Episodes

  • The Physicist Who Predicted That Matter Is a Wave
    Nov 4 2026

    In 1913, Danish physicist Niels Bohr proposed that electrons orbit atoms in fixed energy levels, where any jump between levels emits or absorbs a photon of light with an energy exactly equal to Planck's constant times its frequency. It was a revolution because it solved two problems. Under the previous model, orbiting electrons would quickly spiral into the nucleus, and also, spectral lines could now be accounted for (at least in light elements). But the model had its limits, and a French aristocrat would ultimately formulate a relation that would both show why Bohr's formula works intuitively, but also would ultimately usher in a new era of physics that would render the Bohr model obsolete.

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    30 mins
  • How The Electric Force Was First Measured
    Sep 18 2026

    By the 1750s, we had a pretty decent understanding of electricity. However, the theory was incomplete. This was demonstrated most precisely when Benjamin Franklin put a cork inside a charged metal can expecting it to be influenced by the can. However, the cork didn't move whatsoever. This confusion sparked a chain reaction of events that ultimately led to Coulomb's law, published in 1785.

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    22 mins
  • How Quarks Were Discovered
    Sep 14 2026

    Man, this video took me a while to make. It just may be my most ambitious project yet. Hopefully I didn't miss anything too important. If I did or made a mistake, feel free to let me know!

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    31 mins
  • How the Solar System Was First Measured
    Aug 6 2026

    Johannes Kepler had the relative sizes of the orbits of our planets in the solar system mapped by the 1630s. The shape of the solar system had been known relatively well, but it was a shape without scale. Determining the size of the solar system was a much more challenging problem, mainly because there was no known way to make such a measurement. However, that all changed with the development of parallax and taking advantage of an even more fascinating phenomenon: the transit of Venus.


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    22 mins
  • How The Periodic Table Was Created
    Jul 16 2026

    In 1875, French chemist Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran discovered the element 'Gallium' after isolating it from a zinc blende ore. However, shortly after his publication, he received word from a Russian chemist with the name of "Mendeleeff" that claimed he had predicted such an element to exist 6 years earlier. This is the story of how that Russian chemist - and a fellow German chemist - turned rival - uncovered the periodic law of the elements and formulated them all into one cohesive unit, transforming chemistry forever.


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    20 mins
  • How a Chemist Accidentally Destroyed a Scientific Myth
    Jul 2 2026

    Before the modern days of organic and inorganic chemistry, there was an old theory called "Vitalism" that had made its way into chemistry. Pioneered into the field by the one and only Jöns Jacob Berzelius, this theory postulated that only living things can create organic compounds through acts of the 'Vital Force.' But cracks in this theory started to form when his pupil, Friedrich Wöhler, synthesized a compound that is found in the most unexpected of places: human urine.


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    20 mins
  • How The Double Helix Was Discovered
    Jun 11 2026

    You might think DNA was always the frontrunner by biologists to be the master blueprint of life. However, that couldn't be further from the truth. This video documents how DNA went from experimental backmarker to the frontrunner of a heated scientific race that used betrayal and abuse of power to reveal a winner... and rewrite history.


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    30 mins
  • How Helium Was Discovered
    Jun 4 2026
    Helium is a very common element in our universe. However, due to its characteristics, it's very rarely found on Earth. This video shows how scientists in the 19th century overcame this obstacle, over the course of decades, and isolated and discovered the rare gas. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.comfor information about our collection and use of personal data foradvertising.
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    8 mins