Royal Institution Christmas Lectures

Leonard Maunder: Machines in Motion

The 1983 CHRISTMAS LECTURES discuss the ways in which our knowledge of motion continues to grow. We shall also explore how it is being used to extend the extraordinary variety of machines created for our use and convenience. In the future as in the past, it will be the task of the engineer to discover new ways of doing things and to invent, design and make the new machines. All our experience suggests there are exciting prospects ahead that as yet we can hardly imagine.

Where to Watch Leonard Maunder: Machines in Motion

6 Episodes

  • Driving Forces
    E1
    Driving ForcesIn his first lecture of the series, Leonard Maunder explores the kinematics that make up the geometry of motion.
  • Gathering Momentum
    E2
    Gathering MomentumHow do Newton's laws apply to motion both familiar and strange, from bows and arrows to rockets and gyroscopes.
  • Vibration
    E3
    VibrationWe speak and hear by the vibrations of air as sound waves, but to engineers vibration can be dangerously destructive. As machines grow in size and power, their designers have to assess and counter their tendency to self-destruction.
  • Under Control
    E4
    Under ControlIn his fourth lecture, Leonard Maunder explores the various ways in which systems can be controlled by monitoring inputs and outputs and adding self regulation.
  • Fluids and Flight
    E5
    Fluids and FlightHow is our knowledge of fluid dynamics harnessed in setting machines in motion?
  • Living Machines
    E6
    Living MachinesHow do animals move on land, sea and in the air, and we shall look in particular at how the understanding of human locomotion contributes to the growing and important subject of biomechanics.

 

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