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MIT professor teaches physics....his way watch!

potw.news.yahoo.com — MIT professor and Web star Walter Lewin swings from pendulums and faces down wrecking balls to show students the zany beauty of science.

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  • xssnrg, on 03/15/2008, -2/+111Loved his energy!
    • undyboy91, on 03/15/2008, -2/+118Potential or kinetic?
    • Neem, on 03/15/2008, -1/+12I like how he conserves his energy
    • DigitalMuse, on 03/15/2008, -1/+20My professor's on Digg!
    • venir, on 03/15/2008, -0/+6I am taking General Physics 3 from a Professor who does nothing but our assigned homework problems on the board and perhaps lectures 5 to 10 minutes each day. If we are lucky he'll do a demonstration a week. That is it. We cover a chapter in 2 to 3 days. Oh and we watch 30 year old videos on Fridays. I would love to have a teacher like Walter Lewin!
  • elosorusso, on 03/15/2008, -11/+153Odds are, he'll die doing what he loves... Physics works!
    • legoalert33, on 03/15/2008, -0/+12Damn that alternate dimension that kills people without physics!
    • se1zure, on 03/15/2008, -0/+19the funny thing is my chemistry teacher always says "gravity still works" when someone drops something or something falls off your desk. Appearently everyone in the class waited for her to fall, just so we could say "gravity still works" right back.
    • zmjone2992, on 03/15/2008, -3/+1bitches.
  • LedZepAddict, on 03/15/2008, -21/+9Very interesting, makes science interesting.
    • 1gunners4, on 03/15/2008, -5/+48Science is already interesting, jerk.
      • selrahc, on 03/15/2008, -1/+15Very true, but too many people are actually able to make it seem boring.
        • LedZepAddict, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1Look my teachers have made science interesting, but I have friends who claim, Bio, Chemistry, etc. is boring and annorying. Im praising the guy for reaching out not looking down on science.
    • biotch, on 03/15/2008, -3/+71gunners
      no need to come down on Led for that. Unfortunately there arent too many teachers who expose students to WHY science is interesting.
      • Spuy767, on 03/15/2008, -1/+2What's really unfortunate is that today's role models encourage ignorance. That is the root reason for the decline in the number students interested in science. All these over priviledged little assholes today who take everything for granted don't know what it's like to have to look at your dream and say, "I can't afford that. Guess I'll settle for mediocrity."
        • celotil, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1Jesus, Dude, no! You don't look at your dreams and think you can't have them! You look at your dreams and plan how you're going to get them, no matter how fantastic or farcical they are.
    • stilesja, on 03/15/2008, -2/+3Wouldn't be so interesting if Jesus decided to stop holding onto his feet and he flew off the earth.
  • gamehunter101, on 03/15/2008, -3/+214Wish we had more great educators like Walter Lewin.
    • Synapse84, on 03/15/2008, -1/+7i agree.

      i'd pay attention in class if teachers taught like this more often... most hand on our high school science (sure.. not College courses) was baking soda and vinegar.... which i played with when i was 8...
    • schmitey, on 03/15/2008, -0/+3we do. I had a physics prof at K-State that did all of those demos, pendulum, fire extinguisher powered skateboard, and all. He even had a grad student break a cinder block on his chest with a sledgehammer while laying on a bed of nails. I learned so much from him and because I loved the class I WANTED to learn. I wouldn't have gotten an A in that class without such an awesome prof as inspiration!
      • ogsd89, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1if he is still there can i get the name? that sounds like a good class to take.
    • moush, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1if every teacher was paid as much as him, it might be true.
      • leahcim, on 03/15/2008, -0/+2throwing money at something does not necessarily make it better.

        This guy would be the same type of professor with or without MIT salary. What you need is to find a teacher who loves to teach, not someone willing to teach because they love money.
      • bmc31190, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1He gets paid more because he's a professor at MIT, you don't find those kinds of professors at many schools, MIT happens to be one of them. He's still have the energy elsewhere no matter what he was getting paid simply due to his passion.
    • quiznos, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1My physics professor was kinda like this guy, always had the class entertained. He also broke a glass with sound, and played with liquid nitrogen
    • BTraina, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1my physics teachers did this stuff too... The demonstrations gave real life explanations of why things work in such ways, however to get a good grade on the tests, the actual lecture was 10x more important.

      The spinning bike tire on a spinning chair demonstration showing angular momentum, was the best one.
  • warpedchaos, on 03/15/2008, -2/+75i wish this was thought not just in a very prestigious institution such as MIT but in all schools that will make better students in all high schools across the US.
    • BigManOnCampus, on 03/15/2008, -1/+38At prestigious universities, professors only teach when they want to. Also, if you're a little eccentric, you're more likely to be defended by your peers/department. The rest of the time they can spend researching whatever they want so long as there's grant money available. When you work at a place like MIT, it's not hard to get it.

