Flanders & Swann - 'First And Second Law'
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN brings it up whenever thermodynamics or entropy comes up, as the classic comic explanation of the laws.
What it is
Flanders and Swann perform 'First and Second Law', a comic song about the laws of thermodynamics, from their 1964 stage show At the Drop of Another Hat. It sets the first and second laws to a deadpan call-and-response routine.
Recommended by 2 HN commenters across 2 different months, 2020 to 2024.
What Hacker News said
Recommends ska · 2024-05 · on “Why did Tom Lehrer swap fame for obscurity?”
> While they don't have the science/maths background that makes Lehrer an obvious win for the HN crowd, True, but they did one on thermodynamics [this video]
Recommends robaato · 2024-07 · on “The Second Law of Thermodynamics (2011)”
The classic Flanders and Swann explanation: [this video] Excerpts: No one can consider themsleves educated who doesn't understand the basic language of science - Boyle's law: the greater the external pressure the greater the volume of hot air. I was someone shocked to learn my partner not only doesn't understand the 2nd law of thermodynamics, he doesn't even understand the first! : Heat won't pass from the cooler to hotter! You can try it if you like but you'd far better notta! M: Heat is work and work's a curse M: And all the heat in the universe M: Is gonna cool down, M: 'Cos it can't increase M: Then there'll be no more work M: And there'll be perfect peace D: Really? M: Yeah, that's entropy,