Beakman’s World - Season 1 Episode 21

Queried about the origins of earwax, Beakman notes that it serves a purpose…protecting the body from dirt and germs floating in the air. Using a model of the ear, he shows how the body's ceruminous glands produce an oil which, once it begins to dry out, turns to wax. Then, using the Boguscope, Beakman demonstrates how changes in air pressure cause ears to pop. During "Beak-Mania," Beakman explains why feet fall asleep (lack of circulation), whether blood is really thicker than water (yes, about six times thicker), and that two quarts equal a "pottle." For the "Beakman Challenge," Lester is asked to bounce a tennis ball fifteen feet in the air by gently dropping it on the floor. When he is unable to perform the seemingly impossible task, Beakman shows that it can be done by placing the tennis ball atop a basketball and then dropping them together. Asked about how rockets work, Beakman conjures up the father of modern rocketry, Dr. Robert H. Goddard. After explaining that the action caused by the fuel creates a reaction which propels it into the sky, Goddard is told that rockets were eventually used in the way he predicted they would be, including sending men to the moon. Finally, Beakman uses a large plastic soda bottle to demonstrate that, under proper supervision and with all the necessary precautions, anyone can make a rocket at home.