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Introduction (1957-10-06)
About this film
The golf ball shoots high overhead. Where will it land? Will your common sense tell you the truth of the matter? Or will science? And what is science? These are some of the questions raised by Philippe Le Corbeiller and Gerald Holton (Associate Professor of the History of Science and of General Education, Harvard University) in introducing the methods and outlook of science and scientists. In this episode there are no scientific spectacles, no atomic explosions, and no formulas for turning lead into gold. Rather, this is an invitation to participate in some hard thinking. "A great deal of science is just that," says Holton. "I would delude you if I told you it was easy. But that is just what you'll find exciting." Holton shows why. He introduces excerpts from future episodes to see what happens when a scientific explorer suddenly finds himself on entirely new grounds. He shows you what sort of apparatus a physicist devises to explain the reality of atoms which he cannot touch. He invites you to compare a mathematical formula with a sketch of a perfectly ordinary bull. "I promise you," he says, "that the content will not be made more easy than it honestly can be. Some of the argumen…
Directors & creators
WGBH Educational Foundation
Subjects
public broadcasting, AAPB, Science, History of science, Physics, Scientific method, Natural law, Gerald Holton, Philippe Le Corbeiller, Philosophy of science, Evangelista Torricelli, Vacuum, Mercury, Barometer, Atmospheric pressure, Scientific experimentation, Physical sciences, Observation, Common sense, 17th-century science, Galileo Galilei, Sense perception, Scientific inquiry, Harvard University, Public education, Reasoning
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