“We are approaching darkness in this country. Boys and girls are coming out of schools at all levels with diplomas and degrees, but they can’t read or write. We don’t have academic integrity or intellectual rigor.” This quote may sound like a familiar lament today, but it was actually taken from an interview he gave nearly half a century ago with physicist and television host Julius Sumner Miller. If that name sounds familiar, there’s a good chance you’re an Australian who grew up between the 60s and 80s. And thanks to his program, it’s not impossible. Why is this so?you went on to pursue a career in science or engineering.
Generations of young viewers, underground and elsewhere, learned from Why is this so? Physics and its principles can be fun. If you weren’t in it at the time, you can see it now All episodes of the show Uploaded to YouTube by Australian Broadcasting Corporation ABC.
As you probably noticed after listening to him for a few seconds, Miller himself was American. Born in Massachusetts, the son of immigrants from Latvia and Lithuania, he studied physics at Boston University, then taught and conducted research at various institutions (along the way becoming friends with Albert Einstein) before taking a long-term position at El Camino College in Torrance, California, in 1952.
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Miller’s popularity on El Camino, the school’s proximity to Hollywood, and the rapid expansion of television into mass media led to his launch. Why is this so? In 1959, he spoke at KNXT in Los Angeles. By the mid-’60s, he was also explaining scientific phenomena in Disney movies. mickey mouse club, great moments in scienceand science and its magicand also appeared on Steve Allen’s late night talk show. He made his debut on Australian television when the University of Sydney invited him as a guest lecturer. His appearance failed when he couldn’t do the classic trick of sticking a straw into a potato, but what he did gain — other than an office filled with household straws, which he jokingly criticized on air — was a new home. Why is this so? At ABC.
ABC has been now available It originally aired in seven complete episodes from the early ’60s to the early ’70s. Despite its black and white production and lack of visual effects, it still holds up well today for both its educational and entertainment value. No matter how appealing his personality as a science communicator may be now, it appears that “Miller can be a scary presence in the classroom.” his los angeles times 1987 obituaryclaimed that there was “intolerance of misspelled words and misplaced punctuation” and that “most faculty are not rigorous enough and students are not learning enough.” He would hardly be satisfied with what has happened to the intellectual level in the nearly 40 years since his death, but he will no doubt be grateful that his teachings continue to reach, as he liked to describe his audience, “everyone from the age of 4 to 94.” Age, nationality, and even qualifications didn’t matter. What mattered was genuine curiosity and a willingness to pursue it, whether in the classroom or the living room.
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Based in Seoul, Colin Mbemust write and broadcastIt’s about cities, languages and cultures. he is the author of the newsletter books about cities books as well Home page (I won’t summarize Korea) and korean newtro. Follow him on the social network formerly known as Twitter. @Colinbemust.
Source: Open Culture – www.openculture.com
