TED-Ed
Adam Savage: How simple ideas lead to scientific discoveries
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Adam Savage walks through two spectacular examples of profound scientific discoveries that came from simple, creative methods anyone could have followed -- Eratosthenes' calculation of the Earth's circumference around 200 BC and Hippolyte Fizeau's measurement of the speed of light in 1849. Find more TED-Ed videos on our new YouTube channel: youtube.com/TEDEd.
Adam Savage - Maker, critical thinker
Adam Savage is an internationally renowned television producer, host and public speaker. Full bio
Adam Savage is an internationally renowned television producer, host and public speaker. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
(Música)
Uma das coisas engraçadas de se ter um cérebro
00:14
One of the funny things
about owning a brain
about owning a brain
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é que você não tem controle sobre as coisas que ele absorve e memoriza,
00:16
is that you have
no control over the things
no control over the things
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00:18
that it gathers and holds onto,
the facts and the stories.
the facts and the stories.
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os fatos e as histórias. E enquanto envelhece, só vai ficando pior.
00:21
And as you get older, it only gets worse.
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Algumas coisas as vezes ficam por ali por anos
00:23
Things stick around for years sometimes
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antes de enteder porque você se interessa por aquilo,
00:25
before you understand
why you're interested in them,
why you're interested in them,
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antes de enteder qual a importância para você.
00:28
before you understand their import to you.
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Aqui estão três das minhas.
00:30
Here's three of mine.
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Quando Richard Feynman era um menino em Queens,
00:31
When Richard Feynman
was a young boy in Queens,
was a young boy in Queens,
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ele foi passear com seu pai e seu carrinho
00:34
he went for a walk with his dad
and his wagon and a ball.
and his wagon and a ball.
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e uma bola. E ele notou que quando puxava o carrinho,
00:38
He noticed that when he pulled the wagon,
the ball went to the back of the wagon.
the ball went to the back of the wagon.
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a bola ia para o fundo do carrinho
Ele perguntou para seu pai: - Por que a bola vai para o fundo do carrinho?
00:42
He asked his dad, "Why does
the ball go to the back of the wagon?"
the ball go to the back of the wagon?"
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E seu pai disse: - Isto é inércia.
00:45
And his dad said, "That's inertia."
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Ele disse: - O que é inércia? E seu pai disse: - Ah.
00:47
He said, "What's inertia?"
And his dad said, "Ah.
And his dad said, "Ah.
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Inercia é o nome que os cientistas dão
00:50
Inertia is the name that scientists give
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00:52
to the phenomenon of the ball
going to the back of the wagon."
going to the back of the wagon."
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para o fenômeno de a bola ir para o fundo do carrinho.
Mas em verdade, ninguém sabe direito.
00:55
(Laughter)
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00:57
"But in truth, nobody really knows."
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Feynam foi colou grau
01:00
Feynman went on to earn degrees
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no MIT, em Princeton, ele explicou o desastre da Challenger,
01:02
at MIT, Princeton, he solved
the Challenger disaster,
the Challenger disaster,
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ele acabou ganhando o prêmio Nobel de física
01:05
he ended up winning
the Nobel Prize in Physics
the Nobel Prize in Physics
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pelos diagramas de Feynman descrevendo o movimento das partículas subatômicas.
01:08
for his Feynman diagrams, describing
the movement of subatomic particles.
the movement of subatomic particles.
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E ele credita à conversa com seu pai,
01:12
And he credits that conversation
with his father as giving him a sense
with his father as giving him a sense
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pois deu a ele um sentido
de que a mais simples das perguntas podia levá-lo à fronteira do conhecimento humano,
01:16
that the simplest questions could carry
you out to the edge of human knowledge,
you out to the edge of human knowledge,
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e era aí que ele queria brincar.
01:21
and that that's where he wanted to play.
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E ali brincou.
01:23
And play he did.
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Eratosthenes era o terceiro bibliotecário na grande biblioteca de Alexandria,
01:25
Eratosthenes was the third librarian
at the great Library of Alexandria,
at the great Library of Alexandria,
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e ele fez muitas contribuições para a ciencia.
