Episode 37 University Challenge

APPLAUSE

Asking the questions, Jeremy Paxman.

Hello. Around 130 teams applied to take part in this series.

28 made it to the televised stage, and we've watched them fight it

out over the past months, through 2,794 questions.

But it ends tonight.

Over the next half an hour, the two best teams in the contest

will compete for the title of series champions,

and one of them will earn the right to lift the trophy.

Now, the team from Wolfson College, Cambridge have so far taken

the scalps of the School of Oriental and African Studies,

Jesus College, Cambridge, the University of Warwick,

and then Emmanuel College, Cambridge in the first semifinal.

They won't need reminding that when they first met their

opponents tonight in their first quarterfinal match,

they were victorious, but only by a margin of 30 points.

No doubt hoping history will repeat itself, and with an average

age of 25, let's meet the Wolfson team for the last time.

Hi, my name is Justin Yang, I'm from Vancouver, Canada,

and I'm studying for a PhD in public health and primary care.

Hi, I'm Ben Chaudhri, I'm from near Cockermouth in Cumbria,

-and I'm studying natural sciences.

-And this is their captain.

Hello, my name is Eric Monkman, I'm from Oakville, Canada,

and I'm studying economics.

Hi, I'm Paul Cosgrove, I'm from Cookstown in Northern Ireland,

and I'm doing an MPhil in nuclear energy.

APPLAUSE

The team from Balliol College, Oxford sent home Imperial College London

in round one and Robinson College, Cambridge in round two.

In their quarterfinals, they beat the University of Birmingham and

Corpus Christi College, Oxford,

and their semifinal victory was at the expense of Edinburgh University.

They won't need reminding either of their first encounter with

their opponents tonight.

With an average age of 23,

let's meet the Balliol team for the final time.

Hi, I'm Freddy Potts, I'm from Newcastle, and I'm reading history.

Hello, I'm Jacob Lloyd, I'm from London,

-and I'm reading for a DPhil in English.

-And their captain.

Hi, I'm Joey Goldman, I'm from London,

and I'm reading philosophy and theology.

Hi, I'm Ben Pope, I'm from sunny Sydney,

and I'm doing a DPhil in astrophysics.

APPLAUSE

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

In Thomas Hardy's The Return Of The Native, which city does

Eustacia's grandfather describe as "that rookery of pomp and vanity"?

In an eponymous work of 1933,

George Orwell called it "the land of the bistro and the sweatshop".

-Paris.

-Paris is correct.

APPLAUSE

Right, your bonuses are on the ancient mathematician and

philosopher Hypatia.

In which city of the Eastern Roman Empire did Hypatia teach philosophy?

She died there in 415 at the hands of a Christian mob.

Soon after, St Cyril became the city's bishop.

-Alexandria.

-Correct.

Hypatia was the daughter of Theon of Alexandria,

himself a mathematician and astronomer.

He's credited with preserving which of Euclid's works?

-The Elements.

-Presumably.

-Must be.

-Euclid's Elements.

-Correct.

Associated with the philosopher Plotinus and the supreme principle

known as "the One", which late school of Greek philosophy

did Hypatia espouse?

Neoplatonism? Yeah, that's what I'd go for. Neoplatonism.

Neoplatonism is correct.

APPLAUSE

Time for another starter question.

First Man in Armour, Speaker of the Temple

and three child spirits are among the characters in which op...?

-The Magic Flute.

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

So your bonuses, Wolfson, are on reptiles.

Which country has the highest number of recorded species of

reptile with more than 850?

These include the freshwater crocodile and the desert death adder.

-Could it be Australia?

-Australia.

-Australia.

-Correct.

With more than 800 species, which country's reptiles include

the Cozumel spiny lizard and the Sonoran spotted whiptail?

Yeah, Mexico.

-Mexico.

-Correct.

With about 750 species, which country's reptiles include

the Amboina sailfin lizard and the Lesser Sundas cat snake?

I would say that would probably be India. I mean, it could be Bangladesh.

-India's larger.

-India.

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

Quote, "I had the sound first, without the spelling.

