It never ceases to amaze me how some families produce people of immense and wide-ranging talents.
I was raised with the story of the heroic failure of Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Scott of the Antarctic, beaten to the South Pole by Amundsen, then dying so bravely in the frozen wastes. The film starring John Mills was a classic.
I also used to watch the naturalist Peter (later Sir Peter) Scott on wildlife programmes on TV, with no idea that he was actually the good Captain's son, born in 1909, and only a toddler when his father died.
Sir Peter was a great wildlife artist, too, and he was the leading light behind the formation of the World Wildlife Fund. A great man in a completely different way from his father, whom he can't have known, but whose legend he presumably grew up with.
I was raised with the story of the heroic failure of Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Scott of the Antarctic, beaten to the South Pole by Amundsen, then dying so bravely in the frozen wastes. The film starring John Mills was a classic.
I also used to watch the naturalist Peter (later Sir Peter) Scott on wildlife programmes on TV, with no idea that he was actually the good Captain's son, born in 1909, and only a toddler when his father died.
Sir Peter was a great wildlife artist, too, and he was the leading light behind the formation of the World Wildlife Fund. A great man in a completely different way from his father, whom he can't have known, but whose legend he presumably grew up with.
Captain Scott 
Sit Peter Scott
Sir Peter Scott with David Attenborough Sir David Attenborough is another great naturalist. Though now 73, he still manages to go places and do things younger mortals would consider too taxing or dangerous. He has been a wildlife presenter and documentary maker for 50 years or more, and is regarded as a National Treasure.
Sir David Attenborough and friend
Here he is presenting an amazing bird in the rainforest.
You can also hear his fascinating 10-minute "Life Stories" on BBC Radio4 each week, the latest of which is here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00mlxpv/David_Attenboroughs_Life_Stories_Birds_Nest_Soup/
I don't know how well-known David is across the world, but his elder brother's reputation is truly international.
Richard (now Lord) Attenborough has been a widely-acclaimed actor for decades, and his role in Jurassic Park as the park's founder means that he has remained a very recognisable figure. He is also an outstanding film director, his most famous work being Gandhi in 1982.
Tragedy hit in 2004 when his daughter and granddaughter were lost in the Asian Tsunami.
Lord AttenboroughThe Attenboroughs' father was an eminent academic, his mother one of the founders of the Marraige Guidance Council.
How does it happen that some people, like the Attenboroughs, live up to their families and grow into achievers, while others rebel and amount to nothing?
How is it that some kids, like Peter Scott, who lose a parent very young and under tragic circumstances do things that would have made the dead parent proud, but others use it as an excuse to be a failure?
If we only knew the answers to such questions, we could solve a lot of the world's problems.
Richard and David Attenborough
