The Chemistry of Fire and Gunpowder - with Andrew Szydlo 

If this man had taught at my school, i would have taken a very different career path. If you have a class he teaches, You are a lucky person.

Take a shot of ethanol every time he: 1. Thanks his assistants. 2. Mentions Faraday. 3. Starts a new sentence without finishing the previous.

I'm 33 and can't say there was anything really new to me and I also tend to have a short attention span. I'm used to working on some project while having videos like this playing in the background. This lecture consumed 100% of my attention. Absolutely amazing. Those kids have no idea how lucky they are to be there in person. I'm sure many will have an intense interest in chemistry for the rest of their lives thanks to this.

Earlyer today I was wathcing a video on "HOW TO CHOP WOOD WITH AN AXE".... My settings must have been set to AUTOPLAY because I just came back to my computer 12 hours later and this video was playing. I have no idea who this guy is I'm not a scientist or a chemist Nor am I a student, I'm just a dumb carpenter who now has an interest in science because of this guy . I LOVE THIS GUY ,he sure knows how to teach.

Dr. Szydlo reminds me of the physics teacher I had 20 odd years ago who, among other things, walked over coals to demonstrate various principles of physics. He was passionate about his subject and did his best to teach as much as possible to as many as possible. The equations tend to confuse me, but that man did manage to drill some physics and a love of that science into my head.

Andrew Szydlo is an archetypal professor, his mind always a few steps ahead, the now a bit helter-skelter and absolutely lovely with impeccable manners. He makes it a tour the force of interesting experiments mixed in with enough chaos to give it a dangerous edge 😊

A man explains what wood is made of for over an hour. I love it.

For the love of god I do not understand why Prof Szydlo's video's dont have more views and likes. I abolutely LOVED chemistry when I was in highschool and this man has completely re-invigorated my love for the subject. Thank you.

This video was far more interesting than any action movie.

I thought what the hell I'll watch his general chemistry video. Now I have my fourth ready for tomorrow. He certainly does love his fire.

So happy that I was part of this magnificent lecture demonstration!! Andrew is an inspiration and a great value to all chemistry and chemists!

This is the kind of passion I wanna see in people who lift. No, not just the energy. *The deep understanding and ability to explain it in a way that gives a grown man a childlike fascination with the subject.*

He mastered chemistry so much he can turn off breathing to maximize talking and teaching

He talks as if him and his assistants broke into this lecture hall and he's trying to get through a lecture before security comes to drag him away

Andrew Szydlo is a LEGEND!!!

His emotional remembering at the end of the lecture.. that was intense. A great professor, a greater man. That sense of passion is the kind of things that pushes us into the future.

I absolutely love this guy's presentations! The best classes I had in high school 35 years ago were from a Physics teacher and Chemistry teacher who both loved demonstrations. You can read about the numbers and theory...but watching your Physics teacher go down the hallway on a CO2 extinguisher-powered cart. Or seeing a sledge-hammer/construction-block/bed-of-nails demo with YOUR teacher on the bed-of-nails during class...oh man that was awesome! Hat's off to those great teachers from my youth and to these great presentations from The Royal Institute!

Absolutely uplifting to know that these type people still exist. Passion for one's field and the desire to pass on his knowledge rather than overcomlicating the subject with curriculum designed to inhibit imagination and mindfulness and drifting further away from any real world knowledge. Refreshing to see someone who just truly loves what they do and want everyone to have true knowledge.

This man is absolutely brilliant. He didn't stop for nearly 2 hours.....unreal!!! What a stellar performance!

He has developed his 'absent minded professor' act to perfection, extremely entertaining and educational.

Absolutely superb. At the age of 58, I also learned something new - that Carbon Monoxide is flammable.

I love this guy. Just knows the subject so well it's almost unconscious. He makes me think this is what happens when you open a book and all the words spill out and catch fire.

This is simply AWESOME!!!! Love almost everything about this teaching genius, from the way he so charmingly says "dear children", to the way he mingles such a huge amount of information with a wealth of historical perspective. Also adore the way he shows how beautiful and interesting science can be, when approached in such a manner as he does. BRAVO and thank you for posting this for everyone to enjoy and learn from.

Without a doubt my favorite lecturer, his mannerisms have me in tears

The RI Lectures are a traditional part of Christmas, and this gentleman is a legend.

Yay - my favourite pyromaniac! *settles back with a bucket of popcorn*

How come every time I fall asleep, no matter what I'm watching, I wake up to this guy doing incredible feats of science?

@45:06 Open flame ignites the vapor. "Oscar, very well done!"

He's more of an entertainer, who has an exceptional scientific knowledge for being an entertainer, rather than a scientist, who has a superb knack for entertaining people. I wish we had more teachers like him. Hats off to that man, I enjoyed every minute of this.

What an amazing lecture for children. Also convinced me that I do not want to sit around a bonfire inhaling the smoke ever again.

Dear Mr. Andrew Szydlo I want to congratulate you for being a SUPER teacher. The studnts that have the honor to know you should be proud and gratefull. Thank you very much for transmiting a us litle part of your big knowledge.

This man is indeed a remarkable scientist and so inspirational, that I can't stop watching ! And I'm 63!

This guy is great. I love watching everything he is featured in on this channel. He is the reason I subscribed to this channel the first time I watched it. Thanks again to The Royal Institution.

This is so amazingly good; the music segment was... delightful.

Let me tell you how brilliant Andrew truly is: Most lectures are boring. Boring means that the lecturer has succeeded in cutting bloodflow to your brain making it harder to learn. Andrew realizes this either consciously or unconsciously and he keeps the class engaged. No one is bored, everyone pays attention, cerebral perfusion is increased and this helps memory as well as intelligence. Anyone who would criticize my professor is ignorant of psycophisiology and the science of how we learn.

This guy is the best teacher I have ever seen. It's like Doctor Who meets Ace Ventura. He's brilliant :)

Got to say this was absolutely amazing. I was glued to it from start to finish. Its now 05:30am, didn't think I'd watch the whole thing lol! What a brilliant lecturer

My favorite chemist! So happy to see a new vid

I have a wish that he should be my chemistry teacher and his teaching is really ossum

What a teacher and a true gentle-man, thoroughly courteous and brilliant person. I think I've learned more in this one session than I ever learned at school. A very captivating lecture/demonstration, many many thanks.

I am commenting this from Addis Ababa in Ethiopia 🇪🇹🇪🇹 far far away from Great Britain. Dr. Andrew Szydlo is not just one genius chemist. Rather he is a passionate person with a combination of talents packed in together. He is a humble ingenious teacher, an amazing musician and a talented painter. Moreover, unlike many scientists today who prefer to dwell in their area of specialization, he is curious about nature and how things work in general. His teaching techniques should be adopted by many trainers. As for instance, when he sketched with that graphite, he was not just try to show what elemental carbon can do, but he was summarizing his flask experiment with a picture so everyone will not forget the lesson when he switch to the next lesson plan. Besides chemistry, I think there are a lot of lessons to take from his videos. I had been following his series for a while and was always fascinated by his simplistic methods and his common sense explanation. Big love and hug for Dear Dr. Szydlo from the rainy city of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.🇪🇹🇪🇹🇪🇹🇪🇹

you can tell he truly understands and is interested in what he is talking about, he can hardly stay quiet with how excited he is to show everything.

1:37:50 Me when I've realized that I over-slept.

The Professor is marvelous. Love his "older and slightly batty" demeanor. Educational because he's also entertaining.

I had a fantastic teacher. His name was Mr Millington. He walked around with a white lab jacket that he painted "Acme science teacher" painted on the back. He was full of life and used to speak regularly to BRMB. He went on Live TV in the 90's to do stand up. He tragically died out of the blue not long after I left school. He was brilliant.

1:37:45 UNACCEPTABLE! This brought tears of laughter to my eyes. I love the royal institution videos as background noise, although i'll admit they tend to draw me away from what i'm doing more often than not. Edit: it's rare I have the impulse to clap along with the audience at the end of a video but the Royal Institute consistently has wonderful presenters who inspire that reaction.

...and at the same time, we had a little bit of extra flame produced, which was the most important! - Andrew Szydio 2018

The thing I love about this is that he loves his subjects and passing knowledge that he dashes from one to the other with little direction.

"Chemistry of Fire and Gunpowder" *cue Hungarian Folk Melody played by a random troupe of musicians*

I just love the essence of joy and interest this man displays throughout the video, it's like watching a small child having fun with homework, this man has a gift of sharing what he likes, my best hopes for him

45:05 The ether cought flame from the burner, 'Oscar' never lit it! Just shows even more how dangerous the invisible gasses coming from the (heated) flamable liquids are...

Andrew Szydlo is inspiring. So excited he's like a kid in a candy shop. Never a dull moment with his lectures. I love fire, too, but he might love it more than I. Thanks for sharing.

I ve loved watching this. Dr Szydlo looks like kid in a playground, i could watch him every day. Nice, thanks RI.

Andrew dear fellow you masterfully managed to stop them from clapping before you started the demo.

Hectic, but so intertaining that you just can't stop watching.