      At high schools and smaller colleges, teachers MUST teach to pay their mortgage. You can't step "out of line" or your dean or school adminstrators comes down hard on you.
      It's a very different atmosphere.
      • jameshighmore, on 03/15/2008, -8/+3I dugg every other comment down just to make your comment higher.
    • Dumbledorito, on 03/15/2008, -1/+17The requirements of "No Child Left Behind" would destroy the souls of anyone who tried it.
    • faraggi, on 03/15/2008, -2/+6"taught"

      /sorry, had to.
    • dopplerdog, on 03/15/2008, -0/+2Well, being Australian, I didn't go to MIT. But I did take physics. At my university,in 1st year physics, we had the same wrecking ball demonstration: 1st the lecturer demonstrated it, and then he got some students to try as well. All the students flinched: only the lecturer stood through the demo without flinching.
      • DannoSpeaks, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1I went to the U of Minnesota and we had the same demonstrations. These are cool, but fairly common in the physics world.
    • kevinsboy, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1Strange as it sounds I went to high school in Kentucky and I had a great AP chem teacher who taught just like this. Teachers who enjoy what their doing and can convey it to their students deserve accolade.

      His website for the school if anyone's interested is: jkrugthesciencethug.com cool name.... lesser cool site.....
    • mrASSMAN, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1It would definitely get kids interested in science at an early age.
    • ch33sehead, on 03/15/2008, -0/+2Meanwhile, the state of California is about to lay off 14,000 teachers. So much for that idea.
    • x2skier, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1I Had a teacher like that for physics in a public school in a blur collar suburb of Cleveland Ohio. Thanks Mr. Heckathorn (passed away), now forever enshrined on Digg!
  • CTRaider, on 03/15/2008, -1/+193Here are the videos of his free courses from MIT.
    http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Physics/8-01Physics-IFal ...
    • m4csrgh3yk3v, on 03/15/2008, -1/+8They are part of "iTunesU". You can download them all in Itunes and play them on an iPod.
      • Genetico, on 03/15/2008, -2/+3are they free on itunes as well? Forgive me I just bought an ipod touch and I don't know much about how itunes works.
        • mrgono3, on 03/15/2008, -1/+6yep they are free and there are many other free lectures from courses at MIT and other well known universities
  • quomen, on 03/15/2008, -11/+3I was looking for a great punchline after the "..." in the title. How disappointing...my way.
  • Apokalyps2547, on 03/15/2008, -15/+43This is why science rules.
    Acts of God can not (indeed, must not) be tested.
    This guy tests science with his life at stake.
  • JigoroKano, on 03/15/2008, -1/+11I believe it was Feynman that did the pendulum trick with a bowling ball. (Indoors of course)
    • barbobot, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1Yeah but he used to do it with his students heads, not his own! (Seriously)
  • dontdoitjake, on 03/15/2008, -2/+48These are the kinds of teachers we need in the high schools of the country.
    • Kyora, on 03/15/2008, -0/+6He reminded me of my math teacher in my sophomore year of high school. Honestly, I don't think I've ever seen anyone that passionate about math before. While he wasn't able to pull off all the fun demonstrations, he as still a great teacher. He didn't teach just to make you know how to do the problem, it wasn't just plugging in numbers into given formulas. He actually taught everyone _why_ things worked. Hell, who cared if it as calculus? He'd show us the proof for kicks anyways. But he didn't drone on either. Maybe it was his enthusiasm that kept me awake in the class, whereas most other math teachers I've had are... bleh.
      Seriously, I remember wanting to cry when he transferred out at the end of my junior year to teach at an IB school in India. I was looking forward to having him again this year for math.
    • FluffyWolf, on 03/15/2008, -3/+1Yes, very good high school experiments. But I don't know if they are appropriate at MIT, the motion of a pendulum is pretty basic stuff, as are the rest of the experiments we saw in the clip (but still cool of course). But he might of course have cool practical experiments of more fun/strange/challenging physical phenomena too.
      • DesignEx, on 03/15/2008, -0/+2They need to teach Physics I in MIT as well you know.
      • AndySomnifac, on 03/15/2008, -0/+2Last time I checked, there are more programs @ MIT than just physics. Thus, they may need to teach the basics.
    • fridaporvida, on 03/15/2008, -0/+4I had an 8th grade science teacher who was just like this professor! He brought so much enthusiasm to all of his class sessions, and actually allowed us to construct simple machines and participate hands on in every experiment. I still have an appreciation for things like the common wedge and pulleys the way no one else I know does. Looking back I know he had to have put so much of his own money into the experiments we conducted on a weekly basis because the school I attended was just an average public school with most of the funding being spent on building more classrooms.

