Creating a world class gallery
| THE BIG IDEA 60 seconds to change the world |
Let's create a list of world heritage objects.
These are things that are so important to telling our story that henceforth they can't be bought, sold or truly owned by any single person, individual, or nation.
I hope that these objects would be on display in major institutions but very occasionally I would like to see them tour.
 | FROM BBC WORLD SERVICE  |
Part of being on this list would be that they have to get out beyond the nation that had custodianship of them to other places.
Also, possibly once every four years there would be a bid by a nation to host particular bits of this - like a sort of cultural Olympics.
They would bring bits of this collection together and we would all have the pleasure of seeing them.
Also, I would hope that one part of this would be that, that nation would be left a really world class gallery.
Augustus Casely-Hayford is a curator and cultural historian.
Below is a selection of your comments:
I was under the impression that museums and galleries already shared collections to allow greater visibility and access - recent display of the terracotta warriors for example.Andrew, Bedford
What a fantastic idea - an Olympics I'd actually want to fund and attend!Christine, Swindon
I'd suggest that we save Bletchley Park from crumbling to dust. It sowed the original seed of the 'information age'. Without the development of Colossus and the Bombe we wouldn't have general purpose computing. Yet for some reason all attempts to save Bletchley Park as a heritage site seem to have, currently, come to nothing.Dougie Lawson, Basingstoke, UK
Embrace ignorance
Friday, January 23, 2009
An outrage that appalled a nation
An outrage that appalled a nation
Exactly 100 years after two robbers went on a shooting rampage in a London suburb, the dead victims are being officially remembered. But the shocking details of the "Tottenham Outrage" still offer parallels with current events.
 PC Tyler was shot at point-blank range while trying to arrest the robbers |
It sounds like a scene from a Hollywood movie - two outlaws rampaging through the streets chased by police and public, while firing more than 400 rounds of ammunition at their pursuers.
Throw in concerns about politically-motivated terrorists, uncontrolled immigration and police tactics not keeping pace with the villains' methods, and you have a thoroughly modern seeming incident.
But this was 23 January 1909. The two robbers killed a police officer and a 10-year-old boy in Tottenham, north London, as they tried to escape with the
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Cold War in paradise
Cold War in paradise
| By Marie Jackson BBC News |
Dressed in overalls, white protective gloves and a balaclava, 21-year-old naval cook Dougie Hern was ordered to sit on the beach, back to the bomb, his knees pulled up, eyes closed and hands over his face. A countdown began...three, two, one.
"We saw a bright, brilliant light," he recalls. "It was as if someone had switched a firebar on in your head. It grew brighter and you could see the bones in your hands, like pink X-rays, in front of your closed eyes."
Seconds later, they were ordered to stand and turn towards the blast.
People were knocked off their feet, palm trees shook, birds were blinded and glass shattered as a mushroom cloud rose from the horizon, parting the clouds.
Moments later, the servicemen were told to stand down and resume their duties.
|   We knew what had happened in Japan - I thought it could not happen here, they would not do it to us  Douglas Hern, former navy cook drafted to Christmas Island |
It was all over in about 14 seconds, but Mr Hern, now 72, believes radiation exposure on that day and four others is behind his diabetes, the spurs growing on his sternum, and much worse, the death of his 13-year-old daughter from cancer.
For decades, British ex-servicemen who were stationed on the South Pacific's Christmas Island in the 1950s have been embroiled in legal battles, trying to win recognition for their work and compensation for poor health they say is the result of the nuclear tests.
Their latest attempt to sue the British government goes before the High Court on Wednesday, when the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is expected to argue the claims have been brought too long after the events.
If the MoD loses, the government could face its largest class action yet, involving claims for millions of pounds from 1,000 individuals, say the veterans' lawyers.
Compensation claims by members of the armed forces are not uncommon these days, but the events from the 1950s are unlikely to ever be seen again.
| BRITAIN'S NUCLEAR AMBITIONS The US dropped the first atomic bomb used in war on the Japanese city of Hiroshima in 1945 About 20,000 servicemen from Britain and overseas were involved in nuclear tests in the Pacific and Maralinga, Australia in the 1950s Six nuclear detonations took place on Christmas Island 1957-8 Bombs were exploded in the air, rather than on ground, to try to reduce fallout The trials led to Britain becoming a thermonuclear power |
Against a backdrop of de-colonisation and the growing threat of the Cold War, Britain was desperate to establish itself as a nuclear power. The tests, which encompassed nine nuclear blasts in all, sent a message of might to the world. But the apparent lack of concern for the wellbeing of servicemen has left shockwaves of anger in some.
"If they gave the order today, there would be wholesale mutiny on the ship," says Mr Hern.
