This week ABC Radio National’s ‘The Science Show’ celebrates its 50th anniversary. Above all, it’s a celebration of a remarkable broadcaster, Robyn Williams AO FAA, who has presented the program for the whole of those five decades. In that time, Williams has become revered by scientists, broadcasters and listeners around the world. Academy Award-winning actress Cate Blanchett calls him ‘an absolute bloody legend’. And much-loved satirist, the late John Clarke, always credited Williams with launching his Australian career and with introducing him to an educational ecosystem focussed on ideas, philosophy and experimental ‘tomfoolery’. Alumni co-founder Helen Grasswill, who has listened to ‘The Science Show’ since its inception, has written this tribute.
Left: Portrait celebrating 50 years of The Science Show / Artist: Bruno Jean Grasswill Right: Robyn preparing an early program, 1970s /ABC Archives
Robyn Williams has a messy desk. It’s strewn with files, books, mementoes, a teapot, a mug labelled ‘R’, an old computer, an ancient typewriter, plus a block of wood that he calls his ‘mobile phone’. But on closer inspection, the ‘mess’ is idiosyncratically well-ordered and Williams knows exactly where to find everything.
The desk seems a fitting metaphor for Williams’ mind. At 81, the erudite presenter of ABC’s The Science Show is still as sharp as a tack. Any listener to his program will know that he constantly surprises and delights interview guests by retrieving relevant information of interest from a seemingly bottomless reservoir of knowledge. It’s a great skill that results in conversational interviews that open up in interesting ways, which simply would not otherwise happen. For listeners, these asides often give an ‘aha moment’, demystifying a complex subject.
So this week, as the ABC celebrates 50 years of its groundbreaking science program, it’s as much a celebration of Williams himself, who has presented and guided the show for the whole of that half-century.
Interviewing biology professor Charles Birch and Dr Telford Conlon, adviser to then science minister Barry Jones, in the early days of The Science Show, 1983 / ABC Archives
When launched on Saturday 30 August 1975, there was nothing like it. Science was barely a breath in a journalist’s vocabulary, yet major issues were already apparent. The very first episode presciently warned of the effects of fossil fuels and greenhouse gases on climate and on the warming of the planet, decades before the subject morphed into widespread discussion as ‘climate change’. Also of notable concern at the time were over-population, the threat of nuclear armament, the looming problems affecting Australian wildlife and the corals of the Great Barrier Reef, ethical genetic issues, and even emerging AI.
The Science Show worked through all these issues and more, building up such prestige, both domestically and internationally, that its list of guests over the last 50 years is a veritable who’s who of science and prominent supporters.
Numbering in the thousands, they range from eminent science broadcasters and historians like David Attenborough, David Suzuki, Naomi Oreskes and Brian Cox, to pretty well all the significant scientists of the last half century, including popular names like neurologist Oliver Sacks, palaeontologist/environmentalist Tim Flannery and the eminent epidemiologist and public health advocate Fiona Stanley, through to quantum physicists like Paul Davies, Michelle Simmons and Elliot Bentine, who is also known for his work in medical technology.
The world’s most famous TV naturalist David Attenborough with Robyn Williams / The Science Show, ABC
Left: US-based British neurologist and friend Oliver Sacks made a surprise visit to celebrate Robyn and The Science Show’s 25th anniversary, 2000 / Robyn Williams/ABC Archives. Right: Scientists Fiona Stanley and Tim Flannery celebrating the program’s 50th anniversary. A former ABC Board Director, Fiona during her tenure conducted an international survey of science media organisations for the ABC, concluding that “Robyn is the best science journalist in the world”.
