear in EV Rieu's translation.

Firstly, which King of Mycenae and leader of the Greek forces

does Homer called "king of men"?

Not Menelaus? No. I thought it was Agamemnon, but... Really?

I would go Agamemnon, but... I thought Menelaus was Mycenae...?

Oh, yeah, actually... Yeah. Menelaus?

No, it's Agamemnon. Sorry.

Secondly, which aged charioteer

and King of Pylos is described as "the master of the courteous word"?

King of Pylos... Erm...

Midas? I don't know. Come on! Yeah, yeah.

Midas?

No, it is Nestor.

Godlike, noble and crafty are among the adjectives

applied in the Iliad to which King of Ithaca?

That's Odysseus. Odysseus.

Correct. There are 4? minutes to go. Ten points for this.

Originally played by Mark Rylance,

Johnny "Rooster" Byron is the central character

of which award-winning play by Jez Butterworth,

first performed...?

Jerusalem?

Jerusalem is correct.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on geography this time, Imperial.

From the Spanish for "cauldron", what term denotes

a wide bowl-shaped depression caused by the collapse of a volcanic cone?

Caldera. Caldera is correct.

Noted for its brilliant blue water, Crater Lake is located

in a caldera in the Cascade Range in which US state?

Oregon. Correct.

The highest Hebridean peak outside Skye, Ben More,

forms part of the rim of a caldera now largely removed by erosion

on which Scottish island?

Skye? No, I think...

That's what I would have said.

Lewis? Lewis? Lewis?

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

Previously known by names including timbromania and timbrology,

what hobby was renamed in 1864...?

Stamp collecting. Stamp collecting, or philately, is right.

APPLAUSE

Sidney Sussex, these bonuses are on entomology.

What Greek prefix is added to the word "thorax"

to denote the posterior segment of an insect's thorax?

THEY CONFER QUIETLY

Just make a guess. Pass.

It's "meta".

Secondly, in the order Diptera, or true flies,

what term denotes the modified hind wings carried on the meta-thorax?

Halteres? Correct.

At the base of the halteres are mechanoreceptors

called campaniform sensilla,

the name indicating that they take what shape?

THEY WHISPER

Bell. A bell?

Bell is correct, yes. Ten points for this.

Ntombi of Swaziland and Margrethe II of Denmark

are among the royal figures depicted in Reigning Queens,

a screen-print portfolio created in 1985 by which US artist?

Jasper Johns?

No. One of you buzz.

Rauschenberg.

No, it was Andy Warhol. Ten points for this.

The oxide of which element is the main constituent of pitchblende,

used from the 1890s in...?

Uranium?

Uranium is correct.

Your bonuses now are on National Trust properties in England.

In each case, name the ceremonial county,

for example South Yorkshire, in which the following are located.

Firstly, Felbrigg Hall, Blickling Hall and Sheringham Park.

THEY CONFER

Norfolk? Correct.

Secondly, Castle Drogo, Lydford Gorge and Buckland Abbey.

Devon. Correct.

Beningbrough Hall, Brimham Rocks and Malham Tarn Estate.

No idea. Sounds northern?

Northumberland?

No, it's North Yorkshire. Ten points for this.

Premiered in 2013 by the Royal Ballet,

Raven Girl is a collaboration between the choreographer

Wayne McGregor and which US...?

No, sorry. Bad luck, I'm afraid you lose five points.

..between the choreographer Wayne McGregor and which US author,

also noted for The Time Traveller's Wife?

Philip Roth?

No, it's Audrey Niffenegger. Ten points for this.

What adjective derives ultimately from the Latin for "fear"?

Originally connoting a timid or over-careful approach,

it's now used in a positive sense

to mean unstintingly precise and thorough?

Meticulous?

Correct. APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on the Commonwealth, Sidney Sussex.

Three Commonwealth member states

are also members of the European Union.

The UK is one, name both of the others.

Malta and Cyprus. Correct.

Only three of the 13 Commonwealth member states in the Americas...

GONG

And at the gong, Sidney Sussex have 75,

Imperial College London have 305.

Well, bad luck, Sidney Sussex.

We have to say goodbye to you,

but you were up against very strong opposition,

so thank you very much for taking part.

And, Imperial, storming performance from you.

We look forward to seeing you in the quarterfinals.

Congratulations.

I hope you can join us next time for another second-round match,

but until then, it's goodbye from Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.

Goodbye.

It's goodbye from Imperial College London. Goodbye.

And it's goodbye from me. Goodbye.

APPLAUSE

MUSIC: Boombastic by Shaggy

# Mr Lover Lover, mmm

# Mr Lover Lover, girl

# Mr Lover Lover, mmm... #