TED
3 HN recommenders · recommended in 4 months, 2010–2025
17:51 · 1.3M views · Mar 27, 2008
Clifford Stoll's energetic TED talk, a wandering mix of anecdotes, a science experiment and thoughts on curiosity, education and technology. He is the author of The Cuckoo's Egg.
HN commenters recommend it for Stoll's infectious enthusiasm and his case for teaching kids science, and often mention it in threads about him and his Klein bottles.
5 comments from Hacker News
Clifford Stoll has explained this far better than I could [1], but aside from the sheer intrinsic value and altruism of taking time out to be an amazing teacher for some students, it can also serve some really practical benefits: if you want the next generation of adults to have a firm grasp of science and technical issues -- whether they later operate a cash register, enter a career in politics, or build the next Amazon -- then it makes sense for us to find the time to teach these skills to students. If you want open source software to take over the world, teach programming to kids. If you want sensible social policies where science and technology are concerned, then teach science and technology to kids. If you want more rational discourse in the future, then teach logic to kids. Saying, "this is somebody else's job" -- even if you're also saying that it's a valuable job and they should be compensated well for it -- is not just self-serving, it's short-sighted. [1]: this video
There may be some youngsters who don't know who Cliff Stoll is. He wrote "The Cuckoo's Egg" which is a riveting tale, capable of entertaining nerds and non-nerds alike. He sells glass Klein Bottles, huge, medium, tiny, earrings, and more. He's given a TED talk: this video He's brilliant, bonkers, and wonderful company. I spent a fantastic morning with him early last year (2024) and it was brilliant fun. I will for many, many years treasure my signed Klein Bottle and my signed copy of "The Cuckoo's Egg". Thanks Cliff
I love this guy, I first saw him in his TED talk [1]. He kinda reminds me of Richard Feynman (similar mannerisms and enthusiasm for science). [1] this video
I remember watching his TED talk 11 years ago this video and buying a couple Klein bottles afterwards. This brings back memories!
Here's a link to the actual TED talk, since mattyohe's link is actually to one of Google's promo videos. this video