Tonight BBC2: The Wonders of the Universe

[stripes4]

Let one of the boys stay up to watch it, he has no school tomorrow, he has read Stephen Hawking's children books on physics and like it a lot. Now I have to answer allsorts of questions about entropy. First one, "He still hasn't said what (the second law) is - what is it?'.

From my point if view, I found itr hard to follow, to drawn out and pointless imagery, like sitting around that camp fire?

If you wrote it down you could read the transscript in ten minutes.

But that would nt be quite so magical now, would it?

[Atheist-Lite]

Let one of the boys stay up to watch it, he has no school tomorrow, he has read Stephen Hawking's children books on physics and like it a lot. Now I have to answer allsorts of questions about entropy. First one, "He still hasn't said what (the second law) is - what is it?'.

From my point if view, I found itr hard to follow, to drawn out and pointless imagery, like sitting around that camp fire?

If you wrote it down you could read the transscript in ten minutes.

The second law says entropy in a closed system will always increase or somesuch. Things fall to bits unless you keep feeding them energy from the outside....

[Geoff]

Well I have just finished watching this, in my view., extra-ordinary programme. I am not sure I have seen its like in terms of offering deep science in a popular form to the public.

The whole thing was based around the second law of thermodynamics (entropy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_law ... modynamics) and the fact that the universe and time itself is structured deeply around order moving to disorder. It was brilliantly done and possibly the best TV science prog I have ever seen.

View it any way you can. Brilliant!

Agreed, very well presented. I was kinda expecting something much more "dumbed down".

[Tigger]

The flag in the sandcastle was upside down.

[Geoff]

The flag in the sandcastle was upside down.

See how quickly entropy sets in if you don't keep an eye on it?

[klr]

The flag in the sandcastle was upside down.

See how quickly entropy sets in if you don't keep an eye on it?

Seriously though, it was a wonderful program. I note that God wasn't mentioned even once (AFAIK), but the implication was clear ... roll on the heat death of the universe. Whenever that happens ...

[Clinton Huxley]

I enjoyed it immensely. There's something satisfying in knowing that, really, everything is doomed. EVERYTHING!
Brian Cox still ain't Carl Sagan, though.

[Geoff]

I enjoyed it immensely. There's something satisfying in knowing that, really, everything is doomed. EVERYTHING!
Brian Cox still ain't Carl Sagan, though.

True, though I enjoyed the "pale blue dot" at the end.

[Clinton Huxley]

Going to see Mr Cox along with Ben Goldacre, Simon Singh and Robin Ince on the Uncaged Monkeys tour in May. Woot, let nerdhem commence!

[Pappa]

Brian Cox still ain't Carl Sagan, though.

No, he's "a walking, talking, Stephen Hawking".

[Animavore]

Carl Sagan is a poet. Cox ain't. It's that simple.

[Clinton Huxley]

Carl Sagan is a poet. Cox ain't. It's that simple.

True. And because it's logically impossible to have too much Sagan...

[Rum]

I enjoyed it immensely. There's something satisfying in knowing that, really, everything is doomed. EVERYTHING!
Brian Cox still ain't Carl Sagan, though.

If he thought up the idea that first programme should about entropy and heat death as a way of looking at the universe then I think he is a Carl Sagan personally. Different maybe, but his metaphors (the rusting ship for example) were superb and quite poetic in a non-Sagan sort of way..

[Clinton Huxley]

Needs more "space music". I'm sure I heard an electrical guitar a couple of times in TWOTU. A guitar!

[klr]

The second episode is showing right now, and is also rather good ...