Dark Matters: Twisted but True Episode Guide

Hey folks, once again we have another brand new science documentary on Science Channel. The new show called "Dark Matters: Twisted but True" focuses on strange and twisted corners of science throughout the history.

So since the 1st episode has already aired let's check out how this science shows holds up. The first episode was about the secret Philadelphia experiment, secret Soviet experiments on apes and humans and the invention of the electric chair. I have to be honest I was hoping for a nice serious science documentary, but when I heard what the first episode will include I kind of lost hopes in this show. After all, what kind of science show, especially one at Science channel could talk about Philadelphia experiment, which most probably never happened plus ufo's and stuff like that.

Unfortunately, my feeling came out to be true, as this brand new documentary looked more like one of those pseudo-science shows where the "investigate" ufo's, teleporting war ships and all that other mumbo jumbo. The part where they talked about secret experiments in the Soviet union where scientists tried to create ape-man soldiers kind of killed the whole seriousness that the show had. The thing is that the show focuses to much on speculation while forgetting the facts. Though I have to admit the host of the show John Noble does a fantastic job as if he was born for such a role. It seems like the Science Channel wanted to quickly boost their rankings by appealing to the wide audience of ufo fans.

So yeah I guess the only good part was the last part of the show where they talked about the creation of the electric chair. It was more serious and accurate in comparison to other two parts of the episode. It kind of makes you wish that the whole show was more like that.

In conclusion, it's not the best choice for the fans of serious documentaries, but if you're a fan ufo's, conspiracy theories and stuff like that, this show is what you're looking for. So here's a short guide of all the six episodes in the first season.
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Episode 1 (airs on August 31): The Philadelphia Experiment, Ape-man Army and Zapped to Death.

Episode 2 (airs on September 7): I Have Einstein's Brain, Unidentified Flying Nazis and Killer Thoughts.

Episode 3 (airs on September 14): Sexy Secret Agent, Full Body Transplant and Honey I Nuked the Planet.

Episode 4 (airs on September 21): It's Alive!, Tripping with uncle Sam and My Hand is Killing Me.

Episode 5 (airs on September 28): 21 Grams, Missing Cosmonauts and Sound of Death.

Episode 6 (airs on October 5): Radio Waves of Death, How to Make a Zombie and Jekyll vs Hyde.
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For more info on every episode check out this link.

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Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman

"Through the Wormhole" is one of the newest science documentaries with the famous oscar wining actor Morgan Freeman as a narator. These days, when many great science documentaries, including the goold old "Horizon" series and more recent series like "The Wonders of the Solar System" are available, it's hard to find something new and unique. So how does the new documentary narated by the charming voice of Morgan Freeman hold out?

 Well I have to admit the show starts with a bang. The first episode called "Is There a Creator?" really catches your attention by asking whether there is a god. In the world of mainstream science this question is usually left for philosophers so it's really intriguing seeing this subject analysed in terms physics and other sciences. "Through the Wormhole" also follows the example of other science documentaries by exploring the more contraversial theories and having the best science experts explaining them. The refreshing part is that all theories are treated as equal, by pointing out the advantages and drawbacks. In the first season there are 8 episodes, which cover a variety of subjects starting with cosmology ending with biology and even some geology. Among the 8 episodes there are some great episodes, which will catch the attention of science fiction fans. These episodes include black holes, search for extraterestrial intelligence and the start of life on our planet.

The drawbacks are as usual with such documentaries. First of all, you won't get many answers, but I guess this is inescapable for a documentary, which deals with cutting edge science. Furthermore, some episodes like the ones about time travel and wormholes will look very familiar for documentary fans.

I have to admit, when I first saw the trailer, the show catched my attention mostly because of Morgan Freeman (who is great as usual in the show), but the show turned to be really solid. Even though many episodes will give a sense of Deja Vu for documentary fans, there are some unique and interesting episodes, which will really catch your attention. So all in all, it's a solid show with a great narator, which is worth of your attention.

You might be interested in:

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The Great Debate of the Nature of Reality

Edinburgh this week is a very interesting place to be at, due to the famous international science festival. This science festival in short is two weeks of pure fun for science fans. It has everything, starting with talks by famous scientists and writers, events for kids, screenings of Brian Cox's newest film, talk by Richard Dawkins and so much more.

