Royal Institution Christmas Lectures 2010: Size Matters

Synopsis

The 2010 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, given by Dr Mark Miodownik, a materials scientist from King’s College London, explore the peculiar living and non-living matter that makes up the universe and ask the eternal question - does size matter? He explains how hamsters can survive falling from an aircraft without a parachute, why our planet is so puny, and reveals the extraordinary hidden powers of human hair.

Lecture one: ‘Why elephants can’t dance’ investigates the materials science of the animal kingdom including the physical rules that govern an animal’s strength, life span and even dance moves. From an ant to an elephant, Dr Mark Miodownik explores the pros and cons of the very small and the very large.

Lecture two: ‘Why chocolate melts and jet engines don’t’ examines the tiny world we have created inside mobile phones, jet planes and chocolate. The lecture explores the curious things start to happen as we zoom in - looking at why gravity becomes less and less important, and stickiness and quantum mechanics start to dominate.

Lecture three: ‘Why are mountains so small?' investigates large scale objects and the forces that shape them. For example, could we ever build a tower to reach the moon? This lecture asks whether certain engineering challenges are remotely possible and show that one of the major hurdles is the force that keeps space together - gravity.

Series

Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, Series

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Year of release

2011

Year of production

2010

Notes

Broadcast in three parts on BBC4 on 28, 29, 30/12/2010

Subjects

Physics

Keywords

materials science; scientific investigation; theoretical physics

Credits

Contributor

Mark Miodownik

Distributor

Name

Royal Institution of Great Britain, The

Email

events@ri.ac.uk

Web

http://www.rigb.org/ External site opens in new window

Phone

020 7409 2992

Address

21 Albemarle Street
London
W1S 4BS

Notes

An archive of webcasts of events held at the Royal Institution, some going back to 1962. Most of the RI Christmas Lectures are available, together with other lectures given by scientists including Lawrence Bragg. Free registration is required for online access. Some of the more recent Christmas Lectures are also available for sale on DVD.