One of the parts of iTunes is iTunes University. It consists of courses that are free and can be accessed on an iPad or iPhone. Maybe on a Mac computer, too. I don't know. I had seen the category using iTunes with an iPod but never gotten much into it. Today, I thought I would explore what I can find in iTunes University and decided on Four Fundamental Forces of the Universe. I had seen the list before:
Of course, we have all heard of and had experience with both electricity/magnetism and gravity. That doesn't mean I understand what gravity is or why it exists. I have heard that the much discussed Higgs particle is related to the quantum theories of all matter and to the question of what I have heard of as "the acquisition of mass".
I never gave much thought to electro/magnetism until I heard Deepak Chopra explaining how to think of the world as consisting of real things that we cannot see. He used the example of a radio. He said there are radio waves around my head right now but my head is not built to detect them. Bring a radio in and turn it on and it will detect them for me and convert them into sounds I can hear. As a child, we had no television but the radio played a big part. The fact that a wire lead from the set to a plug in the wall distracted me from the miracle of waves since I figured being plugged in did something. Listening to Chopra, I remembered little transistor radios with batteries that clearly accomplish a miracle.
The video associated with Four Fundamental Forces of the Universe that I watched today included a bit of history of the development of radio, which depended on understanding that electro-magnetic waves did indeed exist and could be used to transmit signals. Much thinking and some inventing were required, along with steady doses of persistence and hope, but eventually, Marconi demonstrated that he could indeed communicate from America to England using this amazing form of energy.
I learned that one of the first uses for radio communication was to talk to ships at sea. Captains were not entirely pleased with the new development since it allowed ship owners to give orders to them while they were at sea, a place where they had been unreachable before. Similarly, sailors sometimes rejoiced at being able to communicate with wives while at sea but sometimes felt they had lost some sanctuary from marital discussions.
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Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
- electromagnetism
- gravity
- weak nuclear interaction
- strong nuclear interaction
Of course, we have all heard of and had experience with both electricity/magnetism and gravity. That doesn't mean I understand what gravity is or why it exists. I have heard that the much discussed Higgs particle is related to the quantum theories of all matter and to the question of what I have heard of as "the acquisition of mass".
I never gave much thought to electro/magnetism until I heard Deepak Chopra explaining how to think of the world as consisting of real things that we cannot see. He used the example of a radio. He said there are radio waves around my head right now but my head is not built to detect them. Bring a radio in and turn it on and it will detect them for me and convert them into sounds I can hear. As a child, we had no television but the radio played a big part. The fact that a wire lead from the set to a plug in the wall distracted me from the miracle of waves since I figured being plugged in did something. Listening to Chopra, I remembered little transistor radios with batteries that clearly accomplish a miracle.
The video associated with Four Fundamental Forces of the Universe that I watched today included a bit of history of the development of radio, which depended on understanding that electro-magnetic waves did indeed exist and could be used to transmit signals. Much thinking and some inventing were required, along with steady doses of persistence and hope, but eventually, Marconi demonstrated that he could indeed communicate from America to England using this amazing form of energy.
I learned that one of the first uses for radio communication was to talk to ships at sea. Captains were not entirely pleased with the new development since it allowed ship owners to give orders to them while they were at sea, a place where they had been unreachable before. Similarly, sailors sometimes rejoiced at being able to communicate with wives while at sea but sometimes felt they had lost some sanctuary from marital discussions.
--
Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