Then there are the more than 100 Nobel prize winners whose stories have been featured on the program, including ten Australians, some of them little known outside science circles: physicist Lawrence Bragg, pharmacologist Howard Florey, virologist Macfarlane Burnet, neurophysiologist John Eccles, chemist John Cornforth, immunologist Peter Doherty, gastroenterologist Barry Marshall, pathologist Robin Warren, biochemist Elizabeth Blackburn, and astrophysicist/cosmologist Brian Schmidt,
Actors, artists and musicians often make a science-oriented appearance. Even then Prince, now King Charles, agreed to an interview in 1993 to talk about his horticultural advisor, the brilliant and eccentric (later Dame) Miriam Rothschild, and about his passion for organic gardening and using the environment sustainably, well before these ideas were widely accepted and when some considered them a little bit loopy.
Top: The Science Show’s Sharon Carleton interviewed then Prince (now King) Charles for the program in 1993. Bottom: The royal horticultural advisor, Dame Miriam Rothschild
With such stories barely covered elsewhere in the mainstream media, the one-hour weekly program became the ‘go-to’ for reliable information about all disciplines of science, and not just for contemporary and emerging issues but also for stories about significant – often unsung – scientists, institutions and achievements of the past. More often than not, these are brought to life by integrating evocative personal stories. The report on prolific Ballarat innovator Henry Sutton who invented TV in 1885 – yes, really! – is among the most intriguing.
In celebrating his program’s 50th anniversary – and in excess of 2,600 episodes – Robyn Williams does not want to waste the moment. He hopes the occasion will draw attention more widely to the values of science, and to the threats it now faces.
The assault on science funding in universities and research institutions, which has become ever more critical under US President Trump, is a major issue he wants to see addressed. Inaction on climate change remains a major bugbear, and he despairs at the decades of doubters, deniers and lost opportunities despite overwhelming evidence of the dangers.
There’s a need, he says, for more funding of science journalism, especially with the recent demise of Australia’s last science magazines. And he’s concerned about the ongoing ‘war on science’ where so-called experts are hired to spruik corporate-friendly propaganda, and compliant media and social media influencers continue to give unchallenged voice to their claims.
Williams’ interviewees have substantial backgrounds, have written academic papers or well-considered books, and their work is always thoroughly scrutinised before being given airtime.
A quintessential public broadcaster
Although Williams wants the focus of this celebration to be on promoting a greater awareness of science, there is a lot to learn by even a brief survey of his own career.
He is a quintessential public broadcaster, dedicated to bringing information that is not readily available in other sectors of the media to his listeners. Even the most complex science is distilled into a digestible form, without ‘dumbing down’ to the audience.
His guiding concept is that science is firmly a part of culture, relating to every aspect of our lives and welfare, and the future. “We all need to understand the interrelationships,” he says, which explains why the physics of music sits comfortably alongside explanations of the latest advances in quantum theory on the show.
Pix: ABC Archives
A decade ago, when celebrating Williams’ 40 years as host of the program, actor Cate Blanchett summed it up this way:
“Robyn, thank you, thank you, thank you for being you. Your incredible charm and fierce curiosity have made the big ideas accessible to millions of Australians without denuding any of the facts of their wondrous complexity. You’re a stalwart and a provocateur and we would be poorer without you. So congratulations … you are an absolute bloody legend.”
ABC radio science boss Jonathan Webb concurs:
“The Science Show is hugely important to the ABC. It’s the flagship science program and after 50 years a real institution, we get a lot out of having it. Robyn is extraordinarily well connected and helpful. His dedication and passion for the work, especially after 50 years, is remarkable. He is an institution in his own right.”
The making of a legend
A science honours graduate originally from the UK, Williams’ work for the ABC has seen him recognised by eight honorary doctorates, along with a swag of other honours too many to mention. He’s been a visiting or adjunct professor at two universities, and in 1993 became the first, and remains the only, journalist elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science. Over the years, he has held more than a dozen high level roles in scientific, cultural and science media organisations, and continues today as President Emeritus of The Australian Museum, Deputy Chair of the Science Media Centre and a member of several advisory boards.
Williams’ distinctive global approach emanates from his childhood. From the age of six, he grew up in Vienna, attending German-language primary and grammar schools, and absorbing the vibrant music and intellectual life of the Austrian capital.
