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"When Knowledge Conquered Fear"
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We were born into a mystery,
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one that has haunted us
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since at least as long
as we've been human.
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We awakened on this tiny world
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beneath a blanket of stars,
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like an abandoned baby
left on a doorstep
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without a note to explain
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where we came from, who we are,
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how our universe came to be.
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And with no idea how to end
our cosmic isolation.
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We've had to figure it all out
for ourselves.
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Best thing we had going for us
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was our intelligence,
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especially our gift
for pattern recognition,
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sharpened over eons
of evolution.
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The ones who were good at
spotting prey and predator,
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telling poisonous plants
from the nourishing ones,
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they had a better chance
to live and reproduce.
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They survived
and passed on those genes
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for pattern recognition
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with its obvious advantages.
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Cultures all over the planet
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looked up at the same stars
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and found
different pictures there.
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We used this gift for
recognizing patterns in nature
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to read the calendar
in the sky.
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The messages written
in the stars
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told our forefathers
and mothers
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when to camp
and when to move on.
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When the migratory herds
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and when the rains
and the cold would come.
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And when they would cease
for a time.
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When they observed
the direct connection
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between the motions
of the stars
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and the seasonal cycles
of life on Earth,
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they concluded, naturally,
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that what happens up there
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must be directed
at us down here.
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It makes sense, right?
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If the sky was a calendar
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and somebody stuck
a Post-it note on top of it,
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what else could it be
but a message?
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And so, when the heavenly order
was suddenly violated
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by the apparition of
a comet in the sky...
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they took it personally.
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Can we really blame them?
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Back then, they had no other
logical explanation
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for what was happening.
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This was long before
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anyone had yet to imagine Earth
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as a spinning planet
with a tilted axis,
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revolving around the Sun.
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Every ancient human culture
made the same mistake,
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a comet must be a message,
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sent by the gods...
or one particular god.
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And almost invariably,
our ancestors concluded
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the news was not good.
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It didn't matter if you were
an ancient Aztec,
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Anglo-Saxon, Babylonian, Hindu.
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Comets were portents of doom.
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The only difference among them
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was the precise nature
of the coming disaster.
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"Dis-aster," as in the
Greek word for "bad star."
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To the Masai of East Africa,
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a comet meant famine.
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To the Zulu in the south,
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it meant war.
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To the Eghap people
of the west,
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it meant disease.
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To the Djaga of Zaire,
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specifically "smallpox."
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To their neighbors, the Luba,
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a comet foretold
the death of a leader.
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The ancient Chinese
were remarkably systematic.
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Starting in roughly 1400 BC,
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they began recording
and cataloguing
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the apparitions of comets.
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A three-tailed comet
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meant calamity for the state.
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A four-tailed comet
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signified an epidemic
was coming.
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The human talent
for pattern recognition
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is a two-edged sword.
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We're especially good
at finding patterns,
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even when they
aren't really there--
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something known as
"false pattern recognition."
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We hunger for significance,
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for signs that
our personal existence
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is of special meaning
to the universe.
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To that end, we're all too eager
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to deceive ourselves and others,
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to discern a sacred image
in a grilled cheese sandwich
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or find a divine warning
in a comet.
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Today, we know exactly
where comets come from
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00:06:02,269 --> 00:06:05,605
and what they're made of.
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00:06:07,541 --> 00:06:09,342
Our Ship of the Imagination,
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fueled by equal parts
of science and wonder,
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can take us anywhere
in space and time.
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It can travel faster than light
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and render visible those things
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that cannot be seen.
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It's carrying us to
a mysterious realm
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that lies one light-year
from the Sun.
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What is this swarm of worlds?
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Was it organized
by alien beings?
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No.
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Just gravity.
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These are the snows
of yesteryear,
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drifting mountains
of ice and rock,
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the preserved remnants of
the birth of the solar system.
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It's called the Oort Cloud,
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after Jan Oort,
the Dutch astronomer
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who foretold its existence
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back in 1950.
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He was trying to
solve a paradox.
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There's so many ways
for comets to die.
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Because they cross
the orbits of planets,
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comets frequently
collide with them.
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Comets are largely made of ice,
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so every time they
come near the Sun,
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they lose a part of themselves
through evaporation.
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And after several
thousand trips,
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their ice is all gone,
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and what remains of the comet
is now an asteroid.
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Comets can be gravitationally
ejected from the solar system
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and exiled into space.
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And yet, somehow,
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the comets keep coming.
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Oort and other
astronomers wondered,
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"Where do all
the comets come from?"
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Oort calculated the rate
at which new comets appear
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and concluded
that there must be
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a vast, spherical
swarm of them,
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a few light-years across,
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surrounding the Sun.
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Oort's logic still holds up,
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even after all the discoveries
we've made about comets
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and the solar system in
the many decades since.
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And yet, the Oort Cloud
is a sight
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that no one has ever seen.
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Nor could we.
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It's dark out here.
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And each comet is about as far
from its closest neighbor
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as the Earth is from Saturn.
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But science gives us
special powers of our own.
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It gave Jan Oort
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the gift of prophecy.
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Oort was also the first
to correctly estimate
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00:08:20,908 --> 00:08:22,842
the distance between the Sun
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and the center of our galaxy.
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That's a big deal--
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finding out where we are
in the Milky Way.
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Our star is about
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30,000 light-years
from the center.
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Oort was also
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the first guy to use
a radio telescope
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to map the galaxy's
spiral structure.
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And he discovered that
the center of our galaxy
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was a place of
titanic explosions,
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the first indication
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that there might have been
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a supermassive black hole
lurking there.
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Does the fact that
most of us know
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the names of mass murderers,
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but never heard of Jan Oort,
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say anything about us?
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The Oort Cloud is so enormous
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that it takes one of its comets
about a million years
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to complete a single trip
around the Sun.
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Out here, at the far edge
of the solar system,
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even a little tug from
the gravity of a passing star
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can liberate
some of these comets
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from their gravitational
bondage to the Sun.
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Some comets are flung
out of the solar system
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to wander interstellar space.
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But for others,
there's a different fate.
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This one is plunging
towards the Sun,
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gaining speed in
an unbroken free fall
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that lasts hundreds
of thousands of years.
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When Neptune's gravity
gives it another tug,
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there's a small
change in course.
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Mighty Jupiter,
the most massive
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object in our solar system--
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other than the Sun--
attracts the comet
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with its powerful
gravitational pull,
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bending its path.
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When our comet reaches
the inner solar system...
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heat from the Sun bakes it.
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A beautiful
transformation begins.
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The barren, sooty iceberg
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now sports a glowing halo...
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and a tail.
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These layers tell the story
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of how the comet was made,
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some four billion years ago.
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During the 40,000 generations
of humanity,
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00:11:04,538 --> 00:11:07,107
there must have been
roughly 100,000 apparitions
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of a bright comet.
