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IN MY GRANDFATHER'S TIME, AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY
THE NIGHT SKY IS THE GREATEST SHOW AROUND.
IT PLAYS WEEK AFTER WEEK.
EVEN ON SUNDAYS, ASSUMING THE WEATHER HOLDS.
PART OF ITS POWER IS ITS INFINITE MYSTERY.
NO ONE KNOWS WHERE STARS COME FROM OR WHY THEY SHINE.
FEW BELIEVE WE WILL EVER UNDERSTAND
WHAT THE UNIVERSE IS MADE OF--
WHAT THE TRUE NATURE OF MATTER REALLY IS.
BUT THEN, WITHIN A FEW YEARS, ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE.
THERE ARE REVOLUTIONS IN ASTRONOMY AND PHYSICS
AND LONG-CHERISHED IDEAS ARE SHATTERED
ABOUT THE NATURE OF THE UNIVERSE AND SPACE AND TIME
AND EVEN REALITY ITSELF.
THE ONLY THING THAT REMAINS THE SAME
IS THE GLORY OF THE VIEW.
Osgood: FROM THE MOMENT THE TELESCOPE IS INVENTED
IT'S OUR WINDOW ON THE UNIVERSE.
IN THE 18th AND 19th CENTURIES
EVER LARGER AND MORE ELABORATE TELESCOPES
REVEAL EVER MORE STARS.
BY THE END OF THE 19th CENTURY
TELESCOPES ARE SO LARGE AND REVEAL SO MANY STARS
ASTRONOMERS ARE WORKING OVERTIME JUST TO CATALOGUE THEM.
THERE SEEMS LITTLE NEED TO BUILD EVEN BIGGER INSTRUMENTS
IF ALL THEY CAN DO IS FIND MORE STARS TO CATALOGUE.
BUT GEORGE ELLERY HALE DISAGREES.
HE'S PASSIONATELY CONVINCED
A BIG ENOUGH TELESCOPE WILL CHANGE ASTRONOMY
IN WAYS IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO ANTICIPATE
AND HE'S DETERMINED TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN.
THAT PASSION BRINGS HIM TO MOUNT WILSON IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
E AIR IS ALMOST ALWAYS FREE OF TURBULENCE AND CLOUDS.
IT'S THE PERFECT SPOT FOR AN OBSERVATORY.
WITH FUNDS FROM THE LIKES
OF STEEL TYCOON AND PHILANTHROPIST ANDREW CARNEGIE
HALE SETS OUT IN 1908 TO BUILD ON MOUNT WILSON
THE WORLD'S LARGEST TELESCOPE.
THE INSTRUMENT HE ENVISIONS WILL BE ALMOST TWICE THE SIZE
OF ANY THEN IN USE.
IT WILL COLLECT AND FOCUS LIGHT WITH A MIRROR 100 INCHES WIDE.
HALE'S ENTHUSIASM IS INFECTIOUS AND PERSUASIVE.
IT ALSO MASKS THE ENORMITY
OF THE TECHNOLOGICAL CHALLENGE HE'S UNDERTAKING.
Man: NOBODY IS POURING GLASS, MOLTEN GLASS
THE SIZE THAT IS GOING TO BE NECESSARY.
NOBODY IS CREATING THE KINDS OF BEAMS AND GIRDERS
AND THE SUPER GOING TO BE N ECESSARY.
THESE THINGS WEIGH HUNDREDS, THOUSANDS OF TONS.
YOU ALSO HAVE THE DIFFICULTY
THAT THEY'RE LOCATED ON MOUNTAINTOPS.
YOU HAVE TO BUILD THE ROADS.
YOU HAVE TO BUILD THE LIVING QUARTERS FOR THE ASTRONOMERS.
YOU HAVE TO HAVE MACHINE SHOPS ON SITE.
IT JUST GOES ON AND ON AND ON.
THESE ARE ALMOST KIND OF TECHNOLOGICAL KINGDOMS
IN THEIR OWN RIGHT
AND THEY'VE NEVER BEEN DESIGNED ON THIS SCALE BEFORE.
Osgood: THINGS SEEM TO GO WRONG FROM THE START.
THE MIRROR HAS TO BE THE LARGEST SOLID PIECE OF GLASS EVER MADE.
A FRENCH GLASSMAKER POURS
ENOUGH GREEN GLASS FOR 10,000 CHAMPAGNE BOTTLES
INTO A HUGE MOLD
AND THEN PACKS THE WHOLE THING IN MANURE TO SLOWLY COOL IT.
UNFORTUNATELY, IT COMES OUT FLAWED.
TWICE MORE THEY TRY
AND EACH TIME, THE GIANT DISKS CRACK AS THEY COOL.
LACKING THE MONEY TO TRY AGAIN
HALE ORDERS HIS OPTICIANS TO GRIND THE FIRST
IN THE HOPE ITS FLAWS AREN'T FATAL.
IT TAKES FOUR YEARS OF GRINDING AND POLISHING
TO FINISH THE MIRROR...
AND EVEN LONGER TO BUILD
T OF THE TELESCOPE AND ITS DOME.
HUNDREDS OF TONS OF STEEL AND CONCRETE
ARE HAULED UP THE MOUNTAIN ROAD
AT A CAUTIOUS TEN MILES PER HOUR.
EVEN AT THAT SPEED, ACCIDENTS HAPPEN.
THE STEEL SECTIONS OF THE TELESCOPE ITSELF
ARE BUILT AT AN EAST COAST SHIPYARD.
SOME ARE SO BIG THEY MUST BE SHIPPED BY BOAT TO CALIFORNIA.
WORLD WAR I HAS BROKEN OUT
AND GERMAN SUBMARINES ARE A CONSTANT THREAT.
LONG PRONE TO BOUTS OF DEPRESSION
HALE'S WORRIES ABOUT THE PROJECT BEGIN TO AFFECT HIS HEALTH.
THAT HE HAD BEEN VISITED
BY A COMPANION--
SORT OF DESCRIBED AS A LITTLE GREEN ELF
WHO MIGHT COME TO HIS BED OR SIT ON HIS SHOULDER
PERHAPS TO GIVE HIM ADVICE ABOUT HOW TO RUN HIS LIFE
AND HOW TO RAISE MONEY, WHO TO TALK TO.
