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Royal Institution Christmas Lectures 2016 - BBC Four |
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#26 |
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Join Date: Nov 2015
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Quote:
I still recall Eric Laithwaite's lecture back in the 60s & 70s.
This was when they carried out real hands on experiments and H&S was very far down on the agenda, hence the kids loved them.
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#27 |
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Join Date: Aug 2005
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A very poor lecture in my opinion.
As an engineer and teacher I feel the topic of the lecture conjured up possibiities of one of the most exciting and enthralling, to young people, lectures of recent years but it did not deliver. I remember Laithwaites lecture keeping me glued to my TV, although he annoyed some fellow scientists, and that is what these talks should be all about..catching the interest of the young. This one did not deliver. |
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#28 |
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Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Bolton. lancs
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Quote:
I remember Laithwaites lecture keeping me glued to my TV, although he annoyed some fellow scientists, and that is what these talks should be all about..catching the interest of the young.
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#29 |
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Join Date: Oct 2016
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Quote:
Not forgetting the very sexy Bryson Gore as the assistant.
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#30 |
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Join Date: Oct 2016
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Sending a kid up on the roof to read a meter which has a camera pointing at it anyway!
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#31 |
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Join Date: Nov 2015
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Although in general I disagree with the notion of young people being a uniform body that all react the same way to anything, I believe for a large portion of 'the young'. Laithwaite's lectures would be switched off after about 5 minutes. It's not the 1960's any more.
Now what in this lecture was so modern and trendy to attract today's children to be fascinated? It started with a candle and some gun cotton: both have been around hundreds of years. (Gun Cotton: 1846 - Candles/lamps that burnt oil: since caveman times) We had how electricity is generated with magnets and coils, nothing new there. And Faraday cages. No mention of mobile phones or Pokemon Go! |
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#32 |
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Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 25,458
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Quote:
A very poor lecture in my opinion.
As an engineer and teacher I feel the topic of the lecture conjured up possibiities of one of the most exciting and enthralling, to young people, lectures of recent years but it did not deliver. I remember Laithwaites lecture keeping me glued to my TV, although he annoyed some fellow scientists, and that is what these talks should be all about..catching the interest of the young. This one did not deliver. |
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#33 |
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Join Date: Apr 2006
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I have watched these for as long as they've been on TV and was fortunate enough to see first hand lectures by Eric Laithwaite, Col. Brian Shaw, Heinz Wolff and many others.
The subject matter is OK but its presentation this year is dull, unimaginative and incoherent. I would not leave the RI with much enthusiasm if I'd sat through this year's lectures. I simply do not believe that today's teenagers would not have been captivated by those masters of their art. I saw Laithwaite both live and on TV on a number of occasions and he constantly developed his repertoire as science and the world's outlook to it moved on and the same could be said of Heinz Wolff. |
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#34 |
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Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 2,058
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The whole concept is wrong if only aimed at children.
The concept at the very start was how much energy does it take to run this lecture room and all the TV equipment? What do the children care about that? Their mobile phones run out of battery life and that's what's important to them, so talk about advances that might result in them only having to charge their phone once a month, once a year or never again and you may just grab their attention. You have to talk to children in their world and what is their whole world to them. |
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#35 |
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Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 1,206
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I think some youngsters are being stereotyped here. Energy and physics in general will always appeal to a certain number of youngsters (I was one) and not to others. I think those that it will appeal to will like the lectures whatever their content, just for the sake of it. It won't appeal to a lot of youngsters whatever the content.
My favourite lectures were "The Cosmic Onion" with Prof Frank Close. I loved those, especially as I had just started studying physics at University. |
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#36 |
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Join Date: Nov 2015
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He mentioned evolution! Stone him!!!
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#37 |
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Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 2,753
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I wanted him to say they got a piddling amount of energy from the urinal.
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#38 |
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Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Bolton. lancs
Posts: 5,746
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Really? REALLY?
Ha, no. We could do without the disco stuff mind. |
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#39 |
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Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 2,058
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Burning something = green lab coat time!
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#40 |
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Join Date: Nov 2015
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Right! Food contains energy. We've got it! (Not that we didn't know in the first place)
Is that really an hours worth saying the same thing with different foodstuffs? |
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#41 |
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Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Bolton. lancs
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I'm finding this all rather incoherent if I'm honest.
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#42 |
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Vault 101, Cheshire
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Quote:
I have watched these for as long as they've been on TV and was fortunate enough to see first hand lectures by Eric Laithwaite, Col. Brian Shaw, Heinz Wolff and many others.
The subject matter is OK but its presentation this year is dull, unimaginative and incoherent. I would not leave the RI with much enthusiasm if I'd sat through this year's lectures. I simply do not believe that today's teenagers would not have been captivated by those masters of their art. I saw Laithwaite both live and on TV on a number of occasions and he constantly developed his repertoire as science and the world's outlook to it moved on and the same could be said of Heinz Wolff. |
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#43 |
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Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 2,058
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He wasn't wearing his green lab coat when that balloon went off! He could have been killed!
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#44 |
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 4,764
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Quote:
He wasn't wearing his green lab coat when that balloon went off! He could have been killed!
![]() But the people sitting in the front row weren't! |
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#45 |
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Join Date: May 2011
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Quote:
I'm finding this all rather incoherent if I'm honest.
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#46 |
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Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 561
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They really have been so dumbed down. The old 5 one hour lectures actually left you understanding (well nearly), some quite complex stuff in the past. There have always been the experiments, but they served a purpose. Now, the whole thing is just an excuse for showy demonstrations & I'm left no wiser at the end.
Some people don't care about science, that's fine, they won't watch whatever you do. Other people do & they deserve better than what they are getting now! |
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#47 |
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Join Date: Mar 2012
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it always seems to be posh kids that get invited, why not some rough inner city kids???
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#48 |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Buckingham
Posts: 28,534
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Tonight we see if it is possible to power a mobile phone for a year without plugging it in.
Which is not much of a challenge. I have not plugged my mobile phone in for three years and it is still going strong.
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#49 |
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Up North
Posts: 718
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Perhaps he would not be acceptable as he isn't an academic but James May would make an excellent presenter on the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures. It is well worth remembering that the BBC's front man on NASA's space program and the moon landings, James Burke had no science qualifications.
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#50 |
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 21,643
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Quote:
it always seems to be posh kids that get invited, why not some rough inner city kids???
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All times are GMT. The time now is 13:39.



This was when they carried out real hands on experiments and H&S was very far down on the agenda, hence the kids loved them.
