Episode 29 University Challenge

APPLAUSE

University Challenge.

Asking the questions, Jeremy Paxman.

Hello. Defying the conventional laws of mathematics,

we now enter the fifth quarterfinal.

By the end of tonight's match,

we will know the first of the four teams through to the semifinals.

Both teams will know that

not all hope is lost, though, for the losers,

because they'll get one final chance to qualify.

The University of Newcastle are here after

something of a walkover in round one against a team of somnambulists

from Sheffield Hallam University.

The margin on that occasion was 170 points to 40.

In round two, they beat a more alert team

from the University of Southampton by 215 and 130.

And in their first quarterfinal,

they beat Bristol University by 225 points to 130.

With an average age of 29, let's meet Newcastle for the fourth time.

Hi, I'm Jack Reynard, I'm from Leeds, and I'm studying medicine.

I'm Molly Nielsen, I'm from London, and I'm studying medicine.

And this is their captain.

Hi, I'm Jonathan Noble, I'm from Newcastle upon Tyne,

and I'm studying for a PGCE.

Hello, my name is Adam Lowery, I'm from Sunderland,

and I'm reading chemistry.

APPLAUSE

Now, the team from St John's College, Cambridge beat

Ulster University in the first of their quarterfinals, having already

beaten the University of St Andrews

and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge in the first two rounds.

So, with an accumulated score of 725 from three matches,

and with an average age of 23, let's meet the St John's team again.

Hi, I'm John Clark Levin, I'm from Los Angeles, California,

and I'm studying for a PhD in politics and international studies.

Hello, I'm Rosie McKeown, I'm from Kingston upon Thames

in South West London, and I'm studying French and German.

-And here's their captain.

-Hi, I'm James Devine-Stoneman,

from Southall in West London,

studying for a PhD in superconducting spintronics.

Hi, I'm Matt Hazel, from Ringwood in Hampshire,

and I'm studying veterinary medicine.

APPLAUSE

Well, the rules are pretty constant, so fingers on the buzzers.

Here's your first starter for 10.

Open to the public in 1881,

which building was Alfred Waterhouse's first...?

Was it Manchester Town Hall?

No. I'm afraid you lose five points.

...first major work in London?

Built in the Romanesque style with facades of terracotta,

its entrance hall was, for many years,

dominated by the cast of a skeleton of a diplodocus.

The Natural History Museum.

That is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

Right, biographical films for your bonuses.

Firstly for five points, the 2015 film Pawn Sacrifice concerns

which figure of the 20th century played by Tobey Maguire?

His direct opponent in the film is played by Liev Schreiber.

-Bobby Fischer?

-Bobby Fischer, maybe, yeah.

-Yeah.

-Bobby Fischer.

-Bobby Fischer is correct.

The 2016 film Race is primarily based on which athlete

played by Stephan James?

In the same film, Jeremy Irons takes the role of Avery Brundage,

the president of the United States Olympic Committee.

-Jesse Owens?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Jesse Owens.

-Correct.

Played by Ben Foster, who is the central character

in Stephen Frears' 2015 film The Program?

It's based on the journalist David Walsh's book Seven Deadly Sins.

Don't know.

An editor of the New York Times, maybe? I don't know.

-Possibly...

-We're not going to get it.

THEY CONFER

No. Pass.

It's Lance Armstrong. 10 points for this.

A Theory Of The Consumption Function is a work by which

leading proponent of monetarism, born in New York in 1912?

The recipient of the 1976 Nobel Prize in...

-Milton Friedman.

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

So your first bonuses, Newcastle, are on Nobel laureates.

Born in Monmouthshire in 1872, who was awarded

the 1950 Nobel Prize in literature in recognition of "writings

"in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought"?

It's Bertrand Russell, I think. Yeah.

-Bertrand Russell.

-Correct.

In 1955, Russell released a manifesto with which

prominent scientist, calling for the curtailment of nuclear weapons?

The manifesto is referred to by their joint names.

HE SIGHS

-I have an idea....

-Go on, what?

-..think for a second.

-No, go on.

-Oppenheimer?

-Hmm...

Shall we go with that? We'll just go with that. We don't know.

-Oppenheimer.

-No, it's Einstein. It's the Russell-Einstein Manifesto.

And finally, based on the Russell-Einstein Manifesto,

which conference brings together scientists

concerned about the proliferation of nuclear weapons?

