1 00:00:25,500 --> 00:00:29,060 Welcome to our Tomorrow's World Christmas fair, complete with 2 00:00:29,060 --> 00:00:33,620 sideshows, replete with magic, mystery and scientific illusion. 3 00:00:33,620 --> 00:00:37,380 And to probe our mysteries, we have once again a group of hard-eyed 4 00:00:37,380 --> 00:00:40,340 professional experts waiting and panting 5 00:00:40,340 --> 00:00:45,380 and ready to start on our magical mystery tour, and our first guide 6 00:00:45,380 --> 00:00:47,860 will be the impresario of the changing face, 7 00:00:47,860 --> 00:00:50,940 the charming Miss Judith Hann, 8 00:00:50,940 --> 00:00:54,980 and she has her own speciality in transformation scenes. 9 00:00:54,980 --> 00:00:59,580 And then, to mystify us all with his anamorphic art, and I bet you don't 10 00:00:59,580 --> 00:01:03,660 know what that means, Mr William Woollard, an old friend of audience. 11 00:01:03,660 --> 00:01:05,340 And now come over here, 12 00:01:05,340 --> 00:01:09,220 television's first mathemagician whom we have 13 00:01:09,220 --> 00:01:13,860 lured from his beautiful country seat at Ludlow and he, 14 00:01:13,860 --> 00:01:19,060 Mr Michael Holt, is going to baffle us with every conceivable 15 00:01:19,060 --> 00:01:21,380 kind of mystery, so you'd better keep an eye on him. 16 00:01:21,380 --> 00:01:25,140 Then, lured from the halls of academia, 17 00:01:25,140 --> 00:01:28,860 which means he's very clever, Dr Stuart Anstis, 18 00:01:28,860 --> 00:01:31,900 and anyone who's brave enough to participate in his experiments 19 00:01:31,900 --> 00:01:34,220 will be, literally, electrified, 20 00:01:34,220 --> 00:01:38,220 and finally, to get us under way with his ghoulie ghosties, 21 00:01:38,220 --> 00:01:43,060 Michael Rodd to prove beyond peradventure that now you see it, 22 00:01:43,060 --> 00:01:44,260 now you don't. 23 00:01:44,260 --> 00:01:49,060 Never a truer word. Who wants to meet a ghost? Follow me, then. 24 00:01:49,060 --> 00:01:51,980 Right across the fairground, over here. 25 00:01:51,980 --> 00:01:55,820 Leave some room for me in the middle or the spell won't work. 26 00:01:55,820 --> 00:01:59,300 Now, we need a little ghostly gloom. 27 00:02:00,980 --> 00:02:04,500 Young William here is looking into the mirror, but he's not 28 00:02:04,500 --> 00:02:08,780 thinking about himself. He's thinking about the lovely Susan. 29 00:02:08,780 --> 00:02:13,140 Now, in all the best stories, Susan would be his girlfriend. 30 00:02:13,140 --> 00:02:16,500 Are you William's girlfriend? No. That's a pity, 31 00:02:16,500 --> 00:02:20,340 because we could use this magic mirror to show Susan and William 32 00:02:20,340 --> 00:02:24,900 what their children might look like if they decided to get married. 33 00:02:24,900 --> 00:02:26,540 Shall we do it anyway? Yes. 34 00:02:26,540 --> 00:02:28,940 We've got to do some magic words and it goes like this - 35 00:02:28,940 --> 00:02:33,100 mirror, mirror, on the table, show me their children if you're able. 36 00:02:33,100 --> 00:02:34,420 Ready? All together. 37 00:02:34,420 --> 00:02:37,140 ALL: Mirror, mirror, on the table, 38 00:02:37,140 --> 00:02:41,860 show me their children if you're able. 39 00:02:52,660 --> 00:02:57,780 Very, very weird and there it was, Pepper's ghost 40 00:02:57,780 --> 00:03:00,380 named after the Victorian gentleman Mr Pepper 41 00:03:00,380 --> 00:03:03,100 who invented the technique. He was the original. 42 00:03:03,100 --> 00:03:04,740 It's all done with mirrors, man, 43 00:03:04,740 --> 00:03:08,700 and his work was used by such magicians as the Great Masculine 44 00:03:08,700 --> 00:03:11,140 to make people appear and disappear, 45 00:03:11,140 --> 00:03:14,220 and indeed Mr Pepper himself had great fun doing what we've 46 00:03:14,220 --> 00:03:17,060 just done, showing Victorian couples what their children 47 00:03:17,060 --> 00:03:19,780 might look like if they got married. Now, this is how it works. 48 00:03:19,780 --> 00:03:22,820 William isn't looking into a mirror at all. He's looking through a plain 49 00:03:22,820 --> 00:03:26,820 piece of glass and on the other side is Susan, and when the light is 50 00:03:26,820 --> 00:03:30,740 shining brightly on Susan, William can see Susan through the glass. 51 00:03:30,740 --> 00:03:35,220 But if Susan's light goes out and William's light comes on, 52 00:03:35,220 --> 00:03:38,580 what Williams sees is his own, much brighter, reflection 53 00:03:38,580 --> 00:03:40,660 in the pane of glass. 54 00:03:40,660 --> 00:03:42,700 But what is really interesting is what happens 55 00:03:42,700 --> 00:03:44,860 when we put both lights on at the same time. 56 00:03:44,860 --> 00:03:51,860 A strange blend of faces emerges called Pepper's ghost. 57 00:03:51,860 --> 00:03:55,340 You changed your mind about getting married, perhaps? 58 00:03:55,340 --> 00:03:58,540 Right, over here, everybody. Come on. Enough of Pepper's ghost. 59 00:03:58,540 --> 00:04:01,860 Come and look at yourselves in these mirrors over here. Over here. 60 00:04:01,860 --> 00:04:05,780 There's nothing mystical or marital about these like Michael's mirrors. 61 00:04:05,780 --> 00:04:07,900 They're just plain distorting mirrors. 62 00:04:07,900 --> 00:04:09,940 And if you stand in front of them, you can change. 63 00:04:09,940 --> 00:04:11,940 See, this one gives you legs ten-feet long. 64 00:04:11,940 --> 00:04:14,660 If you hold your hands up, you get great long, sort of, claws. 