All language subtitles for PBS.NOVA.2005.Einsteins.Big.Idea

(ticking)

MAN:
When we think
of E equals m c-squared,

we have this vision of Einstein
as an old, wrinkly man

with white hair.

MAN 2:
E equals m c-squared
is not about an old Einstein.

It's actually about a young,
energetic, dynamic,

even a sexy Einstein.

ACTOR AS EINSTEIN:
What would I see if I rode
on a beam of light?

MAN:
Perhaps some sort

of electrical force is emanating

outwards from
the wire.

What?

MAN:
Faraday, my dear boy,

electricity flows
through a wire,

not sideways to it.

You see, John?

You see?

MAN:
It is my great ambition
to demonstrate

that nature is a closed system;

that in any transformation,

no amount of matter, no mass,
is ever lost,

and none is gained.

The people...

Lavoisier.

It is they who will determine
right and wrong.

( both laughing )

MAN:
Emilie,

you are
being absurd!

Why ascribe
to an object

a vague and immeasurable
force like vis viva?

It is a return
to the old ways!

Are you capable of discovering
something of your own?

I discovered you!

WOMAN:
There is no right time
for the truth.

Fr?ulein Meitner?

Yes?

Otto Hahn.

The nucleus is our focus.

The Jewess endangers
our institute.

We can't harbor
a Jew!

If she stays,
the regime will
shut us all down!

They've split the atom.

No, no, no.

You've split the atom!

Energy equals mass
times the square of
the speed of light!

( laughs )

Would you like me to check
your mathematics?

Major funding for NOVA
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Shouldn't what makes
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supporting NOVA and promoting
public understanding of science.

Funding for "Einstein's
Big Idea" is provided

by the National
Science Foundation,

where discoveries begins.

And by the Alfred P. Sloan
Foundation,

to portray the lives
of men and women

engaged in scientific
and technological pursuit.

And the U.S. Department
of Energy,

fostering science and security.

And the Universities
Research Association.

Major funding for NOVA
is also provided

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for Public Broadcasting,

and by PBS viewers like you--
thank you.

NARRATOR:
A hundred years ago,

a deceptively simple formula
revealed a hidden unity

buried deep in the fabric
of the universe.

It tells
of a fantastic connection

between energy,
matter and light.

Its author was
a youthful Albert Einstein.

It's the most famous equation
in the world:

E equals m c-squared.

MAN:
All aboard!

( train whistle toots )

LITHGOW:
But while we've all heard

of Einstein's big idea,

very few of us know
what it means.

In fact, E equals m c-squared
is so remarkable

that even Einstein wasn't sure
if it was really true.

WOMAN:
Albert, darling,

you're later than I expected.

We've only got sausage
and cheese tonight.

What is it?

We need to talk.

Has something happened?

Oh, no, nothing.

Sorry, no.

I spent most of the day

staring out
the window at work
looking at trains,

and I started
to think

about an object
and how much energy it had.

Can I explain it to you?

Of course you can.

But first...
( kisses ) dinner!

Hmm? Food, then talk.

I think the gods
are laughing at me.

LITHGOW:
The gods were not laughing
at Einstein.

He'd united
in one stunning insight

the work of many
who had come before him--

scientists who'd fought
and even died

to create each part
of the equation.

The story
of E equals m c-squared

starts long before Einstein

with the discovery
of "E" for energy.

In the early 19th century,

scientists didn't think
in terms of "energy";

they thought in terms of
individual "powers" or "forces."

These were all disconnected,
unrelated things:

the power of the wind,
the force of a door closing,

a crack of lightning.

( thunder rumbles )

The idea that there might be

some sort of overarching,
unifying energy

which lay behind all these
forces had yet to be revealed.

One lowly man's drive

to understand the hidden
mysteries of nature

would begin to change all that.

MAN:
Young Michael Faraday hated
his job.

He was uneducated,
the son of a blacksmith.

He'd been lucky to become
a bookbinder's apprentice.

But Faraday craved one thing.

He craved knowledge.

He read every book
that passed through his hands.

He developed
a passion for science.

All of his free time
and his meager wages were poured

into his self-education.

He was on the threshold
of an incredible journey

into the invisible world
of energy.

LITHGOW:
Faraday had impressed
one of his master's customers

and was rewarded with a ticket
that would change his life.

Excuse me, please.

Can I pass, please?

"Can I pass?"

Some of us are trying
to improve ourselves,

if people will let us.

Of course, of course--
pass, pass.

This way
to a better life.

( chuckles )

MAN:
In the early 1800s, science was
the pursuit of gentlemen,

something Faraday
was clearly not.

He had a rudimentary education,

he'd read widely,
he'd gone to public lectures,

but in 1812 he was given tickets
to hear Sir Humphry Davy,

the most prominent chemist
of the age.

( groans )

( laughing )

LITHGOW:
Nineteenth-century scientists
were the pop stars of their day.

Their lectures were
hugely popular.

Tickets were hard to come by,
and Davy reveled in his status.

They're waiting.

I know.

LITHGOW:
He was also a keen follower
of the latest fashion--

nitrous oxide, or laughing gas.

He said it had all the benefits
of alcohol without the hangover.