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Michael Flanders
(1 Mar 1922 - 14 Apr 1975)
English actor and broadcaster who performed from his wheelchair with Donald Swann (1923-1994) at the piano. They were two of Britain’s finest comedians, fondly remembered for their songs and revues: At the Drop of a Hat (1956) and At the Drop of Another Hat (1964). Flanders provided the witty lyrics and clever banter linking the songs which Swann set to music.
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Science Quotes by Michael Flanders (3 quotes)
Jupiter’s passed through Orion
And come into conjunction with Mars.
Saturn is wheeling through infinite space
To its preordained place in the stars.
And I gaze at the planets in wonder
At the trouble and time they spend,
All to warn me to be careful
In dealings involving a friend!
And come into conjunction with Mars.
Saturn is wheeling through infinite space
To its preordained place in the stars.
And I gaze at the planets in wonder
At the trouble and time they spend,
All to warn me to be careful
In dealings involving a friend!
— Michael Flanders
Lyrics of 'Horoscope' from At the Drop of Another Hat, revue performance by Michael Flanders and Donald Swann (Haymarket Theatre, London, opened 2 Oct 1963), and on LP recording (released 1964).
One of the great problems of the world today is undoubtedly this problem of not being able to talk to scientists, because we don’t understand science; they can’t talk to us because they don’t understand anything else, poor dears.
— Michael Flanders
From dialogue in At the Drop of a Hat, revue performed by Michael Flanders and Donald Swann (1959).
With a tone control at a single touch
I can make Caruso sound like Hutch,
I never did care for music much—
It’s the high fidelity!
I can make Caruso sound like Hutch,
I never did care for music much—
It’s the high fidelity!
— Michael Flanders
A parody of the hi-fi addict. From lyrics of 'Song of Reproduction', in the Michael Flanders and Donald Swann revue, At the Drop of a Hat (1959). As quoted in Steven D. Lubar, InfoCulture: The Smithsonian Book of Information Age Inventions (1993), 186. “Hutch” was the popularly used name of Leslie Hutchinson (1900-1969), one of the biggest London cabaret entertainers of the 1920s-30s.
In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion.
(1987) -- 
