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 Friday听听听16:00-16:30
Sunday听20:30-21:00听(rpt)
Radio 4's weekly obituaries programme |
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This week |
Friday听21st December 2007
(Rpt) Sunday听23rd听December |
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Peter Lipton
Professor of the history of philosophy of science who has died aged 53.
Professor Peter Lipton鈥檚 lectures were so compelling that they attracted students from across Cambridge university 鈥 not just those registered for his course. At the end of one year his students showered him with flowers to show their appreciation. He was dedicated to bringing philosophy to a wider audience through his work with schoolchildren and on the internet, saying that philosophers ought to get out more. Peter Lipton was born in New York to German Jewish parents who had fled from the Nazis. He read physics and philosophy at Wesleyan University in Connecticut before gaining a Doctorate of Philosophy at New College Oxford. He moved to Cambridge in 1991 and became head of his department five years later. He described himself as a 鈥渞eligious atheist鈥 who took his family to synagogue on Saturdays and taught children at the Sabbath school. He didn鈥檛 think it was necessary to believe in God to recognise the moral value of religion.
Matthew Bannister speaks to his colleague Tim Lewens and PhD student Christina McLeish
Professor Peter Lipton was born October 9th 1954 and died November 25th 2007.
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Valda Aveling
Pianist and harpsichordist who has died aged 87.
Valda Aveling is reported to have made her first public appearance at the age of three 鈥 playing a Chopin sonata. She was born in Sydney, Australia and studied at the Conservatoire there before winning a music scholarship to London in 1935. During the second world war, Valda played a leading role in the celebrated lunchtime concerts organised at the National Gallery by Dame Myra Hess. She became fascinated by early keyboard instruments and switched effortlessly between the piano, the harpsichord and the clavichord. Her friend the composer Stephen Dogson is quoted as saying that 鈥渨henever she was playing the piano she wished she was playing the harpsichord and whenever she played the harpsichord she wished she was playing the piano鈥. Valda became friendly with 鈥 and performed alongside - many leading musicians of the day, including Yehudi Menhuin, William Walton and Joan Sutherland, who at one time was Valda鈥檚 lodger. She formed a well-known partnership with Sir John Barbirolli鈥檚 wife, the oboist Evelyn Rothwell. The pair toured extensively together and a number of composers wrote works especially for them.
Matthew Bannister speaks to Lady Barbirolli who recalls their musical collaboration.
Valda Aveling was born May 16th 1920 and died November 21st 2007.
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Donald Frampton
Horticulturalist who has died aged 85.
Donald Frampton was one of the UK鈥檚 leading horticulturalists. He was chairman of the family glasshouse business 鈥 Frampton鈥檚 nurseries, based in West Sussex -- as well as serving on a number of industry committees and government advisory bodies. In the 1950s Donald spotted the potential of new American techniques for growing chrysanthemums. By controlling the amount of light the plants received, they could be fooled into flowering all year round. In the 1960s and 70s Framptons was also one of the leading carnation growers in Europe and helped to develop the poinsettia as a pot plant.
Matthew Bannister speaks to son Alan Frampton.
Donald Frampton died December 1st 2007.
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Tony Tenser
Promoter and film producer who has died aged 87.
In the British film industry of the 1960s, Tony Tenser was known as a brilliant publicist, a man who could come up with titillating titles for foreign films and someone who tested the limits of public censorship. He coined the term 鈥渟ex kitten鈥 to describe Brigitte Bardot, financed some much praised horror movies, and opened a private cinema club in Soho which showed films like 鈥淣aked as Nature Intended鈥 -- purportedly a documentary about naturism 鈥 but in fact an excuse to fill the screen with attractive naked women. But it wasn鈥檛 all sleaze. Tony also put up the cash for the first English language films made by the director Roman Polanski. Tony Tenser was born in the East End of London to Lithuianian Jewish immigrant parents. After serving as an RAF technician during the war, he landed a job managing a cinema in Cambridge before building up a chain of cinemas in London.
Matthew Bannister speaks to writer Matthew Sweet who interviewed Tony Tenser.
Tony Tenser was born August 10th 1920 and died December 5th 2007. |
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Seymour Benzer
Professor of neuroscience who has died aged 86.
Professor Seymour Benzer made significant contributions in three different scientific fields. Born and brought up in New York City, he was awarded his PhD for a secret military project to develop crystals able to withstand high voltages for carrying current in radar systems. This work was used by others in the development of the first transistors. But Professor Benzer had already moved on into the field of genetics 鈥 designing experiments to prove that genes are made up of many segments which can recombine in new ways when individuals mate. In the 1960s Professor Benzer turned his attention to the nature versus nurture debate in human development. He designed experiments on fruit flies which demonstrated that genes played a significant role in their development. Although he won more than forty prestigious scientific awards, Seymour Benzer never won the Nobel Prize. He was a member of the French Academy of Sciences, the US National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society in London. He ended his life as Professor Emeritus at the California Institute of Technology 鈥 Caltech.
Matthew Bannister speaks to friend and colleague Dr David Anderson.
Professor Seymour Benzer was born October 15th 1921 and died November 30th 2007. |
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