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Sir David Attenborough is probably one of the most remarkable human beings ever. Not only has the British broadcaster and biologist done more for the planet than a thousand Gretha Thurnbergs, but he even helped convince tennis to adopt yellow tennis balls – for a good reason.

Lawn tennis originated in mediaeval French monasteries and courts, where monks and royals began playing “royal tennis” with leather balls packed with wool or rags. It wasn’t until Charles Goodyear invented the ‘vulcanization method’ in the 1870s, that the use of Indian rubber to manufacture tennis balls became widespread. These balls were however either black or white.

Fast forward a few decades to when Sir David was employed by the BBC as a controller and was tasked with transitioning the BBC 2 television broadcast from black and white to colour.

“We had been asking the government over and over again and they wouldn’t allow us, until suddenly they said, “Yes, OK, you can have it, and what’s more you’re going to have it in nine months’ time,’ or whatever it was.”

“They had no idea of the complexity involved. Even then, the cameras were changing. The engineers didn’t want to buy a complete set of studio cameras that would be significantly outdated within a year. So I had to predict when we would start – and, in a childish sort of way, I wanted to be first.”

Sir David adds that he also wanted to beat West Germany in introducing some colour to television broadcasts, after the US and Japan had already done so.

“It suddenly dawned on me that the one thing we did have was outside broadcast units,” he said. “I thought, ‘Blimey, couldn’t we deploy them?’ And then I thought of Wimbledon. I mean, it is a wonderful plot: you’ve got drama, you’ve got everything. And it’s a national event, it’s got everything going for it.”

Soon after this happened, research showed that yellow tennis balls were more visible to television viewers than the traditional black or white.

The switch to more visible balls was championed by Sir David Attenborough, who, thanks to his filming knowledge, discovered that it was difficult for viewers to see the ball as it travelled over the white lines.

Even though there is still a big debate around whether tennis balls are yellow or green, thanks to the legendary nature bro, tennis got a whole lot easier to watch.

What a human being.

[source:foxsports]