There is little point in our competing with the Chinese steel industry when British Steel at Llanwern can make a healthy profit producing a much lower volume of hi-tech “clever steels” beyond the ken of mass-producing nations. Equally, it would be pointless for Morgan cars to think of competing with Mazda or Ford.I learnt, as I suspected, that energy and enthusiasm are more than a match for the flip-chart, overhead-projector, my-jargon-is-more-macho- than-your-jargon school of business management. Detached professional management might well turn a profit deciding that designer labels are more profitable than diesel locos, but I can’t get excited by the Great Western Designer Outlet Village; nor, apparently, can those promoting it. The press kit announcing the opening of this retail “facility” was wrapped around a scale model of the Great Western Railway 4-6-0, 6005 King George II (although the one sent to me is literally off the rails). The full-scale original was designed and built at Swindon railway works 70 years ago.

The retail sector may have triumphed over manufacturing, but I get the feeling that not so very far under the surface, and despite Martin Wiener’s astute analysis of the upper-middle classes, there are many people who wish we were still making things rather than simply consuming those made by others. You don’t have to be mad to want to make useful things in Britain at the turn of the century, but it might be the only way to produce anything as enduring as Connolly leather or as endearing as a Great Western King.. You are now entering an election-free zone

This has been Science Week, a week at the start of which the British were an ignorant, scientifically naive bunch and after which they are now one of the most scientifically sophisticated communities in the world.
Or are they ?Well, it’s easy to find out.If you have been paying attention, you too should be scientifically switched on by now.So why not test yourself to see just how much you have picked up ?Here we go then! All you have to do is see how many of the following searching scientific questions you can answer.1. Every week Melvyn Bragg starts the week with a bunch of assorted pundits, and every week one of them is a geneticist.

What are the odds against this happening by random selection ?2. Sometimes one of the Dimblebys asks for a show of hands during one of their Question programmes, and says, “Of course this isn’t a scientifically conducted survey”. Compared to what? What is a scientifically conducted survey?3. For instance, is a political election a scientifically conducted survey?4. If the opinion polls say that one party will win, and the election results say that by a count of elected members the other side has won, might a scientist say that the polls were right and the election was wrong?5.

What IS the scientific process ? Which of the following descriptions most nearly approximates to the way science works ?a) Evolving a theory and then testing it with repeatable and verifiable experiments until proved true or false.b) Developing an experimental programme such as sheep cloning which is newsworthy enough to get more research funds rolling in.c) Being called in by the Government at BSE or E.Coli time and being asked to bail them out overnight.6 How can you tell sheep apart at the best of times?7. A comet has been placed in the north-western sky especially to promote interest in Science Week. But what is it called?a) “Hip Hop”b) “Gault-Millau”c) “Darth Vader”d) “Look, just over the chimney, that faint blob, oh it’s gone now….”8. What does the word “forensic” refer to?a) Cutting up dead peopleb) Crime shows on TV….c) Any evidence in court which is subsequently shown to be dodgy.9. What can be seen glowing faintly in the evening after sunset and again round about sunrise?a) That thing, you know, the whatsit, the asteroid, no, as you were, the comet or whateverb) The nearest big city, or perhaps just Trowbridgec) Michael Howard on Newsnight and again on the Today programme.10. What is a comet exactly?a) A laser show designed to publicise Science Weekb) Nuclear waste dumped in space by a now-extinct civilisationc) An omen foretelling great unrest ahead and massive hold-ups on the M4011. Which of the following words are not genuine scientific terms ?a) morphb) zapc) mutantd) ninjae) ginormousf) megag) bodacious12.

The population of the world is increasing the whole time, but the amount of air and water stays constant, leading to a smaller share for everyone. What will this mean for mankind by the year AD2200 ?a) That we will all be forced to take smaller breaths ?b) That air will be piped down from the upper atmosphere, rather as water is now piped from the Welsh hills?c) That bottles of fizzy air will be placed on the tables of posh restaurants?d) That dry methods of washing ourselves will be evolved, eg that we will vacuum-clean our hair instead of shampooing it?13. Have you ever met anyone who had finished reading A Brief History of Time?14. Explain briefly the difference between Richard Dawkins and Stephen Hawking.Answers will be given next time Science Week comes along. “So, are five orgasms really better than one?” screams Company magazine. A stupid question, one might feel, but in the current “less is more” climate that governs everything from politics to cuisine, you never can tell Quality rather than quantity is the order of the day. There is, you will be pleased to hear, “a flipside to a clutch of climaxes”.