The fate of empires

Aristotle wrote or said or sang: "All who have meditated on the art of governing mankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth".

I have had the benefit over the past two nights to view three BBC TV shows that I had previously missed:

The music of the primes -- Marcus du Sautoy's fascinating look at the Riemann Hypothesis. Like most journalists, maths isn't my strong suit, but it's to do with prime numbers.

The show, however, tied in Alan Turing, the Enigma machine, music, history, notions of beauty in maths, computer cryptography and quantum physics. I was gripped.

Absolute zero -- a semi-dramatised and mind-expanding look at a state where superconduction is possible, fluids can flow uphill (in a container, anyway) and the speed of light can be reduced to less than the speed of your family car.

More importantly it tied the personalities (There was a real Captain Bird's Eye! -- who knew?) behind the quest to reach zero degrees Kelvin into the societal changes wrought by refrigeration, the move from rural living to urban living, air conditioning and the destruction of southern US communities, right up to manmade climate change.

And finally, Coast -- biology, sociology, exploration, mythology, all lightly told by passionate presenters. For anyone living on an island nation or who just needs recipes for seaweed, it should be required viewing.

The next right-wing, free-marketeer journo that decries the state of British science education, blames the government for it, does nothing to redress the balance and then screams shrilly that "THE LICENCE FEE IS AN UNFAIR TAX" could do worse than switch off the fear-inducing headline-writing machine, make a cup of tea, sit back and actually learn something.

Enjoy.