![[sex and science]](http://www.sunclipse.org/downloads/sexandscience3.png)
Here's computer-graphics guru Jim Blinn narrating a demonstration reel of the animation used in the esteemed television series The Mechanical Universe (1985). This Caltech production turned a freshman physics course into a video experience covering Newtonian mechanics, introductory calculus, electromagnetism, thermodynamics, relativity and a dash of quantum physics.
FUN FACTS:
1. Some footage in The Mechanical Universe, such as the historical re-creations of Johannes Kepler, were edited from material originally filmed for Cosmos: A Personal Voyage (1980). Clips from The Mechanical Universe were themselves reused in another Caltech video series, Project MATHEMATICS! (1988–1995), on which Blinn also did animation work. Keen-eyed observers might even notice familiar-looking planet flyby animations in Total Recall (1990), when Douglas Quaid visits Rekall Incorporated and insists that he does not want a Saturn cruise.
2. I grew up on this stuff. One day, when I was a wee munchkin, I caught a cold and stayed home from school. My father took the day off to take care of me, and since I didn't feel up to doing anything more elaborate than resting on the sofa, he tried to find something on TV which would be better to watch than normal daytime fare. We chanced upon PBS — Alabama Public Television, to be precise — and they were broadcasting The Mechanical Universe.
According to my mother, this caused some consternation in my first-grade class, when Mrs. Riggins started teaching the alphabet. We made it to the letter F, or so the story goes, when I raised my hand and piped in my childish treble, "F equals ma!"
Adorable, wasn't I?
At the next parent-teacher conference, I'm told, the teacher informed my mother about my odd behaviour, and then said that she'd looked in her husband's engineering textbook, only to find (she said in hushed tones) that F really did equal ma.
3. As the opening logo of each episode proclaimed, The Mechanical Universe was funded by The Annenberg/CPB Project, later known as Annenberg Media, a branch of the Annenberg Foundation, the same group which sponsored the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, the public-school reform initiative during whose board meetings Barack Obama met Bill Ayers, college professor and erstwhile radical activist.
BY WATCHING THIS VIDEO, ALL OF YOU HAVE BECOME TERRORISTS.
Salaam alaikum, and I'll see you next time.
Physical Science
Comments
Blake, I meant to thank you when you first posted this on your old blog, but I never got around to it. Several years ago I caught an episode or two of what must have been Project MATHEMATICS! on the NASA channel. The visual learning style was very appealing, but I never could figure out what the program was called. And The Mechanical Universe is even better!
Posted by: Anthony | October 10, 2008 11:28 PM
That opening sequence brought back alot of memories
Posted by: JakeS | October 11, 2008 12:43 AM
I avoid watching video online, in case I inadvertantly become a terrorist. Or a nun. Or both.
Posted by: efrique | October 12, 2008 3:50 AM
As a high school physics teacher I have used the high school adaptation (shortened shows that remove the calculus analysis) for many years. The associated documentation with background info, guides for viewing for students, suggested demos for teachers and short assessments for each video is a very valuable teaching tool. The animation showing the electric fields is far beyond anything I could do on a blackboard. It even has a sense of humor. In the late 80's when it was first out the students appreciated the live footage. Now the 80's fashions are amusing. A fantastic series that is one of the best teaching tools in the video field.
I also use the "Frames of Reference" video of Dr Ivey and his colleague. I originally used it in film form and now it is on video. In it they use high speed cameras to analyse inertial and non inertial frames of reference. The best presentation I have ever seen. Again not something I can do in the classroom.
Posted by: John-Michael Caldaro | October 12, 2008 9:40 PM
Ah, yes, the '80s fashion. I'm thinking of starting a "science on TV" wardrobe collection. I mean, I already go around in a tweed jacket with suede elbow patches, so it's the next logical step. Getting a Carl Sagan turtleneck and matching Members Only jacket shouldn't be too difficult, and I think I could get a David Goodstein tie without too much trouble. Finding James Burke's safari suit won't be so easy. . . .
Posted by: Blake Stacey | October 12, 2008 10:04 PM
DO WANT!
I've forgotten soooo much maths and physics in a few scant years.
Posted by: Sili | October 19, 2008 11:27 AM