King Khan in a physics classroom

Subha Das Mollick
Popular films can be used by teachers to explain physics concepts. However, teachers would need to identify portions that can elevate the classroom experience of the students. Chosen clips from the films should bring the ideas under discussion into sharp focus. This article explains how a clip from the popular film, Swades, can be used to teach the concept of energy.

Interstellar theories

Subha Das Mollick

Albert Einstein had once said, “Common sense is that layer of prejudices laid down in the mind prior to the age of eighteen.” Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar is commonsense defying, but it is intriguing enough for multiple viewing and a closer examination on the basis of known and accepted facts about the Universe.

Of balance, leaps, jumps and turns

Ananda Shankar Jayant

‘Remember your basic physics class, and now find your centre of gravity’, I tell my young dance students. ‘Strengthen your spine and find the inherent balance of your body. To leap and jump in the air and perform aerial movements, remember to accept gravity and then take off from it, by lightening your body.

In the realm of Hollywood

PK Thiruvikraman

Teachers usually despair that their students are more interested in watching a movie than sitting in a classroom; they find a novel more exciting than a textbook. As teachers, we feel that we are fighting a losing battle to grab the attention of the student in the face of competition from various sources of entertainment which have mushroomed in this digital age.

The theory of everything

Sayantan Mukherjee

The Theory of Everything is the exceptional story of the renowned astrophysicist and a living legend, Stephen Hawking who falls in love with fellow Cambridge student, Jane Wilde. The film is based on the non-fiction book Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen written by Jane Wilde.