Pix: ABC Archives
His sharp wit, honed during youthful stints as an extra and bit player in several iconic BBC series – The Goodies, Monty Python’s Flying Circus and Doctor Who – has been put to good use in the quirky humour that so often permeates The Science Show.
Insert: A regular contributor, satirist John Clarke began adding tomfoolery to The Science Show in 1997 / ABC Archives. Main Photo: John’s daughter Lorin Clarke at the program's 50th anniversary celebration,
Indeed, in 1977, Williams recruited a twenty-something Kiwi satirist named John Clarke, newly arrived in Australia, to become a frequent commentator on The Science Show. Through his character, farmer ‘Fred Dagg’, Clarke sardonically addressed the thorny issues of science, government policy and funding. It was the beginning of an extraordinary career in this country for the much-loved New Zealander, as acknowledged by his daughter, Lorin Clarke, who has followed in her father’s footsteps:
“The way Dad told the story, he arrived in Australia from New Zealand in 1977 ready to start from scratch. He had built up a profile as this farmer character, Fred Dagg, on New Zealand television, but nobody in Australia had ever heard of him. Or so he thought. Turns out, before Dad even moved to Australia, Robyn Williams had been gleefully plying his audience with Fred Dagg records on The Science Show. This meant two things. First, he was the beneficiary of The Science Show's loyal audience. But then, once Robyn invited him onto the show to do live segments, he found himself in a media ecosystem designed not only as an informative or educational show but as a moving, breathing platform for experimental tomfoolery, with a focus on ideas. He learned about writing. About science and philosophy. He learned how to make an argument. How to use rhythm and tone and pauses and repetition. He credited Robyn Williams as one of the people who gave him a start in Australia. He never forgot it.”
Zoologist Ron Strahan’s witty impersonation of Charles Darwin was a highlight on The Science Show in 1978 / The Australian Museum
Scientists sometimes got in on the comedy act too. An unforgettable item was by zoologist Ron Strahan at the opening in 1978 of a new bird gallery at The Australian Museum in Sydney. Strahan, playing the role of Charles Darwin in full period costume, hilariously portrayed the famous naturalist and geologist as a patronising Englishman during his visit to Australia in 1836 aboard the HMS Beagle, some 23 years before publication of On the Origin of Species. Williams had collaborated with Strahan, recorded the performance and ran it on his radio show.
Then there are the hoax programs – keeping listeners on their toes. ‘Professor John Fraser of Casey University in Canberra’, aka John Clarke, marked the 200th episode in March 1980 with a dissertation about the discovery, at Lake Mungo in western New South Wales, of a utensil so old that it must represent, he opined, the first activity of man with tools, and hence provide evidence of Australia as the origin of modern man. Mimicking the pomposity that sometimes creeps into explanations of scientific discoveries, he ‘prosaically’ called this find a ‘fossilised beer can’ because it was used for ‘alcohol bearing liquids’. He then went on to postulate that it was evidence of a prehistoric Australian hominid, ‘Homo micturans’, in whom anything visual that reached the brain was processed by only one eye. And on it went, shattering folk myths and elements of Australian grandiosity in a way that one might expect of a species called ‘micturans’ (derived from the verb ‘micturate’, meaning ‘to urinate’). Not that the etymology was explained!
Robyn interviewing physics professor Jak Kelly, one of several scientists who joined in the fun by giving ‘credence’ to John Clarke’s memorable ‘beer can’ hoax / ABC Archives
This involvement of comedy and ‘taking the mickey’ in a serious program was extraordinarily innovative radio for the time, and the audience loved it. In his definitive history, This Is The ABC, Ken Inglis noted that The Science Show was the network’s most popular program, a vehicle for scepticism about what scientists were doing and the political context, and “a brilliant essay in the intellectual use of radio”.
Along with the fun and the informative interviews, The Science Show – before brutal budget cuts – featured landmark investigative stories, and launched several significant careers.
