Amazon Feels the Brian Cox Effect

Rachel_Sandford

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The geeks love him, and the girls love him. Professor Brian Cox, one of the hosts of the hit show on BBC Two, Stargazing Live, has started a phenomenon. Known as the 'Brian Cox Effect,' it seems every time this former D:Ream keyboardist appears on television, more people become interested in science.

Amazon.com UK's camera and photo manager, Neil Campbell reported that the website noticed a 491% increase in telescope sales on their site. Models ranging from £18 to more than £350 are selling better than they ever were in 2011. Sales of Cox' book also more than doubled on the site.

“In the three hours following ‘Stargazing Live’ being aired, we saw an almost six-fold increase in sales of telescopes. Each time the popular physicist appears on TV we see a jump in telescope sales and that would appear to point to a significant 'Brian Cox effect' encouraging a renewed interest in stargazing,” said Campbell.

Apart from inspiring people to go online and buy telescopes, though, the Brian Cox Effect can also be seen in classrooms. Teachers have reported that students are more interested in their classes. Entries for A-level maths, physics, and chemistry have all gone up, as many say Cox has “made science sexy again.” Many of the show's fans have tweeted that Cox has a way of making complex theories seem simple.

Cox himself said: “I go to schools and I see and hear there are a lot of kids, girls as well as boys, interested in science and engineering. This is the message: that these subjects are great things to do – for the individual it’s great because there is a shortage of scientists and engineers, but it’s also great for the country, because our country needs these people to improve our economy in the 21st century.”

Stargazing Live is a show that looks at the sky at night and discusses astronomy and some usually hard to chew theories of physics. The rise in sales, seemingly triggered by the programme, shows critics that Zeebox, the service that lets you purchase items seen on television and while watching TV, will be successful.
 

2cvbloke

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To be honest, the effect I get from him is ...................... O-zzz
 

pgh13

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Pity he didn't say he bought his clothes at Peacocks and his shoes from TJ Hughes! He could have saved thousands of jobs.
 

pgh13

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Rachel_Sandford said:
The rise in sales, seemingly triggered by the programme, shows critics that Zeebox, the service that lets you purchase items seen on television and while watching TV, will be successful.

Hadn't really looked at Zeebox until now! How depressingly awful! The Twitterers will love it. How long before it gets built in to all new TVs? O-no
 

Woody44

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pgh13 said:
Pity he didn't say he bought his clothes at Peacocks and his shoes from TJ Hughes! He could have saved thousands of jobs.

The 'Cox Effect' would have been much bigger if he announced that he bought his underwear from La Senza, too!!!
:-rofl2
 

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2cvbloke said:
To be honest, the effect I get from him is ...................... O-zzz

pgh13 said:
Hadn't really looked at Zeebox until now! How depressingly awful! The Twitterers will love it. How long before it gets built in to all new TVs? O-no

You do know - Things can only get better.

[video=youtube;buL6ATRHFqk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buL6ATRHFqk&feature=fvwrel[/video]

Maybe not.
 
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