Event Information
My Favorite Lecture with Brian Jones--"Arcs, Sparks, and Magic"
Presenter(s):
Brian Jones
Description:
I’ve been teaching for over 20 years, and I am passionate about everything I teach. So why is this my favorite lecture? Simple: It’s got everything.
It’s got arcs, stories with a curving trajectory, stories that lead from a casual observation made during a physics lecture to the first modern instance of unification in physical theory, that run from Edison’s development of the light bulb to his electrocution of an elephant on Coney Island. It’s got sparks, the sparks of a struggle between outsize personalities, but also the literal kind, thunderous electric discharges that split the air. And it’s got magic, phenomena that nearly defy belief, that fill us with wonder. Electricity flowing through your body, electricity moving through the air.
It’s a lecture about electricity and magnetism and how they relate to our lives, how small discoveries led to big inventions, how big inventions led to new technologies and how, sometimes, even scientists aren’t above presenting their craft as possessing a certain magic.
Get a seat down front, and be part of a circuit that starts with a million volt Tesla coil and ends in a light bulb held in your hand.
Brian Jones is a popular instructor in the Physics Department at Colorado State University, and is the director the Little Shop of Physics, the Department’s engaging and effective hands-on science outreach program. Brian is also the host of the Everyday Science television program on Poudre School District Channel 10. Brian’s interest in science is wide-ranging, but his professional work is centered on studying how people learn and think, and on devising techniques to make instruction at all levels more effective.
Brian shares his interest in and knowledge of science with a broad audience, from college students to preschoolers, in venues ranging from lecture halls at Colorado State to street corners in Slovenia, and refuses to accept the notion that there are people who can’t learn, understand and appreciate science.
It’s got arcs, stories with a curving trajectory, stories that lead from a casual observation made during a physics lecture to the first modern instance of unification in physical theory, that run from Edison’s development of the light bulb to his electrocution of an elephant on Coney Island. It’s got sparks, the sparks of a struggle between outsize personalities, but also the literal kind, thunderous electric discharges that split the air. And it’s got magic, phenomena that nearly defy belief, that fill us with wonder. Electricity flowing through your body, electricity moving through the air.
It’s a lecture about electricity and magnetism and how they relate to our lives, how small discoveries led to big inventions, how big inventions led to new technologies and how, sometimes, even scientists aren’t above presenting their craft as possessing a certain magic.
Get a seat down front, and be part of a circuit that starts with a million volt Tesla coil and ends in a light bulb held in your hand.
Brian Jones is a popular instructor in the Physics Department at Colorado State University, and is the director the Little Shop of Physics, the Department’s engaging and effective hands-on science outreach program. Brian is also the host of the Everyday Science television program on Poudre School District Channel 10. Brian’s interest in science is wide-ranging, but his professional work is centered on studying how people learn and think, and on devising techniques to make instruction at all levels more effective.
Brian shares his interest in and knowledge of science with a broad audience, from college students to preschoolers, in venues ranging from lecture halls at Colorado State to street corners in Slovenia, and refuses to accept the notion that there are people who can’t learn, understand and appreciate science.
Dates and Times:
October 20 - October 20, 2010 4:15 PM - 5:30 PM
Location:
TILT 221
Learn More:
Heather Landers,
491-1324,
heather.landers@colostate.edu