IT'S HARD TO SAY.
THE ELF PERHAP WORK OUT SOME OF THIS STRESS.
Osgood: WHATEVER IT IS THAT CARRIES HALE THROUGH
ON NOVEMBER 2, 1917, THE 100-INCH TELESCOPE IS FINISHED.
ITS 100 TONS OF IRON AND STEEL MOVE
WITH THE PRECISION OF A FINE WATCH.
ITS 9,000-POUND MIRROR CAN DETECT A CANDLE
5,000 MILES AWAY.
WHAT HALE HAS BUILT IS ONE OF THE MARVELS OF THE 20th CENTURY.
IT WILL REIGN FOR DECADES AS THE BEST TELESCOPE IN THE WORLD
AND PROVE BEYOND DOUBT THE WORTH OF BIG TELESCOPES.
TO SPEND A NIGHT HERE
IS THE DREAM OF ASTRONOMERS THE WORLD OVER.
Christianson: YOU WOULD OPEN THE DOME-- A KIND OF ROLLING LIKE THUNDER.
YOU WERE ALONE ON THE MOUNTAIN WITH A TELESCOPE.
IT'S JUST YOU AND THE UNIVERSE OR YOU AND GOD, SO TO SPEAK.
Baliunas: YOU'D SIT AT THE PLATFORM AT THE TELESCOPE
GUIDING, MAKING VERY FINE ADJUSTMENTS
ON THIS MAGNIFICENT INSTRUMENT WITH A LITTLE HAND PADDLE
WITH YOUR EYE STARING DOWN ONTO THE ILLUMINATED CROSS HAIRS
AND WORK THERE EIGHT, TEN, 12 HOURS.
OFTENTIMES IT WAS EXTREMELY COLD.
IN WINTER THEY WORE HEAVY COATS.
SOMETIMES THEY WORE BEARSKIN OR SHEEPSKIN COATS.
YOU COULD LITERALLY HAVE YOUR TEARS FREEZE TO THE EYEPIECE
AND THEY WANTED HOT COFFEE BUT HALE WOULDN'T ALLOW IT.
HE THOUGHT IT WAS POISONOUS TO THE SYSTEM.
20 HOURS...
Osgood: COFFEE ISN'T ALL THAT HALE KEEPS OFF THE MOUNTAINTOP.
IN THE 1920s, I WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO WORK UP HERE.
IN FACT, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN WELCOME
EVEN AS A WIFE OR A VISITOR OF ANY OF THE SCIENTISTS.
HALE IN HIS DAYS AT YERKES
HAD FOUND THAT THE WIVES OF SOME OF THE ASTRONOMERS
BECAME A DISTRACTION TO THEIR MONASTIC SCHOLARLY STUDIES
AND SO THEY WERE ESSENTIALLY BANNED FROM THE MOUNTAINTOP.
Osgood: IRONICALLY, WITHOUT THE CONTRIBUTION MADE BY A WOMAN
THE FIRST GREAT DISCOVERY MADE WITH THE 100-INCH
MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE.
Man: THE CLOSEST A WOMAN COULD GET TO THE FIELD
WAS, AT THE TIME, AT THE HARVARD COLLEGE OBSERVATORY
WHERE MAJOR DATA-COLLECTING PROJECTS WERE IN PROGRESS.
HIRED ON TO HELP TO ANALYZE THE DATA WHERE MAJOR DATA-COLLECTING PROJECTS WERE IN PROGRESS.WERE
TO DO ALL THE MENIAL TASKS
THAT WERE BELOW THE DUTIES OF THE MEN.
Osgood: HENRIETTA LEAVITT IS ONE OF A DOZEN WOMEN
WHO STUDIED TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PHOTOGRAPHIC PLATES
TAKEN BY MEN AT DISTANT OBSERVATORIES.
LEAVITT'S TASK IS TO EXAMINE PLATES TAKENS
AND LOOK FOR STARS THAT VARY IN BRIGHTNESS.
SHE NOTICES A PATTERN IN ONE CLASS OF STARS CALLED "CEPHEIDS"
AND REALIZES THE TIME IT TAKES THEM
TO REACH THEIR MAXIMUM BRIGHTNESS
CAN BE USED TO DETERMINE HOW FAR AWAY THEY ARE.
IT'S A LANDMARK DISCOVERY.
BEFORE LEAVITT, ASTRONOMERS COULDN'T CALCULATE THE DISTANCE
TO ANY BUT THE CLOSEST STARS.
Tyson: WHAT HENRIETTA LEAVITT DID
WAS PROVIDE ONE OF THE FIRST AND STILL TO THIS DAY
ONE OF THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL YARDSTICKS IN THE UNIVERSE.
IT IS THE MEASURE BY WHICH ALL DISTANCES ARE DETERMINED.
WITHOUT THAT, WE'D BE CLUELESS.
Osgood: ALL THE ASTRONOMERS GEORGE HALE BRINGS TO MOUNT WILSON
WILL, AT SOME POINT IN THEIR CAREERS
MAKE USE OF LEAVITT'S CELESTIAL YARDSTICK.
BUT THERE'S ONE FOR WHOM IT WILL HAVE SPECIAL SIGNIFICANCE--
EDWIN HUBBLE.
A STAR ATHLETE IN COLLEGE
HUBBLE HAD WON A RHODES SCHOLARSHIP
AND STUDIED LAW AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY IN ENGLAND.
UPON RETURNING HOME, HOWEVER
HE DECIDES AGAINST BECOMING A LAWYER
AND HEADS OFF TO GRADUATE SCHOOL
TO TAKE SERIOUSLY A FASCINATION WITH THE STARS
THAT HE HAS FELT SINCE CHILDHOOD.
WHEN HUBBLE ARRIVES AT MOUNT WILSON IN 1919
HE'S A SMART BUT ARROGANT 29-YEAR-OLD
WHO HAS TAKEN PAINS TO ADOPT WHAT HE SEES
AS THE PROPER IMAGE OF AN ASTRONOMER.
