WS MoreOrLess: How do we calculate the distance to the sun?
More or Less
BBC
4.6 • 3.7K Ratings
🗓️ 29 September 2014
⏱️ 10 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Two young listeners emailed the programme to ask how we calculate the distance to the sun. We decided to invite them and their parents to More or Less towers where Andrew Pontzen, an astrophysicist at University College London was on hand to explain the answer. A BBC nature documentary stated that there are 14,000 ants to every person on earth, and that were we to weigh all of these ants they would weigh the same as all the people. Can this be true? Tim Harford and Hannah Moore investigate with the help of Francis Ratnieks, professor of apiculture at the University of Sussex.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Thank you for downloading from the BBC. |
| 0:03.0 | For details of our complete range of podcasts and our terms of use, |
| 0:07.0 | go to BBCWorldService.com slash podcasts. |
| 0:13.0 | Hello and welcome to more or less on the BBC World Service. |
| 0:18.0 | We're the programme which dances daringly with the data that surround us in the news and in life, |
| 0:23.0 | and I'm Tim Harford. |
| 0:25.0 | We always enjoy it when loyal listeners email us |
| 0:28.0 | and some loyal listeners, a younger than others. |
| 0:31.0 | I'm joined in the studio by two of them. |
| 0:33.0 | Well, perhaps if you'd be so kind, you could introduce yourselves. |
| 0:36.0 | I'm Annabelle and I'm 12, and I'm Serena and I'm 10. |
| 0:39.0 | And the fellow in the corner of the studio, |
| 0:42.0 | lurking, Andrew, I'm Andrew, and I'm 31, and you're an astronomer. |
| 0:48.0 | I am. |
| 0:49.0 | Welcome to more or less towers. |
| 0:51.0 | Now, Serena and Annabelle, what can I do for you? |
| 0:54.0 | Well, we were wondering how we can find out or how people know |
| 0:57.0 | how far away the sun is and how big it is. |
| 0:59.0 | If we don't know how big it is and how far away it is, |
| 1:02.0 | you need both to calculate, I think. |
| 1:04.0 | Yes, Serena, this is a problem that's been getting you scratching your head. |
| 1:07.0 | Yes, and it doesn't really make sense because in algebra, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.