"Then, in one of my occasional perusals of Finnegans Wake by

"James Joyce, I came across the word..."

-Quark.

-Quark is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

Right, these bonuses are on medieval earls of Orkney, Wolfson.

Firstly, an early earl of Orkney, Sigurd the Stout,

was killed at which battle of 1014, fought near Dublin?

The Irish high king Brian Boru was also killed.

Um... Battle... Battle of the Downs?

-Go for it.

-Battle of the Downs.

No, it was Clontarf.

Secondly, Sigurd's son, Thorfinn the Mighty,

extended his rule over Caithness and which area?

It's named after its relation to Norse settlements in Orkney

rather than its position on the island of Great Britain.

Probably south, like...

In a cardinal direction, it sounds like...

-Stornoway.

-No, it's Sutherland.

And finally, Kirkwall Cathedral in Orkney is dedicated to which

earl, later a saint? Known as the Martyr,

he was murdered on the island of Egilsay in about 1117?

-St Edmund the Martyr?

-I don't know.

-St Edmund the Martyr?

-No, it's Magnus.

Ten points for this.

Who was the UK Prime Minister when the short-lived

French Second Republic was established?

His minority Whig administration held power because the

Conservatives were split between the Protectionists and the Peelites.

-Lord John Russell.

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

These bonuses are on chloroform, Wolfson.

In an 1847 paper based on his findings from

self-experimentation, which Scottish physician first described the

-use of chloroform as an anaesthetic?

-Could it be Lister?

It's not Robert Graves, is it?

I don't know. I think it might be Lister, Lord Lister.

-Lister?

-No, it was James Young Simpson.

Secondly, used as a chemical weapon during World War I,

which poisonous gas is generated on the oxidation of chloroform

in the presence of UV light?

-Chlorine?

-Chlorine gas? Chlorine gas?

No, it might be like...

-Chlorine gas?

-Oh, no, is it...? No, it's phosgene.

I'm going to nominate you, Chaudhri.

-Nominate Chaudhri.

-Phosgene?

Phosgene is correct, yes.

Apart from amylene,

what solvent is typically added to stabilise chloroform

and prevent oxidation if long-term storage is required?

-I have no idea on this one. I mean, I would just pass.

-Er...

Did you say the family of the chemical?

Family of the chemical? Yeah.

-Is it e...?

-Erm. Ether?

We could just say ether.

-Nominate Chaudhri.

-Ether.

No, it's ethanol.

Ten points for this picture starter question.

You're going to see a map showing the borders of European

states as the result of a major series of peace accords.

For ten points, I want the collective term after

a European city by which these accords are known.

Westphalia.

No. Anyone like to buzz from Wolfson?

Vienna?

The Congress of Vienna is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

We follow on from the Congress of Vienna with three more maps

that show the borders of Europe as they were redrawn by historic

treaties and peace accords.

In each case, I want you to identify the treaty or accord that

established them.

All are named after the places in which they were formulated.

First, I want the name traditionally given to the series of

treaties that resulted in these political boundaries.

This is the Peace of Westphalia.

-Yes.

-Yeah.

-Peace of Westphalia.

It is the Peace of Westphalia.

Secondly, the treaty that resulted in these borders.

Oh, that's...the Councils of Claremont.

Oh... Yeah. Try that.

Well, it's earlier than that.

I think this is after Charlemagne.

Charlemagne, isn't that...?

Isn't that Claremont? Isn't that Claremont?

-I don't remember.

-Claremont?

No, it's Verdun in 843 AD. And finally,

any of the three treaties that resulted in these frontiers.

-Erm...this is the Treaty of Versailles maybe, probably.

-Yeah.

Yeah, Treaty of Versailles? Versailles?

Yeah, that'll do. Great. APPLAUSE

Terrific. 10 points for this.

Which lower-case Greek letter represents in statistics the

standard deviation of a...?

Sigma.

Sigma is correct. Yes. APPLAUSE

These bonuses are on duelling, Balliol.

In 1598, which literary figure killed the actor

Gabriel Spenser in a duel fought with swords?

He avoided the gallows but was branded on the thumb as

a convicted felon.

When did Marlowe die?

