Let's face it-for ordinary people, mathematics and formulas are not the most attractive aspects of physics. The fun lies in hands-on learning, laboratory work, and live performances of the power and strength of Mother Nature. Although it is true that students must be willing to learn, having a good teacher can be of great help.

Professor Julius Sumner Miller is full of vitality and enthusiasm for physics and is contagious. In the photo, his stern face is respectable. But in the action, he becomes cute. His presentation is dramatic, enjoyable, and as far away as possible from boring old mathematics. Imagine if Cosmo Kramer is a professor of physics, or if this doesn't give you an idea, then imagine Doc Brown in Back to the Future (1985) with a heavy New England accent and slightly darker eyebrows. Professor Miller is a physical demonstration method of shouting, jumping, waving, and wholeheartedly. He is totally fascinated by physics and is deeply eager to learn about it as much as possible in order to share magic with people of all ages.

Professor Miller has reached out to thousands of students during his nearly 40-year teaching career, and through the Mickey Mouse Club and Miller’s own show "Why is this?" His love of science is indeed contagious, as you can see in this section on the impact value of capacitors.

Julius Sumner Miller was born on May 17, 1909 in Billerica, Massachusetts, the youngest of nine children. His father is a Latvian and his mother is "a Lithuanian farmer who speaks twelve languages". When Julius is not busy with homework or housework on the family farm, he will eagerly absorb knowledge and "read the town library before the age of 16." Years later, he used his money to expand the library's collection.

After graduating from high school, Julius went to Boston University and graduated in 1933 with a degree in philosophy and theoretical physics. It was impossible to find a job in physics during the Great Depression, so Julius and his wife Alice spent two years working as a housekeeper and maid for a wealthy doctor. Finally, after sending more than 700 letters, Julius found a job in a private school in Connecticut. A few years later, he was hired by the Department of Physics at Dillard University in New Orleans in 1937 and stayed there for several years. During World War II, Julius also served as a civilian physicist in the US Army Signal Corps.

In 1950, Professor Miller received a grant that gave him the opportunity to study with Albert Einstein and become a lifelong friend with Albert Einstein. Einstein was his idol, and he collected some souvenirs, including a copy of the man’s birth certificate.

Around this time, Julius did a brief teaching at the University of California, Los Angeles, but decided that he wanted to be in a smaller environment. He went to teach at a junior college called El Camino in Torrance, California, and stayed there until his retirement in 1974. Over the years, Professor Miller has been very popular with students, even though he is not all fun and games. He wants students to listen carefully and study hard. He cannot tolerate misspelled words or misplaced punctuation.

He is also very strict with his colleagues, thinking that most educators are not strict enough, so the students have not learned anything. As early as the 1940s, this professor was outspoken about the decline of American education, and made no secret of it when talking about this situation. Although he likes to teach anyone who is willing to listen, Professor Miller's favorite audience is children, because "their spirit and curiosity have not been dazzled by the school."

In the 1950s, Miller played 40 times a week as a wonderful professor at the Mickey Mouse Club, giving vivid demonstrations. It turned out that the professor was very popular and launched his own TV show in 1959 called "Why is this? From Los Angeles. A few years later, he moved to Australia and stayed there for more than 20 years." Professor Le has become a well-loved celebrity in Australia and has visited many times over the years. He has also produced a late-night talk show tour in the United States and appeared in several TV shows in his own capacity.

At the end of his life, he produced an unforgettable Cadbury commercial that included a physical demonstration of pushing a boiled egg into a glass bottle unscathed. Between the two presentations, he took time to write several books, including a hard-to-find autobiography, and contributed more than 300 papers to scientific journals. Some of these books are full of "Millergrams"-physics-based brain teasers, such as this gem:

Q32: The juggler came to a pedestrian bridge with a fragile design. He has four balls in his hand. The maximum load does not exceed the juggler and a ball. Can he cross the bridge by juggling balls with at most one ball in his hand (three balls in the air)?

Answer: No. The falling ball exerts more force than its own weight. Conversely, a "thrown" ball exerts more force than a "holding" ball. In other words, in addition to the mass of the juggler, an additional force equal to and opposite to the force exerted on the toss will exceed the tolerance of the bridge (the bridge can withstand the juggler and the ball, but cannot withstand and force the toss. Additional downward force related to the ball) possession of the ball”).

In the spring of 1987, Professor Miller contracted leukemia and died shortly afterwards at the age of 77 without requesting any services. Instead, he sent his body to the University of Southern California School of Dentistry. The professor’s legacy continues on YouTube, where you can watch many delightful presentations.

[Main image source: Times]

Thanks for the tip, [John Waite].

"Let's face it-for ordinary people, mathematics and formulas are not the most attractive aspects of physics."

E=MC^2: I just got a bang.

Without its revision of the theory of relativity, it would be less interesting.

I like that person's passion for physics. I did this a few years ago:

https://youtu.be/lAObUjLjo6g

"Do you disagree that physics can be a beautiful and dramatic thing worth thinking about?"

I remember his clip is my favorite The Hilarious House of Frightenstein.

"He went to teach at a junior college called El Camino in Torrance, California, and stayed there until he retired in 1974."

"It turns out that this professor is very popular and launched his own TV show in 1959 called "Why is this? From Los Angeles. A few years later, he moved to Australia and stayed there for more than 20 years." "

I disagree with these two sentences.

I think in both cases, "stay there" should be replaced with "stay there to work". In Australia, he is a visiting lecturer (according to Wikipedia). I think he just spent the summer there.

I remember he was a professor at The Hilarious House of Frightenstein, a cheap show produced by Hamilton independent radio station CHCH. They filmed an amazing 130 episodes (and showed them) in 9 months. The professor may be the best part.