      Much respect to Mr. Quinby. Hopefully he's still around letting kids have fun with science.
    • Disinterested, on 03/16/2008, -0/+1and colleges
  • ileftfark, on 03/15/2008, -1/+81Unfortunately, 99% of teacher/profs are not like this, and that is why when you do end up with one, take away as much as you possibly can. And if its in college, buy the man a drink - it's always good for an entertaining evening :)
    • Chicken, on 03/15/2008, -3/+1Usually, teachers/professors curve grades in science classes. Kind of disappointing.
      • Pake, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1From what I've gathered, the physics classes at universities aren't really there to teach you everything 100%, but to prepare you for your classes that teach the same material, but more in depth.
        • slicerace, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1That's the way it is -- you see everything three times. Once in the standard freshman physics sequence, again in the junior/senior level courses, and finally again in graduate school. Each time you see it, it's more in depth and much harder.
    • matroosje, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1He's great, but look at the means he gets. I am happy if I can get chalk and one hour to prepare a lecture. I'm jealous.

      "each lecture taking forty hours to prepare and Lewin rehearsing them completely three times before students ever see them."
      "With cranes, pendulums and a number of construction-size visual aids that often have to be custom built in a university workshop, the lectures aren't cheap either. The series, funded by an outside grant, costs as much as $300,000."
  • strikerK, on 03/15/2008, -4/+64reminds me of Bill Nye
    • byrdgang, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1I remember watching Bill Nye in 8th grade...that is, last year. Just kidding! That was about eight years ago.
    • trogdorBURN, on 03/15/2008, -0/+6bill nye is coming to my campus on wednesday and i get to operate lights for his show. woot!

      let the "we don't give a crap" comments commence
      • AmICoolNow, on 03/15/2008, -0/+2That's actually pretty sweet. Shake his hand and hope some of his science rubs off on you.
        • trogdorBURN, on 03/17/2008, -0/+1i do plan on getting a picture with him.

          /fantasizing about my next facebook profile pic : /
    • sloppjyoe890, on 03/15/2008, -1/+2I used to love bill nye. One day he came to our town to give a lecture on biology and one of my friends had his girlfriend sitting on hid lap and bill nye stopped in the middle of his lecture to inform him that it was a fire hazard and that he would be escorted off the premises, i said "wow buddy there is nothing wrong" and he told me i could leave as well. we were escorted off of the premises and ever since then i've always told people how bill nye was a huge jerk.
      • breadfred, on 03/15/2008, -1/+4Nah, you're friend is the jerk. Not really appropriate to have your girlfriend sitting in your lap during a lecture. And you are a jerk as well just because I feel like saying it.
        • strikerK, on 03/15/2008, -1/+4you should listen to bill nye, he knows his fire
        • sloppjyoe890, on 03/16/2008, -1/+0The reason she was sitting on his lap is because the place was full and he could only get one seat. and u kinda hurt my feeling when you called me a jerk ;_ ;
    • DwightSchruter, on 03/15/2008, -0/+2BILL BILL BILL BILL BILL
      BILL NYE THE SCIENCE GUY!
  • zipped6, on 03/15/2008, -0/+3Thankfully my physics prof is almost as energetic at MSU
  • TheShom, on 03/15/2008, -0/+16That's one class i'll never fall asleep in.
  • superbeefy, on 03/15/2008, -0/+13Check out his Electricity and magnetism lecutres http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Physics/8-02Electricity- ...
    These saved me in class when I had a crappy teacher who couldn't teach well.
    • Spuy767, on 03/15/2008, -0/+3MIT uses RealPlayer. Maybe I'm not so sad I couldn't afford it.
      • piwy, on 03/15/2008, -1/+2They are on iTunes too. iTunes u and look for lewin.
    • digidelia, on 03/15/2008, -0/+3E&M is a hard class, I can't imagine getting through it with a crappy teacher...
    • Kyora, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1I wish I had found out about those videos last year during the E&M units... :(
    • Pake, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1 I'm downloading (itunes versions) his lectures on electricity right now to use for this semester. Wish I would have done this last semester for physics 1, even though that turned out just fine, he seems to have the hands on approach to teaching that is invaluable to understanding physics.
    • MCDupree, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1I wish I had known about OCW when I needed it!
  • jongarber, on 03/15/2008, -0/+9how education should be....
  • Zeyph3r, on 03/15/2008, -2/+5I hope that sometime durring my college life i will get a cool professor like this who "makes learning fun"
    {never thought i would be saying that}
  • SmooveO, on 03/15/2008, -1/+1Another great People of the Web piece by Yahoo. It's really worth checking out a bunch of others that they've done.
  • ameba, on 03/15/2008, -0/+5that tennis ball one was awesome.
  • Hobolord, on 03/15/2008, -0/+4I would never miss a lecture ever again...
  • soil, on 03/15/2008, -0/+7Excellent. Sounds like this man has overcome V/I to stay V/R and teach physics to interested students.
    • TheKarmaPolice, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1it's posts like these that make me happy i'm a physics major
    • encrypter, on 03/15/2008, -1/+1overcome resistance to stay current?
    • BTraina, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1i hate myself for understanding that.
  • bboymouse, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1getting my masters in biology as we speak, i can understand his enthusiasm for science...i only wish i was able to convey it to others in a similar manner
  • m4csrgh3yk3v, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1The wrecking ball stunt has been used in lectures for demonstration for generations.

