BBC unveils 2010 drive to celebrate science

Grace Hammond

The BBC yesterday unveiled details of its massive drive to engage the nation in a “celebration of science” throughout 2010 – but denied it was shirking away from controversial issues such as climate change.

The corporation will bring together TV and radio shows, online initiatives, roadshows and learning campaigns with the aim of inspiring “a love of science across the nation”.

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But the BBC was asked at a launch in London about a lack of shows exclusively devoted to sensitive topics such as climate change.

Asked if it was difficult for the BBC to cover climate change, Jana Bennett, director of BBC Vision, said: “I think it’s not difficult for the BBC at all actually because we have made sure that we had very big scale explorations of the question over a number of years.”

She said coverage continued with news programmes and the subject was included in shows which are part of the drive.

“I don’t think we will shirk away from looking at any of the debates or being involved in that area of science at all but much more important is also to make sure we look at the whole of science,” she said

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The drive comes as the Royal Society celebrates its 350th anniversary year.

A new “landmark” commission for BBC1 in 2011 is a co-production titled Human, which will journey through the history of the human body.

The channel will also broadcast Robert Winston’s Top Ten Advances, which will see the acclaimed scientist identifying his top 10 scientific developments over the last 50 years, from the microchip to the contraceptive pill.

Other epic explorations include BBC2’s The Story of Science, an exploration of hundreds of years of scientific developments presented by Michael Mosley.

Also on BBC2, Seven Wonders Of The Solar System, fronted by physicist Brian Cox, who will also explore our entire universe on the channel in the show Universal.

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