Pike, Magnus Alfred (1908–1992)

British food scientist and broadcaster. He enjoyed an extraordinary period of celebrity following his retirement in 1973, co-presenting Don't Ask Me, a popular science series on British television.

Pike was author of the standard work The Manual of Nutrition (1945). He ran Genochil Research Station, Scotland, 1955–73, after which he became Secretary of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.

Pike had a mission to explain, which he achieved brilliantly. Much in demand as a lecturer, his arms flailed as he sought the clearest answers to the questions his audience asked.

He referred to his period of fame as a television scientist as his ‘sixth life’. His ‘fifth life’ was spent working for Distillers Company in Scotland and bringing up his family; the fourth was marked by the publication of The Manual of Nutrition. His ‘third life’ was passed in Canada, working as a farm labourer in the summer, and studying at McGill University in the winter; his second was his education at St Paul's School, London; while the first encompassed his early childhood in west London. His ‘seventh life’ began when Don't Just Sit There – a further highly successful television series – ended, and he retired again, in 1980.