Path integrals on BBC2

[NotAllThere]

I don't see why the hatred for Cox. ...

...

It's just his unbearable smugness, and his stupid grin.

Exactly.

 

[d000hg]

He's got enough to be justifiably smug about!

 

[Sysman]

So it's not just me that finds him irritating!

Not just me either!

 

[Cliphead]

I don't care who delivers the content as long as the science isn't patronising and aimed at children. Cox I'm indifferent about, the only time I got stay up late as a child was when the Sky at Night was on and learned a lot about astronomy from Patrick and his books which I could get from the library. So I ended up doing astronomy at uni but got sidetracked into IT.

Anything that might get kids interested in science / maths is valid but the beeb have lost the plot along with other program makers who seem to assume that the raw subject is too difficult for most to understand and so dumb down the subject and in some instances turn it into short soundbites. Does this lead to contributing to a short attention span of the audience? I think so but it's anecdotal at best and I can't quantify that.

The culture of x For Dummies doesn't help either, fully embrace a subject and explore or forever be bound by the summaries of wiki and Google searches.

 

[Gibbon]

I don't care who delivers the content as long as the science isn't patronising and aimed at children. Cox I'm indifferent about, the only time I got stay up late as a child was when the Sky at Night was on and learned a lot about astronomy from Patrick and his books which I could get from the library. So I ended up doing astronomy at uni but got sidetracked into IT.

Anything that might get kids interested in science / maths is valid but the beeb have lost the plot along with other program makers who seem to assume that the raw subject is too difficult for most to understand and so dumb down the subject and in some instances turn it into short soundbites. Does this lead to contributing to a short attention span of the audience? I think so but it's anecdotal at best and I can't quantify that.

The culture of x For Dummies doesn't help either, fully embrace a subject and explore or forever be bound by the summaries of wiki and Google searches.

I couldn't agree more old chap! I can barely watch ancient history programmes anymore without getting into a tizz.

 

[Cliphead]

I couldn't agree more old chap! I can barely watch ancient history programmes anymore without getting into a tizz.

Much as I love history programs I prefer to read what would be uni course content. I have an interest in Roman history (who doesn't), I did latin at school and that got me interested.

More recently I read Prof Mary Beard's Pompeii and still correspond with her about questions I have about that particular time and a very knowledgeable lady she is and I'm grateful that she takes the time to answer my questions. What do we get on TV? A 'dramatised' version based on froth (not the BBC program the book was based on).

I prefer to read Pliny although already translated as I can't do that.

 

[bless 'em all]

This could be my walk home depending the consumption of beer. The planked constant?

 

[VectraMan]

I couldn't get my head around the bit where he said that no 2 electrons in the universe can have exactly the same energy level (Pauli Exclusion Principle). He said that if he warmed up the diamond he was holding, therefore changing the energy of the electrons in it, then this led to instantaneous changes in all electron energy levels in all atoms in the universe. WTF??? Or did I misunderstand that wrong?

He didn't explain that bit. He went from saying not all electrons can be at the same energy level in an atom (and gave the analogy of the audience not all being able to sit in the front row), to all electrons in the universe can't be at the same energy level therefore they magically communicate.

 

[Sysman]

Well, it was

He only had 5 minutes left, after all...

This could be my walk home depending the consumption of beer. The planked constant?

There's some complex weave theory in there too.

Not to mention a bit of Hennessy uncertainty

 

[Doggy Styles]

He didn't explain that bit. He went from saying not all electrons can be at the same energy level in an atom (and gave the analogy of the audience not all being able to sit in the front row), to all electrons in the universe can't be at the same energy level therefore they magically communicate.

And what about that infinite number of parallel universes?

Or is that a different theory?