65 00:04:14,660 --> 00:04:17,500 This one makes you into a dwarf and this one, 66 00:04:17,500 --> 00:04:22,580 this one gives you a strange mouth. See that, Karen? 67 00:04:22,580 --> 00:04:25,940 Now, what they can't do is to make you look anything like you really are, but here 68 00:04:25,940 --> 00:04:28,060 we've got mirrors that can make things clearer than 69 00:04:28,060 --> 00:04:30,260 they really are. If you come over here, we can see. 70 00:04:30,260 --> 00:04:32,900 Stand round the front there, round the front, everybody. 71 00:04:32,900 --> 00:04:34,220 Enough of those mirrors. 72 00:04:34,220 --> 00:04:37,020 What do you think that is, anybody? Any idea? 73 00:04:37,020 --> 00:04:42,180 Worms? Lipstick marks, perhaps? No? 74 00:04:42,180 --> 00:04:43,780 Red slugs. 75 00:04:43,780 --> 00:04:46,700 Well, if I put it down here 76 00:04:46,700 --> 00:04:50,980 and put this cylindrical mirror over that circle, what have we got? 77 00:04:50,980 --> 00:04:54,300 Yes, the ten of hearts and hearts are trumps today. 78 00:04:54,300 --> 00:04:57,260 Let's try this one. Go round the front again. 79 00:04:57,260 --> 00:04:59,940 What do you think that is? Yes? Mountains? 80 00:04:59,940 --> 00:05:02,740 Valley? Moon? A face, you say. 81 00:05:02,740 --> 00:05:05,060 Let's see. Shall we put it down? 82 00:05:05,060 --> 00:05:08,260 Get that, Jackie, and put it over the circle and what have we got? 83 00:05:08,260 --> 00:05:10,700 A witch in a green coat. 84 00:05:10,700 --> 00:05:14,420 OK, over to here, and this idea of hidden art that can only be 85 00:05:14,420 --> 00:05:18,660 revealed in a particular way has fascinated artists for centuries. 86 00:05:18,660 --> 00:05:23,860 Here's another example of it. Any idea what that is? Swamps? Swamps. 87 00:05:23,860 --> 00:05:26,820 A road? Just a series of lines. 88 00:05:26,820 --> 00:05:29,940 But look at that, Jackie, from one side. 89 00:05:29,940 --> 00:05:34,460 Look on the edge. Can you, Jonathan, you have a look? Along the edge. 90 00:05:34,460 --> 00:05:37,700 That's right, there are four faces. Upside down. Indeed. 91 00:05:37,700 --> 00:05:40,300 It's an idea that's also fascinated scientists, of course, 92 00:05:40,300 --> 00:05:42,020 they call it making transformations. 93 00:05:42,020 --> 00:05:43,940 We remember the astronomer Copernicus, 94 00:05:43,940 --> 00:05:45,940 because he made an enormous transformation 95 00:05:45,940 --> 00:05:48,820 thinking of the stars and the planets, imagining himself to be 96 00:05:48,820 --> 00:05:50,620 standing not on the Earth, but on the sun, 97 00:05:50,620 --> 00:05:52,980 but let's get back to these pictures. 98 00:05:52,980 --> 00:05:55,980 Yes. Dougal. Florence. 99 00:05:55,980 --> 00:06:00,300 A trumpeter. Let's see. Yes, it's a monkey blowing a trumpet. 100 00:06:00,300 --> 00:06:05,700 And one final go over here. What about this view of the Earth from... 101 00:06:05,700 --> 00:06:08,940 That's the moon. Is it? Put the mirror on. 102 00:06:08,940 --> 00:06:11,220 Come on, Jackie, put the mirror on. 103 00:06:11,220 --> 00:06:14,060 It's a pink tiger, isn't it? Yes. Something you don't want to catch 104 00:06:14,060 --> 00:06:15,900 by the tail. Right, finished mirrors, 105 00:06:15,900 --> 00:06:18,180 over to Judith who's got a competition. Follow me. 106 00:06:18,180 --> 00:06:20,180 First of all, something really easy. 107 00:06:20,180 --> 00:06:22,980 Can anyone tell me what this is? A face. 108 00:06:22,980 --> 00:06:25,940 A face, that's right, it is a face, yes. 109 00:06:25,940 --> 00:06:28,940 Now, a scientist called Gerald Fisher has discovered how 110 00:06:28,940 --> 00:06:31,380 to turn a face like that into something else. 111 00:06:31,380 --> 00:06:34,020 Not another face, something really different. 112 00:06:34,020 --> 00:06:36,500 Now, I want you to listen to what you've got to do. 113 00:06:36,500 --> 00:06:39,660 I'm going to walk behind these statues and take these things off 114 00:06:39,660 --> 00:06:42,940 and when you see the face changing into something else, 115 00:06:42,940 --> 00:06:46,100 and when you're sure you know what it is, I want you to run over 116 00:06:46,100 --> 00:06:48,580 and sit on the chair underneath the statute. 117 00:06:48,580 --> 00:06:51,460 If there's somebody there, just sit on top of him, pile yourselves up. 118 00:06:51,460 --> 00:06:54,380 Right. Are you ready to go? Yes. 119 00:06:54,380 --> 00:06:58,300 No, you wait over there and just watch. 120 00:06:58,300 --> 00:07:01,980 Anybody can see? No? 121 00:07:01,980 --> 00:07:04,220 Number two. 122 00:07:04,220 --> 00:07:05,740 Onto number three. 123 00:07:05,740 --> 00:07:08,300 Ah, John's seen a change. 124 00:07:08,300 --> 00:07:09,700 On to number four. 125 00:07:12,460 --> 00:07:16,180 Five. Can you all see it now? 126 00:07:16,180 --> 00:07:20,260 And number six. Two left. Jackie's just coming on there. 