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00:11:08,909 --> 00:11:10,777
For all that time,
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the best we could do was
look up in helpless wonder,
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00:11:15,650 --> 00:11:18,118
prisoners of Earth with
nowhere to turn
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for an explanation beyond
our guilt and our fears.
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00:11:22,923 --> 00:11:26,126
But then a friendship began
between two men that led
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to a permanent revolution
in human thought.
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00:11:30,998 --> 00:11:34,034
Isaac Newton and Edmond Halley
could not know it,
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00:11:34,068 --> 00:11:37,804
but their collaboration would
ultimately set us free
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from our long confinement
on this tiny world.
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00:11:48,675 --> 00:11:50,442
The Comet of 1664
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00:11:50,477 --> 00:11:54,046
sent shivers of dread
throughout Europe,
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00:11:54,080 --> 00:11:56,615
and the terror seemed justified
when the Plague
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and the Great Fire of London
followed soon after.
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00:12:01,221 --> 00:12:04,656
There, with long bloody hair,
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00:12:04,691 --> 00:12:07,960
a blazing star
threatens the world
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00:12:07,994 --> 00:12:12,698
with famine, plague and war.
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00:12:14,334 --> 00:12:17,002
To princes, it spells death...
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00:12:18,171 --> 00:12:21,206
to kingdoms, many crosses...
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00:12:21,241 --> 00:12:25,511
to all estates,
inevitable losses...
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00:12:25,545 --> 00:12:28,547
to herdsmen, rot,
220
00:12:28,581 --> 00:12:31,416
to plowmen, hapless seasons,
221
00:12:31,451 --> 00:12:36,021
to sailors, it brings storms,
222
00:12:36,055 --> 00:12:40,025
to cities, civil treasons.
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00:12:47,100 --> 00:12:49,434
But for one child,
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00:12:49,469 --> 00:12:52,204
the comet was not the least bit
frightening.
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00:12:56,976 --> 00:13:01,380
For him,
it was a thing of wonder.
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00:13:01,414 --> 00:13:04,450
Like all of us,
Edmond Halley was born curious.
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00:13:04,484 --> 00:13:06,585
Hell's bells!
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00:13:07,310 --> 00:13:10,412
He was lucky to have
a father who encouraged
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00:13:10,447 --> 00:13:12,114
and nurtured his curiosity,
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00:13:12,149 --> 00:13:15,151
buying him the best
scientific instruments
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00:13:15,185 --> 00:13:17,086
and even funding his expedition
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00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:20,122
to make the first accurate star
map of the Southern Hemisphere.
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00:13:20,157 --> 00:13:22,992
Halley dropped out of Oxford
when he was 20,
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00:13:23,026 --> 00:13:24,960
and sailed to St. Helena,
235
00:13:24,995 --> 00:13:28,497
an island below the equator,
off the west coast of Africa.
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00:13:33,837 --> 00:13:35,604
Hell's bells.
237
00:13:35,639 --> 00:13:37,740
The problem was,
nobody told Halley
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00:13:37,774 --> 00:13:39,608
that the weather on St. Helena
239
00:13:39,643 --> 00:13:43,612
was generally lousy; it took
him 12 frustrating months
240
00:13:43,647 --> 00:13:48,617
to observe enough southern
stars to make a complete map.
241
00:13:48,652 --> 00:13:52,655
The gods and heroes of ancient
Greece were now joined
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00:13:52,689 --> 00:13:55,791
by the mythic figures
of a new world and age,
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00:13:55,826 --> 00:13:59,995
a toucan, a compass,
a bird of paradise.
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00:14:08,371 --> 00:14:11,373
When Halley came home
with the other half of the sky,
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00:14:11,408 --> 00:14:13,342
his map created a sensation.
246
00:14:13,376 --> 00:14:16,512
Now merchants and explorers
could navigate by the stars
247
00:14:16,546 --> 00:14:18,280
visible anywhere on Earth.
248
00:14:18,315 --> 00:14:21,350
At the time,
the World Society of London
249
00:14:21,384 --> 00:14:23,552
was the world's clearinghouse
of scientific discovery.
250
00:14:23,587 --> 00:14:26,322
Its motto, "Nullius in verba,"
251
00:14:26,356 --> 00:14:29,058
sums up the heart
of the scientific method.
252
00:14:29,092 --> 00:14:32,061
It's Latin for
"see for yourself."
253
00:14:32,095 --> 00:14:35,731
In other words,
"question authority."
254
00:14:35,765 --> 00:14:37,399
Halley's star maps caught
the attention
255
00:14:37,434 --> 00:14:39,702
of the Society's Curator
of Experiments.
256
00:14:39,736 --> 00:14:41,470
I'd show him to you if I could,
257
00:14:41,505 --> 00:14:44,540
but no portrait of Robert Hooke
exists from his time,
258
00:14:44,574 --> 00:14:47,543
only the verbal descriptions
of his contemporaries.
259
00:14:47,577 --> 00:14:50,846
They called him
"lean, bent, ugly."
260
00:14:50,881 --> 00:14:53,983
He was possibly the most
inventive person who ever lived.
261
00:14:54,017 --> 00:14:55,751
And despite his appearance,
262
00:14:55,785 --> 00:14:58,888
he was the most sought-after
party guest in all of London.
263
00:14:58,922 --> 00:15:00,656
Why?
264
00:15:00,690 --> 00:15:05,227
Hooke's insatiable curiosity
encompassed absolutely everything.
265
00:15:07,364 --> 00:15:10,199
Hooke discovered
a little cosmos,
266
00:15:10,233 --> 00:15:13,569
and we still call it by
the name he gave it, the cell.
267
00:15:13,603 --> 00:15:15,371
Hooke discovered
the cell by looking
268
00:15:15,405 --> 00:15:18,107
at a piece of cork
with one of his own inventions,
269
00:15:18,141 --> 00:15:20,576
the compound microscope.
270
00:15:20,610 --> 00:15:23,913
He anticipated aspects of
Darwin's theory of evolution
271
00:15:23,947 --> 00:15:27,016
by almost 200 years.
272
00:15:27,050 --> 00:15:29,118
Hooke also improved
the telescope.
273
00:15:29,152 --> 00:15:31,754
The drawings he made of the
astronomical bodies he observed
274
00:15:31,788 --> 00:15:33,889
attest
to his uncanny precision.
275
00:15:33,924 --> 00:15:38,394
After the Great Fire destroyed
central London in 1666,
276
00:15:38,428 --> 00:15:41,197
Hooke partnered with the
architect Christopher Wren
277
00:15:41,231 --> 00:15:44,266
to redesign and rebuild
the city.
278
00:15:44,301 --> 00:15:48,204
Hooke was the foremost
experimentalist of his age.
279
00:15:48,238 --> 00:15:49,572
Using coiled springs,
280
00:15:49,606 --> 00:15:51,307
he derived the
"law of elasticity,"
281
00:15:51,341 --> 00:15:53,809
known today as Hooke's Law.
