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Cutty Sark - Lord Kelvin

Quentin Cooper reports on the restoration of the Cutty Sark six months after fire ripped through the world's last surviving tea clipper.

Cutty Sark
At 4am on May 21st 2007 a huge fire ripped through the Cutty Sark threatening the conservation of the 19th century tea clipper held in dry dock in Greenwich. Quentin talks to Richard Doughty, Chief executive and Ian Bell technical manager of the Cutty Sark trust to find out what damage was caused by the fire and its rescue and how conservation work 6 months later is continuing to put the wind back in her sails.

Lord Kelvin
On 17th December 1907 the man who paved the way for the digital revolution died. Lord Kelvin laid the first transatlantic telegraph cable, wrote his first scientific paper at the age of 16, invented the inkjet printer and amassed a total of 75 patents in his lifetime. Probably best known for the temperature scale named after him Kelvin had countless other scientific achievements and is buried next to Isaac Newton in Westminster Abbey. Quentin is joined by David Saxon, Kelvin professor of physics at Glasgow University and by Wilson Sibbett professor of Natural Philosophy at the university of St. Andrews to explore his life and legacy 100 years on.

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30 minutes

Broadcast

  • Thu 13 Dec 2007 16:30

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