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.
(Muzică)
E amuzant: dacă posezi un creier,
00:14
One of the funny things
about owning a brain
about owning a brain
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nu poţi controla lucrurile pe care le adună şi le păstrează,
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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faptele şi poveştile.
Îmbătrâneşti, iar treaba se înrăutăţeşte.
Îmbătrâneşti, iar treaba se înrăutăţeşte.
00:21
And as you get older, it only gets worse.
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Îţi rămân în memorie ani de zile uneori
00:23
Things stick around for years sometimes
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până să înţelegi de ce te interesează
00:25
before you understand
why you're interested in them,
why you're interested in them,
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şi ce sens au pentru tine.
00:28
before you understand their import to you.
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Iată trei exemple de-ale mele.
00:30
Here's three of mine.
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Când Richard Feynman era un băieţel în Queens,
00:31
When Richard Feynman
was a young boy in Queens,
was a young boy in Queens,
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s-a dus la plimbare cu tatăl său, o căruţă de jucărie
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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şi o minge. A observat că, trăgând căruţa,
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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mingea se ducea în fundul căruţei.
L-a întrebat pe tatăl său: „De ce se duce mingea în partea din spate a căruţei?”
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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Tatăl i-a răspuns: „Asta e inerţia.”
00:45
And his dad said, "That's inertia."
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„Ce e inerţia?” Tatăl i-a spus: „Ei bine,
00:47
He said, "What's inertia?"
And his dad said, "Ah.
And his dad said, "Ah.
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inerţia este numele dat de oamenii de ştiinţă
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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fenomenului care face mingea să se ducă în spatele căruţei.
Dar, în realitate, nimeni nu ştie ce e cu adevărat.”
00:55
(Laughter)
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00:57
"But in truth, nobody really knows."
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Feynman a absolvit
01:00
Feynman went on to earn degrees
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MIT, Princeton, a desluşit tragedia navei spaţiale Challenger,
01:02
at MIT, Princeton, he solved
the Challenger disaster,
the Challenger disaster,
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a primit Premiul Nobel în domeniul fizicii
01:05
he ended up winning
the Nobel Prize in Physics
the Nobel Prize in Physics
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pentru diagramele Feynman care descriu mişcarea particulelor subatomice.
01:08
for his Feynman diagrams, describing
the movement of subatomic particles.
the movement of subatomic particles.
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El spune că acea conversaţie cu tatăl său
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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l-a făcut să înţeleagă
că cele mai simple întrebări te pot duce către limitele cunoaşterii omeneşti
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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iar el acolo vroia să se joace.
01:21
and that that's where he wanted to play.
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Şi s-a jucat.
01:23
And play he did.
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Eratostene era cel de-al treilea bibliotecar la măreaţa Bibliotecă din Alexandria
01:25
Eratosthenes was the third librarian
at the great Library of Alexandria,
at the great Library of Alexandria,
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şi a contribuit din plin la dezvoltarea ştiinţei.
01:29
and he made many contributions to science.
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Însă cea pentru care e faimos
01:32
But the one he is most remembered for
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a început cu o scrisoare pe care a primit-o ca bibliotecar,
01:34
began in a letter that he received
as the librarian,
as the librarian,
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din oraşul Swenet, din sudul Alexandriei.
01:37
from the town of Swenet,
which was south of Alexandria.
which was south of Alexandria.
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Scrisoarea a inclus un detaliu care a rămas în mintea lui Eratostene:
01:41
The letter included this fact
that stuck in Eratosthenes' mind,
that stuck in Eratosthenes' mind,
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autorul ei spunea că la prânz,
01:44
and the fact was that the writer said,
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în timpul solstiţiului, când privea în adâncul unui puţ,
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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îşi putea vedea reflexia pe fund şi îşi vedea capul
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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cum bloca soarele.
Ideea că Cristofor Columb a descoperit că planeta e rotundă
01:54
I should tell you -- the idea
that Christopher Columbus
that Christopher Columbus
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este o prostie. Nu e adevărat deloc.
01:57
discovered that the world
is spherical is total bull.
is spherical is total bull.
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De fapt, cei învăţaţi şi-au dat seama că pământul era rotund
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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încă din timpul lui Aristotel, iar Aristotel o dovedise
02:04
since Aristotle's time.
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cu o simplă observaţie.
02:05
Aristotle had proved it
with a simple observation.
with a simple observation.
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A observat că de fiecare dată când se vedea umbra Pământului pe Lună
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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aceasta era circulară,
şi că singura formă care creează constant o umbră circulară
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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este sfera, prin urmare, Pământul e rotund.
02:15
is a sphere, Q.E.D. the Earth is round.
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însă nimeni nu ştia cât de mare
02:18
But nobody knew how big it was
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până când Eratostene a primit scrisoarea conţinând acest fapt.
