MIT Professor Goes from Cult Following to International Fame Via Online Videos

From The Online Reporter Edition # 570
Publication Period January 5 through 13, 2008

MIT Professor Goes from Cult Following to International Fame Via Online Videos

Walter Lewin used to be a name you would know around MIT, but not really in India. That has all changed thanks to the global classroom institute and YouTube.
The 71-year-old physics professor, who has long had a cult following on the MIT campus, offers his courses for free online at the OpenCourseWare of MIT. And, according to The New York Times, these videos have won him fans from across the nation and around the world.
The credit for this phenomenon all goes to professor Lewin and his lectures. From dressing up and firing a golf ball cannon at a stuffed monkey wearing a bulletproof vest, demonstrating freefall and flailing on students with cat fur to demonstrate electrostatics to building a large water-battery, he actively engages his class and online audience in all the aspects and wonder of his science. Lewin even rode a tricycle propelled by a fire extinguisher to show how a rocket lifts off.
“Through your inspiring video lectures I have managed to see just how beautiful physics is, both astounding and simple,” a 17-year-old from India e-mailed recently.
Lewin told the Times, “Teaching is my life.” He reportedly spends around 25 hours preparing each lecture down to the very last detail, “Clarity is the word,” says Lewin.