Watching "Why is this" was the closest thing to religion in my childhood/adolescence, and it allowed me to love science for a lifetime. Professor Miller also gave several lectures on the Australian ABC TV series called "International Academy of Sciences", which was the creativity of Professor Harry Messel. Although the International Space Station is still running, it no longer broadcasts in Australia, but it has to make way for Unreality TV. Well, this is progress.

"Let's face reality-for ordinary people, mathematics and formulas are not the most attractive side of physics. The fun lies in hands-on learning, laboratory work, and live demonstrations...

... But for "... ordinary people who want to pursue a career in physics (and any'hard science')..." they understood from the beginning that a comprehensive understanding of mathematics is absolutely necessary to achieve their goals. In fact, the firm love of mathematics and rooted mathematics are inseparable from the desire to pursue science education.

I strongly disagree with this premise. If you don't find "mathematics [mathematics] and formulas" attractive, then it is best to pursue other interests. Otherwise, at best, you can only serve as a scientist or engineer for a short term; at the worst-a very unfulfilling, monotonous, inefficient, and mediocre profession.

I have never encountered any works or speeches by engineers or scientists. They have not expressed sympathy for mathematics as the language of science in one form or another. I don't know how to describe this situation more concisely.

I totally disagree with "you need to understand mathematics to do science", but will part ways to love mathematics when necessary.

I know some very great physicists and statisticians, and there is no doubt that they are absolutely good at mathematics. But they also see through mathematics, and I don’t know how many people would say they like it. Carpenters like chisels, or carpenters like to make things with wood?

(I know some mathematicians who like mathematics.)

I think I mean, for example, in physics, mathematics serves physics and vice versa. I think this is very useful for students, especially for basic physics like here, first look at the experiment, then make the measurement, and then look at how the equations allow for future predictions and where they fall.

If you are a real craftsman, then yes: you really like your tools.

Only a real craftsman can understand and strictly abide by it—almost hit the nail on the head. Some people will say, become a fetish-the deep meaning of this motto, "Take care of your tools, and your tools will take care of you."

Want to quickly determine if you are dealing with a real craftsman, whether it is a bricklayer or a particle physicist? Simple-investigate the condition and type of his tools and how he treats them. No other tests are required.

I think it's a bad idea to abuse a person's particle accelerator. The universe has been opened. :-D

No real Scot can eat porridge.

Some craftsmen understand that tools are tools-they will be used and replaced as they wear out of specification. More precisely, people who polish micrometers have never really done anything with them, so they don't deserve this title.

You said that my key point is more efficient than I said...

Learning to love your tools in a way that shows understanding, care, and respect is fruitful. I respect what you said, but this philosophy is dangerous:

In the two industries I have worked in, I have encountered countless people who have forgotten their craft and like to use tools. Since they are very concerned about the tools, they turn their attention away from the crafts they actually use. Or even actually make or finish things. In more extreme situations, they are obsessed with new and better tools instead of practicing almost all the crafts there. However, it can be interesting to get rid of the tool.

Based on my anecdotal experience, it is best to aim at the intersection of knowledge, skills, experience, attention, improvement, and attitude.

I will do it again because I like it.

What's wrong with mathematics and formulas? I do not know. If I am reading Better Homes and Gardens, I can understand such comments, but I hope the Hackaday crowd will be better.

The operand is "average". Even in the worst days, we are definitely not average.

There is nothing wrong with the mathematics and formulas; the author just said that the live demonstration is more attractive.

If I say that food A is better than food B, it does not mean that food B tastes bad.

There is nothing wrong with the mathematics and formulas; the author just said that the live demonstration is more attractive.

Then the authors can enjoy their entertainment while leaving the physical science and engineering to others. She doesn't have the power to squeeze it into our throat

Looks like one of Rick Sanchez's inspirations.

But why can you take the capacitor apart, touch the parts together, and put it back together, and it can still hold the charge?

Yes. That person really annoys me. I hope that when he touches the plates together, the charge balances.

Did he avoid doing this?

@Laurens and @Stephen: Thank you! It makes perfect sense.

I suspect this is because the charge is on the inside and outside of the dielectric (glass) rather than on the board itself. It is a bit stuck there because it does not conduct electricity. When you introduce a conductor, you can use the static field again. Disposing of glass jars by touching the inside and outside may allow some energy to dissipate.

This gave me a weird idea about audio delay circuits...recording charge on vinyl tape.

My physics teacher demonstrated this with a crude Leyden jar (a glass beaker with a metal lining inside a metal cup). He charged it with a van de Graaff generator, then carefully disassembled it, raised the beaker and said: "What about the charge?" The answer is that it exists in the form of dielectric strain: the distribution of electrons in the beaker is affected by the voltage across it. The impact of this, and maintain this state until the capacitor is reassembled and a path is established between the "plates" (in this case, liner, and cup) to relieve pressure.

Meaningless negative comments...must be the unwelcome people here.

Giulitine all the critics! We are even better!

If there are more teachers and programs like him today, there will be fewer problems in the world. His passion for physics is contagious.

Let's face it-for ordinary people, mathematics and formulas are not the most attractive aspects of physics.

In addition to being untrue, this is just lazy writing. This is "true" because the media has spent decades continuing the stereotype that mathematics is "hated". pitiful

How many years has he been on American TV? I remember Mr. Wizard, but I don't remember this person.

Reminds me of "Mr. B", (Mr. Blackburn). In 1976, he studied AP Physics at Aquinas High School in Rochester, New York. The best teacher ever. Tough as nails and full of fun. I just hope I can afford a Ti programmable calculator to do my homework. The Omron calculator with +-*/ costs 35 US dollars, and our family cannot afford a 400 US dollars calculator.

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