Comment Re:Wow factor (Score 1) 233
That episode of The Mechanical Universe certainly was engaging and interesting. But educational? It was a bit light on content. At the end of the episode, I'd come away entertained. But not so much educated.
You have to take it for what it is--a set of freshman physics lectures that give an introduction to the subject and some history. It's a very good general education course that would either prepare someone to study physics in depth or help with science literacy for a non-science major.
I discovered the Mechanical Universe on TV in the late 80s when I was about 13 years old. By watching it I gained a broad yet shallow knowledge of physics. I learned a lot about the conic sections, derivatives, kepler's laws, gravity, relativity, angular momentum, atomic physics, electromagnetism, and a bunch of other things. Seeing the animations of physics--and the animations of equations--made it really engaging.