Erm...

Might be the sort of person to do that, then.

Marlowe?

No, he was killed in a brawl.

It was Ben Jonson. In Hamburg in 1704,

which composer fought a duel with his friend Johann Mattheson in

a quarrel during the performance of the latter's opera Cleopatra?

A large coat button is said to have deflected Mattheson's sword.

-What was the date again?

-1704.

German. Hindemith or something.

-No idea.

-No, no, that's...

actually going to be...

Hindemith.

No, it was Handel, they were squabbling over who'd conduct

the second half.

And considered the founder of modern algebra,

in particular of group theory, which French mathematician died...?

Galois.

Galois is correct. APPLAUSE 10 points for this.

What two-word term appears in the title of a work of 2005 by

Joan Didion and denotes a cognitive disorder involving the belief

that one event happens as a result of another...?

Post hoc ergo propter hoc?

No, I'm afraid you lose five points.

One event happens as a result of another without

a plausible link of causation?

Just world?

No, it's magical thinking, as in The Year Of Magical Thinking.

10 points for this. Traditionally regarded as a holy relic,

the Iron Crown of Lombardy is housed...?

It's housed in Italy somewhere.

-Sorry.

-LAUGHTER

I mean, it's the one that they use to crown the King of Italy.

-Yes, I'm afraid that is a completely useless answer.

-Yeah, it is.

LAUGHTER And you lose five points.

It's housed in the cathedral of which city? Situated

about 15km north-east of Milan,

it is a regular venue of the Italian Formula One Grand Prix.

You may not confer...

-Monza.

-Monza is correct.

Yes. APPLAUSE

These bonuses are on cosmology in the 18th century.

Get them, you'll take the lead. Born in Stockholm in 1688,

which thinker was an early proponent of the nebular hypothesis, the

idea that the solar system formed from a cloud of rotating gas?

It's called the hypothesis in physics,

so there must have been some guy who got there first.

-Stockholm...

-Swedish people?

-Er...

-What are two names? Kant-Laplace?

-Yeah, but obviously Immanuel Kant isn't born in Stockholm.

-Right.

Erm... So...

Laplace.

No, it was Swedenborg.

Secondly, which German philosopher applied Newtonian

principles to the nebular hypothesis in his 1755 work

Universal Natural History And Theory Of The Heavens?

-That's probably Kant.

-Immanuel Kant?

That was Immanuel Kant.

Which French scientist independently advanced the nebular

hypothesis in a work of 1796? Noted for his works on celestial...

Laplace.

Laplace is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE That gives you the lead.

Right, another starter question. Born 1854, which Frenchman gives

his name to a sphere used in optics, a symmetry group associated with

the special theory of relativity

and the conjecture about the topology...?

Poincare.

Poincare is correct. APPLAUSE

These bonuses are on prose authors

cited in the Oxford English Dictionary.

Firstly for five, the OED cites which Scottish author as the

first user of the term freelance?

In this case, he's referring to a mercenary knight in

a historical novel of 1819.

1819? Yeah, Walter Scott.

Correct. Which 19th-century English novelist is cited in the OED as the

first user of the noun rampage,

the verb flummox and the word doormat when applied to a person?

Charles Dickens?

It was Charles Dickens.

The OED states that which US author may have coined the word

nerd in the 1950 children's book If I Ran The Zoo?

Hmm.

Could it be, erm...? Who's that guy, who...?

-Maurice...

-Yeah, I think Sendak.

Maurice Sendak?

No, it was Dr Seuss.

Right, another starter question.

You're going to hear part of a recording of a lecture by

a major 20th-century figure.

Ten points if you can identify him.

But liberty is not merely a cultural matter...

Is it Russell?

It is Bertrand Russell, yes. APPLAUSE

Recorded in 1948,

that lecture by Bertrand Russell was one of the inaugural Reith

Lectures, the BBC series of annual lectures by significant thinkers.

Your bonuses are excerpts from three recent Reith lectures.

For the five points, in each case all you have to do

is to identify the lecturer.

Firstly for five...

