Saturday, July 14, 2012

Saturday Entertainment: Fabric Of The Cosmos

The local PBS station has begun showing this NOVA series again:

Watch The Fabric of the Cosmos: What Is Space? on PBS. See more from NOVA.

[if the video here looks too fuzzy or indistinct, go to the video credit link and try it there.]

Based on Columbia physicist Brian Greene's The Fabric Of The Cosmos, it's an example of the way modern television presents science, for both good and ill. On the plus side, it's visually interesting, and the review of our old concepts of space is a good one. At least, anyone who already knows that story will be reminded again. Dr. Greene has a quirky sense of humor, which certainly keeps the narrative entertaining. The special effects that illustrates the various concepts are imaginative and accurately portray the ideas they're trying to get across.

The down side is that I still have no idea what the new concept of space is. Well, it's a hologram somehow. Maybe that's enough to start looking into the concept with some idea where it's going, but it just doesn't feel like I know more now than before I watched this show. Or maybe this is only because it's not entirely clear to physicists yet what they're talking about.

Maybe a little more explaining and a little less joking would have worked better. Then again, maybe it wouldn't have been our Saturday entertainment if it had.

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