01:29
and he made many contributions to science.
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Mas a pela qual ele é mais lembrado
01:32
But the one he is most remembered for
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começa com uma carta que recebeu quando bibliotecário,
01:34
began in a letter that he received
as the librarian,
as the librarian,
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da cidade de Swenet, ao sul de Alexandria.
01:37
from the town of Swenet,
which was south of Alexandria.
which was south of Alexandria.
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A carta incluia este fato que ficou na memória de Eratosthenes,
01:41
The letter included this fact
that stuck in Eratosthenes' mind,
that stuck in Eratosthenes' mind,
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e o fato era que o escritor disse que ao meio dia
01:44
and the fact was that the writer said,
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no solstício, quando ele olhou para o fundo de um poço profundo,
01:46
at noon on the solstice,
when he looked down this deep well,
when he looked down this deep well,
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ele pode ver o seu reflexo lá embaixo, e ele pode também quer que sua cabeça
01:49
he could see his reflection at the bottom,
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01:51
and he could also see
that his head was blocking the sun.
that his head was blocking the sun.
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estava bloqueando o sol.
Agora, devo contar para você - a ideia de que Cristovão Colombo descobriu que o mundo era redondo
01:54
I should tell you -- the idea
that Christopher Columbus
that Christopher Columbus
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é besteira. Não é verdade mesmo.
01:57
discovered that the world
is spherical is total bull.
is spherical is total bull.
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De fato, todos que eram estudados entendiam que o mundo era redondo
01:59
It's not true at all.
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02:00
In fact, everyone who was educated
understood that the world was spherical
understood that the world was spherical
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desde os tempos de Aristóteles, e Aristóteles tinha provado isso
02:04
since Aristotle's time.
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com uma simples observação.
02:05
Aristotle had proved it
with a simple observation.
with a simple observation.
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Ele notou que toda vez que ele via a sombra da terra na lua
02:07
He noticed that every time you saw
the Earth's shadow on the Moon,
the Earth's shadow on the Moon,
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ela era circular,
e a única forma que sempre cria uma sombra circular
02:11
it was circular,
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02:12
and the only shape that constantly
creates a circular shadow
creates a circular shadow
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é a esfera. CQD. A terra é redonda.
02:15
is a sphere, Q.E.D. the Earth is round.
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Mas nínguem sabia o quão grande era
02:18
But nobody knew how big it was
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até Erastosthenes receber a carta com aqule fato.
02:19
until Eratosthenes got
this letter with this fact.
this letter with this fact.
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Ele entendeu que o sol estava diretamente sobre a cidade de Swenet,
02:23
So he understood that the sun
was directly above the city of Swenet,
was directly above the city of Swenet,
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pois olhando para dentro do poço era uma linha reta
02:26
because looking down a well,
it was a straight line
it was a straight line
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até o fundo do poço, passando pela cabeça da pessoa até chegar ao sol.
02:29
all the way down the well,
right past the guy's head up to the sun.
right past the guy's head up to the sun.
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Erosthenes sabia de outro fato.
02:33
Eratosthenes knew another fact.
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Sabia que um galho espetado no chão em Alexandria
02:34
He knew that a stick stuck
in the ground in Alexandria
in the ground in Alexandria
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no mesmo dia e hora , ao meio-dia,
02:37
at the same time
and the same day, at noon,
and the same day, at noon,
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o zenite do sol no solsticio
02:40
the sun's zenith, on the solstice,
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o sol fazia uma sombra que se mostrava 7,2 graus fora do eixo.
02:42
the sun cast a shadow that showed
that it was 7.2 degrees off-axis.
that it was 7.2 degrees off-axis.
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Se você sabe a circunferencia de um círculo,
02:49
If you know the circumference of a circle,
and you have two points on it,
and you have two points on it,
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e você tem dois pontos nela,
tudo que precisa saber é a distância entre os dois pontos,
02:53
all you need to know is the distance
between those two points,
between those two points,
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e dai pode extrapolar a circunferência.
02:56
and you can extrapolate the circumference.
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360º dividido por 7,2º é igual a 50.
