Brian Greene - Secret History of Humans - Idi Amin - Colin McRae - Stephen Hawking TV - Unfolding Universe TV - Mankind: The Story of All of Us TV - Star Trek TV - Star Trek: The Next Generation TV - Days that Shook the World TV - Idris Elba TV - Will Ferrell - Vin Diesel - Richard Bach - Jeremy Clarkson - Sun Tzu - Horizon TV - Richard Dawkins - Donald Campbell: Speed King TV - The Office US TV - Trailer Park Boys: Out of the Park US 2017 - Ian Hislop’s Trains that Changed the World TV -
It’s speed that would lead Einstein to overturn Newton’s picture of space. Brian Greene, Beyond the Cosmos, National Geographic 2012
Speed has been essential to our existence. We learnt early on that it is an advantage in the battle for survival … ‘Pretty much all animals that can eat us run faster.’ Secret History of Humans XII: Need for Speed, historian, Apple TV 2013
You cannot move faster than a bullet. Idi Amin
The speed – it’s a bit like a drug. Colin McRae, cited Sporting Greats: Colin McRae, Sky Sports 2017
Speed is relative to your perspective. Stephen Hawking’s Grand Design: The Key to the Cosmos, Discovery 2012
Albert Einstein realised that a man in the emptiness of space would not be able to detect whether he was falling under gravity. Einstein called this a happy idea. But in 1960, five years after Einstein’s death, Joe Kittinger made the idea a reality. He was part of a US Air Force team studying the effects of high altitude on the human body. He never achieved the fame of Yuri Gagarin and Neil Armstrong, but to all intents and purposes Joe Kittinger was the first man in space. Three hours after lift-off his balloon was thirty kilometres above the Earth, three times higher than a jet airliner. And then, carrying a film camera, Kittinger did something amazing: he jumped. High above the clouds in the incredibly thin air Kittinger had no sense of falling ... Kittinger was the first man to reach the speed of sound without an aircraft. Unfolding Universe, Discovery 2002
Coal, Steam and a new sensation – Speed. Mankind: The Story of All of Us X: Revolution, History 2012
At Warp 10 we’re going nowhere mighty fast. Star Trek s3e15: Let That Be Your Last Battlefield, Scotty on bridge
Captain, we’re passing warp ten. Star Trek: The Next Generation s1e6: Where No One Has Gone Before, Geordi
Speed Kills. Bullitt 1968 starring Steve McQueen & Robert Vaughn & Jacqueline Bisset & Don Gordon & Simon Oakland & Norman Fell & Robert Duvall & Georg Stanford & Carl Reindel & Ed Pack & Pat Renella et al, director Peter Yates, poster in hospital foyer
With the arrival of the jet-age in the mid-1940s speeds weren’t solely dreamed of became a reality. Two extraordinary days twenty years apart stand out – Chuck Yeager’s supersonic flight and Donald Campbell’s attempt to become the fastest man on water. Days that Shook the World s1e12: Chuck Yaeger, BBC 2003
I’m going to race and rally across the world ... People obsessed with speed like me. Idris Elba: King of Speed, BBC 2013
Cannonballers drove from coast to coast in the first ever supercars. ibid.
Rallying is one of the most dangerous driving disciplines. Idris Elba: King of Speed II
In 1982 the top tier [of Rallying] was divided into two classes: Group A for modified road cars and Group B for prototype cars. ibid.
An arms race for ever more powerful machines. ibid.
America is all about speed. Hot, nasty, badass speed. Will Ferrell
It wasn’t until I went to college and I got my first motorcycle that I understood the thrill of speed. Vin Diesel
But the speed was power, and the speed was joy, and the speed was pure beauty. Richard Bach, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, 1970
Speed has never killed anyone. Suddenly becoming stationary, that’s what gets you. Jeremy Clarkson, Top Gear
Speed is the essence of war. Take advantage of the enemy’s unpreparedness; travel by unexpected routes and strike him where he has taken no precautions. Sun Tzu, The Art of War
According to Newton Time was fixed. And its flow and pace never varied ... Newton had said there was just one Time. And there was therefore just one Now. Einstein begged to differ. He said Time was much weirder than that ... The Future and the Past are out there waiting for us ... He suggested the answer was all to do with speed. Until Einstein it was thought Time flowed at the same pace everywhere. But he showed that wasn’t so. The pace of Time can change. It differs depending on the speed you’re travelling at. Bizarre as it may seem the faster you travel, the slower Time will run for you. Horizon: Time Trip, BBC 2003
Before Einstein it was thought that the passage of time was unchanging. It ran at the same pace no matter where you were in the universe or how fast you were travelling. But Einstein discovered that Time was not unchanging. The rate at which Time passed depended on the speed of which you were travelling. Horizon: Einstein’s Unfinished Symphony, BBC 2005
Cheetahs are said to be capable of accelerating from 0 to 60 mph in 3 seconds, which is right up there with a Ferrari, a Porsche or a Tesla. Richard Dawkins, The Greatest Show on Earth p381
‘Once you start, you’re past the point of no return.’ Donald Campbell: Speed King, BBC 2016, Campbell
The 1920s and ’30s was the first great age of speed. On land, sea and in the air, men could travel at speeds previously undreamt of. The dare-devils who risked their lives to reach new milestones were seen as heroes. Britain’s Malcolm Campbell was one of the greatest heroes of all. ibid.
1935: he faced his toughest challenge: Bonneville Salt Flats Utah … his greatest achievement as a driver. ibid.
He set four water speed records, everything he touched turned to gold. ibid.
Malcolm Campbell’s greatest admirer – his son Donald. ibid.
In his father’s boat he took to the water for the first time. ibid.
The late 1950s were Campbell’s glory years. ibid.
Campbell’s crash at three hundred miles an hour was a very public calamity. ibid.
I am fast. To give you a reference point I am somewhere between a snake and a mongoose. And a panther. The Office US s3e8: The Merger, Dwight, NBC 2006
Bubbles: Have you any idea how fast 200 mph is?
Ricky: No. Trailer Park Boys: Out of the Park USA III: Charlotte
For over 200 years trains have changed our lives. They reshaped our towns and cities with literally ground-breaking engineering. Inventions like The Rocket powered Britain’s industrial revolution and helped build an empire. They ushered in an age of leisure tourism and luxury travel that we still enjoy today. Ian Hislop’s Trains that Changed the World, Channel 5 2021
Britain became addicted to speed obsessed with moving people and goods faster and faster. ibid.
The Flying Scotsman: the most famous locomotive of all time running non-stop along the 393-mile route, it cut the journey time between London and Edinburgh to just over 8 hours. ibid.
Mallard: Its sleek curvy look announced a new era in high-speed train design. ibid.
The [US] Zephyr was the first of the diesel-powered stream-liners. ibid.