Think of a Number (1978) S01E03 - Johnny Ball - video Dailymotion

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00:30Thank you very much, very much.

00:32Hello and welcome to Think of a Number.

00:33My name's Johnny Ball, of course.

00:36And what I'd like you to do to start with is think of a number, all of you,

00:41less than 50, two figures, both figures must be odd and not the same like in 11.

00:47OK?

00:49Two-figure number, less than 50, both figures odd and not the same like in 11.

00:53Have you all thought?

00:54Hands up, those who thought of 35.

00:58Keep your hands up.

00:59Hands up, the others who thought of 37.

01:03Incredible.

01:04Nearly everybody thought of one of those two numbers.

01:06And people usually do, which is amazing.

01:09Or is it?

01:09Not really.

01:10We all think alike because we are all alike.

01:13We're all human beings.

01:15Adam's kids.

01:15And that's what this program is all about.

01:18Us, the body.

01:19In this program, we'll be discussing things like how to unravel the mind-boggling human mind

01:25and how to make sense of our senses, how to automate our automatons.

01:29And we'll be discussing how Dr. Frankenstein made new friends.

01:35But first, a show of hands.

01:40Not your hands.

01:41I've got a spare pair of hands.

01:42Over here.

01:43Keep them in here.

01:44Hand it.

01:44Oh, there's no arm in it, is there?

01:48No.

01:49Right.

01:50Here we are.

01:51Do you know where a general keeps his arm is?

01:53Up his sleeve is.

01:54Thank you very much.

01:55Right.

01:56These fingers are numbered from 1 to 10 over there,

01:59and they're to help us multiply by 9.

02:01Does anybody have trouble multiplying by 9?

02:04Anyone? Nobody at all.

02:05I don't know why we're doing this, but we'll do it anyway.

02:08Somebody give me a number between 1 and 10.

02:108.

02:118.

02:12If you want to multiply 8 by 9, you fold the 8's finger down,

02:15and the answer is 70, 1, 2.

02:1772.

02:18Isn't that incredible?

02:19Give me another number between 1 and 10.

02:215.

02:225.

02:23If you want to multiply 5 by 9, fold down the 5's finger,

02:26and the answer is 40.

02:271, 2, 3, 4, 5.

02:295 nines are 45.

02:31So now we can all multiply by 9.

02:34That's not surprising, because man is very good at multiplying,

02:37and that's the reason for the population explosion.

02:40You see, in the last 2 minutes since this program started,

02:43about 500 new people have been born somewhere on Earth.

02:47And the rate of increase is going up all the time.

02:50So that by the year 2100, there will be 10 times as many people on Earth as there are now.

02:58Can you imagine what it would be like?

02:59Every time somebody bends down to tie their shoelace in Bristol,

03:03somebody in Western Supermair will have to go for a swim.

03:05And all because man is thriving.

03:09He's also highly intelligent and terribly advanced technologically.

03:14Altogether, rather a clever chap.

03:16But that is man's opinion of man.

03:19Who else can we ask for an opinion?

03:21Well, imagine...

03:22A flying saucer came down,

03:25had a look round,

03:26took a prisoner,

03:27and went back to report to its own planet.

03:30What do you think an alien's opinion of man might be?

03:34Hello, sir!

03:46It's me, sir!

03:47OURA1 reporting back from Earth, sir!

03:50Oh!

03:51Oh, at a time,

03:52I landed on Earth, sir,

03:54and I had a cup of tea

03:56and then I got out of me saucer

03:57because I remember you told me not to drink tea out of me saucer.

04:00And then, sir,

04:02I went hunting for a man

04:03because you said catch a man.

04:04And they all run away, sir!

04:06It's murder!

04:07They run like mad!

04:08But I got one, sir.

04:09He didn't move as fast as the others

04:10and here he is, sir.

04:12Have a look.

04:16There he is, sir!

04:17Isn't he good?

04:19What, sir?

04:19A bit stiff.

04:20I think it's a long journey, sir, actually.

