ABSTRACT
The Mechanical Universe is a two-semester, introductory level, television-based physics course. In the fall of 1985 the first semester of The Mechanical Universe was released to the academic community and public broadcasters. The two semesters of the course, The Mechanical Universe and Beyond the Mechanical Universe, consist of 26 half-hour television lessons and two versions of a text, one for science and engineering majors and the other for nonmajors. The course is scientifically sophisticated and mathematically rigorous, teaching and using calculus. The lecture programs contain computer animation used as a primary tool for instruction in physics. Each program begins and ends with Professor David Goodstein providing philosophical, historical, and often humorous comments from his lectures at Caltech.
