What we learnt from tonight’s tellyBBC4 Big Bang night: Was fascinating, one show was an excellent portmanteau collection of various episodes of Horizon, which not only tried to explain how we got to today’s knowledge about the universe but was also an excellent review of the styles of science shows since the 60’s.
So we got badly dressed scientists, shots of Saturn 5 blasts off, lots of glorious animations of atoms. I can but think that life was easier in 70’s when science programme always had fantastic helicopter shots of some new kit complete with a pumping prog soundtrack.
One scene tonight cross cut from a boffin in Alpha Spyder speeding down an accelerator tunnel with a chopper shot of the countryside above. Top stuff.
The modern programme that followed was as clichéd as the previous ones. In it we get mock aged film , edgy shaky camerawork and Dr Brian Cox a cool hipster Simon Armitage look a like crossed with the drummer from Toploader. The sound track to this was the penguin café orchestra. It had lots of shots of machinery and interviews with wild looking scientist, Dr Cox walked about in the snow and looked enthusiastic.
What’s in a name?
It was only tonight did I work out that CERN was the name of an organisation until now I think I imagined it was the next town along from Bern! It’s one of these French names that’s the wrong way round
It stands for the European Centre for Nuclear Research much like The International Federation of Football Associations or International Federation of Automotive Sport are the wrong way round.
Clueless
I’m afraid after all the classes I’ve attended and books I’ve read and episodes of Horizon I’m still not clear what was around before the big bang!
Neologism
I do find physicist slightly annoying in the way they always over name things. The “God particle” anyone which as far as I can see if we find it there’ll be a smaller series of particles lurking inside it the “godlets” presumably.
Leave it to Dicky!
Lastly what the programmes showed was that any show that has bits of Richard Feynman in it is always better. There are lot worse ways to spend your time than watching these 5 sections of a Horizon on RF bits of which were shown tonight.
this seemed like an appropriate tune "Geek love" By Bang Bang Machine!
6 comments:
Before the Big Bang.....nothing....absolutely zilch......its a wrong question as everything (as we currently understand it) starts at the Big Bang, time and space everything, there wasn't a "before the big bang" it just didn't exist.
yeah but that never helped I sort of know to think of the universe as the skin of a ballon expanding , but that still asks the question expanding into what. I do try to keep up but I get confused i think Fenyman would say I need more maths which is true and is my failing.
its not expanding into anything.... there is no "outside" the Universe
but it is expanding from somewhere to somewhere else
no its only expanding from somewhere.....
The feynman clip is excellent; as are the rest on youtube
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