Science, which naturally seems too orthodox to become a subject matter of a popular television program, is simply fascinating in hands of the author of “Golden Section” Natalya Litovskaya and the director Vladimir Markevich. Conversations with well-known scientists take turns with stories about science and scientists. The program is quite popular not only in Belarus, but also in Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania and Israel.
We are speaking to the author and host of the program, Andrei Levchik, a former director of television programs that decided to take up a brand new project.
— Why did you decide to focus on science?
— Our task is to push science closer to common people, to encourage them to tell the difference between real science and quackery. We use a sort of television language to make things simpler and facilitate contacts between science and real life.
— The program looks quite fast-moving, with no boring lectures. How did you manage this?
— We are using computer technologies, which help us to be so fast.
— They often say science is supranational, but your program keeps to a different viewpoint. How come?
— Science is truly beyond nations, beyond ideologies, but it surely has some national marks. We are talking about the continuity of the Belarusian science, because new ideas cannot emerge from nothing, they should have some basis, and we are talking about continuity in our program not to lose roots.
— Do you remember you first show?
— The first program was about genetics. Then we made programs about astrophysics and plasma. There was a great program about the Belarusian scientist of the 19th century Yakub Jodka-Narkevich, the father of electrographics. He was photographing human auras, and some say he thought about the radio even prior to Alexander Popov. We also had a series of programs about laser technologies, a significant segment of Belarusian science. There were humanitarian programs about archaeology and history.
We dedicated one of our programs to the anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War and juxtaposed World War II with the Battle of Gruenewald. The program maintained that back in those times the Belarusians were eager to stay independent and joined Poles and Lithuanians to stop the invaders from the north. The same happened during World War II, specialists believe.
— What are your plans for the future?
— We have just started the program “Occam Razor”, also a scientific program that caters for students and smart kids. We are shooting a program about the architecture of roads and physics of elementary particles. We are trying to cover all segments of science for all of our viewers to find something to their liking.
by Elza Brodskaya
