Physics Into Darkness (This Is Physics, part 3) by Marc Séguin

Marc Séguin

Video Image

Video URL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCIVxVxHSxk

Video Description

Please watch parts 1 and 2 first (also submitted to this contest). From Aristotle's theory of the spherical Earth to the discovery of the Higgs boson, this is an illustrated journey through the highlights of the history of physics. Part 1 tells the tale of how we discovered that there is one universal physics that applies to the entire observable universe. Part 2 explains how the fundamental forces of physics and the rules of quantum mechanics allow objects to keep their shapes. Part 3 describes the major breakthroughs of the past century, and speculates about what remains to be discovered.

Video Creator Bio

Marc Séguin has a master's degree in Astronomy and another in History of Science from Harvard University. He teaches Astrophysics and Physics at Collège de Maisonneuve in Montréal, and is the author of several textbooks.

Alexander Roth

Dear Mr. Seguin,

This is a very well done video with fine graphics. Many topics are covered, some possibly might merit just a little more time such as the calculation of the electron's anomalous magnetic moment. In just a general way, how is that done ... and with that precision?

Possibly the best example of a physics mystery awaiting some resolution is, I believe, quantum entanglement. And that mystery is easily demonstrated with a simple photon interferometer at low light intensity.

Wishing you luck in the competition,

Alexander Roth

Marc Séguin

Alexander,

Thank you for your comments! You are quite right that some topics could have been expanded upon, but my original goal was to make one 10 minute video about the highlights of the history of physics, and it ballooned to 3 videos totaling 21 minutes! When I have the time, I hope to make other videos that branch off the main narrative of "This Is Physics"... You can subscribe to my youtube channel (youtube.com/ThisIsPhysicsChannel) and, hopefully, there will be some new stuff from time to time! The electron anomalous moment is certainly one fascinating topic (it is calculated by summing over a large number of Feynman diagrams), the single photon double slit experiment is another one... not to mention the relativity of simultaneity, the expansion of the universe, primordial inflation, dark matter, and, of course, the problem of fine-tuning and the various multiverse hypotheses... Where to start? Where to start!?!

Marc

James Walsh

Hi,

I didn't like Part 2 as much, because I was rating it as a stand-alone video. However, Part 3 is a very nice conclusion. I particularly enjoyed the call-back to Part 1 concerning how we explain the parameters' values. Your trilogy was very ambitious and achieved its goals. As a single video, I expect that you could sell it to a cable network. Good luck in the competition.

James

Kevin Knuth

Dear Marc,

I really enjoyed your series of videos. The graphics and animations are crisp, clear and artistic. Your explanations while covering great breadth were equally succinct and clear. I hope that you do well in the competition.

A very minor point of historical note (since you give such excellent attribution):

In Part 2 I would have liked to see Benjamin Franklin (alongside Coulomb) get some credit for identifying that there were two types of electric charges, which he termed and -, and for working out that like charges repel and opposite charges attract. As an American colonist in the 1700s, he was not allowed to be a member of the Royal Academy in England, and his contribution to the science of electromagnetism is buried by the names of scientists from the academies in England and France. There was actually a very nice article in Physics Today a few years ago as to his contribution to physics.

Thank you again for sharing these excellent videos.

Cheers

Kevin Knuth

Antony Lisi

Nice video. Upvoted.

Teresa Mendes

Hi Marc

Done!. Your video has professional quality. All of them. Good script, illustrative animations, nice voice and soundtrack, the truth about the actual state of Physics - what we know and what are just predictions, the incompatibility of GR and QM, and the perfect conclusion: "What Physics should be in the Future? We will find out, together".

I hope, one day, in the future (hehe), you could do a powerful video like this, saying, that the problem of the incompatibility of QM and GR was found, both theories, from the very little to the very large, have to be local and realistic, that everybody is really excited, and major advances are expected on the years to come. You can call it "The beginning of a Scientific Revolution".

Hope you do well in the competition.

Teresa

(more on my answer on my video' page).

Stephane Durand

Hi Marc,

Wonderful animation at the beginning of the video with the 3 relativistic effects shown simultaneously on the same picture! I like also very much the slot machine with the fundamental constants. Great series overall !

stephane

Tim Blais

Explaining the history of physics is a monumental task and you've accomplished it very well, I must say! You've got a great voice for narration and a really good sense of what to include and how to get right down to the important questions.

A small quibble: Careful how you use the word "mass." Space has ENERGY, but I don't think you can say it has mass. Given that mass has to do with acceleration THROUGH space, applying it to space itself doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Plus you'd have to show me the quadratic term in your quantum field action ;)

Anyways, great job, this is the best video I've reviewed so far! If you feel like checking out and rating mine, they're the A Capella Science ones.

Cheers!

-Tim