Video summary
Professor Brian Cox outlines the historical context of the era in which Newton began to be interested in the nature of the visible spectrum obtained using a prism.
He recreates Newton’s simple experiment that proved that the colours were the pure components of white light rather than being impurities.
He explains that Newton observed aspects of the world, came up with theories to explain them and then tested them with experiments.
He then looks at Newton’s 'Principia Mathematica', before concluding that science is about simplifying the complex world around us, creating controllable and repeatable experiments to test hypotheses, and then transferring understanding to the complex world outside the laboratory.
This short film is from the ±«Óătv series, Science Britannica.
Teacher Notes
Before showing this short film, ask your students to share in groups and write down what they already know about Sir Isaac Newton.
During the short film, they should write brief notes to explain the contribution that he made to the nature of science and scientific enquiry.
This short film will be relevant for teaching physics at KS3, GCSE/KS4 and National 4/5 and Higher.
The topics discussed will support OCR, Edexcel, AQA,WJEC GCSE in GCSE in England and Wales, CCEA GCSE in Northern Ireland and SQA National 4/5 and Higher in Scotland, and Cambridge IGCSE Physics.
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