127 00:07:20,260 --> 00:07:23,660 Now, as you can see, they've all seen the change at a different time. 128 00:07:23,660 --> 00:07:26,180 John was the first one. Jackie here was the last. 129 00:07:26,180 --> 00:07:27,700 We don't see it at the same time. 130 00:07:27,700 --> 00:07:30,620 To some people it changes into a girl much earlier 131 00:07:30,620 --> 00:07:33,260 and if any of the men watching at home found that the face 132 00:07:33,260 --> 00:07:36,580 became a girl much earlier, down at that end, it's tempting to 133 00:07:36,580 --> 00:07:39,260 read into that something your wives might not approve of! 134 00:07:39,260 --> 00:07:41,420 Haha! Well, I don't know about that, Judith, 135 00:07:41,420 --> 00:07:46,300 but certainly, wild horses wouldn't get me to confess how soon I saw it. 136 00:07:46,300 --> 00:07:49,940 Come with me and see what we have over here. 137 00:07:49,940 --> 00:07:53,500 We had a very quick look at Mr Michael Holt, the mathemagician, 138 00:07:53,500 --> 00:07:56,620 but now watch closely and see what he has to show you. 139 00:07:56,620 --> 00:07:58,060 Thank you, Raymond. 140 00:07:58,060 --> 00:08:01,580 Now, would somebody like to try on a waistcoat and... 141 00:08:01,580 --> 00:08:04,900 Oh, here you are. Would you try on this waistcoat? 142 00:08:04,900 --> 00:08:07,860 We've met, haven't we? It's Sanjay, yes? Right. 143 00:08:07,860 --> 00:08:11,140 And here is the coat. Your arm out, that's it. 144 00:08:11,140 --> 00:08:13,500 In with that arm and in with that arm. 145 00:08:13,500 --> 00:08:17,340 Now, here is a challenge which you might like to try at home 146 00:08:17,340 --> 00:08:20,540 and that is to see if you can take the waistcoat off without 147 00:08:20,540 --> 00:08:23,660 taking the jacket off, without taking your arms out of the sleeve. 148 00:08:23,660 --> 00:08:25,460 Off you go. See if you can try, come on. 149 00:08:25,460 --> 00:08:28,100 HE CHUCKLES 150 00:08:28,100 --> 00:08:30,740 No? Do you give up? 151 00:08:35,980 --> 00:08:38,020 Well, look, shall I show you? 152 00:08:38,020 --> 00:08:41,380 Shall I show you how to do it? I can't do it. You can't do it. 153 00:08:41,380 --> 00:08:44,700 Well, very well tried, anyway. Very well tried. Would you sit down? 154 00:08:44,700 --> 00:08:46,460 That's it. APPLAUSE 155 00:08:46,460 --> 00:08:48,420 Give him a good hand. That's terrific. 156 00:08:48,420 --> 00:08:50,580 Now I'll show you how it's done. MUSIC PLAYS 157 00:08:50,580 --> 00:08:52,900 You see, you undo the waistcoat like this 158 00:08:52,900 --> 00:08:55,380 and we've got the right kind of music for this. 159 00:08:55,380 --> 00:08:57,580 And you take this arm here 160 00:08:57,580 --> 00:09:00,300 and you put it through the waistcoat like that, you see? 161 00:09:00,300 --> 00:09:03,420 And then you feed the waistcoat all the way through, but I'm going 162 00:09:03,420 --> 00:09:04,900 to turn round so as you can see 163 00:09:04,900 --> 00:09:06,860 what's happening at the back, like that. 164 00:09:06,860 --> 00:09:10,380 And you just feed the coat through, making sure you haven't got 165 00:09:10,380 --> 00:09:11,780 anything in the pockets. 166 00:09:11,780 --> 00:09:13,980 If you've got an awful lot in the pockets, 167 00:09:13,980 --> 00:09:15,540 you're never going to do this. 168 00:09:15,540 --> 00:09:18,180 And then you get the waistcoat right over onto the side 169 00:09:18,180 --> 00:09:20,500 and you just slip the elbow through, like that. 170 00:09:20,500 --> 00:09:23,260 Now, we've now got the waistcoat entirely on this 171 00:09:23,260 --> 00:09:26,820 side of the jacket, you see. Here it is. All here. 172 00:09:26,820 --> 00:09:30,060 Now, all I have to do is put the waistcoat right down 173 00:09:30,060 --> 00:09:32,700 the sleeve here. That's it, it's going down. 174 00:09:32,700 --> 00:09:36,340 And then try and get it down right past the elbow. 175 00:09:36,340 --> 00:09:39,580 Put my hand up the sleeve here to pull the waistcoat down, like this. 176 00:09:39,580 --> 00:09:41,020 And here we are. 177 00:09:41,020 --> 00:09:44,500 And I pull it out. Oh, Christmas! 178 00:09:44,500 --> 00:09:48,100 Ah! There we are. Thank you very much. 179 00:09:48,100 --> 00:09:49,420 And there you are. 180 00:09:52,340 --> 00:09:57,700 Now, I would like somebody to help me bring out these three dice here. 181 00:09:57,700 --> 00:10:01,780 Could I have you, you, Mark. And could I have you, Sue, isn't it? 182 00:10:01,780 --> 00:10:04,700 Out you come. Will you bring the dice out here? 183 00:10:04,700 --> 00:10:08,620 I'm not going to watch what you do while you turn them. 184 00:10:08,620 --> 00:10:12,940 Turn them round. Michael is going to see fair play. 185 00:10:12,940 --> 00:10:17,340 And then would you stack them up into a tower? Have you done that? 186 00:10:18,660 --> 00:10:21,740 Nice big tower, that's it. Yes, nice big tower. 187 00:10:21,740 --> 00:10:23,380 What do you want us to do now? 188 00:10:23,380 --> 00:10:27,020 Can I just turn around and show you what I want you to do next. 189 00:10:27,020 --> 00:10:29,580 What I'm going to do, can I move around here. 190 00:10:29,580 --> 00:10:34,260 What I want you to do is to look at the bottom face, then 191 00:10:34,260 --> 00:10:37,700 look at the hidden faces in there, the two, 192 00:10:37,700 --> 00:10:41,900 and the two hidden faces in there, add them all up, that face, 193 00:10:41,900 --> 00:10:44,900 that one and that one and the bottom one, add them up 194 00:10:44,900 --> 00:10:47,220 but don't tell me what the total is 195 00:10:47,220 --> 00:10:51,180 and I am going to try and find out. All right? You know what to do? 196 00:10:51,180 --> 00:10:54,140 I'm going to turn my back and I won't watch what you do. 197 00:11:01,140 --> 00:11:02,860 Let everybody see. 198 00:11:04,740 --> 00:11:07,340 I don't think your maths is very good! 199 00:11:07,340 --> 00:11:09,740 THEY WHISPER AND CONFER 200 00:11:09,740 --> 00:11:12,660 Right, are we agreed? 