04:22Yes,

04:23but I'll show you around him.

04:24This is the head.

04:26That's used for hanging the face on

04:27and keeping the ears apart.

04:30Now, this, sir,

04:31is the nose.

04:32You see?

04:32It's in the middle of the face.

04:34That's why sometimes it's called the centre.

04:35Ha, ha, ha, ha!

04:36It's an Earth joke, sir.

04:38Oh, never mind.

04:39Right, over here.

04:40These are the lips, sir,

04:41to stop the mouth from fraying around the edge.

04:43And there's the neck for...

04:44There's the neck for getting into trouble up to.

04:47Now,

04:48this is the chest, sir.

04:49Now, the chest,

04:50that's an Earth word

04:52which means a place where you store valuables.

04:55Yes, sir.

04:55But we can't get it open, you see.

04:57We can't find the key.

04:58No.

04:59We found the keyhole.

05:01That's there, sir.

05:02Look.

05:02Yeah, it'll be there.

05:04Pardon, sir.

05:05Pick it, sir.

05:06Oh, no.

05:07That wouldn't be nice.

05:08No, sir.

05:09Anyway,

05:10these, sir, are the trunks.

05:11No, we haven't got a key for those either.

05:12And

05:13these are the legs.

05:14Now, they're ever so cunning, sir,

05:16because it doesn't matter how long they are,

05:17they're always just long enough to reach the floor.

05:19Yeah.

05:20And not only that,

05:21it doesn't matter how long they are,

05:22they always reach the bottom as well.

05:24Yes, sir.

05:25Now,

05:25at the bottom of all that is the feet, sir.

05:27And that's the most important part of the body, sir.

05:30We didn't believe it,

05:31but it's true,

05:32because you can tell a man's intelligence

05:34by the size of his feet.

05:36Yes, sir.

05:37It's true.

05:38You see,

05:38a man

05:39wearing shoes this size,

05:41he can do a job of work,

05:42he can count money,

05:43he can read,

05:44and he can run away from me.

05:45Yes, sir.

05:46But

05:47a man with shoes this size, sir,

05:51can't even walk.

05:53He just lies down,

05:54going,

05:54and sucking a dummy all day.

05:58Yes, sir.

05:59Pardon, sir.

06:01The label, sir.

06:03This one, sir.

06:04D-U-M-M-Y.

06:06Dummy.

06:08Dummy!

06:09Oh, what have I done?

06:12Oh, I do feel a fool.

06:14I have to go all the way back.

06:15Never mind.

06:15You wait there, sir.

06:16I won't be long.

06:17I'll be down to earth in a flash.

06:19Bye, sir.

06:20Bye.

06:31We didn't learn much from him, did we?

06:33The dummy.

06:33So,

06:34what do we know about man ourselves?

06:37For instance,

06:37what makes man,

06:38as a species,

06:39different from all other species on earth?

06:43Big ears.

06:44Hands.

06:45And I've got another pair of hands.

06:47Here.

06:49Here they come.

06:51Won't be long.

06:51It's our handyman.

07:02This is what happens if you don't eat your cabbage.

07:06This man's hands and facial features are built in direct proportion to the amount of brain needed to work them.

07:12So, you see, his hands are very big because a lot of the sensory part of the brain is needed to work the hands.

07:18To do things like touch, feel, hold, catch, and measure things.

07:24Because hands have always been used as measures.

07:27Even now, hands are used to measure horses.

07:30A hand for measuring horses is about four inches.

07:32In the olden days, a hand was measured across this knuckle here, about three inches.

07:36And three hands made a span.

07:41And two spans made a cubit.

07:4518 inches from elbow to fingertip.

07:48Now, cubits aren't used today except by traffic policemen.

07:53But hands were used thousands of years ago by the ancient Egyptians.

08:06These two bits are cubits.

08:12There's one about 18 inches long.

08:14But this one is longer.

08:17As you can see.

08:19Because this was the pharaoh's cubit.

