The Secret History of Electricity

[jqavins]

Anybody else here watching the Kathy Loves Physics channel on YouTube? (OK, dumb question.) How many people here are watching the Kathy Loves Physics channel on YouTube?

I stumbled onto one of her videos a few days ago and became an instant fan. So far I've been going through her series "The Secret History of Electricity". The technical content is not much beyond my second semester of freshman physics (and not at all beyond my EE degree) but the history of the development of electromagnetic theory and the mini bios of the people who made the various advances is fascinating (to me) and her presentation is a lot of fun.

There are other videos in her channel as well, of which I've only watched a couple so far.

She declined my request to do a similar series on the early development of chemistry. Maybe Professor Poliakoff would take it up.

 

[Funkworks]

I've seen a few:

https://www.youtube.com/@KathyLovesPhysics/videos
Poliakov's too, I think this channel is what he's most famous for:

https://www.youtube.com/@periodicvideos/videos
It's Sir Poliakov now so while I'm sure he’d like to help, he could very well be the most famous chemist alive now and likely has more opportunities than he can handle.

Typically, I look for topics more than specific teachers so I hop around, but these two keep coming up for sure.

 

[jqavins]

Yes, indeed, it's to The Periodic Videos I was referring when I used his name. That series is so well known that I figured his name alone was enough.

I like The Periodic Videos a lot, but frankly it seems that the well of topics has begun to go dry, and a history series like this would offer a wealth of new material.

In between when I started this thread and when I read your reply just now, I found that contact email for the Periodic Videos and suggested that they might do such a series. As for seeking out specific teachers, I agree that it doesn't really matter who covers the material, as long as it's covered well. And these are two specific teachers that in whom I have faith to cover it well, should they choose to cover it at all.

(It's not Sir Poliafoff, it's Sit Martyn.)

 

[K'Tesh]

I should be charged for this... But shockingly... no I haven't. I'm positive that it hadn't made the circuit in my video feed.

 

[Funkworks]

Yes, indeed, it's to The Periodic Videos I was referring when I used his name. That series is so well known that I figured his name alone was enough.

I like The Periodic Videos a lot, but frankly it seems that the well of topics has begun to go dry, and a history series like this would offer a wealth of new material.

In between when I started this thread and when I read your reply just now, I found that contact email for the Periodic Videos and suggested that they might do such a series. As for seeking out specific teachers, I agree that it doesn't really matter who covers the material, as long as it's covered well. And these are two specific teachers that in whom I have faith to cover it well, should they choose to cover it at all.

(It's not Sir Poliafoff, it's Sit Martyn.)
View attachment 566075

If you are going to try, I’d suggest a rocketry specific topic. If TRF as a whole made a proposal for a propellant specific video, or a history of rocket propellants, I think that would be more likely to get his attention.

This is sort of like offering Patrick Stewart a movie script. Millions would be watching.

 

[jqavins]

As cool as a history of rocket propellant would be, sort of Ignition in small video bites but with solids and liquids both, it's not really what I would so much love to see.

Anyway, I'm not sure what "If you're going to try" means, as I've already sent the messages I'm going to send to both of the potential sources of this dream content that I'm aware of. I also searched YouTube for "History of Chemistry" and didn't find anything at 15 minutes or shorter that looks good. There are some longer ones I'll check out later.

Anyway, if some TRFer who doesn't know Kathy Loves Physics (or doesn't know the Periodic Videos ) but ends up enjoying it thanks to this thread, it will have served its purpose.

Also, if I hade a great idea for a movie, and no script, just a story outline, I would not hesitate to email Sir Patrick should I think his involvement might be beneficial. And I wouldn't expect a response.

 

[cls]

Scott Manley's latest on YouTube is all about liquid propellants, how they are made.