TV scientist Dr Magnus Pyke has died peacefully in a nursing home. He
was 83.
The television personality, known for his extravagant gesticulations
and lively chatter, died on Monday at the home in Putney, south-west
London, said his daughter, Mrs Bessie White.
Dr Pyke found national fame in the 1970s as presenter of the science
programme Don't Ask Me. He wrote more than 20 books in an effort to make
the world of science more understandable.
At the age of 67 he won the Pye award for best newcomer to television,
after retiring from a career as a food scientist and nutritionist.
A widower -- his wife Dorothea died six years ago -- Dr Pyke leaves
two children, Bessie and John, and three grandchildren.
''He would like to be remembered as a communicator -- someone who was
very keen and very good at getting information over clearly, and cutting
through nonsense,'' said Mrs White.
London-born Magnus Pyke learned at St Paul's School that he had a good
memory and a ''certain bounciness combined with a lack of
self-consciousness'' which never left him, he wrote in his
autobiography, The Six Lives of Pyke.
Sometimes dubbed the ''windmill man'' because he flailed his arms to
emphasise points, he once commented: ''I just go on with telling the
viewers what I want them to know -- and I simply don't bother about how
I look while explaining it.''
As principal scientific officer at the Ministry of Food during the
Second World War, he once startled Food Minister Lord Woolton by
suggesting we should eke out rations by making black pudding out of
surplus human blood plasma.
He was one of the scientists behind the scheme to introduce
vitamin-rich rosehip syrup as a substitute for imported orange juice.
Later he forged a career in industry, heading the Glenochil Research
Station in Menstrie, Clackmannanshire, where he was concerned with
quality of manufactured food.
From 1973-1977, he chaired the council of the British Association for
the Advancement of Science.
Dr Pyke received an OBE in 1978.
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