Light, Heat, and Electricity

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Description

Because we are able to measure energy, satellites in space can take the temperature of oceans and calculate the thickness of sea ice to within a millimeter's worth of accuracy. The ability to quantify heat, light, and electricity has transformed our lives, but how did we learn to measure these seeming intangibles with such precision? From lightning bolts and Watt engines to electromagnetic waves and single electrons, this program explores the measurement of light, heat, and electricity. The video also looks at the work of Newton, Herschel, Ampere, and Edison as host Marcus du Sautoy explains how the drive to quantify has led us far into space and inside the atom itself. Produced by the Open University.