Re: [Phys-l] Feynman's messenger lectures now available

[curtis osterhoudt <flutzpah@yahoo.com>]

Yet for some people, they *do* work very well. Gates, by most accounts, was a very bright kid, and certainly one to was able to learn quickly and figure things out. Physics lectures may have been very effectual. 

   On the other hand, I don't find Feynman's Messenger Lectures to be particularly good teaching (for myself). The showmanship is there, but the infamous "Chinese meal effect" is evident. 


/**************************************
As a species, we are forever sticking our fingers into the electric socket of the Universe to see what'll happen next. It's a trait that'll either save us or kill us, but by god it's what makes us human beings. I'd rather be in the company of people who look at Mars than people who contemplate humanity's navel -- other worlds are better than fluff. ~~Sir Terence David John Pratchett
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________________________________
From: John Clement <clement@hal-pc.org>
To: Forum for Physics Educators <phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu>
Sent: Tue, May 18, 2010 11:28:47 PM
Subject: Re: [Phys-l] Feynman's messenger lectures now available

> > Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates believes that if he had been able to watch
> > physicist Richard Feynman lecture on physics in 1964 his life might have
> > played out differently.

I doubt it.  Look at 2 lectures by Eric Mazur.
mms://svs.cfa.harvard.edu/smgdvl/cvl/Mazur_1500k.wmv

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwslBPj8GgI

The real problem is that Gates believes in lectures despite persuasive
evidence that they do not work very well.


John M. Clement
Houston, TX

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