201 00:11:12,660 --> 00:11:14,940 We had a little bit of trouble making sure 202 00:11:14,940 --> 00:11:19,700 we had the right total, are we all agreed that that is the total? 203 00:11:19,700 --> 00:11:22,540 We are. I'll now hide it. 204 00:11:22,540 --> 00:11:26,060 Sit down, then and we'll see if the mathemagician... 205 00:11:26,060 --> 00:11:27,860 Can I turn around? You can. 206 00:11:27,860 --> 00:11:30,340 Right, thank you very much. Here are the dice. 207 00:11:30,340 --> 00:11:33,700 And I've got to look at them and I will try and read your mind. 208 00:11:33,700 --> 00:11:38,420 I know it's like the key of a door less one. It's 20. 209 00:11:38,420 --> 00:11:42,300 Is that right? Yes! There you are. 210 00:11:44,140 --> 00:11:46,740 Now, you want to know how that's done? I'll tell you. 211 00:11:46,740 --> 00:11:48,660 It's absurdly simple. 212 00:11:48,660 --> 00:11:52,340 You see, I know that the opposite faces of a dice add up to seven. 213 00:11:52,340 --> 00:11:55,060 Four and three. Add up to seven. 214 00:11:55,060 --> 00:11:57,700 And so do all the other faces. 215 00:11:57,700 --> 00:12:02,580 So all I have to do is add up the faces on three dice making 21 216 00:12:02,580 --> 00:12:06,060 and then I take away what is on the top dice, 217 00:12:06,060 --> 00:12:09,140 the top face of the top dice and it is as simple as that. 218 00:12:09,140 --> 00:12:12,060 Now, see if you can work out the next trick. 219 00:12:12,060 --> 00:12:17,260 Now look, this is an ordinary gyroscope top 220 00:12:17,260 --> 00:12:20,900 and if I pull this string, with a bit of luck 221 00:12:20,900 --> 00:12:25,700 we will be able to spin it up like that. 222 00:12:25,700 --> 00:12:30,460 Take it in your hand. Now turn it about. Does that feel funny? 223 00:12:30,460 --> 00:12:34,980 What does it feel? Does it feel as if it wants to move itself? 224 00:12:34,980 --> 00:12:38,620 Feels kind of alive, does it? If you turn it like that? 225 00:12:38,620 --> 00:12:41,140 Very strange things, gyroscopes. 226 00:12:41,140 --> 00:12:44,940 They don't like being moved, do they? 227 00:12:44,940 --> 00:12:48,180 Right... Now, here we've got a disc of paper 228 00:12:48,180 --> 00:12:50,900 and if I spin that up very fast 229 00:12:50,900 --> 00:12:54,140 that is now being a gyroscope, too. 230 00:12:54,140 --> 00:12:57,700 But not a stiff gyroscope like the metal top. 231 00:12:57,700 --> 00:13:01,100 Watch what happens when I turn this. 232 00:13:03,100 --> 00:13:05,220 Isn't that extraordinary? 233 00:13:05,220 --> 00:13:08,020 You see how it's all distorted? 234 00:13:08,020 --> 00:13:11,900 Now that may give you some idea of the problems which face 235 00:13:11,900 --> 00:13:16,460 engineers when they have to make things spin very fast 236 00:13:16,460 --> 00:13:19,580 and these things then start to behave like gyroscopes. 237 00:13:19,580 --> 00:13:20,900 Suppose, for instance, 238 00:13:20,900 --> 00:13:24,620 that disc of paper was the spinning rotors of a helicopter. 239 00:13:24,620 --> 00:13:26,860 Well, none of us would want to go for a ride 240 00:13:26,860 --> 00:13:29,300 in a wobbly helicopter like that, would we? 241 00:13:29,300 --> 00:13:33,380 What have we got here? A circle with an ordinary pendulum. 242 00:13:33,380 --> 00:13:37,500 If I flick it, it swings backwards and forwards, doesn't it? 243 00:13:37,500 --> 00:13:40,180 If I turn this motor on... 244 00:13:40,180 --> 00:13:42,540 it jumps about all over the place. 245 00:13:42,540 --> 00:13:44,220 If I turn the motor off, 246 00:13:44,220 --> 00:13:45,820 and hold it up here, 247 00:13:45,820 --> 00:13:48,620 what would you expect to happen if I turned the motor on now? 248 00:13:48,620 --> 00:13:50,180 What would happen? 249 00:13:50,180 --> 00:13:53,660 It would go around, would it? Shall we try it? Shall we? 250 00:13:53,660 --> 00:13:56,900 Hold it up, turn the motor on. And it doesn't go around. 251 00:13:58,540 --> 00:14:03,300 If I flick it slightly, it becomes a very stable upside-down pendulum. 252 00:14:04,740 --> 00:14:07,540 That's remarkable, we can explain that mathematically, 253 00:14:07,540 --> 00:14:10,140 but no-one has yet been able to explain that physically. 254 00:14:10,140 --> 00:14:13,460 There's no physical, watertight explanation. 255 00:14:13,460 --> 00:14:16,140 Let's leave those noisy pendulums alone 256 00:14:16,140 --> 00:14:18,380 and try two other pendulums, these swings. 257 00:14:18,380 --> 00:14:22,460 If you stand over there, we have Susan and Sue on the swings. 258 00:14:22,460 --> 00:14:25,900 They are going to sit right still without swinging at all 259 00:14:25,900 --> 00:14:29,340 themselves, I'm going to swing one of them 260 00:14:29,340 --> 00:14:32,460 and let's see what happens to Susan over there. 261 00:14:32,460 --> 00:14:35,820 Don't move, either of you. I'll just swing Sue here. 262 00:14:35,820 --> 00:14:40,460 They're connected by that loose strap up ahead. What happens? 263 00:14:42,300 --> 00:14:47,540 Sue starts slowing down and Susan speeds up. Mind your head. 264 00:14:50,780 --> 00:14:54,740 And then Susan starts slowing down and Sue speeds up again. 265 00:14:58,740 --> 00:15:00,380 Susan has now stopped. 266 00:15:00,380 --> 00:15:04,420 And now Sue is slowing down and off goes Susan again. 