08:21And the pharaoh was the ruler of Egypt.

08:23So, if you like, this is the ruler's ruler.

08:25And the pharaoh had a longer one because he always liked to get a little bit more for his money.

08:31So, there we are.

08:33Pharaoh's ruler.

08:34This was longer.

08:34But the other cubit is just 18 inches long.

08:38And two of them measure from your fingertip to your nose.

08:44Which happens to be just about a yard.

08:46Now, people in the cloth trade still measure cloth in yards like that.

08:51They stretch it out and measure it in length.

08:54The terrible thing is, since we've gone metric, a meter has three more inches.

08:57So, now, every time they measure, they've got to twitch.

09:01You see?

09:01Because they have to measure longer.

09:02However, that was a yard.

09:04So, that must be two yards from fingertip to fingertip.

09:08And the Romans called that a stature.

09:11And the Romans had lots of statures about in those days.

09:14Now, a stature is a strange thing because it's also, besides being the measurement that's from fingertip to fingertip, it's also just about your height.

09:24So, there we are.

09:25Hands, fingers, feet.

09:27All your body has been used to measure things and to calculate.

09:31But today, we don't use any of those for calculating.

09:34We use our brains.

09:37We're all good at mental arithmetic, aren't we?

09:40Yes!

09:41All right, I've got a sum here I would like you to do in your heads.

09:44Multiply these two numbers together and shout out the answer.

09:47Ready?

09:48Go.

09:49Is it a bit hard?

09:55Yes.

09:56Do you think it's possible to do that sum in your head?

09:58No.

09:59No.

09:59Well, I thought it was impossible until I read this book.

10:04In 1846, a ten-year-old American boy called Truman Henry Safford was asked to multiply 365, 365, 365, 365, 365, 365 by itself in his head.

10:22The questioner was a Dr. Adams who describes what happened.

10:26He flew around the room like a top, pulled his pantaloons up over the top of his boots, bit his hands, rolled his eyes in their sockets, sometimes smiling and talking, and then seeming to be in agony until, in not more than one minute, he said,

10:43133-491-850-208-566-925-016-658-299-941-583-225.

10:51Now, an electronic computer today could do that even quicker, but I don't think it would be anywhere near as much fun.

11:06So, back to our handyman.

11:10Now, as you can see, a large part of the brain is needed to control these enormous hands, and the brain is divided down the middle.

11:16So, the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body, and the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, which is rather like what happens when you look into a mirror.

11:25See, when you look into a mirror, you raise one arm, and the arm on the same side goes up.

11:31Watch.

11:31Just a minute.

11:37The wrong arm's going up.

11:39That's because this isn't a mirror.

11:41It's a television projected picture, and this is a television projector.

11:46It's called Advent.

11:47It's the very latest thing, and it gives you a real image instead of a mirror image.

11:51Now, somebody come and help.

11:52Can you come out?

11:53All right, just stand there.

11:56Up there, and look at yourself.

11:58You've got a comb here.

11:59Take the comb.

12:03No, it's over here.

12:04Come on, quick, take it.

12:05It's here, look.

12:07It's confusing, isn't it?

12:09Now, comb your hair.

12:11Let me see.

12:12Comb this side first, this side.

12:16And then comb that side.

12:18Try and sweep that over there.

12:20Over there.

12:21Is that the other way?

12:23Oh, it's confusing, isn't it?

12:24Give me the comb.

12:26Now, let's see if you can scratch that ear with that arm.

12:33Wrong.

12:34That's it.

12:36It's seriously confusing, isn't it?

12:37That's because this is a real image and not a mirror image.

12:40Thanks very much.

12:41Come and sit down.

12:41Do you know which side you're sitting on?

12:44That side.

12:44Yes, that's it.

12:45Thanks.

12:46So much for sight.

12:49Now, for the sense of touch.

12:51Everybody on this side has got an object like an orange or a ribbon or a coin.

12:56Now, all close your eyes.

12:59And you can feel the texture of these objects with your fingers.