    Even the book "Contact" makes reference to it.
  • TheDHC, on 03/15/2008, -0/+7my physics teacher is dry, unmotivating, and unengaging. i hate going to that class more than anything.
    if only he was my teacher
    • Kyora, on 03/15/2008, -0/+10My physics teacher tells us about his epic Halo games with our math teacher. Either that or bizarre stories from his past that still manage to tie into atomic physics.
      Go figure, but it makes the class a lot more interesting.
      • Pake, on 03/15/2008, -0/+6Mine someone manages to relate his problem with his wife and women to electricity. There's something seriously strange and hard to understand about comparing a lady to Gauss' Law.
      • Nekiruhs, on 03/15/2008, -1/+3Sounds like my History teacher. Lol
  • Typhoon2009, on 03/15/2008, -2/+3This is the problem with US education... or rather, the fix to our problem. We NEED teachers like this guy in every school. People who are passionate about what they teach. I can imagine that a class with this guy, even if you aren't a science kind of person, would be rather interesting and make you want to learn a bit.
    • Beevo, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1The problems with US Education are to many to list. Yes unmotivated teachers is one of them, but more importantly are the lazy students and parents behind those students.

      Look across the world, sure there are a few amazing teachers but because they are few and far between they are often at prestigious universities where they are compensated monetarily. And yet students in other countries have passed the US in education level. It's a mentality issue, kids in America want to be entertained rather than taught.
    • Dr0x, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1At a college level for many students the Idea of having an actual Professor teaching a class is becoming joke at the larger state universities. Most colleges just get TA's to teach classes like these while the actual professors are doing research/working with grad students instead. Personally that is one of the major factors behind why I chose to go to DePaul. I would much rather have actual professors teach my classes rather than some poor TA trying to get through grad school. I have yet to see any unmotivated professor here because their jobs are based off of how well they teach rather than what research they are doing. In the end it creates a much more stimulating educational environment.
    • the6thReplicant, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1Yeah but look at how much energy, time and money is needed to produce those lectures. You want teachers to teach like this then fine, but make sure you get a budget that can handle it.
  • greatking, on 03/15/2008, -0/+3This guy reminds me of Julius Sumner Miller (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCcZyW-6-5o)
    • xtmno3, on 03/15/2008, -0/+11People of digg (shouting for a reason here): PLEASE STOP USING PUNCTUATION AFTER A LINK. Apparently this is too complicated for the programmer's parsing code, so it assumes that is part of the link. THANK YOU.
      • sabach, on 03/15/2008, -1/+2You could, in a fraction of the time it took you to type this complaint, copy & paste it into your browser and hit backspace once.
    • ch33sehead, on 03/15/2008, -0/+3All right, xtmno3. Here's the link again: ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCcZyW-6-5o )
  • redsoxmb545, on 03/15/2008, -0/+2I'm taking Physics next year.
    I pray I get someone half as cool as that guy.
  • charlietuna, on 03/15/2008, -1/+12It may be negative to say this, but as far as motivating students- he's probably needed at Lubbock Community College more than he's needed at MIT.
    • KRNpro, on 03/15/2008, -0/+2Probably needed even more in a failing High School
    • leahcim, on 03/15/2008, -0/+3Yeah I thought the same thing, the narrations are kinda weird. At one point it mentions the motivating their students to love science, err well its MIT, the vast majority of people who go there and study science do it because they love science.
  • wiitarded666, on 03/15/2008, -1/+6yahoo player sux
    • iJump, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1I couldn't agree more. As someone who is stuck on dial-up, I like to just hit pause on a video and let it load while I grab a snack. Unfortunately, when I try and do that on Yahoo's player, it stops loading. I just bugs the crap out of me!
  • pixx, on 03/15/2008, -0/+0What a great teacher, wish I had one like him when I was back in school...
  • dstamat, on 03/15/2008, -0/+3these non-buffering video players make impossible to watch they're videos... especially when you're in a third world country, like me... in New Zealand.