282
00:15:53,844 --> 00:15:56,278
He perfected the air pump,
283
00:15:56,313 --> 00:15:58,647
the height of technology
in its time,
284
00:15:58,682 --> 00:16:02,418
and used it to experiment
on respiration and sound.
285
00:16:02,452 --> 00:16:05,454
And he experimented
with cannabis.
286
00:16:05,489 --> 00:16:08,123
He reported to a meeting
of the Royal Society
287
00:16:08,158 --> 00:16:10,793
that a sea captain friend
of his
288
00:16:10,827 --> 00:16:13,395
"had so often experimented
with it,
289
00:16:13,430 --> 00:16:14,997
that there is no cause of fear,
290
00:16:15,031 --> 00:16:17,933
though possibly there may be
of laughter."
291
00:16:22,172 --> 00:16:24,807
But coffee was the drug
of choice for England
292
00:16:24,841 --> 00:16:26,308
in the 17th century.
293
00:16:26,343 --> 00:16:28,811
Coffeehouses sprang up
all over London.
294
00:16:41,158 --> 00:16:44,193
This is where people came
to get news,
295
00:16:44,227 --> 00:16:47,930
to launch new ventures,
and to debate ideas.
296
00:16:47,964 --> 00:16:50,332
The coffeehouse
was an oasis of equality
297
00:16:50,367 --> 00:16:53,002
in a class-obsessed society.
298
00:16:53,036 --> 00:16:55,671
Here, a poor man
needn't give up his seat
299
00:16:55,705 --> 00:16:58,474
to a rich man,
nor submit to his opinion.
300
00:16:58,508 --> 00:17:00,810
It was a kind of laboratory
of democracy.
301
00:17:00,844 --> 00:17:03,479
In this highly caffeinated
atmosphere,
302
00:17:03,513 --> 00:17:08,217
Halley and Hooke met Christopher
Wren to discuss a deep mystery.
303
00:17:08,251 --> 00:17:11,654
Why do the planets move
as they do?
304
00:17:11,688 --> 00:17:14,190
The astronomer Johannes Kepler
had demonstrated,
305
00:17:14,224 --> 00:17:15,691
some 80 years before,
306
00:17:15,725 --> 00:17:18,294
that the orbits of the
planets around the Sun
307
00:17:18,328 --> 00:17:21,697
were not perfect circles,
but actually ellipses,
308
00:17:21,731 --> 00:17:25,000
and that the closer a planet
was to the Sun,
309
00:17:25,035 --> 00:17:27,970
the faster it moved.
310
00:17:28,004 --> 00:17:29,856
Why?
311
00:17:30,273 --> 00:17:32,842
Could some invisible force
from the Sun be responsible
312
00:17:32,844 --> 00:17:34,477
for this change in motion?
313
00:17:34,479 --> 00:17:36,212
If so, how did it work?
314
00:17:36,214 --> 00:17:39,615
Could there be a simple
mathematical law to describe it?
315
00:17:39,617 --> 00:17:43,419
Maybe something like Hooke's Law
of Elasticity?
316
00:17:46,957 --> 00:17:48,724
Perhaps.
317
00:17:48,758 --> 00:17:50,359
But try as he might,
318
00:17:50,393 --> 00:17:51,694
Christopher Wren couldn't
figure it out.
319
00:17:53,029 --> 00:17:54,530
Damned if I haven't tried.
320
00:17:54,564 --> 00:17:56,031
It's beyond me.
321
00:17:56,066 --> 00:17:58,033
I'll wager a book
worth 40 shillings
322
00:17:58,068 --> 00:17:59,568
to the man who can solve it!
323
00:17:59,603 --> 00:18:01,704
That book is
mine, Mr. Wren.
324
00:18:01,738 --> 00:18:03,072
I've already done
the calculation.
325
00:18:03,106 --> 00:18:04,406
Halley was delighted.
326
00:18:04,441 --> 00:18:06,242
Show us, Mr. Hooke.
327
00:18:06,276 --> 00:18:09,845
But months passed,
and Hooke failed to deliver.
328
00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:11,514
He couldn't do the math.
329
00:18:11,548 --> 00:18:13,349
None of them could.
330
00:18:13,383 --> 00:18:15,684
Finally, Halley had enough
of Hooke's excuses.
331
00:18:15,719 --> 00:18:18,754
Halley knew there must be
someone, somewhere,
332
00:18:18,789 --> 00:18:20,790
up to the challenge.
333
00:18:27,097 --> 00:18:30,065
What about that mathematician
at Cambridge?
334
00:18:30,100 --> 00:18:31,901
Clever fellow.
335
00:18:31,935 --> 00:18:34,270
He had solved central questions
about the nature of light
336
00:18:34,304 --> 00:18:38,107
years before,
when he was still only 22.
337
00:18:38,141 --> 00:18:40,075
And he invented
the reflecting telescope.
338
00:18:40,110 --> 00:18:41,777
Odd bird.
339
00:18:41,812 --> 00:18:43,946
Dropped out of sight
a while back;
340
00:18:43,980 --> 00:18:47,082
some squabble over Hooke
and his discovery about light.
341
00:18:47,117 --> 00:18:48,651
Went completely
to pieces over it
342
00:18:48,685 --> 00:18:51,220
and has been hiding out
in Cambridge ever since.
343
00:18:51,254 --> 00:18:54,256
Halley wondered if this strange,
and by all accounts,
344
00:18:54,291 --> 00:18:56,892
exceedingly difficult man,
might succeed
345
00:18:56,927 --> 00:18:58,494
where Hooke and others
had failed.
346
00:18:58,528 --> 00:19:00,062
What he couldn't know,
347
00:19:00,096 --> 00:19:03,065
what no one could possibly
imagine at the time,
348
00:19:03,099 --> 00:19:04,600
were the countless ways
349
00:19:04,634 --> 00:19:07,903
the world would be forever
changed by this meeting
350
00:19:07,938 --> 00:19:10,372
on an August day in 1684.
351
00:19:18,999 --> 00:19:21,601
Isaac Newton
was born in England
352
00:19:21,635 --> 00:19:23,903
on Christmas Day in 1642.
353
00:19:25,839 --> 00:19:29,776
Before he even opened his eyes,
his father was already dead.
354
00:19:31,812 --> 00:19:34,714
His mother left him
when he was only three
355
00:19:34,748 --> 00:19:37,817
and did not return
until he was 11.
356
00:19:37,851 --> 00:19:41,621
When she did, it was
with a new family and husband,
357
00:19:41,655 --> 00:19:44,257
a stepfather
who Isaac Newton despised.
358
00:19:49,463 --> 00:19:52,665
Newton's refuge
from his miserable family life
359
00:19:52,700 --> 00:19:56,502
was his passion to understand
how things worked,
360
00:19:56,537 --> 00:19:59,572
especially nature itself.