13:06Can't you?

13:07And amazingly, you can also feel the texture with your noses.

13:13Try it with the end of your nose.

13:14Keep your eyes closed.

13:15You can, can't you?

13:22That's because you've got touch sensors all over your body.

13:27Lots in your fingers and lots in your nose.

13:30But very, very few on your forearm.

13:34And if you rub those objects on your forearm, you'll find you wouldn't know what they were.

13:37You can feel something, but you can't feel texture.

13:40And if you touch with a pencil on your arm, every now and again, you touch a spot and the pencil feels ice cold.

13:48That is a touch sensor.

13:50And they're about a third of an inch apart on your forearm.

13:53And you can map them out and find out where they are.

13:55So much of a touch.

13:58Now, these over here are going to help us with their ears, aren't you?

14:02Yes, put your earphones on.

14:06And they're all going to sing a song that we've rehearsed for about three months, two minutes ago.

14:12They don't even know it, but they're going to sing ever so well.

14:14It's called My Body Allows Over the Ocean, and I have got a clicker here, which I will click.

14:20And halfway through when you're singing it, we will start playing the very words you're singing.

14:25Half a second later into your ear.

14:28And see what happens to this hour.

14:29So sing very loud, right?

14:31My body lies over the ocean.

14:36My body lies over the sea.

14:39Click.

14:39My body lies over the ocean.

14:43Let my body back my body to me.

14:49Oh, we won't bring you back, don't worry.

14:51Did somebody have that clicker?

14:53No, you were marvellous, you really were.

14:55But from a sense, a sense of hearing, to a sensation, even, eerie.

15:02On a rainy night in Switzerland, in 1816, four people sat talking well into the night.

15:22The poet, Lord Byron and his manservant, and another poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and his wife, Mary.

15:30Someone suggested that they each make up a ghost story to see who could frighten the other one the most.

15:36Mary Shelley was no good at making up ghost stories, so she went to bed.

15:41And that night, she had a dream in which a young doctor created and instilled life into a monster.

15:50That dream was the basis for the most famous of all horror stories.

15:55The epic story of the monster with no name that was created by the dread Dr. Frankenstein.

16:05Oh, it's all right.

16:15It's only clockwork.

16:18Oh, it's a clockwork, Frankenstein.

16:20Oh, it's a clockwork.

16:21Now, the question is, could Dr. Frankenstein actually have created a monster by sewing arms and legs and feet together?

16:30Well, have you ever thought how many veins, arteries, and capillaries are around the human body?

16:36If they were stretched out in one long line, they'd stretch for 60,000 miles, which is two and a half times around the earth.

16:43Apart from that, the person would go, ow, ow, ow, because of the dirt.

16:47So, what is the human body made of?

16:50Well, for a start, there are 206 bones, and that's the frame, and the body is hung onto that.

17:05Now, 90% of the body is water.

17:10Ten gallons of it.

17:11Looks like somebody's forgot to take the empties away.

17:13There are about eight pints of blood, enough fat to make seven bars of soap.

17:18Green soap.

17:19Hmm.

17:20Enough carbon to make a 28-pound bag of Coke.

17:26Enough iron to make a one-inch nail.

17:30Enough phosphorus to make 63 boxes of matches.

17:33No wonder people are always going on strike.

17:34Hmm.

17:36And enough lime to whitewash this whole set.

17:40And with that in every one of us, it's rather surprising that we don't all walk like Frankenstein's monster.

17:45Oh, oh.

17:47But we don't.

17:48We walk normally because we're our normal selves.

17:51And man cannot create a synthetic man.

17:54But man can make models of man.

17:57And here is a really good one.

17:59It's called an automaton, and it works like this.

18:06Okay.

18:07Okay.

18:17Okay.

18:18Twang.

18:40The workings for this model are all underneath the floor here.

18:44There's a musical box, but there are also pulleys, rods, wheels and strings.

18:50In fact, there are 16 strings going up inside the front leg of the chair that work the man,

18:56so that he winks, licks his lips, stamps his feet, as well as firing the arrows.