Christianson: WHAT HE TRIES TO DO
IS TO CREATE THIS PORTRAIT OF HIMSELF
AS A KIND OF NATURAL-BORN PATRICIAN.
HE TRIES TO LOSE HIS MISSOURI ROOTS
BECAUSE I THINK HE'S EMBARRASSED ABOUT THOSE THINGS.
HE SEES THE ENGLISH GENTLEMAN
AS BEING THE PROTOTYPE OF WHAT HE WANTS TO BECOME.
HE WEARS ENGLISH TWEEDS.
HE WEARS KNICKERS, WHICH HAVE GONE OUT OF FASHION
EXCEPT ON THE GOLF COURSE.
HE SMOKES A PIPE.
HE SPOKE WITH AN AFFECTED BRITISH ACCENT.
HE HAD DUELING SCARS, WHICH WERE SAID TO BE SELF-INFLICTED
WHEN WHISPERED AMONG THE STAFF.
Christianson: HE LOVES BEING SEPARATE
AND APART FROM HIS FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS
AND HE PLAYS THAT TO THE HILT.
Osgood: IN TIME
MOST OF HUBBLE'S PERSONALITY QUIRKS ARE OVERLOOKED
BECAUSE HE'S AN EXCELLENT ASTRONOMER
WITH A GIFT FOR ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS.
HUBBLE WANTS TO UNLOCK THE SECRETS OF THE NEBULAE--
FAINT, FUZZY SMEARS OF LIGHT
THAT HAVE PUZZLED ASTRONOMERS FOR A THOUSAND YEARS.
EVEN WITH HALE'S MAGNIFICENT 100-INCH
THEIR TRUE NATURE ELUDES HIM FOR FOUR LONG YEARS.
FINALLY, IN OCTOBER OF 1923
WHILE PHOTOGRAPHING ONE OF THE SPIRAL ARMS
OF THE GREAT NEBULA IN ANDROMEDA
HUBBLE CATCHES A BREAK.
Baliunas: HE TOOK A 40-MINUTPHIC PLA TE
AND DEVELOPED IT THE NEXT DAY AND LOOKED AT IT
AND THOUGHT HE SAW WHAT WAS THEN KNOWN AS A "NOVA."
THAT WAS ANOTHER HOT TOPIC-- THAT IS, WHAT WERE NOVAE?
WHAT WERE STARS THAT BRIGHTENED UNEXPECTEDLY?
SO, HIS CURIOSITY PIQUED
HE DECIDED THE NEXT NIGHT-- WHICH WAS A BETTER NIGHT--
TO TAKE ANOTHER EXPOSURE
AND TOOK A DEEPER PHOTOGRAPHIC PLATE.
Osgood: THIS PLATE HAS WHAT HE BELIEVES ARE THREE NOVAE.
YET AN EVEN GREATER SURPRISE AWAITS HIM.
WHEN HE GOT DOWN TO THE MOUNTAIN AND BEGAN TO COMPARE THE PLATES
WITH THOSE THAT HAD BEEN TAKEN EARLIER
HE DISCOVERED THAT ONE OF THE THREE NOVAE
WAS NOT IN FACT A NOVA BUT IT WAS A CEPHEID
AND IT'S A EUREKA MOMENT.
HE WRITES IN CAPITAL LETTERS ON THE SLIDE ITSELF
"V-A-R!"
FOR "VARIABLE STAR."
Osgood: HUBBLE KNOWS INSTANTLY--
THANKS TO HENRIETTA LEAVITT'S DISCOVERY ABOUT CEPHEIDS--
THAT THIS STAR AND THE SYSTEM IT'S A PART OF
MUST BE VERY FAR AWAY
AND THE UNIVERSE MUST BE FAR LARGER THAN ANYONE HAD DREAMED.
Man: YEAH, IT MUST HAVE BEEN A GOOD MOMENT FOR HIM.
(chuckling)
WHAT HE FOUND WAS THAT THE DISTANCE TO M-31--
THE ANDROMEDA GALAXY, ONE OF, IT TURNS OUT
OUR NEAREST NEIGHBORS-- IS ABOUT TWO MILLION LIGHT-YEARS.
SO PEOPLE HAD BEEN TALKING ABOUT THE SCALE OF OUR GALAXY--
10,000, 20,000, 30,000 MAYBE 100,000 LIGHT-YEARS.
WHAT THIS MEANT WAS THAT M-31 AND ALL THOSE OTHER GALAXIES
WERE NOT PART OF OUR SYSTEM;
THEY WERE THEMSELVES BIG SYSTEMS
EQUAL TO THE MILKY WAY.
Osgood: THERE ARE, IN FACT, BILLIONS OF GALAXIES
EACH ONE CONTAINING HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF STARS.
HUBBLE'S DISCOVERY OF THE STUNNING SIZE OF THE UNIVERSE
AND THE MULTITUDE OF STARS AND STAR SYSTEMS
THAT CAN BE FOUND WITHIN IT
CHANGES FOREVER OUR PICTURE OF THE COSMOS.
THAT DISCOVERY ALONE WOULD HAVE MADE HUBBLE
ONE OF THE GRAT ASTRONOMERS OF THE CENTURY.
BUT HE CONTINUES TO STUDY DISTANT GALAXIES
AND MAKES AN EVEN GREATER DISCOVERY.
FOR FIVE YEARS, HE GATHERS DATA ON THE MOVEMENTS OF GALAXIES
RECORDING WHERE THEY'RE HEADED AND HOW FAST.
IF A GALAXY IS MOVING AWAY, ITS LIGHT IS STRETCHED.
THE INTERVAL BETWEEN WAVE CRESTS GETS LONGER;
THE LIGHT APPEARS REDDER.
THE FASTER IT'S MOVING, THE REDDER THE LIGHT.
IF A GALAXY IS MOVING CLOSER
THE LIGHT IS COMPRESSED AND APPEARS BLUER.
AFTER MANY YEARS, HUBBLE COULD SIT DOWN
AND LOOK AT THIS GREAT QUANTITY OF INFORMATION
AND HE PLOTTED A CHART.