02:58
360 degrees divided by 7.2 equals 50.
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Sei que é numero muito exato, o que também me faz suspeitar dessa história,
03:02
I know it's a little bit
of a round number,
of a round number,
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mas é uma boa história, por isso continuarei.
03:04
and it makes me suspicious
of this story too,
of this story too,
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03:06
but it's a good story,
so we'll continue with it.
so we'll continue with it.
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Ele precisava saber a distância entre Swenet e Alexandria,
03:08
He needed to know the distance
between Swenet and Alexandria,
between Swenet and Alexandria,
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o que era bom, pois Eratosthenes era bom em geografia.
03:11
which is good because Eratosthenes
was good at geography.
was good at geography.
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De fato, ele inventou a palavra geografia.
03:15
In fact, he invented the word geography.
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A estrada entre Swenet e Alexandria
03:17
(Laughter)
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03:19
The road between Swenet and Alexandria
was a road of commerce,
was a road of commerce,
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era uma estrada de comércio,
e o comércio precisa saber quanto tempo demora-se para se chegar.
03:22
and commerce needed to know
how long it took to get there.
how long it took to get there.
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Precisava saber a distância exata, e ele sabia com muita precisão
03:25
It needed to know the exact distance,
so he knew very precisely
so he knew very precisely
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que a distância entre as duas cidades era de 804,6 quilômetros.
03:28
that the distance between
the two cities was 500 miles.
the two cities was 500 miles.
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Multiplicando por 50, temos 40.230,
03:31
Multiply that times 50, you get 25,000,
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03:34
which is within one percent
of the actual diameter of the Earth.
of the actual diameter of the Earth.
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que está dentro de 1% do diâmetro real da terra.
Ele fez isto há 2.200 anos.
03:38
He did this 2,200 years ago.
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Agora, vivemos em uma era na qual
03:42
Now, we live in an age where
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03:44
multi-billion-dollar pieces of machinery
are looking for the Higgs boson.
are looking for the Higgs boson.
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máquinas de multi-bilhão de dolares está procurando a Higgs boson.
Estamos descobrindo partículas que talvez viagem mais rápido que a velocidade da luz,
03:48
We're discovering particles
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03:50
that may travel faster
than the speed of light,
than the speed of light,
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e todas estas descobertas são possíveis
03:52
and all of these discoveries
are made possible
are made possible
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devido a tecnologia desenvolvida nas últimas décadas.
03:55
by technology that's been developed
in the last few decades.
in the last few decades.
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Mas durante a maior parte da história da humanidade,
03:58
But for most of human history,
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descobrimos as coisas usando nossos olhos, ouvidos e cabeça.
04:01
we had to discover these things using
our eyes and our ears and our minds.
our eyes and our ears and our minds.
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Armand Fizeau era uma físico experimental de Paris.
04:06
Armand Fizeau was
an experimental physicist in Paris.
an experimental physicist in Paris.
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Sua especialidade era refinar e confirmar os resultados de outras pessoas,
04:10
His specialty was actually refining
and confirming other people's results,
and confirming other people's results,
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e isto pode parecer coisa de perdedor
04:15
and this might sound
like a bit of an also-ran,
like a bit of an also-ran,
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mas de fato é a alma da ciência,
04:17
but in fact, this is the soul of science,
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pois não há tal coisa como um fato que não pode ser confirmado independentemente.
04:19
because there is no such thing as a fact
that cannot be independently corroborated.
that cannot be independently corroborated.
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Ele conhecia os experimentos de Galileo
04:23
And he was familiar
with Galileo's experiments
with Galileo's experiments
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ao tentar determinar se a luz tinha ou não velocidade.
04:26
in trying to determine
whether or not light had a speed.
whether or not light had a speed.
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Daí, Galileo preparou este maravilhoso experimento
04:29
Galileo had worked out this
really wonderful experiment
really wonderful experiment
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no qual ele e seu assitente tinham uma lâmpada,
04:32
where he and his assistant had a lamp,
each one of them was holding a lamp.
each one of them was holding a lamp.