It was on The Science Show in December 1987 that Dr Norman Swan famously exposed scientific research fraud by gynaecologist Dr William McBride, previously an Australian and international icon for blowing the whistle on the dangers of thalidomide causing birth defects. Swan won the Gold Walkley for his report and went on to become Australia’s most prominent medical journalist.
As a young journalist on The Science Show, Dr Norman Swan’s 1987 investigation of science fraud by Dr William McBride was one of several landmark exposés by the program. It won the Gold Walkley / ABC Archives
Also among the program’s stories that have had lasting effects are Peter Hunt’s 1980 reports on forestry at Terania Creek in northern New South Wales, which led to government policy changes and the preservation of precious forests, and Matt Peacock’s groundbreaking reports in the late 1970s on asbestosis and mesothelioma.
The Science Show today
Given the ongoing quality of The Science Show, it’s astonishing that the program these days has a staff of just two – Robyn Williams and his producer of 25 years, David Fisher.
The pair have a symbiotic relationship, and Williams knows only too well the value of his skilful collaborator:
“David is essential because he knows what I need, and I know that he will do everything that I can’t to the highest standard. He makes sure everything comes together. An example, I have to work very quickly and don’t have time to perfect editing, which can bamboozle some colleagues, but not David. He’s a professional musician with a great ear for sound. And he also has the same ‘old-fashioned’ view as I do about saying things that are important.”
Robyn Williams with his long-term producer, David Fisher / The Science Show ABC
But keeping up the standard is not easy.
It comes as a shock to learn that the flagship science show is now run on a shoestring. It no longer has its own budget, which means every out-of-pocket expenditure must be tediously approved by management and drawn from an overall Science Unit pot. Such are the changes in an era when ABC general funding remains diminished and a little has to go far, across all RN radio, podcast and online science output.
For The Science Show, it means there is no longer money for big investigative stories. Typically, there’s a mere $5,000 a year for freelance support. Loyal contributors like Sharon Carleton, who has made more than 40 exceptional biographical programs for the show, and US-based correspondents such as broadcaster Pauline Newman and biologist Peter Bernhardt, so believe in the program that they provide substantial stories and reports for far less than they should be paid. Other ABC staff also occasionally contribute.
Regular freelance contributors Sharon Carleton and US-based Pauline Newman / Helen Grasswill
But overwhelmingly, says David Fisher, it’s Williams who drives the content of the show.
“The Science Show is Robyn, his personality and his drive. He does two overseas trips a year, to the UK and the US. As soon as he steps off the plane, he works day and night. If he’s at UCLA or Harvard, they’ll line up their top researchers to file in one after another, a quick chat, then the interview … by the end he’ll come back with 50 interviews. And he’s saving money wherever he can, staying with friends or in cheap university accommodation and using public transport as much as possible.”
It's an incredible workload for anyone, let alone the self-described ‘Methuselah’ of the ABC.
Williams’ work ethic has always been driven, says Fisher:
“People forget that for decades it wasn’t just The Science Show but Ockham’s Razor too that Robyn was responsible for, and then In Conversation with Robyn Williams was added to the mix. So that’s three programs he was delivering for the ABC every week. It was a gigantic workload.”
On top of that he’s narrated and contributed to major TV series, and for a long time had regular promotional and informative spots on other ABC radio and TV programs.
These days, Williams concentrates only on the flagship program. But the success of The Science Show has spawned and/or encouraged other popular RN science shows, and some superb broadcasters.
Among them are the delightfully quirky ‘nature nerd’ Ann Jones, whose radio-podcast program What the Duck?! has a huge cult following and has launched her into also hosting TV and other programs. There’s Lab Notes with Belinda Smith, which looks at the science behind news events. She, too, has a wide portfolio of work and has recently filled in hosting The Science Show when Williams was on holiday.
