Comment by praptak
9 hours ago
In a similar vein, to drive a black taxi in London you have to pass The Knowledge of London exam which requires becoming a human routing database for over twenty thousand streets and landmarks.
9 hours ago
In a similar vein, to drive a black taxi in London you have to pass The Knowledge of London exam which requires becoming a human routing database for over twenty thousand streets and landmarks.
I know this from the "Up" series [1] from the late Michael Apted.
Tony got his "knowledge" around "21-Up" in the series, became a London cabby by "28-Up" [2].
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_(film_series)
[2] https://youtu.be/_rQ1V7m0Kfs?t=142
Yep, if you see someone on a scooter with a clipboard attached to the handlebars it's quite likely to be someone studying for The Knowledge.
The Knowledge is exactly the first thing to get into my mind the moment I read the headline.
Made me think of this as well.
If I remember the story I read correctly, they just call it "The Knowledge". What a great name.
There is also a very good TV comedy-drama film of 1979 about some characters working towards passing the Knowledge exam. The film was, of course, called The Knowledge:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Knowledge_(film)
It's available on YouTube (potential geoblocking notwithstanding):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSAAB1ZmudY