Blow Up: Superconductivity (Natural and Physical Science Series: Level 2: Physics 3) 2003
Distributed by Chip Taylor Communications, 2 East View Drive, Derry, NH 03038-4812; 800-876-CHIP (2447)
Produced by OR Media Productions
Directed by Julia Kalytis
VHS, color, 30 min.
Sr. High - Adult
Physics
Date Entered: 08/26/2005
Reviewed by A. Ben Wagner, Arts and Sciences Libraries, University at Buffalo, State University of New YorkThis video does a superb job of documenting the hard work, intense preparation, collaborative nature, and disappointments of high level scientific research. It is the best video this reviewer has ever seen in conveying what is really involved in research efforts. It follows University of New South Wales superconductor researchers from Sydney to Tokyo to New Mexico as they design and test an experiment to measure superconductivity in ultra-high magnetic fields. The video culminates in an experiment at Los Alamos National Laboratory using high explosives involving Australian, Japanese, and Russian researchers. The experiment lasted all of one-millionth of a second as the entire apparatus was detonated. Production values were excellent with the human side of the scientific enterprise presented in a very engaging manner.
This program is the thrid video of a 5-part physics series which is part of the larger Natural and Physical Science Series. The other titles in the physics set are: Physics 1: The Search for Gravity Waves (also reviewed in EMRO); Physics 2: The Synchrotron - An Introduction; Physics 4: What is Superconductivity?; and Physics 5: The Scattering of White Light.