Lecture 1 – The light bulb moment
Inspired by fellow Geordie inventor Joseph Swan, Danielle George attempts to play a computer game on the windows of a skyscraper using hundreds of light bulbs.
When Joseph Swan demonstrated the first working light bulb in 1878 he could never have dreamed that in 2014 we’d be surrounded by super-bright LED screens and lights that could be controlled using mobile phones. In this lecture, Danielle explains how these technologies work and show how they can be adapted to help you realise your own light bulb moments. She shows you how to send wireless messages using a barbeque, control a firework display with your laptop and use a torch to browse the internet.
About the 2014 CHRISTMAS LECTURES
A revolution is happening. Across the world people are taking control of the devices we use every day, customising them, creating new things and using the sparks of their imagination to change the world. Now it’s your turn, and you can start with the things you have around you.
Electrical and electronics engineer, Danielle George takes three great British inventions – a light bulb, a telephone and a motor – and shows you how to adapt them and transform them to do extraordinary things. This is tinkering for the 21st century, using the full array of cutting edge devices that we can lay our hands on: 3D printers, new materials, online collaboration and controlling devices through coding.
Inspired by the great inventors and standing on the shoulders of thousands of people playing at their kitchen table or in their shed, Danielle announces the new rules of invention and shows you how to use modern tools, technologies and things from your home to have fun and make a difference to the world around you.
Anything could happen. Sparks will fly.