Physics and the History of Physics since Galileo: The Mechanical Universe, Cal Tech, 1985


I love this series. It's a fine example of using the history of science to teach science. It's also a fine example of using animation in instructional design where and when you should--charmingly rudimentary computer animations that still get the job done 35 years later. More here.

The episodes start with a student of Feynman's, David Goodstein lecturing to his CalTech class and soon segue into a narration with animations, experiments, and historical reconstructions. The historian of science who advised is top-notch: Richard Westfall.

Here's the playlist.

Actually, here's an hour or so of a wide-ranging discussion of aspects of ancient Greek and Roman science by someone who knows what she's talking about, big time, Liba Taub.