361
00:19:59,606 --> 00:20:03,309
In 1661, the talented young
Isaac entered Trinity College
362
00:20:03,344 --> 00:20:05,445
at Cambridge University
363
00:20:05,479 --> 00:20:08,114
where he was a consistently
lousy student,
364
00:20:08,148 --> 00:20:10,950
one without friends
or a loving family
365
00:20:10,985 --> 00:20:13,519
to provide any warmth
or encouragement.
366
00:20:13,554 --> 00:20:17,190
Newton mostly kept to himself,
sequestered in his room,
367
00:20:17,224 --> 00:20:19,692
studying ancient Greek
philosophers,
368
00:20:19,727 --> 00:20:21,995
geometry and languages,
369
00:20:22,029 --> 00:20:23,763
and pondering deep questions
370
00:20:23,797 --> 00:20:28,768
on the nature of matter,
space, time, and motion.
371
00:20:28,802 --> 00:20:33,473
This budding scientist
was also a passionate mystic.
372
00:20:33,507 --> 00:20:35,174
Newton believed
that a secret knowledge
373
00:20:35,209 --> 00:20:37,510
called alchemy,
known only to a small group
374
00:20:37,544 --> 00:20:41,547
of ancient philosophers,
was waiting to be rediscovered.
375
00:20:41,582 --> 00:20:45,218
He hoped to learn how
to change ordinary metals
376
00:20:45,252 --> 00:20:46,853
into silver and gold,
377
00:20:46,887 --> 00:20:49,722
and maybe even cook up
the elixir of life,
378
00:20:49,757 --> 00:20:51,891
the key to immortality.
379
00:20:52,893 --> 00:20:55,795
He was also obsessed
380
00:20:55,829 --> 00:20:59,032
with finding hidden messages
in the words of the Bible.
381
00:20:59,066 --> 00:21:03,369
He combed through translations
in several different languages,
382
00:21:03,404 --> 00:21:06,673
hoping to decipher coded
instructions from God.
383
00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:15,081
He made elaborate calculations
in an effort
384
00:21:15,115 --> 00:21:19,485
to discover the date
of the Second Coming.
385
00:21:19,520 --> 00:21:21,387
His lifelong research
in alchemy
386
00:21:21,422 --> 00:21:24,557
and biblical chronology
never led anywhere.
387
00:21:29,229 --> 00:21:32,065
When Halley found Newton
that fateful day,
388
00:21:32,099 --> 00:21:36,402
he was living
as a virtual recluse.
389
00:21:39,039 --> 00:21:41,941
Newton had gone into hiding
13 years earlier,
390
00:21:41,976 --> 00:21:46,613
after Robert Hooke had publicly
accused Newton of stealing
391
00:21:46,647 --> 00:21:48,848
his groundbreaking work
on light and color.
392
00:21:48,882 --> 00:21:51,884
In fact, it was Isaac Newton
393
00:21:51,919 --> 00:21:53,753
who solved the mystery
of the spectrum of light,
394
00:21:53,787 --> 00:21:56,556
not Robert Hooke.
395
00:21:56,590 --> 00:21:58,725
This wound was painful
and deep,
396
00:21:58,759 --> 00:22:01,527
and Newton resolved to never
expose himself to that kind
397
00:22:01,562 --> 00:22:03,196
of public humiliation
ever again.
398
00:22:03,230 --> 00:22:06,232
Sir, I don't suppose you recall
399
00:22:06,266 --> 00:22:08,268
our meeting a few years ago?
400
00:22:08,302 --> 00:22:10,236
Yes, Mr. Halley.
401
00:22:10,270 --> 00:22:11,771
I'm sorry to bother you.
402
00:22:11,805 --> 00:22:14,641
Never mind the formalities,
get to your point.
403
00:22:14,675 --> 00:22:17,910
I've been talking with our
friends, Mr. Wren and Mr. Hooke.
404
00:22:17,945 --> 00:22:20,913
That scoundrel Hooke's
no friend of mine.
405
00:22:20,948 --> 00:22:22,715
Yes, I understand, sir.
406
00:22:22,750 --> 00:22:24,751
But the thing is
we've been debating
407
00:22:24,785 --> 00:22:27,654
the puzzling question
of planetary motion.
408
00:22:27,688 --> 00:22:29,555
We all agree that
some force of attraction
409
00:22:29,590 --> 00:22:32,258
from the Sun governs
the motions of the planets.
410
00:22:32,293 --> 00:22:35,228
We suspect there must be
a mathematical law
411
00:22:35,262 --> 00:22:36,896
to describe how this force
412
00:22:36,930 --> 00:22:39,399
changes with distance.
413
00:22:39,433 --> 00:22:40,733
And knowing of your skill...
414
00:22:40,768 --> 00:22:42,068
Yes, yes,
the attraction of gravity
415
00:22:42,102 --> 00:22:44,304
weakens with the square
of the distance.
416
00:22:44,338 --> 00:22:46,906
That's why the planets
move in ellipses.
417
00:22:46,940 --> 00:22:49,509
But, sir, how can you know this?
418
00:22:49,543 --> 00:22:52,445
Why, I have calculated it
some five years ago.
419
00:22:52,479 --> 00:22:55,348
I beg you, show it to me.
420
00:22:55,382 --> 00:22:56,749
The calculation is here...
421
00:22:56,784 --> 00:22:58,751
somewhere.
422
00:22:58,786 --> 00:22:59,986
Well, no matter.
423
00:23:00,020 --> 00:23:01,454
I shall redo it and be sure
424
00:23:01,488 --> 00:23:02,522
to send it on to you.
425
00:23:02,556 --> 00:23:03,990
This is stupendous!
426
00:23:04,024 --> 00:23:06,292
Why have we not
had word of it before?
427
00:23:06,327 --> 00:23:08,127
Newton remembered all too well
428
00:23:08,162 --> 00:23:11,164
what Hooke had done to him
429
00:23:11,198 --> 00:23:13,833
the last time
he put forth an idea.
430
00:23:13,867 --> 00:23:15,935
Just when Halley
may have begun to wonder
431
00:23:15,970 --> 00:23:19,105
if Newton was bluffing
as Hooke had done earlier,
432
00:23:19,139 --> 00:23:22,976
a messenger arrived
with an envelope from Newton.
433
00:23:25,879 --> 00:23:29,649
Here are the opening pages
of modern science
434
00:23:29,683 --> 00:23:32,952
with its all-embracing
vision of nature...
435
00:23:32,987 --> 00:23:36,723
universal laws
of motion, gravity...
436
00:23:36,757 --> 00:23:38,358
not just for the Earth,
437
00:23:38,392 --> 00:23:41,327
but for the cosmos.
438
00:23:41,362 --> 00:23:44,631
Halley raced back to Cambridge.
439
00:23:44,665 --> 00:23:47,700
Mr. Newton, I beseech you
to work all of this
440
00:23:47,735 --> 00:23:50,303
into a book
as soon as possible.
441
00:23:50,337 --> 00:23:53,806
I can assure you the Royal
Society will publish it.
442
00:23:53,841 --> 00:23:55,675
But there was
one little problem.