02:19
until Eratosthenes got
this letter with this fact.
this letter with this fact.
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Şi-a dat seama că soarele se afla direct deasupra oraşului 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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deoarece privind în fântână se forma o linie dreaptă
02:26
because looking down a well,
it was a straight line
it was a straight line
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de jos, pe lângă capul omului şi în sus până la soare.
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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Eratostene mai ştia ceva.
02:33
Eratosthenes knew another fact.
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Ştia că un băţ înfipt în pământ în Alexandria
02:34
He knew that a stick stuck
in the ground in Alexandria
in the ground in Alexandria
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în acelaşi moment şi în aceeaşi zi, la prânz,
02:37
at the same time
and the same day, at noon,
and the same day, at noon,
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la zenitul soarelui, de solstiţiu,
02:40
the sun's zenith, on the solstice,
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ar fi aruncat o umbră la 7,2 grade de axa sa.
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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Dacă ştii circumferinţa cercului
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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şi ai două puncte pe el
tot ce trebuie să ştii e distanţa dintre acele două puncte
02:53
all you need to know is the distance
between those two points,
between those two points,
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şi poţi extrapola circumferinţa.
02:56
and you can extrapolate the circumference.
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360 de grade împărţit la 7,2 egal 50.
02:58
360 degrees divided by 7.2 equals 50.
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E un număr cam rotund şi mă face suspicios,
03:02
I know it's a little bit
of a round number,
of a round number,
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dar e o poveste bună, aşa că vom continua cu ea.
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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Avea nevoie de distanţa dintre Swenet şi Alexandria
03:08
He needed to know the distance
between Swenet and Alexandria,
between Swenet and Alexandria,
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şi e bine că Eratostene se pricepea la geografie.
03:11
which is good because Eratosthenes
was good at geography.
was good at geography.
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De fapt, a inventat cuvântul „geografie”.
03:15
In fact, he invented the word geography.
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Drumul dintre Swenet şi 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 o rută de comerţ
şi comercianţii aveau nevoie să ştie cât timp faci pe drum.
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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Era nevoie de distanţa exactă, iar el ştia cu precizie
03:25
It needed to know the exact distance,
so he knew very precisely
so he knew very precisely
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că distanţa dintre cele două oraşe era de 500 de mile.
03:28
that the distance between
the two cities was 500 miles.
the two cities was 500 miles.
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Înmulţiţi asta cu 50 şi obţineţi 25.000,
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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cifră ce reprezintă diametrul Pământului cu o marjă de eroare de 1%.
El a făcut asta acum 2.200 de ani.
03:38
He did this 2,200 years ago.
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Trăim într-o epocă
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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în care maşinării de miliarde de dolari caută bosonul Higgs.
Căutăm particule care posibil ar putea călători mai rapid decât viteza luminii
(infirmat!)
(infirmat!)
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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şi toate aceste descoperiri sunt posibile
03:52
and all of these discoveries
are made possible
are made possible
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datorită tehnologiei dezvoltate în ultimele decenii.
03:55
by technology that's been developed
in the last few decades.
in the last few decades.
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Însă, în general, în istoria umanităţii,
03:58
But for most of human history,
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a trebuit să descoperim lucruri folosindu-ne ochii, urechile şi mintea.
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 a fost un fizician experimentalist din Paris.
04:06
Armand Fizeau was
an experimental physicist in Paris.
an experimental physicist in Paris.
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Specialitatea lui era rafinarea şi confirmarea rezultatelor altora,
04:10
His specialty was actually refining
and confirming other people's results,
and confirming other people's results,
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ceea ce ar putea părea puţin important,
04:15
and this might sound
like a bit of an also-ran,
like a bit of an also-ran,
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dar, de fapt, este sufletul ştiinţei,
04:17
but in fact, this is the soul of science,
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deoarece nu există fapte care să nu poată fi coroborate independent.
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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El cunoştea experimentele lui Galileo
04:23
And he was familiar
with Galileo's experiments
with Galileo's experiments
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care a încercat să afle dacă lumina avea viteză.
04:26
in trying to determine
whether or not light had a speed.
whether or not light had a speed.
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Galileo realizase un experiment extraordinar
04:29
Galileo had worked out this
really wonderful experiment
really wonderful experiment
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în care el şi asistentul lui aveau câte o lampă,
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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fiecare ţinea o lampă. Galileo îşi aprindea lampa, iar asistentul făcea la fel.
04:36
Galileo would open his lamp,
and his assistant would open his.
and his assistant would open his.
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Au reuşit să se sincronizeze foarte bine.
04:39
They got the timing down really good.
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Îşi ştiau ritmul. Apoi s-au aşezat pe două dealuri
04:41
They just knew their timing.
