Archive for Magnets

Magnetic River

Posted in Education, The Universe and Stuff with tags , , on April 15, 2014 by telescoper

I stumbled across this yesterday as a result of an email from a friend who shall remain nameless (i.e. Anton). I remember seeing Prof. Eric Laithwaite on the television quite a few times when I was a kid. What I found so interesting about watching this so many years later is that it’s still so watchable and compelling. No frills, no gimmicks, just very clear explanation and demonstrations, reinforced by an aura of authoritativeness that makes you want to listen to him. If only more modern science communication were as direct as this.  I suppose part of the appeal is that he speaks with an immediately identifiable no-nonsense accent, from the part of the Midlands known as Lancashire….

 

 

The Feynman Reaction

Posted in The Universe and Stuff with tags , , on November 5, 2010 by telescoper

I came across this clip of the great physicist Richard Feynman sort-of explaining magnetism, but was taken aback by some of the comments posted on Youtube in reaction to it. Some people appear to have found his response extremely arrogant, while others think he was just being honest (and trying his very best not to be patronising). I know what I think, but doubt if everyone agrees with my reaction.

I know the readership of this blog isn’t a fair sample, but I’d be very interested to see the general opinion on his comments. So please study the clip and complete the poll at the bottom.


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