If you have the chance to visit Edinburgh during the festival I highly recommend it. You can find all the needed information at the following link.

But why am talking about this festival? Well, simply I had a chance to visit some great talks. One of them was by Manjit Kumar, a scientist and a philosopher, who is the author of the new book "Quantum - Einstein, Bohr and the Great Debate About the Nature of Reality".

It was a great talk, which involved a lot of historical facts and amazing pictures. Needless to say it involved a lot explanations about the discoveries of quantum mechanics. The most interesting part was about the famous Einstein and Bohr debates regarding the interpretation of quantum mechanics.

So without spoiling the fun I can say that it was a great talk and it's an even greater book, so don't hesitate and buy it as it's really cheap. I especially recommend it for all of you science history lovers.

PS:  the author of the book has a very nice blog, which can be found here.

Also you can buy the book here:

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Review of "The Road to Reality" by Roger Penrose

So recently I managed to buy some great books about physics at a low price and one of them was another great book by Sir Roger Penrose "The Road to Reality".

My first impression when I saw the book at the store was that it was huge, and I mean huge, it has almost 1100 pages. So if you're thinking of buying this book be ready for long weeks of pure maths and science fun. But is it really that fun?

The book starts with some remarks from the author about the notation, which is useful, and some remarks about overall math usage in the book, which is also handy. The prologue is really amazing, as it drags you in, by telling a short story how Pythagoras, who had a hunger for knowledge, joined the brotherhood of 571 wisemen, and began his journey to secrets of mathematics and science. At this point you feel like reading an interesting novel that shows the fun side of science as well as dragging you in with a mysterious narrative. But what is the rest of the book about?

Well, it's about maths and physics of course. It has basically everything covered. And I mean everything! Starting with the roots of physics and mathematics, ending with string theory, quantum mechanics, general and special theories of relativity and even some speculative modern science theories. The book is divided in 34 chapters in total. Also it has some great diagrams and drawings, which really help you understand the physics in some parts of the book. The final part of the book contains some thoughts by the author about the nature of reality itself.

Naturally, every layman would like to know how much maths is used in the book. And the answer is - not that much. But I have to tell you, it's get's quite confusing after a couple of first chapters. And as you progress through the book, maths equations, diagrams and some ideas become incredibly confusing and hard. So I wouldn't recommend this book for those who hate maths or get a headache from even a simple equation. Also the physics is also quite hard, so I recommend this one only for experts.

Also it's worth noticing that almost all concepts of physics are explained from a perspective of mathematical theories and ideas, after all Roger Penrose is famous for mathematical physics, so be ready for more maths than physics.

So the final score:

Content: 9.7/10 ( contains almost everything you need to know about physics )
Beginner "Friendliness":  2/10
Narrative: 6/10 ( start's with a bang, but eventually ends up as another book written in a "dry science" style)
Illustrations: 9/10 (contains some amazing geometrical figures and diagrams)

Overall score 6.7/10

Final verdict: a great book for experts or hardcore science and maths fans, however, a little two confusing for the laymen.

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A Great Book to Learn General Relativity

When it comes to GR, it's easy to find good books, which explain you the basics and the non-mathematical side of the subject, however, it's really hard to find a book, which would explain the basics of mathematics of GR in a easy to understand way. Thus I would like to share my experience of reading a book called "Firs Course in General Relativity" by Bernard Schultz.

As the books half title says - "Clarity, readability, and rigor combine in the second edition of this widely used textbook to provide the first step into general relativity for undergraduate students with a minimal
background in mathematics." This is truely the case, because the book is written in a easy to understand way.

The book contais theory, including special relativity in algebraic form and geometric form and general relativity basics. Furthermore, it has some exercises with solved examples.

From my own experience I can say that it's one of the best books to get the basics of both SR and GR. The difficulty level is not over the top like in the most of similar books (I'm a fresher in Physics, and my knowledge in maths and physics is basically enough to read and understand this book). Also, it's a great book to refresh your knowledge of SR and GR.

Thanks for reading!


The book can be found here:

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