"We had complete faith in our masters. We were trained not to ask questions. We knew what had happened in Japan. I thought it could not happen here. They would not do it to us."
A job in the armed forces was about being "one of a number", according to Derek Chappell, who had to record data from the H-bomb from about 20 miles away.
Tony Stannage, a sapper in the Royal Engineers brought to the island to build living quarters, roads and the airstrip, says they had no choice.
"It was our duty. If they were going to do another test today, where would they do it?"
The take-it-in-your-stride attitude was so ingrained in Mr Stannage, it was not until a 2002 Christmas Island reunion with fellow servicemen that he spoke of the bombs. "My family and friends might have read about them but they would never have understood," he explains.
For others, the day Britain detonated its first H-bomb over Christmas Island, just north of the Equator, is a story that has been told time and time again, some memories merging, others melting away.
"Everyone in my mind tells a different story but no one is telling lies," says Mr Stannage.
Shorts and sunglasses
The recollections of these three ex-servicemen suggest an island that may have looked like a tropical idyll but in reality was a place to make do and dream of home.
There was little food, land crabs roamed the island, coconut palms were used for fans and clothes were stored in orange boxes.
Orders were to dress only in long-sleeved shirts and full trousers to avoid the blistering heat.
On bomb test days, some servicemen were given the same protective gear as that worn by Dougie Hern, others wore just shorts and sunglasses.
Many complained of being at a loss for things to do, with sport and fishing the only leisure activities.
Mr Chappell, in the RAF, claims in his 50 days on the island, he did just one day's work, the day of the H-bomb.
He is convinced they were there as part of an experiment, a view shared by some fellow servicemen.
"We were lemmings," he says. "There was never any need for that many people to be there."
The Ministry of Defence will not comment on the allegations but did say in a statement that it recognised the "vital contribution" these men played.
It said compensation claims were considered on the basis of whether or not the MoD had a legal liability to pay compensation and were paid if a legal liability was proven.
Three years ago, Mr Chappell, now 73, was diagnosed with polycythemia vera, a blood-thinning leukaemia, that he believes can be traced back to the 1958 bomb blast.
Links between nuclear testing and premature deaths and cancer among veterans have been contested for years.
The National Radiological Protection Board, now amalgamated into the Health Protection Agency (HPA), has been conducting a study of nuclear test veterans since the 1980s.
It compares cancer and mortality rates among servicemen involved in nuclear testing with rates among a control group of servicemen without any nuclear test links.
Dr Colin Muirhead, the HPA's head of epidemiology in the radiation protection section, says his findings showed similar levels of mortality and cancer in both groups.
However, there is "some indication of a raised risk of leukaemia" among those who had worked with nuclear tests, he says.
The veterans may be used to battles. But this one, hindered by funding shortages and legal technicalities, has gone on longer than the Cold War during which it all began. Maybe now there is an end in sight.
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Friday, January 16, 2009
How do you land a plane on water?
How do you land a plane on water?
| WHO, WHAT, WHY? The Magazine answers... |
The plane, an Airbus A320, had been hit by a flock of birds shortly after taking off from the city's La Guardia airport, and then tried to go back before making an emergency landing in the river.
Captain Chesley Sullenberger III has been praised for his "masterful" landing, but how does a pilot attempt such a manoeuvre successfully?
Although the likelihood is remote, all commercial pilots must undergo training for such an eventuality before qualifying. There are taught to follow a procedure -which, in its initial stages is similar to an emergency landing on solid ground, although there may not be time in an emergency situation to follow it rigorously.
| THE ANSWER  Plane must be slowed right down Both wings must be level with the water The tail is lower than normal The flatter the water the better |
Having made a mayday call and alerted the cabin crew, those in the cockpit must ensure the landing gear - wheels and undercarriage - is turned off to aid a smoother landing and prevent warning sirens sounding as the plane nears the ground. The air conditioning would also be turned off to allow cabin pressure to match that outside.
There is an overriding need to slow down the craft. If there is still power to the engines and a wind over 25 knots, a pilot would be expected to fly into the wind to assist slowing. Wing flaps would also be fully extended. If there is time a pilot would be expected to burn as much fuel as possible, reducing the weight of the plane and so increasing buoyancy when it hits the water. On this occasion, however, the engines had already cut out.
As the aircraft nears the water, the pilot must try to continue slowing while, crucially, ensuring it does not "stall". In avionics the word has a different meaning to that in motoring, for example. Stall is an aerodynamic term which describes when wings lose their lift.
It's a difficult balancing act.
Cartwheel
"You don't want to hit the water too quickly or the plane will break into pieces", says first officer Tom Hanks of DHL, who flies Boeing 757s for the courier company.