443
00:23:55,709 --> 00:23:58,144
We are in agreement
444
00:23:58,178 --> 00:24:01,314
that Mr. Newton has produced
a masterpiece.
445
00:24:01,348 --> 00:24:04,984
However, I'm afraid
the Royal Society has...
446
00:24:05,019 --> 00:24:08,921
well, regrettably sales
for the History of Fish...
447
00:24:08,956 --> 00:24:12,859
have not lived up
to our financial expectations.
448
00:24:12,893 --> 00:24:15,695
It's an impressive book.
449
00:24:15,729 --> 00:24:17,597
Extremely comprehensive.
450
00:24:17,631 --> 00:24:19,399
Really.
451
00:24:19,433 --> 00:24:22,936
It's filled with lavish
illustrations of...
452
00:24:22,970 --> 00:24:26,406
well, fish.
453
00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:28,841
The disappointing sales led
to a bigger problem.
454
00:24:28,876 --> 00:24:31,377
The Royal Society
pretty much blew
455
00:24:31,412 --> 00:24:34,380
its total annual budget
on the History of Fish.
456
00:24:34,415 --> 00:24:37,116
In fact, they were
so strapped for cash,
457
00:24:37,151 --> 00:24:39,552
they had to pay
poor Halley's salary
458
00:24:39,586 --> 00:24:42,255
with copies
of their worst-selling book.
459
00:24:42,289 --> 00:24:45,458
With no money to print
Newton's Principia,
460
00:24:45,492 --> 00:24:48,594
the scientific revolution
hung in the balance.
461
00:24:54,038 --> 00:24:55,932
Without Halley's heroic efforts,
462
00:24:56,009 --> 00:24:58,076
the reclusive Newton's
masterwork
463
00:24:58,162 --> 00:25:00,183
might never have seen
the light of day.
464
00:25:00,526 --> 00:25:02,726
But Halley was
a man on a mission,
465
00:25:02,728 --> 00:25:06,330
absolutely determined to bring
Newton's genius to the world.
466
00:25:06,332 --> 00:25:08,899
That pre-scientific world,
467
00:25:08,901 --> 00:25:11,368
the world ruled by fear,
468
00:25:11,370 --> 00:25:14,505
was poised at the edge
of a revolution.
469
00:25:14,507 --> 00:25:17,875
Everything depended
on whether or not Edmond Halley
470
00:25:17,877 --> 00:25:20,878
could get Newton's book out
to the wider world.
471
00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:23,680
Halley resolved not only
to edit Newton's book,
472
00:25:23,682 --> 00:25:26,683
but to publish it
at his own expense.
473
00:25:26,685 --> 00:25:28,585
Newton completed
the first two volumes,
474
00:25:28,587 --> 00:25:30,787
laying the mathematical
framework
475
00:25:30,789 --> 00:25:33,357
for the physics of motion.
476
00:25:33,359 --> 00:25:36,393
The third volume
would settle once and for all
477
00:25:36,395 --> 00:25:38,262
who won the coffeehouse wager.
478
00:25:38,264 --> 00:25:40,531
Newton applied
his principles to explain
479
00:25:40,533 --> 00:25:42,666
all the known motions
of the Earth,
480
00:25:42,668 --> 00:25:45,035
the Moon and the planets.
481
00:25:45,037 --> 00:25:48,005
Unfortunately,
there was this problem.
482
00:25:48,039 --> 00:25:49,840
Now Halley also took on the role
483
00:25:49,874 --> 00:25:52,776
of Newton's psychotherapist.
484
00:25:52,811 --> 00:25:56,146
Isaac, I'm afraid
that Mr. Hooke requires
485
00:25:56,181 --> 00:25:59,483
an acknowledgment in the preface
of your third volume.
486
00:25:59,517 --> 00:26:00,817
But I have done so.
487
00:26:00,852 --> 00:26:02,953
Thanking him,
Mr. Wren and yourself
488
00:26:02,987 --> 00:26:06,056
for prodding me to think again
on astronomical matters.
489
00:26:06,090 --> 00:26:09,293
Mr. Hooke has been going
about London saying
490
00:26:09,327 --> 00:26:11,795
that you got
the Law of Gravity from him.
491
00:26:11,830 --> 00:26:13,397
Why, that litigious little...
492
00:26:13,431 --> 00:26:14,731
Never!
493
00:26:14,766 --> 00:26:16,567
I would sooner
burn the third volume
494
00:26:16,601 --> 00:26:18,569
than deface it with such a lie.
495
00:26:18,603 --> 00:26:20,037
To hell with Hooke.
496
00:26:20,071 --> 00:26:21,371
He will be long forgotten
497
00:26:21,406 --> 00:26:23,707
when your ideas
are still being celebrated.
498
00:26:25,577 --> 00:26:29,646
More copies of
that dreadful book?
499
00:26:29,681 --> 00:26:32,382
Wherever shall we put them all?
500
00:26:32,417 --> 00:26:33,917
We talked about this,
Mary, dear.
501
00:26:33,952 --> 00:26:36,587
This is my salary
from the Society.
502
00:26:36,621 --> 00:26:39,389
They have nothing else
with which to pay me.
503
00:26:39,424 --> 00:26:41,658
If only Mr. Hooke
and Mr. Newton
504
00:26:41,693 --> 00:26:43,694
were more like you.
505
00:26:43,728 --> 00:26:45,696
Halley and Wren
decided to confront Hooke
506
00:26:45,730 --> 00:26:47,364
about his false claims.
507
00:26:47,398 --> 00:26:50,000
That law is mine, I tell you!
508
00:26:50,034 --> 00:26:51,368
I proved it first.
509
00:26:51,402 --> 00:26:53,203
Then fetch your proof here
at once.
510
00:26:53,238 --> 00:26:54,438
Let us see it.
511
00:26:54,472 --> 00:26:58,041
Surely we have waited
on it long enough.
512
00:26:58,076 --> 00:27:01,178
You'll simply have to
take my word for it.
513
00:27:01,212 --> 00:27:03,580
Empty claims
may persuade elsewhere,
514
00:27:03,615 --> 00:27:05,782
but not here.
515
00:27:05,817 --> 00:27:08,418
Put up or shut up, Mr. Hooke.
516
00:27:09,821 --> 00:27:11,955
Blasted Newton.
I'll make him pay.
517
00:27:27,472 --> 00:27:30,907
If it wasn't for Edmond Halley,
518
00:27:30,942 --> 00:27:33,076
Newton's great book would've
never been conceived,
519
00:27:33,111 --> 00:27:35,612
nor written, nor printed.
520
00:27:35,646 --> 00:27:37,914
Okay. So what?
521
00:27:37,949 --> 00:27:40,083
What difference does
that make to us?
522
00:27:40,118 --> 00:27:42,886
What's the big deal?
523
00:27:48,159 --> 00:27:51,294
When Isaac Newton was born
in this house
524
00:27:51,329 --> 00:27:54,965
in 1642,
the world was very different.
