Absolute Zero : Chasing the Ultimate Freezing Point

Locations
Call Number: DVD 536.56 Ab
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 1st Floor 1-week checkout	DVD 536.56 Ab	1-week checkout	On Shelf

Based on the book "Absolute zero and the conquest of cold" by Tom Shachtman.
Originally broadcast on public television as part of the Nova television series in 2007.
Special features: Printable materials for educators; access to the Nova web site.
The conquest of cold -- The race for absolute zero.
This two-part Nova special brings the history of cold to life with brilliant dramatic recreations of high moments in low-temperature research and the quest for ever-lower notches on the thermometer. "The conquest of cold" opens in the 1600s when the nature of cold and heat was a complete mystery. Were they different aspects of the same phenomenon? The experiments that settled those questions helped stoke the Industrial Revolution. "The race for absolute zero" dramatizes the rivalry between Scottish researcher James Dewar and Dutch physicist Heike Onnes, who plunged cold science to the forbidding realm at which oxygen and then hydrogen turn into liquids. The quest continues today as scientists pioneer super-fast computing near absolute zero-- the ultimate chill of -459.67° F, where atoms slow to a virtual standstill.
DVD, region 1, anamorphic widescreen (16:9) presentation; Dolby Digital, NTSC.
Contents: Absolute zero and the conquest of cold.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

School Library Journal Review

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

How Low Can You Go? submitted by Meginator on July 10, 2018, 9:42pm This two-part documentary explains some aspects of the study of cold temperatures. The first segment is a surprisingly self-aware survey of the history of cold science that relies heavily on historical recreations with varying degrees of believability. The explanation of refrigeration units comes a little too quickly to completely comprehend on the first pass, but otherwise the documentary tells an interesting story with surprisingly important implications for modern technology. The second segment follows scientists' attempts to reach the coldest possible temperatures by cooling elements such as hydrogen and helium. The science in this one is fairly easy to follow, even though it's a bit mind-bending, and it's nice that the producers had access to inside stories from the principal players. I'd recommend this DVD if the subject seems interesting to you.

Point submitted by smr on July 4, 2020, 11:51pm Freezing