267 00:15:04,420 --> 00:15:08,580 Great idea for having in a park. Stop. End of swings. 268 00:15:08,580 --> 00:15:11,740 Let's go across to Raymond.. Off you get, kids. There we go. 269 00:15:11,740 --> 00:15:14,180 Raymond has another stall going over here. 270 00:15:14,180 --> 00:15:16,620 Look what's coming now. 271 00:15:16,620 --> 00:15:21,300 Now, the trouble with these mechanical toys, 272 00:15:21,300 --> 00:15:24,820 although they're very charming, is that they run into things. 273 00:15:24,820 --> 00:15:26,460 And when they run into things, 274 00:15:26,460 --> 00:15:29,940 they get stopped and it always happens under the piano, 275 00:15:29,940 --> 00:15:32,780 or behind a cupboard, or something awkward like that. 276 00:15:32,780 --> 00:15:38,500 So let's put this little pussycat in a cage and then see how he makes out. 277 00:15:38,500 --> 00:15:41,260 Let's start him up before we put him in. 278 00:15:43,780 --> 00:15:47,060 This is the most difficult part of all. 279 00:15:47,060 --> 00:15:49,260 Right, now... 280 00:15:49,260 --> 00:15:51,180 In it goes. Now... 281 00:15:53,380 --> 00:15:55,100 See? You can't stop him! 282 00:15:59,980 --> 00:16:05,860 Do you see? What he does is he climbs up the wall 283 00:16:05,860 --> 00:16:11,180 of the ball and manages to keep going. 284 00:16:11,180 --> 00:16:17,420 And that has all to do with something called feedback control. 285 00:16:17,420 --> 00:16:21,620 It's a very simple example of it, but without feedback control, 286 00:16:21,620 --> 00:16:24,420 there would be no television, no space flight, 287 00:16:24,420 --> 00:16:26,380 and indeed, no living creatures, 288 00:16:26,380 --> 00:16:31,660 because robbed of feedback control, none of us could even exist. 289 00:16:31,660 --> 00:16:35,220 To learn more about it, over to Dr Stuart Anstis. 290 00:16:35,220 --> 00:16:39,300 Here's a nice piece of feedback. Tucked away inside this little box 291 00:16:39,300 --> 00:16:40,820 is an electronic eye, 292 00:16:40,820 --> 00:16:43,940 looking through this large, square lens at this picture tube. 293 00:16:43,940 --> 00:16:46,820 But it's not only looking at the television tube, 294 00:16:46,820 --> 00:16:49,860 it's also controlling the picture on its face in a most remarkable way. 295 00:16:49,860 --> 00:16:53,180 Unfortunately, at the moment, the eye is confused by all the studio lights 296 00:16:53,180 --> 00:16:55,420 and so let's get, Stuart, first of all, 297 00:16:55,420 --> 00:16:57,620 to cover the eye up with a black cloth, 298 00:16:57,620 --> 00:17:00,620 so it can only see the screen, and if we get the gallery to take the 299 00:17:00,620 --> 00:17:04,180 studio lights down, we might be able to conjure up some electronic magic. 300 00:17:04,180 --> 00:17:06,820 Right. Now, can everybody see that line on the screen? 301 00:17:06,820 --> 00:17:09,980 That white flashing line? Yes, of course you can. 302 00:17:09,980 --> 00:17:12,300 Now, so can the electronic eye, but more than us. 303 00:17:12,300 --> 00:17:14,140 It's rather cleverer than our eyes. 304 00:17:14,140 --> 00:17:17,300 It can not only see the line, it can actually tell the line where 305 00:17:17,300 --> 00:17:19,620 to go, so that it can go on seeing it. 306 00:17:19,620 --> 00:17:22,100 So if I try to cover up that line with my hand, 307 00:17:22,100 --> 00:17:25,260 then the line won't allow me to do that. 308 00:17:25,260 --> 00:17:27,780 The eye will control it to stop it happening. 309 00:17:27,780 --> 00:17:30,180 So you see, I get an outline of my hand. 310 00:17:30,180 --> 00:17:33,540 Even if I open my fingers and close them like scissors, 311 00:17:33,540 --> 00:17:36,180 there the line very cleverly follows the outline. 312 00:17:36,180 --> 00:17:39,620 It never gets concealed. Now, have a go at that, William. 313 00:17:39,620 --> 00:17:42,060 That's a very nice name you've got. 314 00:17:42,060 --> 00:17:45,500 Put your hand in gently. Open the fingers, very gently. 315 00:17:45,500 --> 00:17:47,020 And close them again. 316 00:17:47,020 --> 00:17:49,740 You see? The line still follows your hand, take it out. 317 00:17:49,740 --> 00:17:52,620 In you go again. Open the fingers, close them. 318 00:17:52,620 --> 00:17:55,580 Take this shape, this cut out of a face we've got, push it in cos 319 00:17:55,580 --> 00:17:59,940 that line always wants to run away. It's frightened of reflected light. 320 00:17:59,940 --> 00:18:04,260 In goes the face. And there we can see the outline of that cut-out face. 321 00:18:04,260 --> 00:18:06,780 Now, can you hear anything else happening? 322 00:18:06,780 --> 00:18:09,500 BUZZING As that face goes in? 323 00:18:09,500 --> 00:18:11,180 TONE CHANGES 324 00:18:11,180 --> 00:18:13,820 What can you hear? A noise. A noise, yes. 325 00:18:13,820 --> 00:18:16,500 Now, that noise depends upon the shape of that line. 326 00:18:16,500 --> 00:18:18,940 Stuart's keeping it on the screen for us. There it is. 327 00:18:18,940 --> 00:18:21,820 Now, have you ever heard the sound of your own face? 328 00:18:21,820 --> 00:18:24,540 You haven't, have you? No, neither have I. 329 00:18:24,540 --> 00:18:27,180 But if we're very careful, you might be able to achieve that. 330 00:18:27,180 --> 00:18:29,340 Kneel down... See, the line's frightened, 331 00:18:29,340 --> 00:18:31,420 it runs away as soon as you go near it. 332 00:18:31,420 --> 00:18:34,860 Now, if you put your head carefully between the electronic eye 333 00:18:34,860 --> 00:18:37,900 and the line, the screen, there's your face. 334 00:18:37,900 --> 00:18:40,580 Stick your tongue out. And again. 