Demystifying the Higgs Boson with Leonard Susskind

(July 30, 2012) Professor Susskind presents an explanation of what the Higgs mechanism is, and what it means to "give mass to particles." He also explains what's at stake for the future of physics and cosmology.

Stanford University:

Stanford University Channel on YouTube:

[choadatiostoad]

this guy is amazing, he started out life fixing pipes & plunging toilets! now he is one of the most renowned scholars in physics. definitely one of my heroes.

[XenophonLoud]

A big THANK YOU to Dr.Suskind and Stanford University for providing these lectures to the rest of the world for free. Making these lectures public will motivate many young people to become scientists. A good way to utilize the potential of the humanity.

[ioa]

Dear Leonard, finally I understand something about the Higgs particle. I'm not a scientist or a physics student, just a medical doctor in Australia who has been trying for the past week to understand the Higgs particle and field. After doing so much reading and watching videos I would say that you have outdone them all and I now feel more complete as a person understanding this.

[chessbattlez]

What Standford U is doing here w/ giving the global population access to such awesome stuff is truly an amazing great thing for those who take the time to explore such things lol

[wesleyt]

Susskind is the best explainer of complicated physics to non-physicists out there.

[danchisholm]

Thanks to Stanford for all the Susskind lectures they release. Progressive university performing a progressive, extremely charitable act.

[gamalkik]

You are demystifying the intimate nature of matter.... and you cannot find your purple marker!!! I totally love this guy!

[JamieK]

I figured out what makes Leonard Susskind such a good teacher. Aside from being thoroughly knowledgeable about what he is talking about (that alone does no pre-suppose good teaching), he uses very pertinent vocabulary/words to describe particular scientific topics (and how they correlate/correspond to one another); that's more of an art I think.

[pedrotavares]

Stanford University should be so proud in having this man amongst the teachers who lecture there!
I was won over from the word go and, after a few minutes listening to prof. Susskind my next action could only be to subscribe to the channel.

[NWRsk]

I spent a whole semester fed up with rubbish from my professor but kinda instantly enlightened by this 1 hour lecture. Prof. Susskind, thank you!

[southwestoklahomaairsoftcl]

This man is a national treasure. Thank you for preserving your lectures and in essence your mind within these videos.

[greglialios]

this is the ONLY thing i've seen that actually explains the Higgs mechanism.  Right on, Stanford and Lenny!!!!

[irpacynot]

Sat through over an hour of lecturing, which I thoroughly enjoy, but the most satisfying part was the end in which questions were opened up and Susskind says repeatedly, "we don't have an answer at the moment, " or "we still don't know, " or "it's still a mystery." :)

[LowellBoggs]

Thank you for actually explaining how elections get their mass without just saying that the higgs particle gives it to them. The explanation involving condensates and the weak hyper charge and its unamed boson was very intriguing and well be by next area of study.

[Keithlfpieterse]

Thanks for the upload. Good teachers are priceless! A lecturer I respect[ed] once said that a good teacher needs nothing more than a blackboard and a piece of chalk. Leonard needs no gimmicks in order to convey the most complex concepts in his field. Respect!

[radiofun]

This is a brilliant explanation, never heard the whole matter explained so clear. This man can even make me understand (some) math! 

[oblioblivion]

I so admire people that can actually understand this. I don't even know the basics of physics but for some reason I keep watching these lectures because the implications are so mind blowing. I have been trying for a month now to understand the uncertainty principal and he just breezes through it like it was taught in first grade. I need a molasses type analogy. I think I am getting closer to an understanding but smoke is coming out of my ears.

[sailingweather]

As a grad student in physics who was just about to convince himself to rely on routines instead of motivation, I think this video has given me all the motivation I will need! Absolutely brilliant.

[brooktsui]

oh, I've learned QFT, and been doing some research about Higgs bosons as well as neutrinos, but this lecture, without too much math, still teaches me a lot. His way of doing physics is unique. have to say, amazing. fantastic job, Sir.

[princeistalri]

I just realized how many of these amazing lecture videos are available for viewing. There's truly a ton of them, I don't know where to start xD I guess I'll just go with playlists, one by one.

There may be parts I don't understand very well, but any understanding at all, I am grateful for. I hope that with a few brush-up sessions in mathematics I'll be able to better grasp these concepts.