The freedom to make contact with other human beings with whom

you may wish to share thoughts, your hopes, your laughter

and at times even your anger and indignation

is a right that should never be violated.

Nominate Chaudhri.

It's Aung San Suu Kyi.

It is Aung San Suu Kyi, yes.

Secondly...

But the bedrock nature of space and time and the structure of our

entire universe are surely among science's great open frontiers.

-Think it's...

-Nominate Chaudhri.

Martin Rees.

It is Martin Rees, yes. And finally...

But the thing is, I think there are boundaries still about what

-can and cannot be art...

-Oh, yeah, Grayson Perry.

-..but the limits are softened.

-Grayson Perry.

Grayson Perry is correct. APPLAUSE

Right, ten points for this starter question.

Said to be based on Truman Capote, which character in...?

Dill?

Dill is correct, yes. APPLAUSE

In To Kill A Mockingbird.

That means you retake the lead and your bonuses now are on

Tudor executions, Wolfson.

In each case, you will hear a list of three people executed in

successive years of the 16th century.

In each case, I need one of those three years and the name of

the reigning monarch.

Firstly, the Nun of Kent, Sir Thomas More and Anne Boleyn.

That was like 15...

Henry VIII and 15...

38?

-38? OK.

-I don't know...

Henry VIII in 1538?

No, I'm afraid you can't get the points. They were 1534, 1535 and

1536. It was, though, Henry VIII, obviously.

Secondly, Lady Jane Grey, Nicholas Ridley and Thomas Cranmer.

That'd be Mary I in 1550... Let's say 1558.

Cos that was a... Or, no, 1550... 15...

-Elizabeth came in 1558.

-1550, maybe?

-1550?

-No, 15... Well...

-I'll nominate you.

I don't know. It's...

-Just do it between...

-1555, then?

-1555, yeah.

-OK.

Mary I, 1555.

Yeah, 1554 and 1556 for the two others. Yes.

And finally, the Roman Catholic priest Thomas Aufield,

the conspirator Anthony Babington and Mary Queen of Scots.

-I think that's like '87, 1687?

-Yeah.

-1587, Elizabeth I.

-Yeah.

1587, Elizabeth I.

Correct. APPLAUSE The others were 1585 and 1586.

You got the monarch absolutely spot-on.

Ten points for this. Listen carefully, answer as soon as

your name is called.

The atomic number of sulphur is 16.

What is the sum of the atomic numbers of the four

elements whose symbols spell the word snob?

37?

Anyone like to buzz from Wolfson?

31?

No, it's 36. 16, 7, 8 and 5.

So, 10 points for this.

What given name links the 17th-century Queen of Sweden known

as the Minerva of the North...

Christina.

Christina is correct, yes. APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on languages this time, Wolfson,

and the two-letter ISO codes used to denote them in Wikipedia addresses.

English, for example, is EN.

The two-letter ISO code for which major African language is the

same as the internet top-level domain of the country between

Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan?

-So that's Armenia, AR.

-Yeah.

-And Afrikaans?

-Afrikaans, sure.

Afrikaans?

No, it's Amharic, it's AM.

Secondly, the element between potassium and scandium in the

periodic table has a symbol that corresponds to the ISO code

for which Romance language?

-Is that francium?

-No.

-Then...

-Potassium.

-Potassium, calcium?

-Calcium...

-Canada.

-Canada?

-Sorry, between scandium, so it's...

-It's caesium.

-So, Czech?

-OK, yeah.

Czech?

No, it's Catalan.

And lastly, which Turkic language has a two-letter ISO code

that is also the postal abbreviation for the US state between

Indiana and Tennessee?

-Is it Kentucky? So Kyrgyz?

-I don't know.

-I think it is. Kyrgyz?

Correct. 10 points for this. APPLAUSE

In Earth science, what four-letter term denotes the zone that

separates the Earth's crust from the mantle?

It is a shortened form of the surname of a Croatian seismologist.

It's the Mohorovicic discontinuity.

Nope.

Moho.

Moho is correct.

You got the source but I was looking for the term.

I'm afraid you lose five points, too, as well.

Your bonuses, Balliol, are on flowering plants.