At this point, a lot depends on the weather. In the seconds before impact, a pilot must try to ensure the wings are level - a feat clearly achieved by Captain Sullenberger, says David Learmount, operations and safety editor of Flight International magazine.
"[He] landed at precisely the right speed, completely under control, wings totally level. If one wing dips and catches the water, the aeroplane cartwheels, breaks up and some people would definitely have died."
The calmness of the Hudson river was a blessing in this case, compared with a choppy sea, says Mr Hanks.
"He could land anywhere as it wasn't rough water."
While maintaining both wings are equidistant from the nearing surface, the pilot must then lower the tail end. The nose would be higher than in a normal runway landing and at the last minute the pilot would slowly lower it into the water.
Ideally, the aircraft would plane for a while before stopping, after which it would start to sink.
As Eric Moody, a former British Airways pilot, told the BBC, "you have to skim the surface like a pebble. If you go any other way; putting the tail or nose down too quickly, you're either going to break the plane in half or porpoise the thing, into the water and out."
Skill is a significant part of the process, observes Mr Hanks, but it's not the only requirement. "In terms of the actual impact on this occasion, [Capt Sullenberger] did a very good job, and he was also very lucky."
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Wednesday, January 14, 2009
A matter of right and also-right
A matter of right and also-right
 Is it easier to sell peanuts or moral relativism? |
Last week, idly glancing through a five page document which had arrived from my accountant, I learned for the first time that the private pension I'd been assembling over the last few years had halved in value. Noughts had simply disappeared.
It seemed obvious that if I was still to enjoy the relaxing sun and Scotch-soaked retirement I'd always envisaged for myself, then I'd need to find some extra work. There was little hope that I could now return to higher education or any other salaried occupation. I'd need to act for myself. Become an entrepreneur.
| FIND OUT MORE  Hear Laurie Taylor's Thinking Allowed on Radio 4 at 1600 on Wednesday 14 January |
I wasn't without experience. Back in the early sixties at my teachers' training college in Sidcup, I'd gone heavily into peanuts with my best friend, Tom. During a heavy drinking session one night, we'd calculated that the peanuts we were eating at the bar cost nearly two pence a dozen. Surely we could buy them cheaper in bulk and market our own brand?
Indeed we could. When we wrote to the company name on the side of the packet we were offered five pound boxes of peanuts which, when divided into pub-sized bags and sold at half the pub price, would still give us a 200% profit.
We promptly named our enterprise Fireside Foods and set off with a barrow and a paraffin-heated hotplate to Sidcup High Street. Our peanuts were not only cheaper but they were also semi-roasted.
Sociology van
And that was the problem. We'd had the bad luck to set up our enterprise in one of the hottest summer months on record. As people all around us scrambled for shelter from the blinding sun, we alone stood out in the middle of the street tending to a steaming hotplate. Sales were very slow. A packet of hot nuts in that climate seemed about as desirable as a mug of Bovril.
Rather more planning has gone into my latest entrepreneurial idea. What I'm thinking of doing is purchasing a small second-hand van and having the side inscribed with a modest name check and an invitation 'LAURIE TAYLOR. Sociologist. Your Problems Solved.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Download the Magazine's 2008 annual
Download the Magazine's 2008 annual
| 30 0F THE BEST  Paula Lewis' winning cover design |
Contained within its pages are answers to such pressing questions as how do avatars have sex? What is kosher chicken? Is it legal to shoot pigeons? - questions which arose from notable events* over the past 12 months, and answered by the Magazine's Who, What, Why? feature.
 |
We are also proud to unveil the winning entry by reader Paula Lewis, pictured right, in our competition to design an eye-catching cover. Her design was selected by Matt Jones, the original designer of the BBC News website.
But wait, there's more. As a special bonus feature, our Annual also includes a Who, What, Why? inspired crossword by reader Caroline Wallis, one of the short-listed entries.
| WHO, WHAT, WHY? 2008 In two formats: Most computers will open this document automatically, but you may need Adobe Reader |
So get your copy now. It's available in either normal A4 format (25 pages), or - if you can do double-sided printing - in handy compact size (seven pages). For added fun, why not send us a photo of you reading it. Either e-mail yourpics@bbc.co.uk with the subject MAGAZINE PDF, or text your photo to 61124 from the UK, or +44 7725 100100 internationally. Click here for terms and conditions.
*Those significant news events again: the couple who met on Second Life and then split after his online affair, that moment in The Apprentice when Sir Alan Sugar rumbled Michael Sophocles' claim to be a good Jewish boy, and the pigeon cull at Wimbledon.
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