Lecture 02: Astronomical Numbers

What are the constellations? We will review the most basic feature of the night sky, the 6000 visible stars sprinkled about the sky, and introduce the idea of constellations, reviewing their history and uses by various cultures. Recorded 2007 Sep 21 in 1000 McPherson Lab on the C ...  Show more

What is the shape and size of the Earth? This lecture traces historical ideas about the shape of the Earth, from ancient ideas of a Flat-Earth to Aristotle's compelling demonstrations in the 3rd century BC that the Earth was a sphere. We then discuss two famous classical measurem ...  Show more

Aujourd’hui, le mètre est une évidence. Il sert à mesurer nos tables, nos routes ou même la taille de nos enfants. Mais ce que l’on sait moins, c’est qu’il a fallu sept années d’efforts acharnés pour le définir avec précision. Et que cette aventure, à la fois scientifique et huma ...  Show more

Today, we're going to talk about two systems of measurement that are used around the world: the Imperial system and the Metric system. These are important to know, especially if you plan to travel ...

Can you think of a way to measure the size of the Earth? Or the distance to the Sun? Or the nearest star? Want to know how ancient Greek mathematicians did exactly this over 2,000 years ago? Keep on listening to find out! Read the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/2duvgGw Hoste ...  Show more

Today we dive into the world's shiny new space telescope - JWST. Learn why are physicists and astronomers are so excited about it, and what new secrets of the universe it might reveal. Keep your eye out for its launch later this week!

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