In each case, give the common or the scientific name of the

family described. Firstly, for five points,

which family includes the clematis, anemone and marsh marigold?

It's usually named after a distinctive meadow flower avoided by cattle.

(Buttercups?)

THEY CONFER

Buttercups.

Correct.

Which family includes the cranberry, azalea and rhododendron?

It's often named after the low evergreen shrub that is the

main food of the red grouse.

-Gorse?

-Gorse, did you say?

-Yeah.

-Gorse.

No, it's Heather.

And finally, apples, almonds, cherries and strawberries

belong to which family, named after a common garden flower?

(A common garden flower?) Rose.

Correct. APPLAUSE

We're going to take a picture round now.

For your picture starter, you're going to see a painting that's

a reinterpretation of a work by another artist.

For 10 points, I want the name of both the artist responsible for the

painting you will see and the painter of the original work on which it is based.

Velazquez and Picasso.

Correct. APPLAUSE

Puts you on level pegging again.

And your picture bonuses are three more paintings,

each a reinterpretation of a particular work by another artist.

In each case, I want both the name of the artist who painted it

and the artist on whose work it was based. Firstly...

So, that's, that's The Rape of... It's Tintoretto.

I haven't the foggiest who that's based on, though.

Could it be...? Is it Rubens based on Tintoretto?

Yeah, Rubens and Tintoretto.

No, it's Rubens and Titian.

Secondly...

Van Gogh and Hiroshige.

Correct. And thirdly...

-Erm, that's Rembrandt.

-Is it Monet?

-Could be Monet, he was the one who was very blurry.

-Yeah.

-Monet and Rembrandt.

No, it's MANET and Rembrandt. AUDIENCE GROANS

10 points for this. For what does the J stand in the abbreviation

JTB, used in the modern interpretation of the philosophy of Plato to define...

Justified.

Correct. APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on physics this time, Balliol.

Named after an Indian physicist born in 1894,

what broad class of particles in the standard model of particle

physics have integer spin?

Bosons.

Correct. What type of massless boson with zero electrical charge is

involved in transmitting the strong force between quarks?

Gluon.

-Gluon.

-Correct.

Finally, which three heavy bosons carry the weak nuclear force?

-Erm, W and Z.

-Three.

-Yeah, there's two charge states of W.

OK, so the two Ws and a Z.

-The two Ws being?

-W plus and minus.

Correct. Absolutely.

Right, another starter question.

Who was the first Scottish king to make a pilgrimage to Rome?

He came to the throne after defeating Duncan I in battle and was himself...

Macbeth.

Correct. APPLAUSE

You get three bonuses on the academic and translator David Bellos.

In 1994, Bellos won the Prix Goncourt for his

biography of which French author who died in 1982?

His novels, some translated by Bellos, include

Life: A User's Manual, and Things: A Story Of The Sixties.

-I've no idea what the answer to this one is.

-I'm really not sure.

-THEY CONFER

-Camus?

No, it was Georges Perec.

Bellos has translated several novels by Ismail Kadare

from French into English. In what language were they originally written?

Arabic, maybe?

-No, Kadare...

-Arabic?

No, it's Albanian. He's Albania's most famous novelist, really.

In 1989, Bellos published a biography of which French

actor and film-maker? His works include Monsieur Hulot's Holiday.

Is it Jean-Luc Godard?

-Your guess is as good as mine.

-Jean-Luc Godard?

No, it's Jacques Tati.

4 minutes to go, 10 points for this.

What final letter links the English names of

the four countries whose cities include Pokhara...

N?

No. You lose five points.

..Ziguinchor, Braga and Porto Alegre?

-L.

-L is correct, yes.

Balliol, you get a set of bonuses on cities in South America.

Firstly, for five points, founded by Pedro de Valdivia

in 1541, which South American capital shares its name in

part with a major site of pilgrimage in north-western Spain?

-(Chile...)

-Santiago.

-Correct.

-(Yeah, Santiago.)

Home to its country's busiest airport,

Santa Cruz de la Sierra is a major city in which landlocked country?

-Bolivia?

-Bolivia.

Correct. And finally, which major South American city is dedicated to

St Sebastien?

