Solar System

Last night watched three episodes of Prof Brian Cox's new TV series Solar System, with my daughter who was completely gripped. For those who are unaware, Cox is a British academic and former rock star who presents popular physics programmes in a style reminiscent of Sir David Attenborough. They mix actual footage of natural phenomena with CGI and are quite literally out of this world. Especially when he reminds us that our star system is just one of thousands in our small galaxy alone . .

Wonderful and terrifying at the same time. My daughter was gripping me tightly by the time we had finished, without really knowing why, and ended up spending the night in my bed . . one way of scaling things back to human dimensions 🙂

It's a BBC production, so viewers in other countries may be able to see it via their public broadcasting services. Try not to get Brian Cox the physicist mixed up with Brian Cox the actor, who first played the role of Hannibal Lecter 👍

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Picklebobble2 · 56-60, M

Cox has that unique ability to take complex physics subjects and 'translate' them for those of us who barely remember science aspects from our school days.

Although his posts on YouTube are often targeted by 'amateur armchair apologists' seeking to put everything down to 'divine design'.

The comparison with Attenborough is a good one.

There's another 'learned' orator who explains what's going on in the natural world, to those of us fascinated to watch.

SunshineGirl · 36-40, F

@Picklebobble2 My 14 yo already loves nature programmes and she consumed these as though they were nature documentaries without the flora and fauna. Some of Attenborough's earliest natural history episodes had a similar feel.

I already love science and grew up with Carl Sagan (who had a big influence on Cox). Even with infectious enthusiasm, this is not an easy sell by any means. I am still working on ideas for a truly "popular" maths series 😊

Picklebobble2 · 56-60, M

@SunshineGirl Wow that would be an achievement !

I think mathematics is the ultimate.
If we could find a way to make the sequencing of method understandable it might change the way we understand it from the basics to economics to formulae in physics or chemistry.

SunshineGirl · 36-40, F

@Picklebobble2 There was a C4 series some years ago on the history of mathematics, tracing its origin to early attempts in the ancient world at property taxation (which led to the development of geometry to survey and measure land). I found it fascinating. Others didn't 😐