335 00:18:40,580 --> 00:18:42,340 Stick your tongue out. 336 00:18:42,340 --> 00:18:44,780 That's your face, I can see your tongue out. 337 00:18:44,780 --> 00:18:47,660 Now, that, for the very first time, live on television, 338 00:18:47,660 --> 00:18:51,380 the sound of William's face with his tongue out. 339 00:18:51,380 --> 00:18:55,380 This feedback business works the other way round, as well. 340 00:18:55,380 --> 00:18:59,020 Not only do we need the right information to enable us 341 00:18:59,020 --> 00:19:01,140 to do whatever we do normally, 342 00:19:01,140 --> 00:19:03,860 if we feed ourselves the wrong information, 343 00:19:03,860 --> 00:19:05,540 we can make life impossible, 344 00:19:05,540 --> 00:19:08,540 we might even find we were unable to stand up, for instance. 345 00:19:08,540 --> 00:19:10,340 Now, how are we going to prove that? 346 00:19:10,340 --> 00:19:14,660 Well, here in the studio, we've got a room with a trolley in the middle 347 00:19:14,660 --> 00:19:18,940 of it and the trolley is on wheels, but this is no ordinary room. 348 00:19:18,940 --> 00:19:22,420 The walls of this room are not connected to the floor. 349 00:19:22,420 --> 00:19:25,660 And with the help of the strong arm of Stuart Anstis, I can show 350 00:19:25,660 --> 00:19:30,380 you that we can move the walls without moving the floor. 351 00:19:30,380 --> 00:19:34,700 In other words, this room behaves in a way that our mind will find 352 00:19:34,700 --> 00:19:36,940 difficult to cope with. 353 00:19:36,940 --> 00:19:39,660 Right, Stuart, let's see who's had a heavy tea. 354 00:19:39,660 --> 00:19:42,500 Come on, Martin. Try an experiment and we see 355 00:19:42,500 --> 00:19:45,340 if we can make you behave in a strange fashion. 356 00:19:45,340 --> 00:19:50,020 Stand in the trolley, on the rubber. Now, face the other way. 357 00:19:50,020 --> 00:19:51,940 That's right, turn yourself round. 358 00:19:51,940 --> 00:19:56,380 And look up perhaps at one of those pictures. Lovely. Now then... 359 00:19:56,380 --> 00:19:59,580 You tell me what you think is happening. 360 00:20:02,260 --> 00:20:05,820 I don't want you to sway. Stand still, whatever happens. 361 00:20:08,700 --> 00:20:10,940 You're swaying, aren't you? 362 00:20:10,940 --> 00:20:13,380 Now, what do you think it is that's moving? 363 00:20:13,380 --> 00:20:16,220 The floor? The floor! 364 00:20:16,220 --> 00:20:19,300 Well, turn round and have a look and see what is happening. 365 00:20:19,300 --> 00:20:22,260 The floor isn't moving, is it? What is? 366 00:20:22,260 --> 00:20:23,620 The wall. That's right. 367 00:20:23,620 --> 00:20:25,820 So now you know what's going on, turn round and see 368 00:20:25,820 --> 00:20:27,940 if you can stand still again. 369 00:20:27,940 --> 00:20:30,220 Look up at the wall, hands by your side. 370 00:20:32,580 --> 00:20:34,860 Do you think he's standing still? 371 00:20:34,860 --> 00:20:38,180 He's not, is he? It's jolly difficult. Well done, Martin. 372 00:20:38,180 --> 00:20:40,660 Even when you knew what was happening, 373 00:20:40,660 --> 00:20:43,580 you found it impossible to stand still and I can hardly blame you. 374 00:20:43,580 --> 00:20:47,340 Come on, Helen. We'll try something else with you. 375 00:20:47,340 --> 00:20:49,260 Have you had a heavy tea? 376 00:20:49,260 --> 00:20:51,740 You have? Oh, dear. We might have a problem here. 377 00:20:51,740 --> 00:20:53,660 Step up, then. 378 00:20:53,660 --> 00:20:56,260 Hands by side. Don't touch the rails. 379 00:20:56,260 --> 00:20:58,820 Now, Stuart's made a few adjustments. 380 00:20:58,820 --> 00:21:01,260 You see if you can tell me what's happening. 381 00:21:05,500 --> 00:21:09,260 You tell me if you think she's going to fall over. 382 00:21:09,260 --> 00:21:11,060 She's not doing very well, is she? 383 00:21:11,060 --> 00:21:13,580 What do you think is happening, Helen? 384 00:21:16,540 --> 00:21:19,940 It's very confusing, isn't it? Let's try something else. 385 00:21:19,940 --> 00:21:22,620 If I told you I was moving, would you believe me? 386 00:21:25,260 --> 00:21:27,740 Really and truly? 387 00:21:27,740 --> 00:21:32,100 Yet everybody else can see I'm the one that's standing still. 388 00:21:32,100 --> 00:21:34,740 You're the one that's moving! 389 00:21:34,740 --> 00:21:36,380 Feels funny, doesn't it? 390 00:21:36,380 --> 00:21:39,060 Yes, they did it to me on Tomorrow's World not so long ago. 391 00:21:39,060 --> 00:21:40,380 Thank you very much. 392 00:21:40,380 --> 00:21:42,540 Have you ever wondered why your ears are where 393 00:21:42,540 --> 00:21:44,260 they are on the side of your head? 394 00:21:44,260 --> 00:21:46,820 You haven't? It's something I ponder every day. 395 00:21:46,820 --> 00:21:49,820 But not all living creatures do have ears where ours are. 396 00:21:49,820 --> 00:21:53,140 Some, like the cricket, for example, have theirs on their legs. 397 00:21:53,140 --> 00:21:56,260 Well, that, for the time being, is what we've done to Sophie here. 398 00:21:56,260 --> 00:21:59,700 Now, with her, we can find out what the cricket's world would sound like 399 00:21:59,700 --> 00:22:03,260 or what our world would sound like if we had our ears around our ankles. 