525
00:27:54,999 --> 00:27:57,200
Everyone looked
at the perfection
526
00:27:57,235 --> 00:27:59,870
of the clockwork motions
of the planets in the sky
527
00:27:59,904 --> 00:28:01,805
and could only understand it
as the work
528
00:28:01,839 --> 00:28:03,473
of a master clock maker.
529
00:28:03,508 --> 00:28:05,575
How else to explain it?
530
00:28:05,610 --> 00:28:07,944
There was only one way
such a thing could come about
531
00:28:07,979 --> 00:28:09,412
in their imagination;
532
00:28:09,447 --> 00:28:11,448
only one answer for them--
533
00:28:11,482 --> 00:28:12,916
God.
534
00:28:12,950 --> 00:28:15,218
For reasons beyond
our understanding,
535
00:28:15,253 --> 00:28:17,788
God just created
the solar system that way.
536
00:28:17,822 --> 00:28:20,757
But this explanation is
the closing of a door.
537
00:28:20,792 --> 00:28:24,327
It doesn't lead
to other questions.
538
00:28:34,472 --> 00:28:35,772
Along came Newton,
539
00:28:35,807 --> 00:28:38,909
a God-loving man
who's also a genius.
540
00:28:38,943 --> 00:28:41,077
He could write
the laws of nature
541
00:28:41,112 --> 00:28:43,513
in perfect
mathematical sentences--
542
00:28:43,548 --> 00:28:45,982
formulas
that applied universally
543
00:28:46,017 --> 00:28:48,952
to apples, moons, planets
544
00:28:48,986 --> 00:28:51,154
and so much more.
545
00:28:53,191 --> 00:28:56,026
With one foot still
in the Middle Ages,
546
00:28:56,060 --> 00:28:59,296
Isaac Newton imagined
the whole solar system.
547
00:28:59,330 --> 00:29:01,665
Newton's laws of gravity
and motion
548
00:29:01,699 --> 00:29:05,535
revealed how the Sun held
distant worlds captive.
549
00:29:05,570 --> 00:29:07,704
His laws swept away the need
550
00:29:07,738 --> 00:29:09,339
for a master clock maker
551
00:29:09,373 --> 00:29:12,809
to explain the precision
and beauty of the solar system.
552
00:29:12,844 --> 00:29:16,046
Gravity is the clock maker.
553
00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:19,449
Matter obeyed commandments
we could discover,
554
00:29:19,484 --> 00:29:22,052
laws the Bible hadn't mentioned.
555
00:29:22,086 --> 00:29:25,055
Newton's answer to why the
solar system is the way it is
556
00:29:25,089 --> 00:29:28,625
opened the way to an infinite
number of questions.
557
00:29:28,659 --> 00:29:30,660
Principia also happened
to include
558
00:29:30,695 --> 00:29:32,662
the invention of calculus,
559
00:29:32,697 --> 00:29:35,298
and the first
sound theoretical basis
560
00:29:35,333 --> 00:29:37,801
for an end to our imprisonment
on Earth--
561
00:29:37,835 --> 00:29:40,003
space travel.
562
00:29:43,407 --> 00:29:46,076
Newton envisioned
the firing of a cannonball...
563
00:29:47,879 --> 00:29:50,380
with increasingly greater
explosive thrust.
564
00:29:52,850 --> 00:29:56,219
He reasoned
that with enough velocity,
565
00:29:56,254 --> 00:29:58,822
the bounds of gravity
could be broken,
566
00:29:58,856 --> 00:30:00,757
and the cannonball could escape
567
00:30:00,792 --> 00:30:03,093
to orbit the Earth.
568
00:30:03,127 --> 00:30:06,229
This changed everything.
569
00:31:08,159 --> 00:31:12,729
Newton's Principia Mathematica
set us free in another way.
570
00:31:12,764 --> 00:31:14,631
By finding the natural laws
571
00:31:14,665 --> 00:31:17,434
governing the comings
and goings of comets,
572
00:31:17,468 --> 00:31:19,569
he decoupled the motions
of the heavens
573
00:31:19,604 --> 00:31:23,340
from their ancient connections
to our fears.
574
00:31:29,095 --> 00:31:32,371
If Halley hadn't been standing
next to Newton for all those years,
575
00:31:32,406 --> 00:31:37,413
perhaps the world would remember him
for his own accomplishments and discoveries.
576
00:31:37,448 --> 00:31:40,550
But the only thing that comes
to mind for most people
577
00:31:40,585 --> 00:31:45,034
is the comet,
the irony is that discovering a comet
578
00:31:45,069 --> 00:31:48,952
is actually one of the
few things that Halley never did.
579
00:31:53,977 --> 00:31:56,599
Mountain of ice to starboard!
580
00:31:56,634 --> 00:31:58,415
- Come about!
- Aye, aye, Captain Halley!
581
00:32:01,630 --> 00:32:04,241
After the publication
of the Principia
582
00:32:04,276 --> 00:32:08,128
Halley was commanded by
his king to lead three ocean voyages,
583
00:32:08,163 --> 00:32:12,698
scientific expeditions to solve
navigational problems for the British navy.
584
00:32:12,733 --> 00:32:18,364
Halley used this opportunity to make
the first map of the Earth's magnetic field
585
00:32:22,125 --> 00:32:24,994
And he was also a businessman.
586
00:32:27,097 --> 00:32:29,899
Halley perfected
the diving bell...
587
00:32:31,435 --> 00:32:33,536
...and used his invention
to start
588
00:32:33,570 --> 00:32:36,639
a flourishing commercial
salvage operation.
589
00:32:40,911 --> 00:32:43,079
Mmm, ah, Dr. Halley's gone
and done it this time.
590
00:32:43,113 --> 00:32:46,315
I reckon he's been down
there at least three hours.
591
00:32:46,349 --> 00:32:49,051
Not one to
risk the lives of others,
592
00:32:49,086 --> 00:32:52,488
Halley personally tested
his own invention.
593
00:32:56,126 --> 00:32:59,628
I make it exactly four hours
since our descent.
594
00:32:59,663 --> 00:33:01,764
Not at all bad for ten fathoms.
595
00:33:07,104 --> 00:33:09,038
He invented the weather map.
596
00:33:11,808 --> 00:33:15,344
And the symbols he devised
for indicating prevailing winds
597
00:33:15,378 --> 00:33:17,813
are still in use today.
598
00:33:27,524 --> 00:33:30,159
Halley laid the groundwork
599
00:33:30,193 --> 00:33:32,261
for the science
of population statistics.
600
00:33:32,295 --> 00:33:33,596
How?
601
00:33:33,630 --> 00:33:36,599
He compared the birth,
marriage, death,
602
00:33:36,633 --> 00:33:39,502
and population densities
of London and Paris.
603
00:33:39,536 --> 00:33:41,804
He actually had to pace off
604
00:33:41,838 --> 00:33:42,972
the entire perimeter
of Paris, on foot,
605
00:33:43,006 --> 00:33:45,207
to learn its true dimensions.