The first was held in 1957 in Nova Scotia, Canada.

THEY CONFER

-No. Do we not know?

-No.

Pass. We don't know, sorry.

It's Pugwash. 10 points for this.

Which artist am I talking about here?

Born in Romania, he studied in Paris under Rodin

and was a prominent figure in the modernist movement.

Characterised by a refined simplicity and elegance of form,

his notable sculptures include The Endless Column

and the series entitled Bird In Space.

-Brancusi.

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on astronomy, Newcastle.

In each case, give the name from the description.

All three answers begin with the same letter.

Firstly, a dark nebula in Orion about 1,300 light years distant.

It's named after its resemblance to part of an animal.

-Horsehead.

-Yeah.

-Horsehead Nebula.

-Correct. That gives you the lead.

A large star cluster, secondly, in Taurus,

that forms the letter V along with the giant Aldebaran.

Its name is the Greek for "rainy ones".

THEY CONFER

-The Hyades.

-Correct.

And finally, a major moon of Saturn noted for its irregular shape

and eccentric orbit.

It shares its name with a fragmentary epic poem by John Keats.

-Hyperion.

-Hyperion.

-Yeah.

-Hyperion.

-Correct.

APPLAUSE We're going to take a picture round.

For your picture starter, you're going to see the titles of

three paintings by a single artist

given in the original language.

10 points if you can

name the artist.

-Magritte.

-Magritte is correct.

We'll see the titles in English now.

APPLAUSE

So, for your picture bonuses, three more sets of titles under

which works of art were originally exhibited.

I want the name of the artist in each case.

Note that the language may not be the artist's own mother tongue.

Firstly, for five.

Dali? Or...? What do you reckon?

-I'm happy with that. Shall we go with Dali?

-Dali?

-I haven't heard of any of these...

-No.

Dali's worth a shot.

-Dali.

-No, it's Giacometti.

Here are the titles in English.

And secondly...

-Kokoschka?

-It doesn't have to be...

-No.

-But it's worth a guess...

Kokoschka.

No, that's Kazimir Malevich.

In English, those are the names

of the pieces. And finally...

-That's Dali, isn't it?

-That's Dali.

-Salvador Dali.

-Correct, yes.

Let's see it in English.

There we are.

APPLAUSE

10 points for this. In late 2016, controlled explosions

were carried out at several British schools

after the discovery of possibly unsafe stocks

of what common laboratory chemical?

Often named after...

Phenol?

Nope. You lose five points.

Often named after a South African-born chemist,

it is a reagent used to identify the carbonyl group.

Is it DNP?

No, I don't think I can accept this.

Brady's reagent. That's DNPH, I think.

Right, 10 points for this.

Which range of mountains gives its name to the language family

that includes Nenets, Finnish, and Hungarian?

-The Urals.

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on animal sanctuaries in India.

In each case, identify the state where the following are located.

Firstly, Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary, known for its herds of elephants

and located about 250 kilometres north-east of Trivandrum.

-Any feeling on that?

-No.

-Odisha?

-Maybe, yeah.

-Odisha.

-No, it's Kerala.

Secondly, the Kanha and Bandhavgarh tiger reserves

and the National Chambal Sanctuary.

These are administered jointly with Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh

for the conservation of the Ganges River dolphins,

crocodiles and gharials.

Would that be Gujarat?

Something like Madhya Pradesh, or maybe Gujarat, yeah.

THEY CONFER

Maybe. Um...

-Want to go with your one?

-Gujarat, maybe.

-Gujarat.

-No, it's Madhya Pradesh.

And finally, Kaziranga National Park on the bank of the Brahmaputra,

and Manas Wildlife Sanctuary near the border with Bhutan.

Both are refuges for the endangered Indian one-horn rhinoceros.

-A really northerly one.

-Assam?

Assam.

-Assam?

-Correct.

10 points for this, answer as soon as your name is called.

Which historical polity is this? Its motto was Deo vindice.

Its only vice president was Alexander...

-The Confederate States of America.

-That is correct, yes.

Your bonuses are on artists sponsored by Queen Christina of

Sweden in the 17th century.

Firstly for five points, which Neapolitan composer established the

form of the opera overture in three sections, allegro, adagio, allegro.

His son Domenico was a noted composer of keyboard sonatas.

Scarlatti. Scarlatti.

