Brilliant insight

[unixronin]

You may or may not be familiar with dmmaus's Irregular Webcomic, and his annotations on the comic -- which are occasionally lengthy.

You also may or may not be familiar with the science historian James Burke and his TV series Connections, which covers much of the history of science, technology, the rise of nations, and, well ... almost everything in human history, really.  Viewed in terms of how the actions, insights and discoveries of different people throughout human history have shaped the future development of that history.

If the latter interests you, then you really should go and read the annotation on this particular Irregular Webcomic strip, in which dmmaus makes a rather formulaic gag (so to speak), and then uses the annotation to explain, in detail, but for the layman, exactly how and why James Clark Maxwell discovered the nature of light (as well as a few of the really world-changing innovations that came out of the steps along the way).

Go read it.  If you have any sense of curiosity at all about why the Universe is the way it is, you won't be disappointed.

Comments

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

That is just plain stunning. In my case, literally jaw-dropping at one point.

(And yes, I remember James Burke -- I hope Connections comes out on DVD at some point!)

[ithildae.livejournal.com]

I do like the first series of Connections. The other two were not quite as much fun.

[ithildae.livejournal.com]

BTW, I love your icon! Richard Feynman is a personal hero of mine from way back.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Richard Feynman is my "Good science" icon. This is my "Bad science" one. :)

[genuine-snark.livejournal.com]

Did you ever play the Connections adventure game for the PC? It was strangely engaging.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

I didn't even know there ever was one.

[genuine-snark.livejournal.com]

Yep. Sorta Mysty, but much more concrete. You had to find the various bits of the connection path and ultimately string them together. James Burke would pop up a lot and talk at you.

I have no idea how well the graphics have held up (I'd say poorly, except FMV games can sometimes still have an antiquated appeal), but it might be worth getting your hands on again.