Look up for a sense of perspective – advice from Prof Brian Cox ahead of UK tour
Heads up! It's where it's all happening; not only for the sense of awe and wonder that a clear night sky, full of stars, can give you, but also the chance of getting a perspective on this world, and your place in it.
Inspiring advice from Professor Brian Cox, who is returning to Nottingham Motorpoint Arena on 11 May with his spaced out ‘Guinness Book of Records for most tickets sold on a science tour’, show. “The advantage of performing in arenas is that I’ve been able to use the biggest screens that can possibly fit on stage.” he tells me. “Astronomy almost demands this as our images of planets, moons, stars and galaxies are so beautiful. The opportunity to put them in this spectacular context is very, very exciting.”
If there is anyone who can bring the mystery of the physics of astronomy down from the stratosphere, to the ground level of understanding, where most of us inhabit the planet, Brian Cox, scientist, radio and television presenter, and Cosmic Guru, is the man. Or should that be boy? No doubt his boyish charm and his sense of awe and wonder, combined with his talent for simplifying the most complex of scientific ideas, are captivating and engaging young and not so young scientists all over the planet.
The wisdom being imparted on me during our chat is fascinating, disarming and admittedly a little bit mind-boggling. It is only a fraction of the journey through space and time Cox will take live audiences from across the UK this May. The show delves into ‘high science’ and freewheels on the edges of the known cosmos, rewarding it’s audiences’ attention with amazing facts and figures about our unique universe, all supported by those “spectacular visuals”.
So what about that Guinness Book of Records award then Prof Cox? “Oh it’s not that high a bar!” he chuckles, “people didn’t know it was on because it sold out so quickly, which was quite a surprise actually!” Will the show answer that big question – ‘what are the chances of finding intelligent life out there?’ Well, NASA’s recent discovery of exoplanets, TRAPPIST-1 System, is sure to come up. “We live on a very small and very fragile planet, in a dangerous universe. We expect the number of places where there is intelligent civilisations to be quite low”, he reminds me. “We might be a very rare thing and that means we are very valuable and responsible for our fate. We shouldn’t be looking down all the time and just thinking about our small local issues. We should be behaving as a single civilisation on a single fragile planet, and we will do that at some point. The sooner the better.”
So when did Cox first look up and say “wow”? As far back as he can remember, before setting foot in a physics class. He tells me ‘The Sky at Night’, the longest-running cosmology television series presented by Patrick Moore was his younger self’s “lifeline.” Astronomy, especially taught by Cox, or Moore, has a power to ‘wow’ young people that seems to me, I suggest to him, absent in current education. “Physics isn’t about wiring up batteries and switches” he agrees, “there needs to be a link between the science you’re learning at school, and those massive questions.”
Does he miss the telescopes, I wonder, when he is touring a show? “Oh yes, I really miss doing as much research as I’m used to but then again, the best thing I can do is encourage more people to go into research, especially younger people. So actually in reality, I’ll probably have a bigger impact if I can generate another few thousands scientists, then they’ll be doing more work that I ever could!”
So things can only get better, ey Cox? I reference his former membership to the 90s hit rock band, D:Ream, that made that very prediction, and Patrick Moore’s flair for the xylophone when we discuss the relationship between science and maths and music and creativity. “There’s certainly a link between science and creativity, to be a research scientist you have to be creative.” he says. “but also artistic, in the sense that science is a response to the natural world in the same way painting or music is a response to nature, or literature. Whether there is a link between science and music, I have never been able to discover it.”
Perhaps a ‘yet’ could be added to that, Cox. If anybody’s going to do it, it should be you. So Nottingham, whatever your wonders are about the meaning of life and the universe, this shooting star is passing by again on the 11 May, so make sure your heads are up!
This interview was originally published in The Nottingham Post in 2017.
Brian Cox is still touring Europe, USA, Canada, Asia, New Zealand and Australia.