Correct. Which Italian violinist

and composer pioneered modern orchestral direction,

influenced the development of the violin style,

and popularised the concerto grosso?

Is that Corelli or Vivaldi?

A little bit early for Vivaldi so go with Corelli.

-Corelli.

-Corelli is correct.

And finally a leading exponent of the Baroque style of sculpture,

whose works include the Colonnade in front of St Peter's Basilica

and fountains such as the Triton and the Four Rivers?

-That's Bernini.

-Bernini.

Bernini.

Bernini is correct.

10 points for this.

What six-letter word links the title character of a novella

of 1878 by Henry James, the narrator of the second of Chaucer's

Canterbury Tales...

Miller.

Miller is correct.

You could retake the lead with these bonuses, they're on

experiments that helped to establish the theory of biogenesis.

In 1668, the Italian physician Francesco Redi

discredited which Aristotelian theory by demonstrating that

maggots in putrefying meat come from eggs laid by flies?

THEY CONFER

-Spontaneous generation.

-Correct.

In 1767, which Italian scientist negated John Needham's

conclusion that spontaneous generation was possible,

by repeating Needham's experiment in heat-sealed phials?

When's Galvani around?

Is Galvani a good shout?

Galvani.

It's Spallanzani.

Finally, which French chemist's experiment of 1861 used

a mixture of fermentable sugar and yeast in swan-necked flasks

to disprove the theory of spontaneous generation?

-Pasteur.

-Correct.

10 points for this.

Known for his dictum "to be is to be the value of a variable",

which US logician and philosopher published over...

-Peirce.

-No, you lose five points.

..published over 20 books including Quiddities: An Intermittently

Philosophical Dictionary and the 1960 work Word And Object?

Doesn't look as if any of you is going to buzz from Newcastle. No?

It's W V Quine.

10 points for this.

What common name is given to arboreal apes of the genus

Hylobatidae? Native to Southeast Asia, they have long arms,

no tails and a throat sac...

Orangutan.

No, you lose five points. ..and a throat sac used for

amplifying sound.

Howler monkey.

No, they are gibbons. 10 points for this.

Which two letters link the German engraver known as the master

of 1466, the chemical element with atomic number 99...

AD.

No, you lose five points.

..and the internet domain of the country that won

the Fifa World Cup in 2010?

DE.

No, it is ES. 10 points for this.

Chulalongkorn, or Rama V, was a reforming monarch...

Thailand.

Thailand is correct. Yes.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on battles, St John's.

In each case, identify the location from the description.

All three names begin with the same three letters.

Firstly, perhaps the first major naval battle

recorded in history. The Greek fleet under Themistocles defeated

the larger fleet of the Persian king Xerxes in 480 BC.

Salamis.

-Nominate Levin.

-Salamis.

Correct. Secondly, a battle of the Peninsula Wars in 1812.

The Duke of Wellington's army

is said to have defeated 40,000 Frenchmen in 40 minutes.

-Yeah.

-Salamanca.

-Correct.

And finally, on 9th September 1943,

Allied troops invaded mainland Italy at which location,

just south of Naples, as part of Operation Avalanche?

-Salerno.

-Nominate Levin.

Salerno.

Salerno is correct. We take another starter question.

Having discovered it in 1957, which German physicist gives his name to

the phenomenon of recoil-free gamma ray resonance absorption?

-Mossbauer.

-Mossbauer is correct.

You get bonuses now on a chemical element.

Apatite is a general class of mineral that is the major source for

which group 15 element widely used in the manufacture of fertilisers?

That's phosphorus. Phosphorus.

Phosphorus is correct.

Secondly, what term denotes any member of a class of compounds

consisting of nitrogenous base linked to a sugar and a phosphate group?

They're found in all living matter.

Is that pentose or...?

What is it?

THEY CONFER

Erm, pentose.

No, it's nucleotide.

And finally, parathion and malathion are organic phosphorus compounds.

What is their most common use?

-So not fertiliser.

-In matches? Do they still use phosphorus to make matches?

-Yeah.

Matches?

No, they're insecticides or pesticides.

Right, we're going to take a music round now.

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

music by an Austrian composer.

For 10 points if you can give me the name of the composer, please.

SPRIGHTLY STRINGS PLAY

Mozart.

No. St John's, you may hear a little more.

Haydn.

Haydn is correct, yes.

The Palindrome Minuet.