400 00:22:03,260 --> 00:22:06,380 If Sophie will jump, if Stuart will hold her satchel, 401 00:22:06,380 --> 00:22:09,380 jump a little bit, Sophie. Hear that sound? 402 00:22:09,380 --> 00:22:10,780 It's quite deafening! 403 00:22:10,780 --> 00:22:12,940 Right, back you go on the target, Sophie, 404 00:22:12,940 --> 00:22:15,900 and Stuart will help you put your ears where they should be. 405 00:22:15,900 --> 00:22:17,700 Meanwhile, over here, we've got 406 00:22:17,700 --> 00:22:20,540 William with ears in an even stranger place, on his hands. 407 00:22:20,540 --> 00:22:22,300 How does that feel, William... 408 00:22:22,300 --> 00:22:24,220 Matthew! ..to have your ears on your hands? 409 00:22:24,220 --> 00:22:26,740 Not very different. Not very strange. 410 00:22:26,740 --> 00:22:29,580 Wave your arms around, so we can hear what it feels like. 411 00:22:29,580 --> 00:22:31,100 Move one past me as I speak. 412 00:22:31,100 --> 00:22:33,740 Move one past my face as I go on speaking. 413 00:22:33,740 --> 00:22:36,300 VOLUME FLUCTUATES Can you hear my voice dying away 414 00:22:36,300 --> 00:22:38,620 and building up again? Yes. You can? Right. 415 00:22:38,620 --> 00:22:41,700 Now, all of you, how would you like best to have your ears? 416 00:22:41,700 --> 00:22:45,500 On your hands, like Matthew here, or where the rest of us are? 417 00:22:45,500 --> 00:22:48,380 Come with me, Matthew. On your ears. 418 00:22:48,380 --> 00:22:51,940 Where would you like to have your ears? Where they are. 419 00:22:51,940 --> 00:22:55,260 I just want a trial to see. Are you ready, Sophie? Right. 420 00:22:55,260 --> 00:22:57,580 All these boxes are empty, except for two. 421 00:22:57,580 --> 00:22:59,580 They've got something ticking in them. 422 00:22:59,580 --> 00:23:00,980 What you're going to have to do 423 00:23:00,980 --> 00:23:03,420 when I say go is to run down the side of the table, as 424 00:23:03,420 --> 00:23:06,220 fast as you can, try and find a box that's got something ticking in it. 425 00:23:06,220 --> 00:23:08,060 Now, be very quiet, everybody, 426 00:23:08,060 --> 00:23:10,780 cos we've never done this experiment before. Excuse me, Stuart. 427 00:23:10,780 --> 00:23:12,980 And we're not quite sure it's going to work. 428 00:23:12,980 --> 00:23:16,140 Right, when I say go, off you go. Find the ticking thing. 429 00:23:16,140 --> 00:23:17,780 Listen with your ears, Sophie. 430 00:23:17,780 --> 00:23:20,140 Listen with your ears. 431 00:23:20,140 --> 00:23:23,260 LOUD TICKING Any luck? 432 00:23:23,260 --> 00:23:26,340 BOX RATTLES She's right! She's right! 433 00:23:26,340 --> 00:23:30,100 So it seems better, doesn't it, to have your ears up here? 434 00:23:30,100 --> 00:23:32,580 Just before we make sure, let's run another test. 435 00:23:32,580 --> 00:23:35,860 Matthew, you go back to your target. Sophie, go back to Stuart. 436 00:23:35,860 --> 00:23:37,580 You've got to close your eyes, 437 00:23:37,580 --> 00:23:39,540 mustn't open your eyes during this one, 438 00:23:39,540 --> 00:23:41,420 so you can't see where you're going, 439 00:23:41,420 --> 00:23:45,020 and they're going to spin you round, so you don't know where you are. 440 00:23:45,020 --> 00:23:46,820 Blow a trumpet. 441 00:23:46,820 --> 00:23:50,740 Everybody? John? You have a go. Stand on this target. 442 00:23:50,740 --> 00:23:53,540 When I say blow, you blow your trumpet and these two are going 443 00:23:53,540 --> 00:23:56,380 to try and find their way to you with their ears. 444 00:23:56,380 --> 00:23:58,060 Now, Matthew, it would be better 445 00:23:58,060 --> 00:24:01,940 if you hold your arms out sideways, like a bird, give you a better sound. 446 00:24:01,940 --> 00:24:04,900 Right, are you ready? Right, blow. 447 00:24:04,900 --> 00:24:06,940 BLOWS TRUMPET 448 00:24:06,940 --> 00:24:09,420 Now, we've crossed over Matthew's ears. 449 00:24:09,420 --> 00:24:12,260 We've connected his left hand to his right ear 450 00:24:12,260 --> 00:24:14,500 and his right hand to his left ear. 451 00:24:14,500 --> 00:24:17,140 But he still seems to be doing very well. 452 00:24:19,180 --> 00:24:22,820 Judith is stopping him bump into things. 453 00:24:22,820 --> 00:24:24,780 Oh, a dead heat! 454 00:24:24,780 --> 00:24:28,100 Open your eyes. Absolutely dead heat. Well done! 455 00:24:28,100 --> 00:24:31,460 Well, I think you deserve to have the things you found in those boxes. 456 00:24:31,460 --> 00:24:34,740 Those things that were ticking. Let's open it and see what they were. 457 00:24:34,740 --> 00:24:36,180 Shall I open it for you? 458 00:24:37,740 --> 00:24:40,500 Right, here's a Christmas riddle for you. 459 00:24:40,500 --> 00:24:45,340 What musical instrument starts life encased in a mixture of horse 460 00:24:45,340 --> 00:24:47,380 hair and cow dung 461 00:24:47,380 --> 00:24:52,260 and ends up being played by someone standing 30 or 40 feet away? 462 00:24:52,260 --> 00:24:54,300 Who knows? 463 00:24:54,300 --> 00:24:57,740 Yes, of course. A church bell. 464 00:24:57,740 --> 00:25:03,140 This one weighs 500 weight, but guess how much Big Ben weighs. Any guesses? 465 00:25:03,140 --> 00:25:08,940 13 tonnes, 1,000 weights, three-quarters and 15 pounds, 466 00:25:08,940 --> 00:25:10,900 so that's a pretty big bell. 467 00:25:10,900 --> 00:25:15,420 But you know, to the scientist, a bell is a machine for transforming 468 00:25:15,420 --> 00:25:20,140 the energy of something moving into the energy of musical sound. 