HE PLOTTED FOR THE NEBULAE
THE MOTIONS AGAINST THE DISTANCES
AND HE FOUND SOMETHING TRULY AMAZING-- A STRAIGHT LINE.
HE FOUND THAT THE DISTANCE OF A GALAXY
IT TURNS OUT, THE VELOCITY'S TWICE AS BIG.
U GO THREE TIMES AS FAR OUT IT TURNS OUT, THE VELOCITY'S TWICE AS BIG.YO
THE VELOCITY'S THREE TIMES AS BIG.
WE LIVE IN A WORLD-- I MEAN, A BIG WORLD, A UNIVERSE--
WHERE EVERYTHING'S RUSHING APART
AND IT'S HAPPENING IN A WAY WE CALL HUBBLE'S LAW
WHERE THE VELOCITY IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE DISTANCE.
AN EXPANDING UNIVERSE.
HOW COULD THAT BE
WHEN THE WHOLE HISTORY OF HUMAN THOUGHT ASSUM
JUST TOOK FOR GRANTED--
THAT THE UNIVERSE IS THIS FIXED THING, AND HOW COULD IT CHANGE?
THE UNIVER IS EVERYTHING.
HOW COULD IT HAVE AN EVOLUTIONARY PATH?
BECAUSE IF YOU HAD AN EXPANDING UNIVERSE
THAT MIGHT MEAN IT HAD A BEGINNING.
IT MIGHT MEAN IT'LL END.
THIS IS A DISCOVERY FOR THE AGES.
BEFORE EDWIN HUBBLE'S DISCOVERY
EVEN THE GREAT PHYSICIST ALBERT EINSTEIN ASSUMED
THAT THE UNIVERSE IS FIXED AND ETERNAL.
HIS ORIGINAL EQUATIONS FOR GENERAL RELATIVITY
HAD PREDICTED A CHANGING COSMOS.
BUT EINSTEIN WAS UNABLE TO BELIEVE HIS OWN THEORY
SO HE ADDED WHAT HE CALLED A "COSMOLOGICAL CONSTANT"
TO BRING THE UNIVERSE TO REST.
YEARS LATER, IN 1931
EINSTEIN TRAVELS TO MOUNT WILSON TO MEET HUBBLE.
WHILE THERE, EINSTEIN DECLARES THAT HIS COSMOLOGICAL CONSTANT
IS THE GREATEST BLUNDER OF HIS SCIENTIFIC CAREER.
OF COURSE, BY THIS TIME
EINSTEIN CAN AFFORD TO ADMIT TO A MISTAKE OR TWO.
HE'S ALREADY RENOWNED
AS ONE OF HISTORY'S GREATEST SCIENTISTS--
THE MAN WHO REDEFINES GRAVITY, SPACE AND EVEN TIME.
Osgood: AT THE AGE OF 22, AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY
ALBERT EINSTEIN IS LIVING IN ZURICH
AND FACING AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE.
HE DREAMS OF BECOMING A PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS
BUT HE CAN'T GET A JOB.
HE HAS ALIENATED MOST OF HIS COLLEGE TEACHERS
AND THEY WON'T GIVE HIM THE RECOMMENDATIONS HE NEEDS.
IN EARLY 1902, HE MOVES TO BERN.
HE'S TIRED OF SCRAPING BY
WITH WHAT HE CAN EARN GIVING PRIVATE LESSONS
AND A FRIEND'S FATHER
HAS OFFERED TO HELP HIM GET A JOB THERE.
IT'S WITH THE SWISS PATENT OFFICE.
HE'S A TECHNICAL CLERK, THIRD CLASS
REVIEWING APPLICATIONS FOR PATENTS ON NEW INVENTIONS.
Man: EINSTEIN WAS A PERFECT FIT FOR HIS PATENT WORK.
AND THOSE PATEED
WERE, IN MY VIEW, ABSOLUTELY FORMATIVE
OF HIS SCIENTIFIC STYLE.
HE'D SIT DOWN EVERY DAY WITH STACKS OF DOCUMENTS
AND HIS JOB WAS TO STRIP AWAY ALL THE COMPLICATIONS...
TO TAKE A PATENT LIKE THIS
AND FIGURE OUT, DID THIS VIOLATE THE BASIC LAWS OF PHYSICS?
WHAT WAS ITS CENTRAL IDEA?
WAS THAT CENTRAL IDEA NEW?
OR WAS IT SOMETHING THAT HAD BEEN KNOWN?
AND THOSE SORTS OF DECISIONS WHICH HE MADE EVERY DAY
LOOKING AT THESE NEW DEVICES
SHAPED HIS SENSE OF HOW TO STRIP DOWN A PHYSICAL PROBLEM
DOWN TO ITS ABSOLUTE ESSENTIALS.
WHAT ARE THE PRINCIPLES?
THAT COMPELS EINSTEIN TO REEXAMINE
FUNDAMENTAL ASSUMPTIONS OF CLASSICAL PHYSICS
INCLUDING IDEAS ABOUT SPACE AND TIME
THAT SEEM TO EVERYONE ELSE INESCAPABLE.
(gunshot)
IN THE EARLY 20th CENTURY
EVERYONE FROM PHYSICISTS TO SPORT
THAT A MILE IS A MILE, NO MATTER WHERE THE RACE IS RUN;
THAT THE RUNNER WHO FINISHES IN 4? MINUTES IS FASTER
THAN THE ONE WHO FINISHES IN FIVE.
(crowd cheering)
COMMON SENSE TELLS US
THAT TIME AND SPACE ARE THE SAME EVERYWHERE
AND FOR EVERYONE.
INDEED, THAT WAS ISAAC NEWTON'S STARTING POINT
WHEN HE WROTE DOWN HIS LAWS OF MOTION AND GRAVITY
IN THE 17th CENTURY--
LAWS THAT SEEM TO EXPLAIN EVERYTHING
FROM THE FLIGHT OF AN ARROW TO THE ORBITS OF PLANETS.
BUT EINSTEIN IS WILLING, WHERE OTHERS ARE NOT
TO QUESTION EVERYTHING--
EVEN OUR COMMON-SENSE VIEW OF THE UNIVERSE.
