I am good at other stuff

At school, like everyone I suppose, I was better at certain things than other. Languages were totally my thing, English Language = yes yes yes, even the humanities I was so so at. Maths wasn't the best (although I did fluke an A* in my GCSE, to this day I am sure they mixed my result with someones, I even asked the Head when I picked my results up, her response, 'Don't worry Livy, we've already checked', that's a confidence boost if ever there was one....).

My downfall?

Science.

All of them I was pretty bad at but specifically, Physics. I sucked. Really badly. I was the girl who tried incredibly hard for the first year, totally earnest, worked my little bum off and still pulled a 49% in the end of year exam. After that, I became the girl who didn't even try, I mean, you work hard and still fail? My 13 year old head told me that there was no point even doing that. So I forgot homework, tried to convince the teacher that he had lost it and just didn't listen.

Fast forward 14 years and here I am, with absolutely no knowledge of anything physicsy. Now, that is generally fine; I have no interest in how my microwave or hairdryer works, as long as they do!

Until Steve got totally into Brian Cox and his programme on the universe and planets and stuff (see? No idea....), now, Steve and I have been together for over six years so I generally don't feel silly with things I don't know, I know other things, important things, interesting things, but having your new husband find that you weren't aware that the Earth rotated = not the best.

So, I'm being brave, I am going to tell you all the things Physics related that I truely don't understand, Steve has tried to explain a few of them to me but is getting nowhere - can you help or should I just accept that this is not my thing and get back to my phonology/language analysis/Sex and the City book (delete depending on the day I've had....)?

• I don't really understand gravity, I mean, I know I don't float, but I am not having it that I am being sucked down to earth, and I don't understand how it works in Australia, I mean, if the world is, as suggested, a great big ball, how is nobody upside down?
• Speaking of gravity, if it does exist then I can't see why people make such a big thing about Newton discovering it, I mean it isn't an invention after all! It was just sitting there waiting to be discovered! All he discovered was that things fall down when they are dropped and presumabley everyone already knew that!
• Also, why is space dark? It is closer to the sun than us so surely it should be lighter?
• Glass - seriously, who invented glass? I mean who would look at a beach, and think 'ooh look if I get a load of that, heat it up to 10000 degrees (how?) and add some potash or whatever (making this up now) I can make a lovely fruit bowl for mother's day, as well as patch up those pesky windows but still let light in'.

And, I suppose this technically isn't Physics (or is it? I don't know) but in the olden days, how did they design and build catherdrals and things, I mean, they didn't even have pencils then.