469 00:25:20,140 --> 00:25:23,100 One large lump of metal, the clapper, 470 00:25:23,100 --> 00:25:26,980 hitting another large lump of metal, the bell. 471 00:25:26,980 --> 00:25:32,620 And actually, what that makes is a most unmusical crash. 472 00:25:32,620 --> 00:25:35,900 Just listen. BIG BEN SOUNDS 473 00:25:35,900 --> 00:25:40,620 Now did anyone hear an unmusical crash? Be honest. 474 00:25:40,620 --> 00:25:44,300 No, you didn't, did you? Not one of you. 475 00:25:44,300 --> 00:25:49,500 It doesn't sound noisy. It sounds beautiful and musical. 476 00:25:49,500 --> 00:25:53,220 Because our brains are so quickly overwhelmed by the sheer 477 00:25:53,220 --> 00:25:57,900 music that the bell makes that we miss the awful noise. 478 00:25:57,900 --> 00:26:01,220 So now, let's play a recording of the bell backwards, 479 00:26:01,220 --> 00:26:03,740 so that the crash comes at the end, 480 00:26:03,740 --> 00:26:06,220 instead of the beginning, and 481 00:26:06,220 --> 00:26:08,140 then let's listen and see if we can 482 00:26:08,140 --> 00:26:10,180 hear this crash I'm talking about. 483 00:26:10,180 --> 00:26:13,220 Listen. BELL SOUNDS BACKWARDS 484 00:26:13,220 --> 00:26:15,420 Did you hear it? 485 00:26:15,420 --> 00:26:19,980 And what the body of the bell is designed to do is to soak up 486 00:26:19,980 --> 00:26:22,900 the energy of the crash as quickly as possible 487 00:26:22,900 --> 00:26:28,620 and channel all that energy into beautiful musical notes. 488 00:26:28,620 --> 00:26:33,140 Now, we're going to play you a recording of Big Ben a little 489 00:26:33,140 --> 00:26:38,580 bit at a time and we'll show you the sound on this screen, too. 490 00:26:38,580 --> 00:26:40,060 Look. Watch. 491 00:26:40,060 --> 00:26:42,180 THUMP 492 00:26:42,180 --> 00:26:44,460 Do you see? Just like an explosion. THUMP 493 00:26:44,460 --> 00:26:50,420 That's that tremendous impact of that huge clapper hitting that huge bell. 494 00:26:50,420 --> 00:26:56,780 Now, by modern electronic means, you can in fact find 30 or 40 notes in a 495 00:26:56,780 --> 00:27:02,100 big bell like this and I can show you what I mean by ringing the individual 496 00:27:02,100 --> 00:27:06,420 notes in this bell, not with a great big clapper, 497 00:27:06,420 --> 00:27:10,980 but by a tiny electronic vibrator here. 498 00:27:12,740 --> 00:27:15,500 LOW NOTE HUMS 499 00:27:15,500 --> 00:27:17,100 Can you hear that? 500 00:27:17,100 --> 00:27:18,860 Now that's the low note. 501 00:27:18,860 --> 00:27:23,020 Now, let's increase the frequency of the vibrator and see 502 00:27:23,020 --> 00:27:24,380 if we can get the next... 503 00:27:27,020 --> 00:27:29,780 NOTE GETS HIGHER 504 00:27:29,780 --> 00:27:34,180 See? That's an octave above. Another pure musical note. 505 00:27:34,180 --> 00:27:36,820 Now we can get some harmonics. MULTIPLE NOTES HUM 506 00:27:36,820 --> 00:27:39,980 See, I'm using this little vibrator 507 00:27:39,980 --> 00:27:43,140 instead of the big hammer and picking out the individual 508 00:27:43,140 --> 00:27:46,020 notes of this bell, which has already been tuned. 509 00:27:46,020 --> 00:27:48,700 MORE NOTES HUM Listen to that. 510 00:27:48,700 --> 00:27:51,820 Do you think we can find any more? Let's try. Yes! 511 00:27:51,820 --> 00:27:54,940 HIGH NOTE HUMS There's a high note. 512 00:27:54,940 --> 00:27:58,100 MORE NOTES HUM That's a lovely note. 513 00:27:58,100 --> 00:28:00,260 HIGHER NOTES SOUND 514 00:28:00,260 --> 00:28:03,620 Now, of course, we can hear them all at once, the old 515 00:28:03,620 --> 00:28:07,180 fashioned way, by striking the bell and now, 516 00:28:07,180 --> 00:28:12,340 we shall hear all those individual notes as one beautiful chord. 517 00:28:12,340 --> 00:28:13,460 Listen. 518 00:28:13,460 --> 00:28:16,220 BELL HUMS You can hear the individual notes. 519 00:28:16,220 --> 00:28:17,500 But of course, you don't 520 00:28:17,500 --> 00:28:23,060 need a great big piece of metal like that to produce such beautiful music. 521 00:28:23,060 --> 00:28:24,740 Ring out, wild bells! 522 00:28:25,940 --> 00:28:30,620 THEY PLAY GOOD KING WENCESLAS 523 00:28:30,620 --> 00:28:33,140 Come on, let's all join in, come on. 524 00:28:33,140 --> 00:28:36,100 Let's all stand around. Come in, let's have the whole cast. 525 00:28:36,100 --> 00:28:39,100 Yes, thank you, William, bringing in the music. 526 00:28:39,100 --> 00:28:41,380 Michael, the other Michael. 527 00:28:41,380 --> 00:28:43,060 Stuart, right. 528 00:28:43,060 --> 00:28:44,740 Have you all got your music? 529 00:28:44,740 --> 00:28:48,540 What better note on which to end our programme. 530 00:28:48,540 --> 00:28:54,180 On behalf of all of us in the studio, a magical Christmas to you all. 531 00:28:54,180 --> 00:28:56,700 Right, ready? 532 00:28:56,700 --> 00:28:58,940 One, two! 533 00:28:58,940 --> 00:29:02,100 # Good King Wenceslas last looked out 534 00:29:02,100 --> 00:29:05,340 # On the feast of Stephen 535 00:29:05,340 --> 00:29:09,260 # When the snow lay round about 536 00:29:09,260 --> 00:29:12,860 # Deep and crisp and even 537 00:29:12,860 --> 00:29:16,860 # Brightly shone the moon that night 538 00:29:16,860 --> 00:29:20,380 # Though the frost was cruel 539 00:29:20,380 --> 00:29:23,620 # When a poor man came in sight 540 00:29:23,620 --> 00:29:29,580 # Gathering winter fuel. #