19:14Now, we could only design this man to go and get his own arrows back.

19:24But we can't. I've got to do that.

19:27But it really is a marvellous thing, an automaton.

19:30And over here, we have a robot.

19:33Here it is, an industrial robot.

19:38This is the brain and the switch to switch it on.

19:43It's a very friendly robot.

19:50Here it is, an industrial robot.

20:20There you are. He said hello. Say hello back.

20:26Hello!

20:27Hello, robot. It's finished with the pen. Thank you very much.

20:31He's very polite. He always shakes hands.

20:35And he can do thousands of jobs. This is one job he can do.

20:38He can pick things up and put them somewhere else.

20:41Very good. Congratulations.

20:44He likes to be praised, you see.

20:46Another one. Here it comes.

20:50Marvellous. Now, oh, it wants to shake hands again, I see.

20:54Very good.

21:00Now, it will do any job you tell it, and it will go on doing it.

21:16And when it's finished, if you like, it will take a bow.

21:19Take a bow. Give it a round of applause.

21:25Isn't it marvellous?

21:27And that robot can do literally thousands of jobs.

21:31Not only that, it does them better than man can do them.

21:35It doesn't get tired, it doesn't get bored, and it doesn't have to go to the loo.

21:38And it releases man so that he can use his brain to invent new jobs for the robot, or invent new machines, or do other things with the greatest machine of all.

21:51The human brain.

21:53There it is.

21:54About three pounds in weight.

21:56It just fits in there, you see.

21:58And it's really very complicated.

22:02Ten million million components in one brain.

22:05And your brain makes a hundred times more connections every day than all the telephone exchanges in the world.

22:13So there we are.

22:14Anybody want a brain?

22:17You can do that.

22:18There we are.

22:18And, because now we're going to use another brain, we'll use my brain, because my brain is in very good condition, because it's hardly ever used.

22:25Right?

22:25Can somebody help?

22:26Can you come out and help?

22:27Grab a pen, and up here, write a four-figure number.

22:31There's one figure in each column.

22:33Any one you like.

22:34How's he doing?

22:39Have you done it?

22:39Right.

22:39And I'll write a four-figure number.

22:44There we are.

22:45Do you want to write another one?

22:46Another four-figure number?

22:47Anything you like.

22:53And I'll write another four-figure number.

22:59Right?

23:00And you'll write another four-figure number.

23:02And I'm going to add these up.

23:03How long do you think it'll take me to add them up?

23:05About two minutes.

23:07A minute?

23:07Half a minute?

23:08Not long at all?

23:09We'll see how quickly I can do it.

23:11Ready.

23:12Steady.

23:13Go.

23:17There we are.

23:19And that should be right.

23:20Have a back.

23:20We'll go.

23:24If you'd like to know how that trick's done, drop us a line.

23:27But please include a stamped address envelope.

23:29We'll be back next week.

23:31But do remember that you and your brain are the most marvellous machine on earth.

23:36And it'll be a long, long time before man can create a machine that can do everything you or I can do.

23:42Goodbye.

23:43Goodbye.

23:45Goodbye.

23:46Goodbye.

23:47Goodbye.

23:48Goodbye.

23:49Goodbye.

23:50Goodbye.

23:51Goodbye.

23:52Goodbye.

23:53Goodbye.

23:54Goodbye.

23:55Goodbye.

23:56Goodbye.

23:57Goodbye.

23:58Goodbye.

23:59Goodbye.

24:00Goodbye.

24:01Goodbye.

24:02Goodbye.

24:03Goodbye.

24:04Goodbye.

24:05Goodbye.

24:06Goodbye.

24:07Goodbye.

24:08Goodbye.

24:09Goodbye.

24:10Goodbye.

24:11Goodbye.

24:12Goodbye.

24:13Goodbye.

24:14Goodbye.

24:15Goodbye.

Think of a Number (1978) S01E03 - Johnny Ball

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