Are There Any Other Educational Video Series Like 'The Mechanical Universe'?

  • Level: High School 
  • Thread starter Thread starter kraphysics
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Mechanical Universe
Join the discussion
Registration is free. Start your own thread to ask a follow-up.
Sign up Log in
4 replies · 4K views
kraphysics
Messages
41
Reaction score
0
"The Mechanical Universe"?

Have you heard of this series called "The Mechanical Universe"? Dr. David Goodstein from Caltech is in the videos and they are really good. We watch them in our physics class before beginning each unit. What are some other video series like this?
 
Astronomy news on Phys.org

Discussion



kraphysics said:
Have you heard of this series called "The Mechanical Universe"? Dr. David Goodstein from Caltech is in the videos and they are really good. We watch them in our physics class before beginning each unit. What are some other video series like this?
I recorded all of The Mechanical Universe and The Mechanical Universe - and Beyond back in the early 90's when The Learning Channel had stuff worth watching. :wink: I really enjoyed the series.

There are a lot of other online lectures that have been posted on the forum. The https://www.physicsforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=151" section is a good place to start.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Those are very good introductory videos, because they highlight important concepts and histories of physics throughout the material of basic level college physics and are not afraid to show mathematical treatments to what they are talking about (which are fundamental to understanding). The best videos I had seen on introductory physics, they gave me a different take on much of that material when I was studying it for the first time.

For those that are interested, the videos can be found here:http://www.learner.org/resources/series42.html
 


For videos created in the 80s, they have tremendously long-lasting significance. Their treatment of special relativity is absolutely marvelous. I don't use them as a substitute for teaching. I found they work best as a "recap" rather than intro.
 


Apart from their value as a learning tool, I think "the Mechanical Universe" also provides historical context and makes me feel excitement and awe for physics. maybe i am weird.. but i never found any other series like that.
 
Last edited: