YouTube

I first and foremost have to shamelessly plug my own YouTube channel and videos. In addition to now posting homework solutions and lectures and lab how-to's on it and this webpage I also have a large backlog of demonstrations and labs uploaded. For students I don't recommend watching videos of demonstrations that you haven't seen yet, because it is better to see it live and to not have the surprise ruined for you. But if you've missed a demonstration, or want to review it or share it then take a look around.

Some of my favorite YouTube Channels.

Staring out with this photo I agree with the sentiment, but it is missing a lot of my favorite channels- details below.

• CrashCourse: The first of two channels on this list run by the Vlogbrothers. John Green does CrashCourse World History, Literature, and American History; while his brother Hank Green does doing Biology, Ecology, and Chemistry. The videos have great animations, occasional off-colored humor and are written at an AP Course level.*
• SciShow: The second channel by the Vlogbrothers, this one by Hank Green only, covering: current events and topics in science as well as some historical concepts and misconceptions. Also, Hank is a founding member of the Mars Society, so sometimes the news is heavily weighted on the NASA and space science side.*
• [Khan Academy: Honestly, I'm not a fan of this channel. It is good review if you are stuck, but research shows (including some by a person elsewhere on this list) that this kind of instruction is not useful for teaching new material, and only OK for reviewing old material. Also, if Bill Gates dropped $1 million in my lap I could easily do just as well. Having said all that, it is good for review or for another perspective if you are stuck].
• VSauce & VSauce2: I'm a bigger fan of Michael from VSauce than I am of his brother Kevin on VSauce 2. Michael's are usually educational unless the title of the video includes an acronym, whereas his brother reposts a lot of stuff from Make Magazine and clips designed to surprise you.
• Veritasium: Derek is one of my heroes and favorites. It is his research that 1) kind of debunks Khan's way of going about things, and 2) inspired me to consider getting my PhD, because his is on how to make effective educational online videos. Furthermore, he frequently collaborates together with others on this list for projects to make higher quality lessons.*
• SixtySymbols: The last two guys on the drawing are from one of Brady Harran's many projects. This one focuses on Physics & Astronomy although there is a separate channel for some of his astronomy videos now.*

That takes care of the picture, but there are others that were left off either because the artists isn't a fan or because he was unaware of the other channels below, but I would also recommend:

All of Brady Haran's other channels

• PeriodicVideos- a video over every element on the periodic table and then lots of extras, also his first channel that had real success*
• Numberphile- mathematical videos about specific numbers, mathematicians, or equations*
• DeepSkyVideos- a video over every object in Messier's catalogue, so far about 1/3 of the way through the list, extra videos about observatories of the world, astronomers, and breaking news in astronomy.*
• Computerphile- a series of videos about computers and programming. I didn't think I would enjoy this channel much, but I've been very engaged in most of the videos.
  • I'm not as big of a fan of his other channels, but have watched many of the videos on them (in decreasing order of favorites).
    • Bibledex- a video over every book of the Bible and videos on specific verses and theology concepts
    • FavouriteScientist- this series asks scientists at a branch university of Nottingham about their favorites. *
    • PsyFile- this is a series about psychology, interviewing professors from the University of Manchester.*
    • Philsophy File- this is a series about philsophy, although it has been more philosophical questions rather than systems of thought so far.*
    • Words of the World- videos about word origins
    • TestTube/NottinghamScience- this was Brady's original project. He got a grant to follow scientists at a University for a few years and then started his other projects out of following them. Includes a lot of current research in a variety of areas. Also includes another great series that I wish was its own channel- A YouTube Guide to Trees. Also, he occasionally posts extra stuff here, but he also sometimes does that on the next channel or as an unlisted video on the main channel.
    • BradyStuff- a completely random channel where he also posts extra stuff and extended footage.*
    • Foodskey- videos about current research in food science*
    • BackstageScience- research in the UK from different facilities.

And despite having 14 channels and counting I still have not convinced him [I've had two personal communications via YouTube comments or e-mail] to start an Earth Science channel- even though England has some pretty impressive geology and he has done a few videos related to geology.

