Richard Feynman talks about light
Why Hacker News recommends it
Recommended as an entertaining, accessible way to get a feel for light and electric fields.
What it is
A PBS clip in which Richard Feynman explains the strange nature of light and electromagnetic radiation. He conveys how little of it we actually see and how radio waves are present everywhere.
Recommended by 4 HN commenters across 4 different months, 2018 to 2025.
What Hacker News said
Strong rec RichardCA · 2020-08 · on “Ask HN: What is a science fact that blew your mind when you learned it?”
Let's try to work the problem in a way that avoids pedantry, just for a moment. This is one of my favorite PBS clips from the 80's in which Richard Feynman explains how strange the nature of light and by extension all of electromagnetic radiation. [this video] If you listen carefully, you notice that he never talks about wave/particle duality (because he wasn't giving a classroom lecture). What he does talk about is an electric field that waves slosh around in, and that something "elaborate and complicated" is going on at a deeper level. That's what I'm on about, if you were pressed to explain it so that a bright child would get it, how would you do that?
Strong rec kypro · 2025-02 · on “Richard Feynman's blackboard at the time of his death (1988)”
I'm sure a lot of people here have already seen this, but for those who haven't I highly recommend you watch this video of Feynman explaining light, [this video] He had an amazing ability to make physics fun and entertaining. I could listen to him talk all day.
Recommends Jach · 2019-07 · on “The Backbone of VHF Amateur Radio May Be Under Threat”
The potential is obvious once you really start to grasp the reality of the electric field and its properties. (A favorite Feynman vid to give laymen a taste: [this video] ) I don't see how any worthwhile possibilities can be realized at the amateur level however given just two of the restrictions I pointed out in a sibling thread...
Recommends martyvis · 2022-03 · on “How is portable AM radio possible?”
Richard Feynman gets very excited about this very fact, that at any point it has ALL of the radio waves, amongst other electromagnetic radiation, that just has to be tuned in or focussed on. [this video]
Cites Quekid5 · 2018-09 · on “The regress argument against Cartesian skepticism (2012) [pdf]”
I don't think that's what the poster meant. I think it was probably more along the lines of how you experience e.g. 'light' vs. what it actually is : [this video] (The vast majority of light is effectively invisible to you.)