Norman Swan, of course, remains ABC’s health guru, responsible for Health Report and What’s That Rash?, which have fostered new talent like Tegan Taylor and Preeya Alexander. All in the Mind, pioneered by former The Science Show reporter Lynne Malcolm, is now hosted and produced by Sana Qadar, who previously worked with several major international broadcasters. A range of talented reporters like Fiona Pepper and Peter de Kruijff produce programs for Science Friction, exploring the intersection between science, culture and society, and dilemmas posed by scientific and technical developments. Others like Shelby Traynor work across several radio and podcast programs, and the ABC’s online service.
As well, programs outside the Science Unit – notably Conversations with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski, Late Night Live with David Marr and Saturday Extra with Nick Bryant – don’t shy away from scientific topics. And Big Ideas presenter Natasha Mitchell is a science journalist who previously presented and produced several of ABC’s key science programs as well as spending four years as host of morning program Life Matters.
But despite this growth in output, Williams rues the demise of the popular Ockham’s Razor, which he created in 1984. A 15-minute scripted program, it reached out into the community to give new thinkers a chance to have a say on their topic of choice. Apparently, in later incarnations, it wasn’t considered chatty enough for preconceptions of current tastes and attention spans.
A public broadcasting ethic
Firmly believing that journalists and broadcasters must not be desk-bound, Robyn Williams has an indefatigable commitment to both reporting on location and community engagement. From top left: Joining scientists as they search for endangered freshwater long-neck turtles in northern New South Wales / Dave Robinson. One of many guest appearances at ABC Friends’ meetings around the country. Robyn roped in his accountant to dress up as a gorilla for an early speaking engagement / ABC Archives. With schoolteachers in Sydney / Haberfield Public School/Sachin Wakhare Photography. On location in New Zealand, reporting on Maori culture / Robyn Williams, ABC Archives.
Williams feels strongly about community involvement in science radio. He’s a broadcaster who ‘leaves the building’, constantly going out and about across the country (often at his own expense) to gather stories and spread the word about the ABC and science to legions of existing fans and potential new listeners.
He’s one of the few ABC broadcasters who consistently does what the ABC wants in encouraging and showcasing young people. Budding primary and secondary school scientists, along with university students, are often featured on The Science Show – usually with Williams visiting them in situ.
Projects like garbage recycling, organic gardening, studying animals such as platypuses or tadpoles and frogs, and collecting new species of fascinating slime moulds that grow exponentially, are brought to life by the enthusiastic broadcaster. A favourite, covered twice by the program, is a marvellous science production, ‘E=mc2 The Musical’, based around Einstein’s fundamental physics principle, and telling the story of many significant scientists and their discoveries. It was created for and first performed by primary school children in the Cape York Indigenous community of Hope Vale and later presented by Haberfield Public School in Sydney. It’s the type of fun-filled science learning that Williams would like to see more widespread.
Children at Hope Vale, on Cape York in northern Queensland, and at Haberfield Public School in Sydney, performing ‘E=mc2 The Musical’, which has featured twice on The Science Show. Inspired by Albert Einstein’s ground-breaking equation, the musical features a Time Machine and introduces primary school children to many of the world’s most significant scientists and their work. / Hope Vale & Haberfield schools, GGSA and CYAAA/photographers Michelle Caruso and Sachin Wakhare
Williams has also probably done more than anyone in this country to promote women scientists and those from diverse and minority backgrounds, though he is adamant that he’ll never label them as such. It’s all about their work, in its own right. He says that the rise of women in science in recent years has been extraordinary, with many working on some of the most significant advances in their fields.
He's spearheaded the charge in arresting the decline in students' and the broader public’s scientific knowledge. He instigated the peak Eureka Awards for Excellence in Science Communication and Innovation, and was involved in initiating National Science Week. He was instrumental in establishing ABC’s annual six-week internship training programs, to help up-and-coming professionals across various disciplines to develop effective media skills. And last year he established ABC’s Top 100 Australian Scientists à la Triple J’s Hot 100 of Australian Hits.