606
00:33:45,242 --> 00:33:46,609
He came to the conclusion
607
00:33:46,643 --> 00:33:48,344
that since roughly half
of all adults fail
608
00:33:48,378 --> 00:33:49,812
to reproduce children,
609
00:33:49,846 --> 00:33:51,814
who themselves survive
to reproduce,
610
00:33:51,848 --> 00:33:54,717
every married couple must have
four children
611
00:33:54,751 --> 00:33:57,219
in order to maintain
the population.
612
00:34:00,223 --> 00:34:02,825
And it was Edmond Halley
who gave us
613
00:34:02,859 --> 00:34:04,460
the actual scale
of the solar system.
614
00:34:04,494 --> 00:34:07,029
He figured out a clever way
to find the distance
615
00:34:07,064 --> 00:34:08,564
from Earth to the Sun.
616
00:34:08,598 --> 00:34:10,833
It involved precisely measuring
the time it took
617
00:34:10,867 --> 00:34:14,203
for the planet Venus
to cross the Sun's disc.
618
00:34:17,174 --> 00:34:19,975
27 years after Halley's death,
619
00:34:20,010 --> 00:34:23,345
Captain James Cook made
his first voyage to Tahiti
620
00:34:23,380 --> 00:34:25,915
for the express purpose
of testing Halley's method
621
00:34:25,949 --> 00:34:28,517
during a transit of Venus
across the Sun.
622
00:34:28,552 --> 00:34:30,920
Using a special filter
to protect his vision
623
00:34:30,954 --> 00:34:34,090
from being destroyed
by looking directly at the Sun,
624
00:34:34,124 --> 00:34:36,826
Cook and his men made it
possible for us to know
625
00:34:36,860 --> 00:34:41,163
that the Sun
is 93 million miles from Earth.
626
00:34:41,198 --> 00:34:43,566
And Halley was the first
to realize
627
00:34:43,600 --> 00:34:47,436
that the so-called "fixed" stars
were not fixed at all.
628
00:34:47,471 --> 00:34:49,238
How'd he do it?
629
00:34:49,272 --> 00:34:51,841
He pored over
the observations made
630
00:34:51,875 --> 00:34:54,510
by the ancient Greek astronomers
of the brightest stars.
631
00:34:54,544 --> 00:34:57,246
And he compared their
observations with the ones
632
00:34:57,280 --> 00:35:01,283
he himself made of the same
stars 1,800 years later.
633
00:35:01,318 --> 00:35:03,552
Why hadn't anyone noticed
this before?
634
00:35:03,587 --> 00:35:06,555
Halley figured out that it would
only become apparent
635
00:35:06,590 --> 00:35:09,692
if you waited long enough
between observations.
636
00:35:09,726 --> 00:35:12,228
It's hard to perceive
the motions of things
637
00:35:12,262 --> 00:35:13,562
that are far away.
638
00:35:13,597 --> 00:35:16,265
And the stars
are so very far away,
639
00:35:16,299 --> 00:35:18,601
that you would need
to track them for many centuries
640
00:35:18,635 --> 00:35:21,971
before you could detect
that they moved at all.
641
00:35:23,907 --> 00:35:27,543
Halley discovered the first
clue to a magnificent reality,
642
00:35:27,577 --> 00:35:31,981
all the stars are in motion,
streaming past each other,
643
00:35:32,015 --> 00:35:34,650
rising and falling like
merry-go-round horses
644
00:35:34,684 --> 00:35:40,423
in their Newtonian dance around
the center of our galaxy.
645
00:35:40,457 --> 00:35:44,660
And, oh, yes, there was that
thing about the comet.
646
00:35:48,432 --> 00:35:51,901
What were those strange and
beautiful celestial visitors
647
00:35:51,935 --> 00:35:54,503
that appeared without warning
from time to time?
648
00:35:54,538 --> 00:35:58,607
Halley set out to solve this
mystery as a detective would,
649
00:35:58,642 --> 00:36:00,943
by gathering all credible
eyewitness testimony.
650
00:36:00,977 --> 00:36:03,512
The earliest precise
observations of a comet
651
00:36:03,547 --> 00:36:06,415
that Halley could find
were made in Constantinople
652
00:36:06,450 --> 00:36:10,753
by Nikephoros Gregoras,
a Byzantine astronomer and monk
653
00:36:10,787 --> 00:36:13,022
in June 1337.
654
00:36:13,056 --> 00:36:16,325
Halley hunted down
every astronomical observation
655
00:36:16,359 --> 00:36:22,198
of a comet recorded in Europe
between 1472 and 1698.
656
00:36:22,232 --> 00:36:25,301
And remember,
there was no such thing
657
00:36:25,335 --> 00:36:27,136
as a search engine
or a computer.
658
00:36:27,170 --> 00:36:30,373
All Halley had
were his books and his mind.
659
00:36:30,407 --> 00:36:32,208
Now here comes the hard part,
660
00:36:32,242 --> 00:36:35,211
Halley had to take the
observations made for each comet
661
00:36:35,245 --> 00:36:39,348
and find the shape of its
actual path through space.
662
00:36:39,383 --> 00:36:41,450
No one else but Newton
had yet attempted
663
00:36:41,485 --> 00:36:44,787
to apply his new set of laws
to an astronomical question.
664
00:36:44,821 --> 00:36:48,124
In an arduous tour de force
of mathematical brilliance,
665
00:36:48,158 --> 00:36:52,495
Halley discovered that comets
were bound to the Sun
666
00:36:52,529 --> 00:36:54,764
in long elliptical orbits.
667
00:36:58,568 --> 00:37:03,205
And he was the first to know
that the comets seen in 1531,
668
00:37:03,240 --> 00:37:09,078
1607, and 1682...
669
00:37:09,112 --> 00:37:11,080
were one and the same--
670
00:37:11,114 --> 00:37:14,316
a single comet that returned
every 76 years.
671
00:37:14,351 --> 00:37:17,686
In a stunning example
of true pattern recognition,
672
00:37:17,721 --> 00:37:20,689
he predicted
it would be seen again
673
00:37:20,724 --> 00:37:22,892
more than 50 years
in the future.
674
00:37:24,594 --> 00:37:27,663
For millennia, comets had been
props for mystics,
675
00:37:27,697 --> 00:37:32,268
who considered them to be
merely omens of human events.
676
00:37:32,302 --> 00:37:34,070
Halley shattered their monopoly,
677
00:37:34,104 --> 00:37:36,539
beating them at their own game,
678
00:37:36,573 --> 00:37:40,209
a game that no scientist
had ever played before...
679
00:37:40,243 --> 00:37:41,911
prophecy.
680
00:37:41,945 --> 00:37:44,246
And he did not hedge his bet.
