Physics Docs: Recommendations on Cosmology, Astronomy & Theory

[grays0n]

Hey everyone. I'm sure some of you probably know of some really good physics/cosmology documentaries out there. I've seen NOVA's Elegant Universe and Carl Sagan's Cosmos series, and I was wondering if anyone else knew of any physics documentaries that they would recommend? Can be about the basics of physics, cosmology, astronomy or any interesting theory (ex. NOVA's elegant universe). Thanks in advance!

 

[donotremember]

A Brief History of Time -stephen hawking (my favourite)

do a search for this guy "Jim Al-Khalili" as "In 2007 he presented Atom, a three-part series on BBC Four about the history of our understanding of the atom and atomic physics"


and finally id suggest doing a search on youtube for "CERN"

 

[Benzoate]

There was an interesting documentary that aired on NOVA a few years back on an Autobiography of Isaac Newton ; This documentary mainly focused on Newton deep fascination with the occult so it really is an autobiography. More like a memoir.

 

[donotremember]

There was an interesting documentary that aired on NOVA a few years back on an Autobiography of Isaac Newton ; This documentary mainly focused on Newton deep fascination with the occult so it really is an autobiography. More like a memoir.

It was called "Newton: The dark heretic".

 

[g33kski11z]

I've enjoyed these...

Atoms and the Periodic Table (1-15)


Most of the Universe is Missing (1-5)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=CwLdfVcjhwg

Parallel Universes (1-5)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=gWIyam5cAko

Einstein's Unfinished Symphony (1-6)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=2GnZ1n7no3M

The Search For The Higgs (1-3)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=_fJ6PMfnz2E

.. more CERN stuff
http://youtube.com/watch?v=OxENLH1ATV4

 

[end3r7]

Wow, keep them coming guys!

And I hate to hijack the thread, but any documentaries, not necessarily physics but any philosophy, science and mathematics would be most welcome!

Thanks a bunch, it's amazing how satellite has nearly 500+ channels and nothing on.

 

[AhmedEzz]

Quite agree, I liked "The elegant universe" by brain greene but it turns out its just hoax...but please keep em' coming

 

[proton]

It was called "Newton: The dark heretic".

no, it was called "Newton's Dark Secrets"

It was the best documentary I've ever seen, considering that it portrayed the life of one of the greatest scientists in history and how he thought

 

[donotremember]

no, it was called "Newton's Dark Secrets"

It was the best documentary I've ever seen, considering that it portrayed the life of one of the greatest scientists in history and how he thought

I just looked it up and you are correct. I was thinking of another documentary that BBC did with the name I mentioned.

 

[donotremember]

Wow, keep them coming guys!

And I hate to hijack the thread, but any documentaries, not necessarily physics but any philosophy, science and mathematics would be most welcome!

Thanks a bunch, it's amazing how satellite has nearly 500+ channels and nothing on.

This site basically just links to google videos but its a good place to look for look for documentaries.

bodocus.com (I don't have enough posts to link directly yet)

 

[Alienjoey]

Anything from NOVA is excellent, and I see a number of NOVA documentaries have already been mentioned. I also liked the BBC interview with Feynman from 1981, though I've only watched the 15 minutes of short clips on the BBC website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon/broadband/archive/feynman/) thus far. I found the full interview the other day, and look forward to watching that soon too.

 

[jimmybob]

Try these two for http://www.documentary-log.com/dc12-astronomy-space/". I'd also recommend Neil de Grasse Tyson, he knows a lot about all of the above subjects and has a great way of presenting them. :)

 

[MagicTopQuark]

I liked "The elegant universe" by brain greene but it turns out its just hoax...

How/why is The Elegant Universe documentary a "hoax"?

Definition of hoax from Merriam-Webster:

to trick into believing or accepting as genuine something false and often preposterous

Brian Greene is a scientist. As far as I know he tends to present things in an intellectually honest manner in that he admits that [string theory/M-theory] could be wrong but hopes/believes that it is right. Hoax, I believe, is a strange and insulting word to describe that documentary or any scientific theory or presentation that turns out to be false or have contradictory evidence presented against it.

Can you give evidence that it was indeed a hoax? Am I missing something?

 

[redherring]

there's also Cosmolearning & Streaming-madness

 

[pergradus]

Try to find the BBC interview with Richard Feynman called "Fun to Imagine". It's a beautiful look into the mind of one of the greatest geniuses of the 20th century.

 

[wajed]

"how long is a piece of sting" was one lovely documentary to me, not very hard to understand, yet informative.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

The Universe by the History Channel
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000UP881S/?tag=pfamazon01-20

 

[Grep]

I thought "The Story of Maths" was pretty great:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXKbYmGAkL0&playnext=1&list=PLE489822B83CD33EA

Pretty much anything with Marcus de Sautoy is quite good. Same goes for Jim Al-Khalili.

I've also spent much quality time watching all sorts of BBC Horizon documentaries. All I can say is it's a shame they never get aired here in Canada. Nor do we ever get anything of that high level of quality on a regular basis. Thank goodness for YouTube!

 

[Eman7002]

And I hate to hijack the thread, but any documentaries, not necessarily physics but any philosophy, science and mathematics would be most welcome!

I saw one that was by BBC I believe, it was called Fermat's Last Theorem. It's about a guy trying to complete a math equation without giving too many details away.

 

[maverick_starstrider]

It's not a documentary per say but an awesome show that's part mythbusters part interviews with scientists and such is the british show "Bang Goes the Theory". It's really very good.

 

[burklegirl]

Hey everyone. I'm sure some of you probably know of some really good physics/cosmology documentaries out there. I've seen NOVA's Elegant Universe and Carl Sagan's Cosmos series, and I was wondering if anyone else knew of any physics documentaries that they would recommend? Can be about the basics of physics, cosmology, astronomy or any interesting theory (ex. NOVA's elegant universe). Thanks in advance!

Hi! Do you have Netflix? I can recommend a few documentaries that are available Instantly.

 

[SebastianOwl]

This is fascinating, about Jan Hendrik Schön who faked the discovery of a new superconductor made from plastic.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmj2jmhkjuU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMnBgFFQenk&feature=related

 

[QuarkCharmer]

I've now watched everything on this thread. "ATOM" is fantastic from a historical standpoint. My favorite was the Story of Maths though.

 

[jim hardy]

UCSD TV has a series of physics classes by a very animated teacher.

I think it's Channel 9412 on Dish.

 

[excelsior]

The Atom Smashers was good.

 

[Jasongreat]

Hi! Do you have Netflix? I can recommend a few documentaries that are available Instantly.

I do, and I would love you to point me in the right direction. The OP was in 2008.

The great courses, are wonderful. I have a few and they are highly entertaining and very informative. IIRC, once a year they put all the courses on sale. Last sale they had a full class, around ninety lectures, on astronomy taught by Alex Filippenko, however that is now unavailable at the discount, until next year. Others are on sale now.

 

[Adyssa]

Another vote for The Story Of Maths, fascinating documentary series (3 parter IIRC) :)

I have a bunch of "atom bomb" doco's that are really interesting:

Trinity And Beyond
Nukes In Space - The Rainbow Bombs
To Mars By A-Bomb

and, there's a 3 part Chemistry one by the guy who does all the science ones for Horizon (he did Atom, and Story of Maths too) called "Chemistry - A Volatile History".