Other channels I love:

• Smarter Every Day- Destin is another hero of mine. He's from Alabama and says he has to fight against other people just assuming he's an idiot because of this accent all the time, but he's working on his Master's in Aerospace Engineering and has a father who is working at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in AL as a Mechanical Engineer for the James Webb Space Telescope (launching in 2018 to replace the Hubble). His videos are all over the place in science, but tend to emphasize physics. He takes really complicated topics and teaches them at a very understandable level. He is more than willing to admit he doesn't know something and pulls in professionals regularly. He also does a lot of high speed videos with a Phantom Camera and collaborates very regularly with other YouTubers. Most of my classes have seen his Chicken Head and Poop Splash videos.
• ViHart- Vi talks really fast and never appears on screen, but is very artsy and mathematically minded. She complains regularly about the way we teach in schools, but shows how math, science, and art meet and has helped me to see art in a more scientific way. Because of that I feel that I can approach it and not only understand it, but also do it better because she presents it in a form that I understand. I've heard plenty of artists say that she does the opposite for them (explains math in an artistic way that she understands). She was a music major so she does a lot with that also, and she now works with Salman Khan of Khan Academy so she does some lessons on his channel (making it a little more tolerable).*
• CGPGrey- This man also never appears on the screen, but his videos are stellar. Mostly covering history and political science he does do some science and he does a great job of teaching surprising facts and of countering misconceptions.*
• MinutePhysics (and coming soon MinuteEarth)- Henry voices and draws with crayola markers a lot of physics, and specifically quantum mechanics and cosmology, lessons that are short and too the point. He also writes and plays the soft jazz int he background and collaborates frequently with others.*
• ASAPScience- this channel is very good, but addresses a lot of adult science issues. They have also done a better Periodic Table Song.*
• Bite Sci-zed- a graduate student doing awesome videos, mostly about biology. Very candid and educational on many levels.*
• NurdRage- possibly one of the least popular and mot underrated channel on this list. A Canadian chemist teaches some advanced chemistry and does a lot of how-to at-home videos for the chemist enthusiast. He was also very instrumental in getting me more involved in YouTube and in setting up an online community of amerature (and some professional) chemists on YouTube. I subscribe to a lot of other chemistry channels, but unless you are a big fan of chemistry you won't enjoy them as much so I've not listed them here. If you are interested then contact me.*
• TEDEducation- a spin-off of the TED Talks, which is a descent channel with a huge backlog of videos from years of doing conferences and now doing local conferences also, this channel pairs educators with animators to teach one lesson. The topics cover lots of areas, but are usually very entertaining and sometimes informative.*
• MelodySheep- the only purely entertainment channel I've listed here. Using Antares Autotune or equivalent a lot of channels remix lectures, videos, news clips, etc to make them musical. This software has also caused a lot of controversy in the music industry. None-the-less, this guy takes videos (mostly from science TV series or lectures) of scientists and strings them together in musical form for beautiful and usually relaxing, but inspiring songs.*
• PBSIdeaChannel- before I talk about the channel I must start by saying PBS is probably the only network that has figured out how to work in both the TV and online domain; they just get it right with diversifying and promoting and creating inspirational stuff, probably because they are used to appealing to a specific group instead of a broad audience and on engaging the community around them. Anyway, this channel touches on science on occasion, but is mostly presents an interesting or thought-provoking, or even controversial idea and then argues it out with a lot of humor and references. From there the comments and community around this channel is great and furthermore the host talks about prior video comments at the end of each episode. This is one of a very few channels that I will drop everything to watch when a new video comes out.

I have a lot of other channels I follow, but these are my favorites. I doubt many people make it down to this part of the page, but I do have a few notes I would like to add. First, every channel above with an * is one where I have literally watched everything they have ever done- hundreds to thousands of videos. Also, I don't put up with boring things on YouTube or general entertainment. There is a lot of junk out there on YouTube that attempts to teach, but does it in very boring ways. There is also a lot out there for just entertainment or comedy, and I find that less useful because there are so many (seriously look at the list above) good, entertaining, and still educational videos out there. I am filled with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and this is one way that I attempt to fill it. I currently subscribe to 354 channels on YouTube. Most of them are educational, but again I don't put up with boring videos.