Einstein (dramatized): ALL I HAVE TRIED TO DO IN MY LIFE IS ASK A FEW QUESTIONS:
COULD GOD HAVE CREATED THE UNIVERSE ANY OTHER WAY
OR HAD HE NO CHOICE?
AND HO UNIVERSE IF I HAD THE CHANCE?
Osgood: EINSTEIN IS DRIVEN TO ASK SUCH QUESTIONS
BY A PROBLEM HE SEES
WITH THE TRADITIONAL DESCRIPTION OF LIGHT.
Galison: HE KNEW FROM MAXWELL'S EQUATIONS
FROM THE GREAT CLASSICAL PHYSICS THAT HAD PRECEDED HIM
THAT LIGHT COULD BE UNDERSTOOD AS A WAVE
AND THAT EVERY TIME YOU SAW A WAVE OF LIGHT
IT WAS ALWAYS TRAVELING BY YOU AT SOME ENORMOUSLY FAST SPEED
LIKE 186,000 MILES A SECOND.
SO WE WERE ALWAYS IN THE POSITION
OF SOMEBODY, SAY, STANDING ON THE BEACH
WATCHING A TRAIN OF WAVES GO BY.
AND WITH ANY KIND OF WAVE THAT YOU'VE EVER SEEN
OR EINSTEIN HAD EVER SEEN
YOU COULD ALWAYS CATCH UP W YOU WENT FAST ENOUGH.
IF YOU HAD A BUNCH OF WAVES GOING DOWN A CANAL
AND YOU GOT ON YOUR HORSE AND RODE ALONGSIDE IT
YOU'D SEE THE WAVE JUST FROZEN
AS IF IT WAS NOT MOVING, BECAUSE YOU'D BE MOVING WITH IT.
AND EINSTEIN'S THOUGHT TO HIMSELF WAS THIS:
WHP TO A LIGHT WAVE?
WHAT IF I WENT AS FAST AS LIGHT WAS GOING?
WOULD I SEE IT STILL
THE WAY THE HORSEMAN SEES THE WAVES IN THE CANAL
IF HE CATCHES UP TO IT?
AND THEN HE THOUGHT TO HIMSELF
"WELL, THAT WOULD BE SUCH A STRANGE SIGHT.
"IT DOESN'T CORRESPOND TO ANYTHING ANYONE'S EVER SEEN--
A STILL WAVE OF LIGHT."
Osgood: EINSTEIN IS CONVINCED THAT LIGHT WOULDN'T BE LIGHT
IF YOU COULD CATCH UP TO IT.
BUT IN CLASSICAL PHYSICS, YOU CAN CATCH UP TO ANY WAVE
AND LIGHT IS A WAVE.
HOW COULD IT BE THAT THERE WAS A WAVE MOVING ALONG
THAT YOU COULDN'T CATCH UP TO?
HE DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM.
HE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO ARTICULATE THE PROBLEM FULLY.
BUT THERE WAS SOMETHING WRONG.
ARE SATISFIED WITH THE STOCK ANSWERS
AND NEVER GIVE THEM ANOTHER THOUGHT AS ADULTS.
BUT BECAUSE I WAS A LATE DEVELOPER
I FIRST PONDMPLE QUESTIONS AS AN ADULT
AND SO PROBED THEM MORE DEEPLY AND TENACIOUSLY
THAN ANY CHILD WOULD DO.
Osgood: IN ORDER TO SIMPLIFY THE PROBLEM HE SEES WITH LIGHT
EINSTEIN USES A SERIES OF THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS
THAT TAKE PLACE ONLY IN HIS IMAGINATION
LIKE A JOURNEY ON A TRAIN.
Man: FROM JAMES CLERK MAXWELL'S EQUATIONS
WE KNOW THAT THE LIGHT REFLECTED FROM MY FACE
TRAVELING TOWARD THIS MIRROR
MUST MOVE AT 186,000 MILES PER SECOND.
"OKAY," EINSTEIN SAID
RAIN WERE MOVING AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT?"
Osgood: ONE POSSIBILITY IS THE TRAIN CATCHES UP TO THE LIGHT WAVES
SO THEY NEVER REACH THE MIRROR.
BUT EINSTEIN IS CONVINCED THIS CAN'T HAPPEN--
LIGHT CAN'T STAND STILL.
AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN IFSEE MY REFLECTION IN THE MIRROR?
WELL, FROM MY POINT OF VIEW, EVERYTHING IS JUST FINE
BUT FOR THE PERSON STANDING OUTSIDE OF THE TRAIN
THERE'S A PROBLEM.
THAT PERSON SEES THE TRAIN MOVING BY
AT 186,000 MILES PER SECOND
AND, THEREFORE, THE LIGHT REFLECTED FROM MY FACE
TRAVELING TOWARD THE MIRROR
MUST BE TRAVELING AT TWICE THAT RATE
OR 372,000 MILES PER SECOND.
Osgood: 372,000 MILES PER SECOND IS THE SPEED OF LIGHT
ADDED TO THE SPEED OF THE TRAIN CARRYING THE LIGHT.
PHYSICISTS HAVE ADDED SPEEDS THIS WAY
SINCE THE DAYS OF GALILEO.
BUT EINSTEIN CONCLUDES
THIS SIMPLE ADDING OF VELOCITIES IS WRONG
BECAUSE THE SPEED OF LIGHT NEVER CHANGES.
IT'S ALWAYS 186,000 MILES PER SECOND
EVEN IF ITS SOURCE IS IN MOTION.
WHETHER ON OR OFF THE TRAIN
YOU HAVE TO GET THE SAME MEASUREMENT
FOR THE SPEED OF LIGHT.
THE STUNNING CONSEQUENCE OF THIS IS
THAT SOMEONE OFF THE TRAIN
MEASURES RULERS ON THE TRAIN AS SHORT
AND CLOCKS ON THE TRAIN AS RUNNING SLOW.
IN A FLASH OF BRILLIANCE
EINSTEIN PROPOSES THAT DISTANCE AND TIME ARE NOT ABSOLUTE--
THAT A FOOT AND A SECOND E TRAIN
ARE NOT THE SAME AS A FOOT AND A SECOND MEASURED OFF.