681
00:37:44,281 --> 00:37:45,848
Like Babe Ruth predicting
682
00:37:45,882 --> 00:37:48,684
where his next home run
would land in the stands,
683
00:37:48,719 --> 00:37:51,620
Halley stated flatly
that the comet would return
684
00:37:51,655 --> 00:37:56,225
at the end of 1758, from
a particular part of the sky,
685
00:37:56,259 --> 00:37:58,527
following a specific path.
686
00:37:58,562 --> 00:38:01,297
There is hardly a prophecy
attempted by the mystics
687
00:38:01,331 --> 00:38:04,467
that ever even strives
for comparable precision.
688
00:38:25,486 --> 00:38:27,521
That's Halley's Comet.
689
00:38:27,555 --> 00:38:29,956
Out here at the edge
of the solar system,
690
00:38:29,991 --> 00:38:31,358
it doesn't look like much.
691
00:38:31,392 --> 00:38:34,861
Just a big hunk of ice
and rock in space.
692
00:38:34,896 --> 00:38:36,897
That's because beyond
the orbit of Neptune,
693
00:38:36,931 --> 00:38:39,399
nearly five billion kilometers
from the Sun,
694
00:38:39,433 --> 00:38:41,902
comets lead very quiet lives.
695
00:38:44,405 --> 00:38:47,674
As it reaches the far end
of its orbit,
696
00:38:47,708 --> 00:38:50,677
it'll slow down till the Sun
allows it to go no farther.
697
00:38:50,711 --> 00:38:55,382
Then it will begin its long fall
back to the inner solar system.
698
00:38:55,416 --> 00:38:59,019
Halley's comet is in free fall
around the Sun.
699
00:38:59,053 --> 00:39:02,389
Everything in our solar system--
the Earth, the Moon,
700
00:39:02,423 --> 00:39:04,491
the other planets, comets,
asteroids,
701
00:39:04,525 --> 00:39:07,727
all of them are falling
around the Sun.
702
00:39:07,762 --> 00:39:10,764
Gravity pulls the planets
towards the Sun,
703
00:39:10,798 --> 00:39:12,699
but because of
their orbital momentum,
704
00:39:12,733 --> 00:39:16,736
they keep moving around the Sun,
never falling into it.
705
00:39:20,741 --> 00:39:22,876
Robert Hooke had died
years before,
706
00:39:22,910 --> 00:39:25,679
having ruined his health
with some bad habits...
707
00:39:25,713 --> 00:39:29,716
daily doses of wormwood,
opium, mercury.
708
00:39:29,750 --> 00:39:32,886
A few months later, Newton was
elected to replace him
709
00:39:32,920 --> 00:39:35,122
as president
of the Royal Society.
710
00:39:35,156 --> 00:39:37,891
It is said
that a portrait of Hooke
711
00:39:37,925 --> 00:39:40,694
once hung on these walls.
712
00:39:40,728 --> 00:39:45,232
Halley lived on to accomplish
many more astonishing feats.
713
00:39:45,266 --> 00:39:49,903
He worked right up
to his death at age 85.
714
00:39:49,937 --> 00:39:53,440
His final act was to call
for a glass of wine.
715
00:39:53,474 --> 00:39:55,809
He downed it with pleasure...
716
00:39:55,843 --> 00:39:57,978
and breathed his last breath.
717
00:40:03,117 --> 00:40:07,087
Some believe that it was
on a night like this
718
00:40:07,121 --> 00:40:10,090
that Isaac Newton finally
took his revenge
719
00:40:10,124 --> 00:40:11,958
against Robert Hooke.
720
00:40:26,507 --> 00:40:28,975
But Halley's prophecy
was not forgotten.
721
00:40:29,010 --> 00:40:30,577
50 years later,
722
00:40:30,611 --> 00:40:33,246
as the time of the predicted
return approached,
723
00:40:33,281 --> 00:40:35,015
the world's astronomers vied
724
00:40:35,049 --> 00:40:37,918
to be the first
to catch sight of his comet.
725
00:40:37,952 --> 00:40:39,519
They weren't disappointed.
726
00:40:39,554 --> 00:40:43,790
It's been welcomed back
every 76 years since.
727
00:40:43,825 --> 00:40:47,194
When Halley's Comet returns
to our skies,
728
00:40:47,228 --> 00:40:50,263
sunlight will warm up the ice
on its surface,
729
00:40:50,298 --> 00:40:52,265
once again setting loose
730
00:40:52,300 --> 00:40:56,203
the dust and gases
trapped within.
731
00:40:58,172 --> 00:41:00,640
Halley's Comet most recently
visited our neighborhood
732
00:41:00,675 --> 00:41:03,510
back in 1986.
733
00:41:03,544 --> 00:41:06,613
And if you're
seeing this in 2061,
734
00:41:06,647 --> 00:41:08,582
then you'll know it's back.
735
00:41:11,152 --> 00:41:12,986
May you feel the wonder
of all those
736
00:41:13,020 --> 00:41:15,388
who came before you...
737
00:41:15,423 --> 00:41:17,390
and none of the fear.
738
00:41:17,425 --> 00:41:21,027
Newton's laws made it possible
for Edmond Halley
739
00:41:21,062 --> 00:41:23,730
to see some 50 years
into the future
740
00:41:23,764 --> 00:41:26,733
and predict the behavior
of a single comet.
741
00:41:26,767 --> 00:41:30,070
Scientists have been using
these laws ever since,
742
00:41:30,104 --> 00:41:32,973
opening the way to the Moon
743
00:41:33,007 --> 00:41:36,009
and even beyond
our solar system.
744
00:41:36,043 --> 00:41:38,778
The baby in the basket
is learning to walk...
745
00:41:45,253 --> 00:41:47,788
and to know the cosmos.
746
00:41:51,893 --> 00:41:53,226
Which brings me
747
00:41:53,261 --> 00:41:54,995
to one last prophecy.
748
00:41:55,029 --> 00:41:58,165
Using nothing more than
Newton's laws of gravitation,
749
00:41:58,199 --> 00:42:00,867
we astronomers
can confidently predict
750
00:42:00,902 --> 00:42:03,170
that several billion years
from now,
751
00:42:03,204 --> 00:42:05,906
our home galaxy, the Milky Way,
752
00:42:05,940 --> 00:42:10,243
will merge with our neighboring
galaxy Andromeda.
753
00:42:11,813 --> 00:42:14,014
Because the distances
between the stars
754
00:42:14,048 --> 00:42:16,383
are so great
compared to their sizes,
755
00:42:16,417 --> 00:42:19,853
few if any stars in either
galaxy will actually collide.
756
00:42:19,887 --> 00:42:22,789
Any life on the worlds
of that far-off future
757
00:42:22,824 --> 00:42:26,760
should be safe, but they would
be treated to an amazing,
758
00:42:26,794 --> 00:42:30,764
billion-year-long light show...
759
00:42:30,798 --> 00:42:34,434
a dance of
a half a trillion stars...
760
00:42:34,469 --> 00:42:38,972
to music first heard
on one little world
761
00:42:39,006 --> 00:42:43,743
by a man who had
but one true friend.
61078
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