Wish I could see this brilliant guy before the call comes. You better live long, cause world need this kind of people. Mindful of work and pursuit, musically entangled, appreciating others but never thyself for once...

I love this guy so much! He so enthusiastic about everything and the kids feel that and love him for it!

I love how he stops the applause at times for reasons of either humility or scientific demonstration. Legendary man

absolutely brilliant. knowledge and the passion to express it to others.

Hydrogen (followed by exited villain face), "Which I'll show you at the end" - priceless.

I like at 45:00, when playing with vaporising ether in the hot trough, how Andreas rescues the situation.... he anticipated the flashover and moved put the stopper in the bottle just out of shot. Well held.

If every science teacher, - strike that - every teacher, would have this enthusiastic and kind style, the world would be a better place.

When he was playing with that plane I lost it he's very spritely and seems so sweet and endearing when he says dear children

"Wood doesn't always have to be burnt." this is the highlight of this wonderful video, indeed!

Andrew Szydlo makes chemistry understandable by everyone. Perfect.

I love his high speed talking. I wld love to have had him as a teacher when I was in school. Wld love to see more from him.

Best lecture I've ever witnessed. The props are all well and fine, but my goodness, that man just exudes excitement and favor for his profession and desire to share his passion. And share he does. What a joyful man.

I *love* Andrew Szydlo! These are my favorite lectures and demonstrations at the Royal Institution. :D

Learning the chemical change that wood takes in order to catch fire is amazing. This means that wood itself technically doesn’t burn but rather the flame brings out the charcoal and the CHARCOAL catches..... mind blown...

Thank you gentleman. I never thought chemistry would be this much interesting subject to learn. Long live Sir Andrew Szydlo and his crew.!

I absolutely love his lectures and how passionate he is about FIRE.

Szydlo is absolutely amazing.

Andrew Syzdlo is awesome!

I thought at the very beginning that I would be only able to watch a few minutes and then I was most of the way through having been entertained the whole time! This man has a gift, what great enthusiasm for the subject of chemistry and the desire to share it with children. What a great way to get kids interested in the subject! I lost count of all the demonstrations he performed. Great stuff!

I dont think i know anyone else who can make science of wood this interesting, and these lectures are way to short. Been watching every lecture by Andrew thus far on the Ri channel.

these videos are such a fantastic and entertaining resource. Thank you Dr. Szydlo, and thank you Royal Institution.

I love this gentleman. From the way he speaks on so many things at once, but always brings it all together. I enjoyed the unexpected musical part . A genius, performance.

I always enjoy watching a teacher with such passion.

Amazing video! He managed to speak for over an hour without even a second of silence, absolutely superb!

This is the best professor on the planet. I want to study under him now and I’ve been out of school for 19 years. Bravo

I learned quite a bit from this, good stuff. The guy was on fire... also he could play a villain in a movie.

So so entertaining!, A wonderful man who obviously takes delight in enlightening people! Thank you sir for your time and all involved in bringing such educational entertainment to RU-vid for us all who cannot be there.

Having studied Chemistry at University, but I still find Andrew Szydlo an extremely entertaining and fun lecturer to watch! If anyone can win over new Chemists from the crowd of exited children, it's Andrew Szydlo! One of the very, very best The Royal Institution features!👍

There's something for everyone in this demo-talk. Brilliant!

These videos are so easy to watch. Andrew is better than a grand master!

Brilliant !!! Great talk, great delivery, great subject. Now I'm looking at my fire completely differently!!! I hadn't thought that so much stuff was happening with a 'simple' wood fire.

Brilliant lecturer. An absolute pleasure to watch!

Love this guy, hope he lives to be 200 and constantly consumes knowledge.

Fantastic! Mr. Szydlo is a spectacular teacher and has an excellent presence!

i am romanian and i am working in Germany for 3 years but that small violin melody moved my soul . THANKYOU

I love this guy. I'm 60 but I'm happy to be one of his "children."

I just love Andrews enthusiasm. In is upper years, he is bouncing around WANTING to tell this.

I could watch Andrew Szydlo forever. . He's amazing!

Fell asleep...Good ol auto play...Awoke to this...Stayed up & watched the entire thing...Now this is how you teach!!!

Omg. I love watching this man. I just wished people would stop interrupting him. He speaks fast because he has a time limit.

I'm breathless just watching him. Excellent stuff!

Great show! Keep em coming. Thank You Prof. Szydlo

So captivating, he has my attention every step of the way, the mark of the best and rarest of educators

it's such a joy watching someone so passionate

Great presentation. I experiment with running engines on wood gas and this presentation got me fired up. I was always curious about heating wood in a retort.