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Richard Feynman talks about light

sdfhsfh4 HN recommenders · 2018–2025
1.8M views · explainer · evergreen · Uploaded 2007-11-02

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 as an entertaining, accessible way to get a feel for light and electric fields.

Fundamental physicsEveryday physics & science demos

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6 comments from Hacker News

@Quekid52018 · in “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 : [VIDEO] (The vast majority of light is effectively invisible to you.)

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@Jach2019 · in “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: [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...

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@RichardCA2020 · in “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. [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?

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@p1mrx2021 · in “Physicists have filmed the oscillation of a time crystal”

Oh, but you can see past events while wielding (or not wielding) a time crystal. Vision is far out: [VIDEO]

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@martyvis2022 · in “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. [VIDEO]

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@kypro2025 · in “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, [VIDEO] He had an amazing ability to make physics fun and entertaining. I could listen to him talk all day.

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