It was an example of a true musical palindrome, where the entire

second half of the movement is the exact mirror image of the first.

Your music bonuses, three more works constructed with

the help of palindromes. Five points for each composer you can name.

Firstly, this British composer.

CHORAL SINGING

THEY CONFER

Go with Tallis.

Shall we go with Tallis?

Tallis.

No, it's William Byrd. Secondly, this Austrian composer.

STRIDENT BRASS

-Schoenberg.

-Schoenberg, probably.

Schoenberg.

No, it's Alban Berg from Lulu.

And finally this composer.

PRECISE STRING PLAYING

Is it Bach?

THEY CONFER

-Bach?

-You might as well.

Yeah... Bach?

Correct.

10 points for this.

Andrew Johnson in 1865, Chester Arthur in 1881,

Theodore Roosevelt in 1901 and Lyndon Johnson in 1963...

Succeeded a dead president.

Nope. You lose five points.

..are the only four US presidents to date to have

succeeded to the office following what specific event?

The assassination of the US president.

That's correct, yes.

Your bonuses are on shutdowns of the United States federal government.

Firstly, funding gaps caused five partial

shutdowns in the 1970s during the presidency of which Democrat?

Jimmy Carter.

Jimmy Carter.

Correct.

Who was the Republican Speaker of the House during the two

federal shutdowns of 1995 and '96?

He ran for the Republican nomination for president in 2012.

-Newt Gingrich.

-Newt Gingrich.

Newt Gingrich.

Correct.

In which year during Barack Obama's presidency was a shutdown caused

principally by partisan dispute over the Affordable Care Act?

Was that 2013? Or '14?

-I think '13.

-I think it was actually earlier.

The years are all running together but I'm going to say 2011.

OK. 2011.

No, it was 2013.

10 points for this.

Two of the three men listed as the favourites of the title

character in the dramatis personae of Shakespeare's

Richard II share their names with Royal Parks in London.

Name both of them.

-Pistol and...

-No.

LAUGHTER

Anyone like to have a go from Newcastle?

-Hyde and...

-No.

It's Bushy and Green.

Right, 10 points for this.

In human anatomy, what term denotes the serous membrane

that encases the visceral organs and lines the ab...?

Peritoneum.

Correct.

Your bonuses are on a Queen of England, Newcastle.

Written in the 1040s,

the Encomium Emmae Reginae is a work in praise of Emma of Normandy.

Name either of the two kings to whom she was married.

Aethelred the Unready.

That is correct. Yes, the other one was Cnut.

Which son of Emma and Cnut became king in 1040 after

the death of his half-brother Harold Harefoot?

Harthacnut. It was Harthacnut, wasn't it?

THEY CONFER

It was the son of Emma and Edward the Confessor? Emma and...

Sorry, yeah.

Yeah.

Harthacnut?

Harthacnut is correct.

Which son of Emma and Ethelred

succeeded to the English throne in 1042?

Edward the Confessor.

Correct. We're going to take another picture round now.

For your picture starter, you'll see a painting.

Ten points if you can identify the artist, please.

BUZZ

Er, John Singer Sargent?

That's correct, it's his famous First World War picture, Gassed.

One of a series commissioned by the British War Memorials Committee

in 1918 to act as a record of memorial.

Your picture bonuses are three more of these commissions.

All are by British artists.

I just need the name of each artist for the points. Firstly, for five...

-Hmm...

-Got nothing on that.

Don't know anyone who painted in that style.

We could guess Duncan Grant, but I don't think that was his kind of...

-Duncan Grant?

-Yeah.

-Duncan Grant?

No, it was Percy Wyndham Lewis. And secondly...

There was a Paul Nash, but he...

That was... I think I know one painting by him, but...

-Do you know?

-We could go for it.

-Paul Nash?

That is Paul Nash.

It's probably his most famous painting, in fact, The Menin Road.

And finally...

-Hmm... Could that be Augustus John or someone?

-Augustus John?

-Who's a world-famous painter from that period?

-I don't know.

-Augustus John.

-Yeah, if they're all British...

-Augustus John?

No, it's Stanley Spencer.

Ten points for this.

Etymologically related to the Latin for "nest", the word "nide"

is most commonly used in relation to which game birds?

They feature prominently in Roald Dahl's work

Danny, The Champion Of The World. BELL RINGS

Pheasant.