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cada um deles estava segurando uma lâmpada, e Galileo deveria abrir sua lâmpada e o assistente deveria abrir a dele.
04:36
Galileo would open his lamp,
and his assistant would open his.
and his assistant would open his.
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E eles tinha uma boa precisão.
04:39
They got the timing down really good.
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Eles sabiam o seu tempo. E eles ficaram no topo de duas montanhas,
04:41
They just knew their timing.
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04:42
And then they stood at two hilltops,
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a 3,2km de distância, e eles fizeram a mesma coisa, dentro do entendimento
04:44
two miles distant,
and they did the same thing,
and they did the same thing,
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de Galileo que se a luz tivesse uma velocidade mesurável,
04:47
on the assumption from Galileo
that if light had a discernible speed,
that if light had a discernible speed,
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ele notaria um atraso na luz vindo da lâmpada de seu assistente.
04:50
he'd notice a delay in the light
coming back from his assistant's lamp.
coming back from his assistant's lamp.
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Mas a luz era muito rápida para Galileo.
04:53
But light was too fast for Galileo.
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Ele estava fora em muitas ordens de magnitude quando assumiu
04:56
He was off by several orders
of magnitude when he assumed
of magnitude when he assumed
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que a luz era aproximadamente 10 vezes mais rápida que o som.
04:58
that light was roughly ten times
as fast as the speed of sound.
as fast as the speed of sound.
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Fizeau conhecia este experimento. Ele viveu em Paris,
05:02
Fizeau was aware of this experiment.
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05:04
He lived in Paris, and he set up
two experimental stations,
two experimental stations,
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e preparou duas estações experimentais,
a aproximadamente 8,3km de distância,
05:09
roughly 5.5 miles distant, in Paris.
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em Paris. E ele resolveu o problema de Galileo,
05:12
And he solved this problem of Galileo's,
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ele fez isto com um equipamento relativamente simples.
05:14
and he did it with a really relatively
trivial piece of equipment.
trivial piece of equipment.
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Ele fez com um destes.
05:19
He did it with one of these.
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Vou por de lado o controle por um segundo,
05:21
I'm going to put away
the clicker for a second
the clicker for a second
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pois quero envolver o cérebro de vocês nisto.
05:23
because I want to engage
your brains in this.
your brains in this.
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Esta é uma roda dentada. Ela tem um monte de ranhuras
05:25
So this is a toothed wheel.
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05:27
It's got a bunch of notches
and it's got a bunch of teeth.
and it's got a bunch of teeth.
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e tem um monte de dentes.
Esta foi a solução de Fizeau para enviar pulsos de luz.
05:30
This was Fizeau's solution
to sending discrete pulses of light.
to sending discrete pulses of light.
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Ele pôs um facho atrás de uma destas ranhuras.
05:33
He put a beam behind one of these notches.
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Se aponto um facho vindo da ranhura em um espelho,
05:35
If I point a beam
through this notch at a mirror,
through this notch at a mirror,
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a 8km de distância, o facho é refletido pelo espelho
05:39
five miles away, that beam
is bouncing off the mirror
is bouncing off the mirror
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e volta para mim pela ranhura.
05:41
and coming back to me through this notch.
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Mas algo interessasnte ocorre quando ele gira a roda mais rápido.
05:44
But something interesting happens
as he spins the wheel faster.
as he spins the wheel faster.
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Ele nota que parece que a porta está se fechando
05:47
He notices that it seems
like a door is starting to close
like a door is starting to close
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para o facho de luz que está voltando para o seus olhos.
05:50
on the light beam
that's coming back to his eye.
that's coming back to his eye.
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Por que?
05:53
Why is that?
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Pois o pulso de luz, não está vindo
05:55
It's because the pulse
of light is not coming back
of light is not coming back
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de volta pelo mesmo corte. Está na verdade atingindo um dente.
05:57
through the same notch.
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05:59
It's actually hitting a tooth.
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E ele girou a roda rápido o suficiente
06:00
And he spins the wheel fast enough
and he fully occludes the light.
and he fully occludes the light.