DISTANCE AND TIME ARE RELATIVE.
HOLD ON, WE'RE TAKING OFF.
Osgood: FORTUNATELY, THIS PHENOMENON
IS ONLY NOTICEABLE CLOSE TO THE SPEED OF LIGHT.
IMAGINE YOURSELF
ALONGSIDE EARLY 20th-CENTURY SCIENCE-FICTION SWASHBUCKLER
FLASH GORDON.
WHEN NOT FIGHTING THE BAD GUYS
OR TRYING TO ESCAPE FROM SOME MONSTER
YOU'RE DASHING AROUND THE GALAXY AT INCREDIBLE SPEEDS.
WHILE YOU ARE, YOUR CLOCK AND THOSE BACK ON EARTH
ARE RUNNING AT DIFFERENT SPEEDS.
ASSUMING YOU'VE BEEN GONE FOR THE BETTER PART OF A YEAR
WHEN YOU GET BACK
EVERYONE YOU KNEW WOULD HAVE BEEN DEAD THOUSANDS OF YEARS.
IT'S THE ULTIMATE EXAMPLE OF RELATIVE TIME.
BUT EINSTEIN ISN'T FINISHED QUITE YET.
HE STILL HAS TO CONJURE UP
THE MOST FAMOUS EQUATION OF THE CENTURY:
E EQUALS MC-SQUARED.
EINSTEIN REALIZED
THAT NOT ONLY DOES TIME SLOW DOWN THE FASTER YOU GO;
HE ALSO REALIZED THAT WHEN OBJECTS MOVE
THEY GET HEAVIER AS THEY MOVE.
IT WAS A CURIOSITY.
WHY SHOULD OBJECTS GET HEAVIER AS THEY MOVE?
AND THEN HE SUDDENLY REALIZED
THAT THE REASON WHY OBJECTS GET HEAVIER AS THEY MOVE
IS BECAUSE THE ENERGY OF MOTION IS BEING CONVERTED INTO MASS.
NOW, THINK ABOUT THAT FOR A MOMENT.
THE ENERGY OF MOTION IS BEING CONVERTED INTO MASS.
THIS MEANS THAT ENERGY IS TURNING INTO MASS
AND MASS IS TURNING INTO ENERGY.
AND EINSTEIN QUICKLY WROTE DOWN... IT'S ONLY ONE STEP--
QUICKLY WROTE DOWN THE EQUATION THAT RELATES ENERGY TO MATTER
AND IT IS EXACTLY E EQUALS MC-SQUARED.
Osgood: EINSTEIN'S THEORY OF SPACE AND TIME
IS CALLED SPECIAL RELATIVITY.
PHYSICISTS ARE INTRIGUED
BUT LITTLE CHANGES IN EINSTEIN'S LIFE.
WITH A GROWING FAMILY TO SUPPORT
HE REMAINS AT THE PATENT OFFICE
AND MOVES ON TO ANOTHER EVEN GREATER INTELLECTUAL CHALLENGE.
SPECIAL RELATIVITY APPLIES
TO OBJECTS MOVING AT CONSTANT SPEED.
BUT MOST MOVEMENT INVOLVES ACCELERATION--
SPEEDING UP OR SLOWING DOWN.
SO EINSTEIN SETS OUT TO EXTEND RELATIVITY
TO COVER ACCELERATED MOTION.
IT TURNS OUT TO BE
E HARDEST PROBLEMS ANY SCIENTIST HAS EVER TAKEN ON.TH
EINSTEIN STRUGGLES WITH IT FOR TEN YEARS.
Kaku: NOW, MOST OF US PHYSICISTS
WHEN WE GRAPPLE WITH A PROBLEM THAT WE CAN'T UNDERSTAND
WE GIVE UP AND SAY, "GOD IS MALICIOUS!
"HE'S A NASTY GOD.
HE'S GIVING US PROBLEMS THAT NO HUMAN CAN UNDERSTAND."
EINSTEIN DIDN'T HAVE THAT PHILOSOPHY AT ALL.
HE DIDN'T SAY THAT GOD WAS MALICIOUS
TEASING HUMANS WITH PROBLEMS THAT WERE BEYOND HUMAN KEN.
HE SAID GOD IS SUBTLE, THAT ONLY IF WE DARE
TO PENETRATE... PENETRATE INTO THE ESSENCE OF THINGS
THEN WE WOULD FIND THE ANSWER.
Osgood: TO GET TO THE ESSENCE OF ACCELERATED MOTION
EINSTEIN ONCE AGAIN TURNS TO A THOUGHT EXPERIMENT.
IMAGINE THIS ELEVATOR WERE LOCATED IN DEEP SPACE...
AND UNIFORMLY ACCELERATING UPWARD.
WITH NO WINDOWS AND NO CONNECTION TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD
EINSTEIN SAID IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE FOR US TO DETERMINE
WHETHER OR NOT WE'RE MOVING.
"BUT AH," YOU MIGHT SAY
"I FEEL THE PRESSURE ON MY FEET."
BUT HIS RESPONSE TO THAT WOULD BE
"BUT HOW DO YOU DETERMINE WHETHER THAT PRESSURE IS CAUSED
"BY THE ELEVATH SPACE
"WITH UNIFORM ACCELERATION
"OR BY THE ELEVATOR SIMPLY SITTING
"ON THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH
AND YOUR FEELING THE EFFECTS OF GRAVITY?"
Osgood: "THE FACT THAT YOU CAN'T TELL THE DIFFERENCE," SAYS EINSTEIN
"MEANS ACCELERATION AND GRAVITY MUST SOMEHOW BE THE SAME."
HE CONCLUDES AFTER A SERIES OF INCREDIBLY COMPLEX CALCULATIONS
THAT THIS IS ONLY POSSIBLE IF SPACE AND TIME ARE CURVED.
ACCORDING TO EINSTEIN'S THEORY OF GENERAL RELATIVITY
THE CURVATURE OF SPACE IS CAUSED
BY THE PRESENCE OF MASSIVE OBJECTS.
