Brian Greene on Techtv: A Kaku Forum

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SUMMARY

The forum discussion centers on Brian Greene's recent appearance on Techtv's "The Screen Savers," where participants express mixed feelings about his work, particularly the Nova Trilogy adaptation of "The Elegant Universe." Users highlight Greene's exceptional communication skills and the engaging nature of his lectures, while criticizing the editing and repetitive content of the Nova series. Despite these critiques, the consensus is that Greene's book remains a valuable resource for understanding complex scientific concepts, including string theory and relativity.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of string theory concepts
  • Familiarity with special and general relativity
  • Knowledge of quantum mechanics basics
  • Experience with scientific communication techniques
NEXT STEPS
  • Explore Brian Greene's "The Elegant Universe" for in-depth insights on string theory
  • Watch the Nova Trilogy to analyze its presentation of scientific concepts
  • Research effective public speaking techniques used by scientists
  • Investigate critiques of popular science documentaries for better understanding of audience reception
USEFUL FOR

Science enthusiasts, educators, and anyone interested in the intersection of theoretical physics and effective communication will benefit from this discussion.

MrCaN
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Don't know if anyone watches the screen savers on Techtv, but Brian Greene was on tonight, not a bad interview. Of course, this forum is a Kaku site.
 
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Brian Greene is also on NPR pretty often. The callers are usually pretty disappointing though. Either way, always fun to listen to him talk.

cookiemonster
 
Originally posted by cookiemonster
Brian Greene is also on NPR pretty often. The callers are usually pretty disappointing though. Either way, always fun to listen to him talk.

cookiemonster

Nobody can doubt the explanation skills of Brian Greene in his writing, what the Producers and Editors of the recent Nova Trilogy done to his Elegant Universe has to be questioned I think. I would love to know how much of the finished product dissapointed Brian?

With just a book, Brian Greene excells a compeling read is Guaranteed, but the Documentary was a major dissapointment, but I guess by the posts here that this interview is pretty cool, any links available?
 
Are they questioning the Nova series? I watched it before I read the book, so I really couldn't look for any discrepancies. I thought the Nova series was very good, but maybe I should have another look at it.

The book, either way, is fantastic.

cookiemonster
 
It had a lot of good things: decent explanations of difficult concepts that most people could understand, but the editing was horrendous! Too many talking heads saying the same thing over and over! The three hours total could be edited to a compact hour and a half. Still, I show selected portions to my classes because the graphics are great. Specifically, the depiction of "gravity waves" created by the anihillation of the sun is wonderful.
 
I have to admit that Brian Greene is an excellent orator. He has a knack for public speaking.
 
I attended a lecture by Brian Greene today, he started it off by reading part of an Amazon.com customer review, which I thought was very amusing :P

The theoretical equivalent of cold fusion, February 12, 1999
Reviewer: A reader from Seattle

This book is written at such a level and with such clarity that almost anyone can get an appreciation for string theory. The book contains one of the best explanations for layman of special and general relativity and quantum mechanics that I have ever encountered. Even though the author is a proponent of string theory, he has presented it in such an evenhanded manner that anyone with a modicum of scientific wisdom can see that it is one of the biggest scientific boondoggles in history.
Him ofcourse being extremely delighted to read that, but then it goes on.. he says :)

I found it hard to reconcile how frankly the author discusses this mirage with his obvious enthusiasm for it. The problem is simply that there is nothing much else for gifted mathematical physicists like himself to work on. He is as happy as a pig in sh!t.

It is hard to criticize what you do not understand. This book will give you the necessary understanding to laugh out loud at the buffoons of string theory as they race around chasing their tails.
Ofcourse he took that all with a wink, a very original way to start a lecture ;) He was actually invited by the Queen to inform her on the advances in string theory :P
 

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