Pheasant is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

You get a set of bonuses on physics now, Newcastle.

Which six-letter term denotes the addition of impurities

into a semiconductor in order to change its electrical properties?

Doping.

Correct. What term designates un-doped semiconductors

that have no impurities present?

Anything?

Er, sorry, we don't know.

Intrinsic. What letter of the alphabet designates

extrinsic semiconductors

in which the dopant atom provides extra conduction electrons?

-P.

-P?

No, it's N.

Four minutes to go, ten points for this. "Why doesn't he use a spoon?"

Which Irish politician made that response to Lloyd George's

accusation that negotiating with him

was like trying to pick up mercury with a fork?

BUZZ

James Connolly?

No.

-BELL RINGS

-De Valera?

De Valera is correct.

APPLAUSE

Connolly would have been shot by then.

Right, your bonuses now are on events in the 20th century

as summarized by the 1989 Billy Joel song We Didn't Start The Fire.

In each case, name the year to which the line refers, Newcastle.

First - "Eisenhower, vaccine, England's got a new Queen."

-'53.

-1953.

No, it's 1952.

Secondly, "Hemingway, Eichmann, Stranger In A Strange Land."

-1960?

-I don't know.

-1960?

It's 1961.

Finally, "Moon shot, Woodstock."

-'68?

-'70s?

-'68?

-I think it's...

-'69. 1969.

Correct.

Ten points for this.

What name is thought to derive from the Spanish for "toasted" in

reference to its most common colour,

and is given to a cotton twill often used to make trousers?

BELL RINGS

Tostada?

No. Anyone like to buzz from...? BUZZ

Ecru?

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

In the biochemistry of glycolysis,

what is the full name of the intermediary compound PEP?

BELL RINGS

Phosphoenolpyruvate.

Correct.

APPLAUSE

Right, these bonuses are on the south coast of England.

Which four-letter word appears in the name of several

promontories on the south coast, including Rame in Cornwall

and Durlston and Hengistbury in Dorset?

Head?

Correct. The word "Bill" particularly refers to

two promontories on the south coast.

One is Portland Bill in Dorset.

What's the other in West Sussex between Portsmouth and Bognor Regis?

-Anything?

-No.

-No.

-Sorry, we don't know.

It's Selsey.

A coastal feature called Hope's Nose is a promontory

located at the edge of which resort town in Devon?

-Some towns in Devon?

-Totness?

-Torquay.

Torquay, is that in Devon? Yep, Torquay?

Torquay is correct.

10 points for this. Listen carefully, answer promptly.

Of the US states whose names begin with the word "New",

which two are contiguous?

BUZZ

New York and New Jersey.

Correct.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on unit conversion, St John's.

In each case, I'll give the SI conversion factor.

I want you to give me the standard unit equivalent.

Firstly, ten to the minus seven joules...

So, like...

So, 100...

We need an answer here.

Erm...

Calorie.

No, it's erg.

Next, approximately 1,055 joules.

That must be a calorie.

Yeah. Calorie?

No, it's a BTU, British Thermal Unit.

And finally, 4.1868 joules.

That's a calorie! Calorie.

That is a calorie, yes. Ten points for this.

Answer in Latin, French or English, giving the brief dictum that is

the starting point of the Theory of Knowledge described in the 1637...?

BUZZ

I think therefore I am.

Correct.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on first symphonies.

In each case, the answer is a German or Austrian composer.

Firstly, which composer's Symphony No. 1 in D major

was first performed in Budapest in 1889 to

a generally unsympathetic response?

-Bruckner?

-Yeah? Bruckner?

No, it's Mahler. Which composer's Symphony No. 1 in B-flat major

was well received on its 1841 premiere...?

GONG And at the gong, Newcastle have 135.

St John's College, Cambridge have 160, though.

APPLAUSE

Well, Newcastle, bad luck.

You led for part of the match and you were very, very close

until just those last couple of minutes.

-You're going to have to play again, I'm afraid, aren't you?

-Yep.

Yes, you are, under these very, very complicated, cruel rules.

St John's, many congratulations,

you're the first team to go through to the semifinals.

Well done, thank you.

APPLAUSE

Well, I hope you can join us next time for another quarterfinal match,

but until then, it's goodbye from Newcastle University.

ALL: Goodbye.

It's goodbye from St John's College, Cambridge.

ALL: Goodbye. And it's goodbye from me. Goodbye.