It was the capital of its country from independence

in 1822 until 1960.

-Buenos Aires. Oh, no...

-Rio?

No, we want the country, don't we? No, we want the city.

Which was the capital of Brazil before Brasilia?

-Rio de Janeiro.

-Yeah, Rio de Janeiro.

APPLAUSE Correct. 10 points for this -

in stage works, which two letters begin the names of an ancient British ruler

and a flamboyant soldier in love with Roxanne?

They're the title characters of works by Shakespeare and Edmond Rostand.

-C Y.

-C Y is correct. APPLAUSE

Cymbeline and Cyrano de Bergerac. You get three bonuses now on geology.

In each case, give both four-letter terms defined.

The two terms in each question differ only by a single letter.

Firstly, the site of excavation of minerals, and consisting of

small particles, the opposite of coarse.

Mine and fine.

Correct. Secondly, the unsorted sediment laid down by a glacier,

for example, boulder clay, and tabular intrusive igneous rock.

-It's, erm... Tabular intrusive... Erm...

-I don't...

-Tuft and...

-Sill?

Sill and till.

Correct. And finally, fine-grained sediment deposited by rivers,

and a simple compound whose mineral form is halite.

-Is it salt?

-Salt and... Salt and silt?

-Yeah.

-Salt and silt.

Correct. 10 points for this.

What three-letter word often precedes the names of plants to

indicate that they are considered inferior, worthless or unfit for human consumption?

Examples include fennel, violet and rose.

Decorative and bad.

No.

-Sub.

-No, it's dog. 10 points for this.

The timespan of which Chinese dynasty encompassed the lives of the literary figures

Gavin Douglas, Thomas Mallory and Edmund Spenser?

-Ming.

-Ming is correct.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses, Balliol, are on German cities

as they've appeared over the years in references on this programme.

Firstly, the birthplace of Brahms and Mendelssohn, which city

links early European coffeehouses with the mouth of the River Elbe?

-If it's the mouth of the Elbe, then it's Hamburg.

-OK. Hamburg.

Correct. The birthplace of Albrecht Durer, secondly, which city links

the 16th-century pocket watch with Wagner's Meistersingers?

-I think it's von Nurnberg.

-Nurnberg?

Nuremberg is right.

And finally, the birthplace of Lucien Freud, which city links

the limestone bust of Nefertiti with a 1973 album by Lou Reed?

-Oh, wait a sec, Lou Reed, Berlin.

-Yeah.

-Berlin.

Berlin is right. 10 points for this. Which element

did the German physicist Friedrich Ernst Dorn discover in 1900...?

GONG

And at the gong, Wolfson College, Cambridge have 140,

Balliol College, Oxford have 190.

APPLAUSE

Well, Wolfson, bad luck.

You've been one of the more entertaining teams in this year's contest.

But thank you very much for joining us and there is absolutely

no shame in being runners-up.

And, Balliol, many congratulations to you.

You are of course the series champions of University Challenge for 2016-17.

Well done. APPLAUSE

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Well, we recorded that final a little while earlier and now

for the trophy presentation.

For only the second time in the programme's history,

we've left the studio and come to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge,

where one of the fellows will look after our two finalists tonight.

He's one of the world's leading theoretical physicists and

probably the most famous scientist in the world.

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Professor Stephen Hawking.

Professor, can I ask you to say a few words to tonight's finalists?

I have said in the past that it is not clear whether intelligence

has any long-term survival value.

Bacteria multiply and flourish without it.

JEREMY CHUCKLES

But it has one of the most admirable qualities,

especially when displayed by such young minds.

Many congratulations to both teams, and especially to

Balliol College, Oxford on becoming series champions on

University Challenge, a programme I have long enjoyed.

APPLAUSE

Well, thank you very much.

Balliol, I think it's time you received the trophy, then.

Many congratulations to you. APPLAUSE

Well, that's it. Many thanks to Professor Stephen Hawking.

Thanks to both our finalists and congratulations, too, to all

the dozens of teams that took part or tried to take part,

and many thanks to you for watching.

Until next time, goodbye. APPLAUSE