The Lightning Tamers with Kathy Joseph

The Amp Hour · 17 Oct 2022 · 1h 42m · Episode 605

What this episode covers

Kathy Joseph, the creator behind the 'Kathy Loves Physics' YouTube channel and author of 'The Lightning Tamers', discusses her transition from high school physics teacher to science communicator. She explains her rigorous content creation process, which involves writing detailed scripts and using primary historical documents to teach the history of electricity, resulting in a book that focuses on practical discoveries over abstract mathematics. The conversation covers key historical figures like Michael Faraday, James Clerk Maxwell, and Nikola Tesla, highlighting how their collaborative and often contentious interactions shaped modern electrical engineering and wireless technology.

Mentioned

Also
Kathy Loves Physics, The Lightning Tamers, The Wireless Revolution, Exploratorium, Royal Society, Tesla coil, Leyden jar, Maxwell's equations, Faraday cage, Hertz, Edison, Tesla, Einstein, Planck, Young's double-slit experiment

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • Moore's Lobby · 42m

    Ep. 38 | Comedy, Shocks, and Educating EEs on YouTube with ElectroBOOM's Mehdi Sadaghdar

    Mehdi Sadaghdar, the creator of the ElectroBOOM YouTube channel, discusses his journey from a formal electrical engineering education to becoming a top tech influencer with nearly 5 million subscribers. He explains his philosophy of using humor and controlled shocks to teach electrical safety and debunk pseudoscience, while detailing the dangerous incident where he nearly died building a Jacob's Ladder. Sadaghdar also reflects on the value of social media for engineering education, his rivalry with mechanical engineer Steve Mould, and the challenges of being an introverted engineer in the public eye.

  • Embedded.fm · 1h 15m

    124: Please Don't Light Yourself On Fire

    Windell Oskay, co-founder of Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories, discusses his annotated edition of the 1963 book *Build It Yourself Science Laboratory*. He details the process of updating safety guidelines, correcting flawed experiments like the 'Simple Oscilloscope,' and sourcing modern materials for classic physics and chemistry projects. The conversation covers specific devices from Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories, including the EggBot Pro and Dis-integrated 555 timer kit, while highlighting the educational value of hands-on experimentation.

  • OnTrack · 28m

    Behind the Tech: Passion & Perseverance in Electronics Design

    Ben Kitzinger, Producer and Director of Altium Stories, discusses the philosophy behind Altium's documentary-style video series, which focuses on the personal journeys and humanitarian impact of engineers rather than product promotion. He highlights specific stories, including Joe Grant hacker mindset, Light Matter's optical computing, and Project Vive's affordable assistive technology for people with cerebral palsy. Kitzinger explains how this approach aims to inspire electrical engineers and celebrate the real-world impact of electronics design.

    8 chapters
  • Embedded.fm · 1h 08m

    358: Woodturning Influencer

    Emily Velasco, a science writer at Caltech and creator of the YouTube channel Emily's Electric Oddities, discusses her hobbyist projects that blend electronics with retro-future aesthetics and unconventional materials. She details the construction of specific devices like the Optical Sound Decoder, the Port-A-Vid, and the Lissajukebox, explaining her use of salvaged junkyard parts and her resistance to the 'hustle culture' pressure to monetize or constantly document her maker process. Velasco also shares insights from her professional life, including her work on complex science communication and recent research into sweat-powered fuel cells and Jupiter's atmospheric storms.

  • Oxide and Friends · 59m

    The Wrath of Kahn

    Bryan Cantrill, Adam Leventhal, and a group of engineers including Tom Lyon, Dan Cross, and bch discuss the history of computing, focusing on Severo Ornstein's book 'Computing in the Middle Ages' and the myth of the 'lone inventor.' They analyze the contributions of figures like Don Knuth, Bob Kahn, and Doug Engelbart, arguing that major technological breakthroughs like the Internet and ARPANET were team efforts often obscured by press narratives that lionize single individuals. The group contrasts this with collaborative figures like Andy van Dam and Ron Minnich, who actively shared credit, and discusses how funding models from DARPA to venture capital influence who gets recognized for innovation.

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by The Amp Hour. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.