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Frame from Episode 1: Introduction - The Mechanical Universe Plays via YouTube's privacy-enhanced embed

Episode 1: Introduction - The Mechanical Universe

caltech
Courses
YouTube
2 HN users recommended this course2 months2018–2024 score 2.5
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026

HN rates the series as one of the best physics lecture courses on YouTube, with an engaging format and historical context.

The first episode of Caltech's The Mechanical Universe, a 52-part introductory university physics series. David Goodstein introduces ideas from Copernicus to Newton, linking the physics of the heavens and the earth with computer animation.

“Hands down best: David Goodstein, CalTech,” (HN, 2018)

2 strong recommendations · 1 recommendations · 1 citations · Courses · intro

4 Hacker News comments

From the HN archive; up to 20 kept per video, favoring different commenters. Recommendations first.

@meltyness Jan 2023 Recommends
on HN thread Ask HN: Best Layman's Book on Electricity
Reading sucks; check out "The Mechanical Universe" [this video] Basics of electricity start here: [link] It glosses briefly over the mathematical parts with advanced-for-the-time animations that may or may not be instructive.
Animated physics series covering electricity basics

Citations, criticism and jokes

@WalterBright May 2024 Cites it
on HN thread Harvard applications drop 5% after year of turmoil on the Ivy League campus
Read more
When I attended Caltech in the 70s, I asked about riots and demonstrations on campus during the Vietnam war era. They said that outside agitators had come on campus, and attempted to recruit students to form a protest. The usual response was: "I can't join a protest, because I'd miss Physics class!" and the organizers failed. It made perfect sense to me, because missing even a single physics lecture was a very, very bad idea. I was hanging on by my fingernails. RIP Prof Goodstein, my physics prof, who recently passed away. You were an awesome professor. He was also the prime mover behind "The Mechanical Universe" [this video]
Tribute to Goodstein who drove the series

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