NEWTON HAD IT RIGHT THAT A BODY IN MOTION
TENDS TO STAY IN MOTION IN A STRAIGHT LINE--
THE SHORTEST DISTANCE BETWEEN TWO POINTS--
BUT IN CURVED SPACE
THE SHORTEST DISTANCE BETWEEN TWO POINTS IS A CURVED LINE.
AN OBJECT EXPERIENCES ACCELERATION AROUND THE CURVE
AS GRAVITY.
THE EARTH ORBITS THE SUN NOT BECAUSE OF A MYSTERIOUS FORCE
BUT BECAUSE THE SUN CURVES THE SPACE AROUND IT.
THE EARTH IS SIMPLY TRAVELING
THE SHORTEST PATH THROUGH CURVED SPACE.
EINSTEIN'S THEORY OF GENERAL RELATIVITY PERFECTLY DESCRIBES
THE MOTIONS OF PLANETS, STARS AND GALAXIES
BOTH IN SPACE AND IN TIME.
SUDDENLY PHYSICS COULD SAY SOMETHING
ABOUT THE FATE OF THE UNIVERSE.
IT COULD ASK QUESTIONS
ABOUT WHETHER THE UNIVERSE AS A WHOLE HAD A CERTAIN CURVATURE;
WHETHER IT WOULD COME BACK IN ON ITSELF;
WHETHER IT WOULD EXPAND OUT FOREVER.
GENERAL RELATIVITY HAD A SCOPE AS INFINITE AS THE UNIVERSE.
THE WORLD IS NOT THE SAME PLACE
ONCE YOU UNDERSTAND THESE THEORIES.
SPACE AND TIME ARE SOMEHOW THE SAME THING.
THAT'S VERY DIFFERENT FROM MY EXPERIENCE AS I GO THROUGH LIFE
AND I CAN NEVER GO BACK TO LOOKING AT THINGS
THE WAY THEY WERE BEFORE I UNDERSTOOD THIS THEORY.
IN 1921, ALBERT EINSTEIN IS AWARDED
THE NOBEL PRIZE FOR PHYSICS
BUT IT ISN'T FOR HIS WORK ON RELATIVITY.
APPARENTLY, THAT'S TOO WEIRD FOR THE AWARDS COMMITTEE TO ACCEPT.
INSTEAD, EINSTEIN IS HONORED FOR OTHER CONTRIBUTIONS
INCLUDING A PAPER ON THE NATURE OF LIGHT.
THIS PAPER ULTIMATELY LEADS TO A SECOND REVOLUTION IN PHYSICS
ONLY THIS TIME, IT'S TOO WEIRD FOR EINSTEIN HIMSELF TO ACCEPT.
IT'S CALLED "QUANTUM MECHANICS."
QUANTUM MECHANICS COMES OUT OF THE STRUGGLE TO UNDERSTAND
THE STRUCTURE OF ATOMS.
WHAT PHYSICISTS IN THE EARLY 20th CENTURY LEARN IS
THAT IN THE WORLD OF THE VERY SMALL
THE SEEMINGLY IMPOSSIBLE IS COMMONPLACE.
THINGS DON'T EXIST UNTIL SOMEONE LOOKS AT THEM.
TO GET FROM POINT "A" TO POINT "B."
UNCERTAINTY AND CHANCE ARE WOVEN
INTO THE VERY FABRIC OF EXISTENCE.
ONE OF THE KEY FIGURES IN THE QUANTUM REVOLUTION
IS A YOUNG DANE WITH A TENDENCY TO MUMBLE.
HE'S THE SCIENTIST ON THE RIGHT.
HIS NAME IS NIELS BOHR.
AND FROM CHILDHOOD, IT'S PHYSICS THAT CONSUMES HIM.
ONCE WHILE PLAYING GOALIE IN AN IMPORTANT SOCCER GAME
HE STARTS SCRIBBLING EQUATIONS ON A GOALPOST.
ONLY THE SCREAMS OF AN ARDENT FAN
SNAP HIM OUT OF HIS REVERIE
IN TIME TO STOP AN OPPOSING PLAYER'S POTENTIAL GOAL.
AT SCHOOL, HE'S AN EXCELLENT STUDENT
THOUGH HE SEEMS TO HAVE A SERIOUS PHOBIA ABOUT WRITING.
AS A GRADUATE STUDENT
HE DICTATES HIS ENTIRE DOCTORAL DISSERTATION TO HIS MOTHER
CAUSING A FAMILY FIGHT WHEN HIS FATHER INSISTS
THAT THE BUDDING Ph.D. LEARN TO WRITE FOR HIMSELF.
HE NEVER DOES.
AFTER HIS MARRIAGE, HIS WIFE GETS THE JOB.
IN 1912, SHORTLY AFTER RECEIVING HIS DOCTORATE
BOHR TRAVELS TO ENGLAND.
ES TO ERNEST RUTHERFORD'S BOHR TRLABORATORYNGLAND. COM
JUST ONE YEAR AFTER RUTHERFORD MAKES A STARTLING DISCOVERY
ABOUT ATOMS.
ATOMS HAD BEEN SEEN AS AMORPHOUS BLOBS OF POSITIVE CHARGE
STUDDED THROUGHOUT WITH NEGATIVE ELECTRONS.
"IN FACT," RUTHERFORD SAYS
"THEY'RE MORE LIKE LITTLE PLANETARY SYSTEMS."
ALL THE POSITIVE CHARGE AND VIRTUALLY ALL THE MASS
IS CONCENTRATED IN A TINY NUCLEUS
AROUND WHICH THE ELECTRONS ORBIT
LIKE PLANETS AROUND THE SUN.
THIS IS THE COURTYARD AT CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY
IMAGINE AN ATOM THIS SIZE.
IF WE THINK OF THAT BEING THE SIZE OF AN ATOM
THEN THE SIZE OF THE NUCLEUS WOULD ONLY BE
ONE MILLIMETER IN DIAMETER.
THAT'S A BIT SMALLER THAN THIS LITTLE GRAIN OF SAND
THAT I'VE GOT IN MY HAND HERE.
IN OTHER WORDS, WHAT IT MEANS IS
ATOMS ARE ESSENTIALLY EMPTY SPACE.
