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The Mechanical Universe... and Beyond

★ 9.1 163 votes 1985–1987 1 season · 52 episodes Ended PBS
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Starring
Aaron FletcherChris Tashima
Starring
Aaron FletcherChris Tashima

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About

The Mechanical Universe... And Beyond, is a 52-part telecourse filmed at the California Institute of Technology, and produced by Caltech and INTELECOM Intelligent Telecommunications. The series introduces university level physics, covering topics from Copernicus to quantum mechanics. Produced starting in 1985, the videos make heavy use of historical dramatizations and visual aids to explain physics concepts. The latter were state of the art at the time, incorporating almost 8 hours of computer animation created by computer graphics pioneer Jim Blinn. Each episode opens and closes with a "phantom" lecture by Caltech professor David Goodstein. After more than a quarter century, the series is still often used as a supplemental teaching aid, for its clear explanation of fundamental concepts such as special relativity. The Mechanical Universe lectures are actual freshman physics lectures from Physics 1a and 1b courses at the California Institute of Technology. The room seen in the videos is the Bridge lecture hall. The series can be purchased, or viewed by streaming from the Annenberg website, or can be viewed on other video streaming sites such as YouTube and Google Video.

All Seasons

▼
Season 11985
—052
EpTitleRatingYoursVotesRuntime
▶1Introduction—
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▶2The Law of Falling Bodies—
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▶3Derivatives—
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▶4Inertia—
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▶5Vectors—
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▶6Newton's Laws—
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▶7Integration—
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▶8The Apple and the Moon—
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▶9Moving in Circles—
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▶10Fundamental Forces—
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▶11Gravity/Electricity/Magnetism—
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▶12The Millikan Experiment—
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▶13Conservation of Energy—
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▶14Potential Energy—
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▶15Conservation of Momentum—
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▶16Harmonic Motion—
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▶17Resonance—
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▶18Waves—
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▶19Angular Momentum—
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▶20Torques and Gyroscopes—
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▶21Kepler's Three Laws—
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▶22The Kepler Problem—
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▶23Energy and Eccentricity—
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▶24Navigating in Space—
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▶25From Kepler to Einstein—
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▶26Harmony of the Spheres—
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▶27Beyond the Mechanical Universe—
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▶28Static Electricity—
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▶29The Electric Field—
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▶30Capacitance and Potential—
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▶31Voltage/Energy/Force—
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▶32The Electric Battery—
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▶33Electric Circuits—
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▶34Magnetism—
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▶35The Magnetic Field—
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▶36Vector Fields and Hydrodynamics—
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▶37Electromagnetic Induction—
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▶38Alternating Currents—
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▶39Maxwell's Equations—
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▶40Optics—
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▶41The Michelson-Morley Experiment—
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▶42The Lorentz Transformation—
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▶43Velocity and Time—
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▶44Energy, Momentum, and Mass—
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▶45Temperature and the Gas Law—
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▶46The Engine of Nature—
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▶47Entropy—
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▶48Low Temperatures—
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▶49The Atom—
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▶50Particles and Waves—
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▶51Atoms to Quarks—
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▶52The Quantum Mechanical Universe—
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Full Cast & Crew

Cast

David L. Goodstein Self - Host
Aaron Fletcher Narrator
Chris Tashima Freefall Rider (segment: Magic Mountain)

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