TEDTalks - Brian Cox

Source - www.telegraph.co.uk

Physics - it amazes, inspires, intimidates and excites me. As a child, I was always fascinated by how things worked, how did we find out how things work, and who was asking the questions in the first place. Physics attempts to answer these questions, and the people who work in the field have my enduring admiration.

Professor Brian Cox is a physicist based at Manchester University. He also works on the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Geneva. Famed for his "rock star" image and his ability to make complex topics accessible to many, Professor Cox has appeared in a range of television programmes, radio shows, and has written a number of books. Patrick Moore and Sir David Attenborough have both hailed Professor Cox as their natural successor - high praise indeed.

I have chosen one of the talks Professor Cox gave on the CERN Supercollider as one which has inspired me. Particle physics can be a mind boggling topic, but somehow, Professor Cox makes it a little easier for the layman to understand. In doing this, he does not, in any way diminish the topic itself, or patronise the listener. Instead, he identifies the complexities involved, and breaks them down, using humour and his own extensive personal knowledge. The listener does not come away with an encyclopedic knowledge of physics, but does have a better understanding of something about which they previously knew nothing.

As a trainee teacher, this ability to explain and inspire is one which I am working to acquire. Professor Cox is engaging, knowledgeable, and accessible - traits which, if developed, can be invaluable in the classroom. It is no wonder that the media have lavished such praise on Professor Cox, and crowned him as the next big thing in science programming on television.

Of course, there are those who see Professor Cox as no more than a media puppet, chosen to spearhead the current movement of scientific programmes being produced to feed the public's newly discovered appetite for physics, astronomy, and science in general. They argue that he merely caters to people with an "interest" in science, rather than those who wish to truly understand, and improve the field. To them, I say that if his media appearances inspire just one child to pursue a career in physics, or one of the other sciences, then surely it is worth it?It only takes one person to make a world changing discovery, and that person could be the one person who was inspired by Professor Cox. There are many people who have inspired me throughout my academic life, and I hope that I can also be the inspiration for a student in the future.

You can find out more about Professor Cox by visiting his website, Apollo's Children. There is also a link to another TEDTalk by Professor Cox entitled "Why we need the explorers", which you can find here.