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Professor of physics becomes iTunes superstar
IOP
20 December 2007
A 71 year old professor of physics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is becoming a phenomenon on the iTunes U chart with recorded lectures that show him beating students with cat fur, firing golf balls at toy monkeys and riding a tricycle propelled by a fire extinguisher.
It is all in the good name of physics. The zany experiments, performed by Professor Walter Lewin, are aide memoires for students taking mechanical engineering at MIT on topics such as electrostatics and forces.
A lecture uploaded in May this year recently hit no.1 in the chart, a free, sister chart to the iTunes music chart, composed of educational videos. The lecture on Work and Mechanical Energy includes a spectacular demonstration of the physics of pendulums.
At the end of the lecture, the professor swings a 15kg wrecking ball from the ceiling. To prove that a pendulum obeys the law of conservation of energy, he observes the experiment VERY closely.
Resting the wrecking ball just beneath his chin, he explains to his students that because energy is conserved in a closed system the ball cannot swing back higher than the point it was released from.
The murmur of anxious students becomes audible in the recording. He lets the ball drop and it swings back, narrowly missing his face.
Professor Lewin said, “Physics works and I’m still alive. See you Wednesday.”
The Professor’s work is a reflection of his own love for and belief in physics and it has won him an international fan base.
A 17 year old from India recently emailed the Professor to say, “Through your inspiring video lectures I have managed to see just how BEAUTIFUL physics is, both astounding and simple.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
1. To see Professor Lewin with his wrecking ball experiment, click here.
2. If you would like further information please contact the IOP Press Officer by calling 020 7470 4815 or email joseph.winters@iop.org
3. The Institute of Physics is a scientific membership organisation devoted to increasing the understanding and application of physics. It has an extensive worldwide membership (currently around 34 000) and is a leading communicator of physics with all audiences from specialists through government to the general public. Its publishing company, IOP Publishing, is a world leader in scientific publishing and the electronic dissemination of physics.
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