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04:42
And then they stood at two hilltops,
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la două mile depărtare şi au făcut acelaşi lucru
04:44
two miles distant,
and they did the same thing,
and they did the same thing,
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presupunând că dacă lumina avea o viteză identificabilă
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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el ar observa o întârziere a luminii venind de la lampa asistentului.
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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Însă lumina a fost prea rapidă pentru Galileo.
04:53
But light was too fast for Galileo.
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S-a înşelat cu câteva ordine de mărime când a presupus
04:56
He was off by several orders
of magnitude when he assumed
of magnitude when he assumed
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că lumina era cam de 10 ori mai rapidă decât sunetul.
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 ştia de acest experiment. El locuia în 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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şi a pus la cale două staţii experimentale,
cam la cinci mile jumătate distanţă,
05:09
roughly 5.5 miles distant, in Paris.
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în Paris. A rezolvat problema lui Galileo
05:12
And he solved this problem of Galileo's,
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şi a făcut-o cu un echipament destul de banal.
05:14
and he did it with a really relatively
trivial piece of equipment.
trivial piece of equipment.
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Cu ceva de genul ăsta.
05:19
He did it with one of these.
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O să las deoparte telecomanda pentru o secundă
05:21
I'm going to put away
the clicker for a second
the clicker for a second
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pentru că vreau să vă angrenez în asta.
05:23
because I want to engage
your brains in this.
your brains in this.
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Asta e o roată dinţată. Are o grămadă de scobituri
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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şi o mulţime de dinţi.
Asta a fost soluţia lui Fizeau pentru trimiterea de semnale luminoase discrete.
05:30
This was Fizeau's solution
to sending discrete pulses of light.
to sending discrete pulses of light.
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A pus un fascicul de lumină în spatele acestor scobituri.
05:33
He put a beam behind one of these notches.
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Dacă îndrept un fascicul de lumină prin această gaură către o oglindă
05:35
If I point a beam
through this notch at a mirror,
through this notch at a mirror,
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aflată la 5 mile distanţă, fasciculul se reflectă în oglindă
05:39
five miles away, that beam
is bouncing off the mirror
is bouncing off the mirror
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şi vine înapoi prin această gaură.
05:41
and coming back to me through this notch.
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Se întâmplă ceva interesant când învârte roata mai repede.
05:44
But something interesting happens
as he spins the wheel faster.
as he spins the wheel faster.
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Observă că e ca şi cum o uşă s-ar închide
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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peste fasciculul ce se reflectă în ochi.
05:50
on the light beam
that's coming back to his eye.
that's coming back to his eye.
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De ce asta?
05:53
Why is that?
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Deoarece lumina nu vine
05:55
It's because the pulse
of light is not coming back
of light is not coming back
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înapoi prin aceeaşi gaură. De fapt, loveşte un dinte.
05:57
through the same notch.
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05:59
It's actually hitting a tooth.
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El învârte roata suficient de repede
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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şi astupă complet lumina.
Atunci,
Atunci,
bazându-se pe distanţa dintre cele două staţii,
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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viteza roţii şi numărul de găuri din roată,
el calculează viteza luminii cu o eroare de 2% din valoarea sa reală.
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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A făcut asta în 1849.
06:16
And he does this in 1849.
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Asta îmi place mie la ştiinţă.
06:21
This is what really gets me
going about science.
going about science.
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Când nu înţeleg un concept, mă întorc în timp şi caut oamenii care l-au descoperit.
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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Studiez povestea felului în care ei au înţeles conceptul.
06:29
I look at the story of how
they came to understand it.
they came to understand it.
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Când te uiţi la ce gândeau aceşti oameni
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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când au făcut descoperirile, înţelegi
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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că nu sunt diferiţi de noi.
Cu toţii suntem saci de carne şi apă. Cu toţii începem cu aceleaşi unelte.
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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Îmi place faptul că diferite ramuri ale ştiinţei sunt numite câmpuri de studiu.
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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Majoritatea oamenilor crede că ştiinţa e o cutie neagră, sigilată,
06:50
Most people think of science
as a closed, black box,
as a closed, black box,
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când, de fapt, e un câmp deschis.
06:53
when in fact it is an open field.
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Cu toţii suntem exploratori.
06:56
And we are all explorers.
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Oamenii care au făcut aceste descoperiri s-au gândit ceva mai mult
06:58
The people that made these discoveries
just thought a little bit harder
just thought a little bit harder
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la ceea ce vedeau şi au fost mai curioşi.
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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Curiozitatea lor a schimbat modul în care oamenii vedeau lumea
07:05
And their curiosity changed the way
people thought about the world,
people thought about the world,
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şi astfel a schimbat lumea.
07:08
and thus it changed the world.
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Ei au schimbat lumea. Şi voi puteţi face asta.
07:10
They changed the world, and so can you.
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Vă mulţumesc.
07:14
Thank you.
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07:15
(Applause)
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(Aplauze)
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