Brian Cox

Books To Live By… with Mariella Frostrup

After escaping from the rain in Brian’s tree house hotel, Mariella sets out to discover the books that have shaped the life and brain of Britain’s favourite physicist.

As a precursor to listing his choices, Brian explains the important link between the arts and the sciences, explaining how he has always combined the two fields when searching for the answers to the big questions that form the basis of his work: ‘why are we here?, what’s the meaning of life?, how did it all begin?’

This sentiment is visible in the books that Brian discusses: from the creative and futuristic tale ‘Spacecraft 2000 to 2100 AD’ by Stewart Crawley that he first read as a child, to Hofstader’s seminal ‘Godel, Escher and Bach’ which explores how the life works of a mathematician, an artist and a composer combine to produce richer understanding of human existence.

Mariella dives into the genius working of Brian’s mind (or at least attempts to), discussing his book choices ‘Cosmos’ by Carl Sagan and ‘General Relativity from A to B’ by Robert Geroch. Together they tackle big topics like religion, the possibility that the universe is eternal (and therefore didn’t begin with the big bang) and why science in an exercise in learning that we’re wrong.

The pair engage in a heated debate about the best way to protect the earth from global warming, with Brian arguing we should harvest the resources of other planets such as Mars and zone the earth residential. They also reminisce about Brian’s punk days as a purple-haired teen in Oldham, with Mariella asking if his early interest in physics made him odd.

Brian’s choices: The book that… … Is his childhood favourite: ‘Childhood’s End’ by Arthur C Clarke, 1953 ... Inspires him the most: ‘Cosmos’ by Carl Sagan, 1980 … Is his favourite autobiography: ‘Experience’ by Martin Amis, 2000 … Changed how he thinks about physics: ‘General Relativity from A to B’ by Robert Geroch, 1981 … Takes a lifetime to write and a lifetime to understand: ‘Godel, Escher and Bach’ by Douglas Hofstader, 1979 … Inspired his love of space when he was 8 years old: ‘Spacecraft 200 to 2100 AD’ by Stewart Cowley, 1978

Presenter and Executive Producer: Mariella Frostrup Producer: Sera Baker Music: Matt Clifford at Music and Voices TBI Media Production for BBC Sounds