    "third world" in terms of bandwidth of course :/
    • ravage86, on 03/15/2008, -1/+3Everybody should be using real player, I agree!
  • Orsenfelt, on 03/15/2008, -0/+3THAT is how teaching should be done. Good on ya, Sir.
  • hoovcluck, on 03/15/2008, -0/+8I had a wonderful physics prof that used to teach at MIT. He did all of these demos. The best one was the one was when he drank liquid nitrogen. He told us a story about an address he gave to both houses of congress and when he went to drink the liquid nitrogen and blow the smoke out he messed up and swallowed some of it and his lips and mouth got burned really bad a swelled up. He also did the bed of nails trick and had a student wield the sledge hammer. The best part was he took a red marker and drew dots all over the back of his shirt so when he got up off the nails he would turn around and look like he was bleeding.
  • crugg, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1Ahh, the good days of beginning physics. Before you had to take multivariable calculus physics and series calculus.Why can't more professors do this?
  • triskele, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1My high school physics teacher would do that kind of stuff, but on a much smaller scale. It also helped that he dressed like Safari Joe from the Thundercats every day. He even had rimless glasses that would clip onto the bridge of his nose. Not a monocle, but nonetheless entertaining.
  • Fubeman, on 03/15/2008, -0/+2This guy is awesome! I have been "taking" his classes every week now for quite some time. His courses are offered as free pod casts on iTunes. It's amazing. I haven't been to a real class in years, but every week he keeps me coming back to learn physics - something that I had to take 3 years of when I was in school. I never hated it, but it was not THIS MUCH fun. Anyway, now I take his courses 'cause I'm always interested in learning something, but also because of professor Lewin. And I do it while I work at home, all for free.
  • AngeloM3, on 03/15/2008, -0/+2Seems like all physics and english teachers love to have fun in class. A lot easier to learn (especially a difficult class like physics) when you have fun learning!
  • DestroyFascism, on 03/15/2008, -0/+4science rules! nuff said
  • dcd722, on 03/15/2008, -0/+5Mr. Fargus from family guy anyone?
  • se1zure, on 03/15/2008, -0/+3my physics teacher was just like that. He brought in cinder blocks one day and let us break them over his chest to demonstrate inertia. He laid on a bed of nails too. He also did the think the guy did with the ball, but he was using a bowling ball if I remember.
  • ndlaham, on 03/15/2008, -0/+0Walter Lewin's the man. I am watching his Physics II lectures right now from UW-Madison. He has helped me so much grasp concepts my peers are still having trouble with. He is pretty funny too.
  • NanoStuff, on 03/15/2008, -0/+7From Yahoo, the colon of the intertubes:

    " This guy is grate! "

  • gfxlonghorn, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1I go to University of Texas and our physics teacher did the bowling ball thing, and he actually shot a gun into a wooden block to show how they measured momentum... but the class still sucks ass and makes me want to kill myself.
  • shagg187, on 03/15/2008, -1/+2God, I was he was my professor. Maybe that way i won't be sleeping in every single physics class and wouldn't have failed the midterm. :(
    • Hoogs, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1You're not alone my friend :)
      Heck, even when I DID pay attention I still couldn't understand the stuff.
  • Owwmykneecap, on 03/15/2008, -0/+12Powered by Havok™
  • Slayerdude51982, on 03/15/2008, -0/+3Seriously more professors should learn from this guy
  • byrdgang, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1Wouldn't you be able to remember a scientific concept (or any concept really) if you were shown it in action? Absolutely. Less memorizing, more learning.
  • Berkana, on 03/15/2008, -1/+42A physics instructor at my highschool did the bowling-ball pendulum trick, but being a mild idiot, he pushed the ball on its way down, and on the back-swing, it knocked him out cold and probably fractured his jaw, and I suspect nearly the entire class left not convinced of the conservation of energy (except the smart ones).
  • TBBucs, on 03/15/2008, -1/+3Bill Nye, is that you?
    • itsgotyou, on 03/15/2008, -1/+1no its beakman, his hair fell off after they confronted him about humping the guy in the rat suit
  • Komodork, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1wow, that dosnt compare to my teacher teaching newtons law, he got 2 huge guys to pull his arms apart ( as hard as they could), he literally ran hard into concrete walls...
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