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e bloqueou totalmente a luz. E então,
baseado na distância entre as duas estações
06:05
And then, based on the distance
between the two stations
between the two stations
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06:08
and the speed of his wheel
and the number of notches in the wheel,
and the number of notches in the wheel,
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e a velocidade de sua roda e o número de ranhuras da roda,
calculou a velocidade da luz com uma precisão de 2% do seu valor real.
06:11
he calculates the speed of light
to within two percent of its actual value.
to within two percent of its actual value.
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Ele fez isto em 1849.
06:16
And he does this in 1849.
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É isto que me faz continuar na ciência.
06:21
This is what really gets me
going about science.
going about science.
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Sempre que tenho problemas em entender um conceito, volto e pesquiso as pessoas que descobriram aquele conceito.
06:23
Whenever I'm having trouble
understanding a concept,
understanding a concept,
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06:26
I go back and I research
the people that discovered that concept.
the people that discovered that concept.
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E vejo a história de como ele veio a entender isto.
06:29
I look at the story of how
they came to understand it.
they came to understand it.
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O que acontece quando você observa o que o descobridor estava pensando
06:31
What happens when you look
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06:33
at what the discoverers
were thinking about
were thinking about
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quando ele fez suas descobertas, descobre
06:35
when they made their discoveries,
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06:37
is you understand that
they are not so different from us.
they are not so different from us.
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que eles não são tão diferentes de nós.
Somos todos uns sacos de carne e água. Começamos com as mesmas ferramentas.
06:42
We are all bags of meat and water.
We all start with the same tools.
We all start with the same tools.
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Adora a ideia de que diferentes ramos da ciencia são chamados de campos de estudo.
06:46
I love the idea that different branches
of science are called fields of study.
of science are called fields of study.
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A maioria das pessoas pensa em ciencia como algo fechado, uma caixa preta,
06:50
Most people think of science
as a closed, black box,
as a closed, black box,
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quando de fato é um campo aberto.
06:53
when in fact it is an open field.
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E somos todos exploradores.
06:56
And we are all explorers.
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As pessoas que fizeramestas descobertas só pensaram um pouquinho mais
06:58
The people that made these discoveries
just thought a little bit harder
just thought a little bit harder
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sobre o que estavam vendo, e eram um pouco mais curiosos.
07:01
about what they were looking at,
and they were a little bit more curious.
and they were a little bit more curious.
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E sua curiosidade mudou o modo das pessoas pensarem sobre o mundo,
07:05
And their curiosity changed the way
people thought about the world,
people thought about the world,
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e assim mudaram o mundo.
07:08
and thus it changed the world.
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Eles mudaram o mundo, e você também pode.
07:10
They changed the world, and so can you.
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Obrigado.
07:14
Thank you.
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07:15
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Adam Savage - Maker, critical thinkerAdam Savage is an internationally renowned television producer, host and public speaker.
Why you should listen
Adam Savage's mother is a psychologist; his father was a celebrated artist, painter and filmmaker. From the youngest age they encouraged his flights of fancy. Savage has been a paperboy, a projectionist, juggler, unicycle rider, sculptor, graphic designer, scenic painter, robot builder, welder, carpenter, machinist, prop maker, toy designer, actor, writer, executive producer and director. He spent six years in theater and 10 years in commercial and film special effects working for clients such as Nike, Corning, Hershey's, and Coca-Cola, and films like Star Wars, The Matrix films, A.I., Space Cowboys, Terminator 3 and Galaxy Quest.
Savage has built everything from theater sets to miniature particle accelerators. From spaceships to animatronic arms. He's made Rube Goldberg machines, hand props and spacesuits. His online videos have generated over 230 million page views. He's written for Popular Mechanics, the Wall Street Journal and Wired Magazine, among others. His program "Mythbusters" produced 270 episodes that aired in over 100 countries for 14 years. Adam shares his builds, his love for movie props and costumes, and passion for the transformative power of making on his award winning website Tested.com. He lives in San Francisco with his wife Julia, his twin boys Thing1 and Thing2, and two amazing dogs.
(Photo: Michael Shindler)
Adam Savage | Speaker | TED.com