On top of all that, and the extracurricular work he does with science organisations, he’s in constant demand as a speaker and as a presenter at public events and scientific symposia. And, somehow, he’s managed to write ten books.
This is the kind of public service ethic, a duty to the community, that has emanated from The Science Show throughout its 50 years.
Left: Robyn with renowned research biologist Sir Gustav Nossal who helped convince the ABC to establish The Science Show 50 years ago / Walter & Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI). Right: Friends for life: Robyn Williams and Gus Nossal in 2017 / Australian Academy of Science (AAS)
Perhaps the most touching interview in this milestone anniversary year was in May when Williams interviewed Sir Gustav Nossal, the eminent Australian research biologist whose groundbreaking work on antibody formation and immunological tolerance some decades ago saw him honoured internationally, including receiving the Albert Einstein World Award of Science in 1990.
At 94 and ailing, Gus was talking with Williams from his hospital bed. He clearly sparked up seeing his long-time friend, and the respect between the two men was palpable.
Gus – along with a handful of others like then Science Unit chief John Challis, head of radio Arthur Wyndham and former colleague Robin Hughes who suggested the idea – had been one of those who pressed ABC powerbrokers to establish The Science Show back in 1975. The program has remained important to him. It seemed fitting that on this occasion Gus was announcing the funding of a new professorial chair and line of research at Melbourne’s famed Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI), of which he was director for three decades. His strongest message was to encourage scientifically-minded young people that research is an exciting pursuit.
The hospital visit was reminiscent of the time a decade ago when Williams famously made The Science Show for five weeks from his own hospital bed. Actually, the story is somewhat apocryphal, though it is indicative of Williams’ utter absorption in his work. Undoubtedly, those shows wouldn’t have happened without the skill and loyalty of his producer David Fisher, who rescued scripts and commentary that reflected the blurriness of a colorectal cancer patient being treated with chemotherapy and quite likely strong painkillers!
It wasn’t Williams’ first brush with death. In 1988 his friend and colleague Dr Norman Swan saved his life when he suffered a series of cardiac arrests. And bladder cancer nearly knocked him out in 1991.
Robyn Williams with close friend and colleague Dr Norman Swan, who saved his life in 2015 / Helen Grasswill
But for Williams, the show must go on.
This 50th anniversary is a milestone, but not the end. He has no plans to retire, and is already preparing his next interview trip to the UK in November.
But of course, he isn’t Methuselah, and one day – hopefully, not anytime soon – things will have to change.
ABC RN’s science staff is 20-strong, and there’s another unit in the TV division as well, numbering up to 20 at any one time, including transient contractors. Between them they produce by far the most science coverage of any media organisation in the country, across broadcast radio and TV, podcasts, YouTube and Online, both domestically and boosted by ABC International’s Asia and Pacific services. They could do a lot more, with increased funding. Nonetheless, it’s a terrific accomplishment, and owes much to the standard and reputation Williams has set.
While there’s a team of excellent science broadcasters, there’s no obvious successor for the flagship program.
The reality is that though Williams will inevitably one day be replaced, he is – on so many levels – irreplaceable.
Pix: ABC Archives
ABC RN’s ‘The Science Show’ airs at 12 noon on Saturdays and Mondays, and at 4 am on Mondays for night owls. It can also be accessed via its website, and on the ABC listen app.
Helen Grasswill
Helen Grasswill is a Walkley, Logies and Human Rights award-winning journalist. She worked at the ABC for thirty years, notably as a founding producer of Australian Story, before retiring and co-founding ABC Alumni where she was Deputy Chair for several years. She is author of the groundbreaking book, Australia: A Timeless Grandeur (Lansdowne, 1981), a 130,000-word exploration of the Australian environment. In her early career, she also edited landmark scientific books, contributed to environmental publications and international environmental/scientific television series, and was a member of the National Trust Coastal Conservation Committee. She is in awe of Robyn Williams and his achievements.
