Movies that feature physics concepts

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around movies that feature physics concepts, particularly educational films and series that explore scientific ideas. Participants share their favorite films and series, including documentaries and biographical works related to science and physics.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant mentions a book on fluid dynamics and shares links to fluid dynamics movies, expressing a preference for a specific educational movie about magnets.
  • Another participant suggests the iBiology YouTube channel as a source of educational content.
  • A participant recalls their favorite science series, "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan and certain episodes of "Nova," highlighting their educational value.
  • One participant raises the idea of biographies of great scientists, suggesting they often explain concepts while providing a human interest angle, although they cannot recall specific titles.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants share various preferences for educational movies and series, but there is no consensus on a single favorite or definitive list of films.

Contextual Notes

Some contributions reference specific films and series without providing detailed descriptions or evaluations, leaving the discussion open-ended regarding the impact and educational value of the mentioned works.

Who May Find This Useful

Readers interested in educational films, documentaries about science, and biographical works on scientists may find this discussion valuable.

Frabjous
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I was reading Shape and Flow: The Fluid Dynamics of Drag by Shapiro and wanted to see the movies described by the book.

There is a whole series of fluid dynamics movies at
http://web.mit.edu/hml/ncfmf.html

Of course, they pale in comparison to my favorite educational movie which is about magnets
https://archive.org/details/magnet_laboratory_1959
It was directed by a famous documentarian
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Leacock

More info on PSSC films
http://www.afana.org/psscfilms.htm

Does anyone else have a favorite educational movie?
 
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At the risk of dating myself, my favorite science series include "Cosmos" written and presented by the late Carl Sagan and certain episodes of "Nova" created by WGBH Boston; both broadcast via Public Broadcasting System (PBS) in the USA.
 
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How about biographies of great scientists?
There most be a lot of them, some probably explain concepts as well as doing the human interest angle.
I can't remember any off the top of my head, but when I was a kid I read a lot of books like that.
I particularly remember reading about Pasture. It was informative and inspirational.
PBS probably has a lot of Nova shows like this.
 

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