DVD Review: NOVA: Particle Fever

NOVA: Particle Fever
by Thomas Campbell-Jackson and Gerry Ohrstrom [DVD 539.721 Par]

In 2008, thousands of scientists join forces to engineer and build the Large Hadron Collider (or LHC) at CERN in Switzerland. We meet six of the scientists each tasked with various roles. There are theorists, who crunch the numbers and philosophize through complex math. And then there are experimentalists, who build, design, and engineer experiments to verify these theories.

In 2010, scientists successfully send one ray of particles around the 17 mile loop. While scientists drink champagne and celebrate prematurely — a chemical leak and a host of other realities sink in, delaying the project two painful years.

On July 3, 2012, universal physics as we understand it was changed forever. Complete with stellar graphics and personal narratives, enjoy this fascinating inside scoop to one of the most expensive and rewarding scientific endeavors in human history — to find the elusive Higgs Boson particle, and to complete the standard model of particle physics.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman, Uranium: Twisting the Dragon’s Tail, Cosmos by Carl Sagan or NOVA: The Planets]

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ] | [ official Particle Fever web site ]

Recommended by Jeremiah J.
Anderson and Bethany Branch Libraries

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

NOVA: Eclipse Over America by PBS (on DVD)

NOVA: Eclipse Over America
[DVD 523.78 Ecl]

After Lincoln, NE was fortunate enough to experience Totality during the August 2017 eclipse that swept across America, I was curious to see what the PBS TV series NOVA would do to commemorate the event on this DVD. Surprisingly, I was a bit disappointed in this episode. NOVA had camera crews in various locations along the eclipse’s path, and footage from each filming location is included in this mini-documentary. However, the majority of this episode’s content is a look back at the historical implications of eclipses. I’d say less than 1/3 of the episode is actually about the 2017 eclipse. Which is not to say it is not both entertaining and educational — I did enjoy it. But, if you’re looking for a documentary all about the 2017 eclipse, you, too, may be disappointed. And, considering that Bill Nye the Science Guy was here in Beatrice, NE at Homestead National Monument for the Eclipse, the lack of ANY footage from Nebraska…at all…was the biggest disappointment. Still…for general fans of eclipses — and there are those who chase eclipses around the globe every year!! — this has some interesting nuggets of information!

[ Official page for this episode on the NOVA web page ] | [ NASA’s official Eclipse 2017 page ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

Smartest Machine on Earth

Smartest Machine on Earth
[DVD 006.3 Sma]

Fascinating and fast-paced episode of NOVA, focusing on the development of Watson, the super-computer created by scientists at IBM, which competed on the TV quiz show Jeopardy in February 2011 against the top two human Jeopardy winners -- Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. NOVA does a great job of distilling the essential scientific elements down into something the average viewer can clearly understand. In this case, the focus is on how machine learning within a finite database of knowledge compares to human intuition and thinking processes. While on the surface, focusing years of effort and millions of dollars on creating a machine intelligence that can win at a quiz show seems somewhat foolhardy, but the things that scientists have learned about the development of true artificial intelligence may make it all worthwhile. My only complaint about this DVD is that I wish that they had included the Watson episode of Jeopardy as a bonus feature -- the snippets from the Jeopardy filming that are included throughout this NOVA episode makes me wish I could see the full Jeopardy episode as well! I love Ken Jenning's humorous little note in the Final Jeopardy round: "I for one welcome our new computer overlords". [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to visit the NOVA website or view the Jeopardy episode on YouTube.] -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library [Subscribe to Scott's monthly booklist newsletter It's All Geek to Me! - on the Books, Movies & More newsletter sign-up page].

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this episode of NOVA ] | [ official Smartest Machine on Earth page on the NOVA web site ]

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

Bees: Tales From the Hive

Bees: Tales From the Hive

Fascinating episode of NOVA from 2000, using a specially-designed macro camera to examine the life of bees within a beehive. Narrated by David Ogden Stiers, this documentary traces the life of one hive over the course of a single year, and features some truly astonishing footage of these industrious insects. Even if you have a fear of bees, I encourage you to watch this fascinating and educational show! -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[Also available in VHS format.][ official Companion Web Site to this episode of NOVA ]

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Ten (or more) new reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog over the course of the entire month.