Particle Physics for Non-Physicists: A Tour of the Microcosmos

From beginning to end I enjoyed Prof. Pollock's content and animation, once I adjusted to his somewhat Brownian style of presentation. The organization of this course, with the non-physicist in mind, was extremely well thought out and executed. His obvious enthusiasm for this exciting material is altogether enjoyable and truly carries the course. Every lecture was interesting to me. If I had one criticism, it would be that the visuals, though very helpful, were too few. One might have wished TTC and Prof Pollock had made richer use of the range of A/V possibilities available ...even without quantum computing. All in all, highly recommend.

This course not only taught me more, it reminded me there is more to learn. I enjoyed the experience.

Great DVDs; item exactly as described; fantastic seller! I placed the order and had the DVDs the next day!

Dr. Pollock brings a complex subject to life in terms that clearly explains particle physics. I would recommend this series.

Excellent all the way around. I would buy from them again. Very satisfied overall.

I've just completed my first, but definitely not my last, viewing of "Particle Physics for Non-Physicists: A Tour of the Microcosmos"I don't begin to have the math/science background required to understand any in-depth physics lecture. But I love knowing how and why stuff works and things happen. I'd read an occasional book - knew about Shrödinger and his cat, stuff like that - but usually hit a wall of incomprehension too early into the information to be able to understand it with any degree of whole-picturishness. I appreciated Dr. Pollack's historical approach to the building of the standard model and the just-right level of detail he goes into in each brief fast-paced lecture. I don't begin to say I understood all of it, but, paraphrasing Dr. Pollack, it's a very difficult subject to understand, so I just jumped in somewhere and rolled with it. I was fascinated with the methodologies used to obtain the information obtained, wished I had known when I took chemistry in high school that the table of elements was way cool. Sigh.The Higgs-Boson discussion was great, particularly in light of subsequent events.Dr. Pollack is a consummate teacher. That he could take the vast amount of complicated material and effectively convey some significant amount of it to someone minus a background in physics, math, or chemistry, says it all.The frosting on the cake -- I can now use particlelly in a sentence :)Lectures:1. The nature of physics --2. The standard model of particle physics --3. The pre-history of particle physics --4. The birth of modern physics --5. Quantum mechanics gets serious --6. New particles and new technologies --7. Weak interactions and the neutrino --8. Accelerators and the particle explosion --9. The particle "Zoo" --10. Fields and forces --11. Three quarks for muster mark --12. From quarks to QCD --13. Symmetry and conservation laws --14. Broken symmetry, shattered mirrors --15. The November revolution of 1974 --16. A new generation --17. Weak forces and the standard model --18. The greatest success story in physics --19. The Higgs particle --20. The solar neutrino puzzle --21. Back to the future (1) : experiments to come --22. Back to the future (2) : puzzles and progress --23. Really big stuff : the origin of the universe --24. Looking back and looking forward

I checked out this great course from the local library and studied it completely. I later purchased the copy for my own use. Dr. Pollock did an excellent job of breaking up and explaining the known subatomic structure of the atom. He discussed all of the individual particles properties, mass, spin etc.After I studied the course, I attended a subatomic particles lecture by the 2004 Nobel Laureate in Physics at a local university and it was an immense help in understanding the lecture.

I bought this dvd set used to save a few bucks. It arrived quickly and in like new condition. I recently had a stoke, and I wanted to keep my brain active by learning something new. This course, or lecture series , is truly excellent! The professor is very organized, and his presentation is well thought out, and it is very interesting. He himself said in the first lecture that anybody can get something out of this course, even those who don't have a background in physics, or even math. I find watching this set to be very informative, and also quite relaxing. Largely because Professor Pollock is such a good speaker. It is like taking a really interesting college class, while sitting in your favorite chair, with no papers to write, or exams to take, at a tiny fraction of the price. Five big stars!