Funday: What do you want readers to get from Can You Feel the Force?
Richard Hammond: I want them to think: “Hey, this is for me.” If you are top of the class in science or physics, it’s naturally already working for you and off you go. But for the rest of us, there’s a danger with physics that you look at it and think it’s not for me at all. That’s not the case. It’s absolutely accessible for you and it’s about how things work and why they do what they do. It’s stuff that you need to know and should know. So why not find out about it?
Funday: Were you top of you class at science at school?
Richard Hammond: Absolutely not - I was terrible. I didn’t really like school very much and didn’t really respond well to an institutional environment for whatever reason. But I could see that was an exciting subject. If someone had pointed out to me that this is fun stuff, I would have enjoyed it a lot more.
Funday: How did you feed your natural curiosity for the world around you?
Richard Hammond: I was always building stuff and experimenting with things. Both my grandfathers were very practical men, one was trained as a cabinet maker and he built cars. So I always had a great passion for all things practical and creative which, of course, physics encompasses. It’s about using physics and using forces.
Funday: Was there any section of the book that you find hard to get your head around?
Richard Hammond: There’s plenty of things that are hard to get your head around and there are some things we just don’t know. If someone can explain why a golf ball with dimples goes 40% further, then I’d like to know! I certainly didn’t set out to have all the answers. But that again is great for kids to think: “Hang on, they don’t have all the answers” There are plenty of things scientists go “Err, I don’t know” about. It’s not just about having the answers, but about having fun on the way.
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Funday: Do you enjoy doing the Brainiac TV series?
Richard Hammond: Yes, it’s the same sort of thing, showing that science is for everybody. Science is huge fun. Although on Brainiac it looks like we are just blowing up caravans or walking on custard, we are out to prove a piece of scientific method. We did a thing on the science of a food fight; the amount of energy you need to impart to throw your food, how the projectory of the food is defined by the shape of the food or the way it interacts with the air and then there’s what happens when it hits the target. Okay, ultimately we were just filming a food fight in a school hall but by talking about it in scientific terms we are showing that’s what science is all about.
Funday: Working on Top Gear is every boy’s dream, having a laugh and driving flash cars. Is it as much fun as it looks?
Richard Hammond: It’s an odd job for a grown man, isn’t it? Yes, of course it is. We do have a huge amount of fun doing it. I’m mad passionate about cars and have been since I was a kid. If I get time, I’m happiest messing about on an engine of an old classic car.
Funday: What’s been your favourite Top Gear moment?
Richard Hammond: Blasting to Iceland in a convoy of convertibles across a volcanic lava field looking at a glacial volcano in the distance that could erupt at any moment, which if it did would be seen in the UK. There’s any number of moments. For as long as it lasts, it’s a fabulous priviledge to do Top Gear.
Can You Feel the Force? (DK, £9.99) by Richard Hammond is out now