Prof. Brian Cox & @shaunwkeaveny

[deusx_ophc]

just a heads up...

i do love my music, specially the bbc6 music type (best radio station in the world ever)

..but i also like brian cox, every tuesday, well most tuesday mornings, the shaun keaveny breakfast show features a conversation between cox & keaveny about the wonders of the universe

today's episode is about to launch any minute now

edit: ******** i forgot the linkage space talk with pro. cox

 

[Angus]

just a heads up...


..but i also like brian cox,

Sorry, but I loathe the guy's presentation. I see a new science program and think great, that looks interesting, then I see its him presenting yet another show. Total **** as far I'm concerned, not fit to iron Jim Al-khalili's purple shirts. If that's the best they can do to make science attractive (and simplified) for the young, they may as well give up.

That wasn't rock music, Brian - and posing, wide-legged on top of a mountain, spouting ****e isn't science.

Substance- please!

 

[Rogehans]

Sorry, but I loathe the guy's presentation. I see a new science program and think great, that looks interesting, then I see its him presenting yet another show. Total **** as far I'm concerned, not fit to iron Jim Al-khalili's purple shirts. If that's the best they can do to make science attractive (and simplified) for the young, they may as well give up.

That wasn't rock music, Brian - and posing, wide-legged on top of a mountain, spouting ****e isn't science.

Substance- please!

I thought Dare were a really good band and still are the first album in 1988 was Amazing
the second was alot heavier!
(Prof Brian Cox was Dares keyboard player in the 80s)

 

[Perseus]

Sorry, spouting ****e isn't science.

Substance- please!

What about political science? That's shyte.
Plus, shyte is a very necessary substance, I couldn't live without it.

I like his presentations, he doesn't come across as being stuck up his own shyte dispenser.

 

[bbwonder]

Cheers for the link Deusx, I personally like Brian cox a lot. Like most people do.

Stange that he's got such a following & awards for his contribution to science when according to a highly respected source, he talks complete rubbish. Odd that.

 

[Styggron]

Sorry, but I loathe the guy's presentation. I see a new science program and think great, that looks interesting, then I see its him presenting yet another show. Total **** as far I'm concerned, not fit to iron Jim Al-khalili's purple shirts. If that's the best they can do to make science attractive (and simplified) for the young, they may as well give up.

That wasn't rock music, Brian - and posing, wide-legged on top of a mountain, spouting ****e isn't science.

Substance- please!

As a Science Educator myself, I think the thing to be mindful is "sparking the insterest" and "target audience". Yes there are many over simplifications in his presentastions but the goal is to make it accessible to the wider audience. Yes one could argue regarding the Pauli's exclusion principle point Brian made in a presentation once was not that accurate but it still sparked the imagination of people and some might go "maybe I should give Science a go" and that is the best we can hope for.

I find practically every science doco on Astronomy WAY to basic for my level but I still enjoy them....well most..... . If it takes a "celebrity" to get people watching I say excellent, maybe just maybe one of them will look into this more.

So where do I read my info from ? arxiv of course. One I was reading reently was this one. http://arxiv.org/abs/1310.5361

We can't give this kind of information to the general public. So for what it's worth I think Brian and Jim and excellent shows like BBC's Bang Goes the THeory is increasing popularity of Science and that is a good thing.

 

[Angus]

As a Science Educator myself, I think the thing to be mindful is "sparking the insterest" and "target audience". Yes there are many over simplifications in his presentastions but the goal is to make it accessible to the wider audience. Yes one could argue regarding the Pauli's exclusion principle point Brian made in a presentation once was not that accurate but it still sparked the imagination of people and some might go "maybe I should give Science a go" and that is the best we can hope for.

Good points all, and sorry to come across as so negative, I was not having a great day and perhaps let that fuel my post. If people like him, that's fine, and if he helps gets youngsters interested in science, yes, that has to be good - although I find that a tricky concept to relate to.

But I was talking from a completely selfish standpoint. I see him as the "funky pop dude, who is making science cool" and if you say, as an educator that its working then I have to respect that. Personally, though, I find his style repellent, and based on my current (albeit limited) exposure, the content to be very disappointing.

The "Wonders of the Universe" seemed to be a glorified travel show for Brian's fans with sand castle building in the Namib desert and epic helicopter photography of Brian standing heroically on a mountaintop.... visual style is great if its backed up with substance.

For me, the benchmark was the Al-Khalili 3 part documentary, "Atom" shown on BBC4 a few years back. I was inspired by that. I noticed he did another this week which I recorded, I hope he doesn't let me down.

 

[Sir.Tj]

I quite like him as well, He's done a couple of BBC Horizons which I enjoyed.

Proof is in the pudding so to speak. He's managed to engage my kids into the programs he's in and from small acorn etc.

(Cliché ridden post over. )

 

[Oss133]

Proof is in the pudding so to speak.

No. No it isn't.

 

[deusx_ophc]

No. No it isn't.

well it was yesterday...

 

[Oss133]

well it was yesterday...

No. The proof OF the pudding IS IN THE EATING. Pudding has no inherent qualities of proof.

 

[Sir.Tj]

No. The proof OF the pudding IS IN THE EATING. Pudding has no inherent qualities of proof.

Christmas pudding has proof before you set the Brandy alight.

Anyway, I like Brian Cox.

 

[Oss133]

I like Brian Cox. And I like Professor Brian Cox.

And Professor Brian Cox likes the word "VAST". A lot.

 

[Cosmos]

I know Cox isn't everyones cup of tea but he's enthusiastic and I find his work to be quite inspiring. He shows that science can be the fascinating and exciting rather than a dull and tedious which can so often be the impression people are left with.

We've got star gazing live coming up too

 

[Angus]

I know Cox isn't everyones cup of tea but he's enthusiastic and I find his work to be quite inspiring. He shows that science can be the fascinating and exciting rather than a dull and tedious which can so often be the impression people are left with.

We've got star gazing live coming up too

Oh joy. I watched the first one - was it just me, or was there a bit of confusion about who the actual anchor was, Brian Cox or Dara O'Briain? The chemistry was ....different.

Also, while I'm in minor rant mode, I think I'm spotting a bit of a trend, with people saying, Yeah, but the kids love Prof Brian, he's getting a lot of them onboard. That may or may not be correct, but its beside my point, which is, he doesn't do it for me. I'm watching a show for me, as presumably you guys are for yourselves, and how well received it is or isn't elsewhere is not really the point.