science

Glued to the Box

Glued to the Box is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Glued to the Box rather than just read about it. In short: Glued to the Box (TV Criticism from the Observer 1979–1982), is a 1983 book featuring the third and final collection of television criticism that Clive James wrote for The Observer. Synopsis It includes material from articles that run from 2 December 1979 to 28 March 1982.

Key takeaways

Glued to the Box belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Glued to the Box to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Glued to the Box from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Glued to the Box (TV Criticism from the Observer 1979–1982), is a 1983 book featuring the third and final collection of television criticism that Clive James wrote for The Observer.

Synopsis It includes material from articles that run from 2 December 1979 to 28 March 1982. In the Introduction he writes that he had, "never thought of television criticism as a career. It is the sort of thing one goes into with a whole heart but not for ones whole life." The volume finishes with his "standing up and moving aside" for his successor, Julian Barnes. "No doubt he will slag one of my programmes first chance he gets, but by then I will be in the habit of damning all critics as fools." The book is dedicated to Pat Kavanagh and Dan Kavanagh and carries an epigraph from Charles Péguy at its start.

Reception The London Review of Books wrote: "Along with its two predecessors, (Visions Before Midnight and The Crystal Bucket), it will stand as a once-only critical phenomenon: ten years worth of high intelligence and wit." Sheridan Morley called him "far and away the funniest writer in regular Fleet Street employment."

See also 1983 in television British television Television studies

References

External links Glued to the Box Archived 24 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine on Clive James' official website clivejames.comtvcriticism Archived 23 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Glued to the Box

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Glued to the Box claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Glued to the Box before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Glued to the Box ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Glued to the Box

In research: Glued to the Box appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Glued to the Box in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Glued to the Box is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1970s in British television, 1980s in British television, 1983 non-fiction books, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Glued to the Box outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Glued to the Box in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Glued to the Box means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Glued to the Box out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Glued to the Box in simple terms?

Glued to the Box (TV Criticism from the Observer 1979–1982), is a 1983 book featuring the third and final collection of television criticism that Clive James wrote for The Observer. Synopsis It includes material from articles that run from 2 December 1979 to 28 March 1982.

Why does Glued to the Box matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Glued to the Box?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Glued to the Box.