HOW CAN WE RECONCILE THAT
WITH THE FACT THAT MATTER IS MATTER
AND MY HANDS DON'T GO THROUGH ONE ANOTHER?
THAT'S CRAZY, BECAUSE IF IT'S MOSTLY EMPTY SPACE
THEY SHOULD PASS RIGHT THROUGH ONE ANOTHER.
WELL, WHAT WE UNDERSTAND NOW IS IN FACT
THAT THE REASON MY HANDS DON'T GO THROUGH ONE ANOTHER
IS THAT WHILE THE SPACE IS EMPTY
WHAT IT'S FILLED WITH IS REALLY ELECTRIC FIELDS.
WHEN THE ELECTRONS COME
WITHIN A VERY SMALL DISTANCE OF EACH OTHER
THEY BEGIN TO REPEL EACH OTHER
SO WE HAVE THE ILLUSION THAT THINGS ARE SOLID
WHEN ACTUALLY WE HAVE THIS TREMENDOUS VACUUM
GIVEN BY THE FACT THAT THE ATOM IS BASICALLY EMPTY.
NOW, THIS MEANS
THAT I'M NOT REALLY SITTING IN THIS CHAIR AT ALL.
THE ATOMS OF MY BODY ARE ABOUT ONE ANGSTROM
HOVERING OVER THE ATOMS OF THIS CHAIR.
Osgood: RUTHERFORD'S CONCEPTION OF THE ATOM IS A BREAKTHROUGH
BUT ALMOST IMMEDIATELY HE FINDS A PARADOX AT THE HEART OF IT.
SEE, THE PROBLEM WAS THAT IF YOU'VE GOT A NUCLEUS
WITH A POSITIVE CHARGE AND ELECTRONS IN ORBIT ABOUT IT
THEN WE KNOW THAT THE ELECTRONS SHOULD VERY RAPIDLY ORBIT
INTO THE NUCLEUS.
IT SHOULD DO IT IN A FRACTION OF A SECOND.
THAT'S A VERY SECURE PREDICTION OF CLASSICAL PHYSICS
AND THAT'S CATASTROPHIC.
WHAT IT'S TELLING YOU IS THAT ATOMS CAN'T EXIST.
IT MEANS THAT YOU AND I WOULD NOT EXIST.
WITH THE LARGE VOLUMES THAT THEY HAVE.
Osgood: WHEN NIELS BOHR ARRIVES IN MANCHESTER
RUTHERFORD IS READY TO ABANDON HIS MODEL OF THE ATOM
BUT BOHR SEES A WAY TO SAVE IT.
HE WAS SO EXCITED.
HE CANCELED HIS HONEYMOON.
HE HAD TO DELAY HIS WEDDING, CANCEL THE HONEYMOON
AND HIS POOR FIANCEE, INSTEAD OF GOING ON A LUXURIOUS HONEYMOON
HAD TO TAKE DICTATION AS HER HUSBAND DICTATED
ONE OF THE GREATEST MASTERPIECES IN PHYSICS
BECAUSE HE HIMSELF COULD NOT GET HIMSELF TO WRITE DOWN THE PAPER.
Longair: WHAT HE PROPOSED WAS
THAT YOU WOULD NOT ALLOW THE ELECTRONS TO MOVE
IN ANY ORBIT ABOUT THE NUCLEUS
AS YOU COULD ACCORDING TO CLASSICAL THEORY
BUT ONLY TO OCCUPY CERTAIN VERY WELL DEFINED ORBITS
ABOUT THE NUCLEUS.
THERE WOULD BE AN ORBIT HERE, AN ORBIT HERE, AN ORBIT HERE
BUT THERE WOULD NOT EXIST ORBITS BETWEEN THESE.
Man: THERE'S NOTHING IN BETWEEN.
IN BETWEEN EXISTS NOTHING.
AND THAT'S VERY NON-NEWTONIAN.
IF YOU TAKE THE EARTH AND YOU WOULD...
YOU COULD MOVE THE EARTH A LITTLE BIT CLOSER TO THE SUN.
NO PROBLEM.
WE'D HAVE A DIFFERENT ORBIT, WE'D BE STABLE
WE'D HAVE A DIFFERENT TIME TO GO AROUND THE SUN.
NO PROBLEM.
THAT YOU CANNOT DO WITH AN ELECTRON AROUND A NUCLEUS.
YOU CANNOT JUST CHANGE THE ORBIT BY A LITTLE BIT.
YOU HAVE TO CHANGE IT BY, SO TO SPEAK, A LOT.
Osgood: BOHR'S IDEA THAT ELECTRONS CAN HAVE ONLY CERTAIN ORBITS
DRAWS INSPIRATION FROM OTHER NEW THEORIES
THAT SUGGEST HEAT AND LIGHT COME IN UNITS THAT CAN'T BE DIVIDED
CALLED "QUANTA."
IS PRACTICALLY SACRILEGIOUS.
IN FACT, MOST PHYSICISTS DISAPPROVE OF BOHR'S THEORY.
WHENEVER THEY MEET, THEY SCOFF AT THE IDEA
THAT AN ELECTRON CAN BE IN SOME PLACES BUT NOT OTHERS;
THAT MATTER COMES IN SOME SIZES BUT NOT OTHERS.
Physicist (dramatized): IF IT'S NOT NONSENSE, AT LEAST IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE.
Physicist 2 (dramatized): THIS IS JUST A CHEAP EXCUSE FOR NOT KNOWING WHAT'S GOING ON.
Physicist 3 (dramatized): THE ASSUMPTIONS ARE TOO BOLD, TOO FANTASTIC.
THEY CAN'T BE RIGHT.
Osgood: IN TIME, TWO CAMPS EMERGE:
A GROUP AROUND BOHR
WHICH BELIEVES IN HIS SO-CALLED QUANTUM THEORY OF MATTER;
AND THOSE WHO CLING TO THE CLASSICAL VIEW.
NO LESS THAN THE TRUE PICTURE OF NATURE IS AT STAKE.
IN 1926, WERNER HEISENBERG, A 25-YEAR-OLD GERMAN PHYSICIST
COMES UP WITH A MATHEMATICAL DESCRIPTION OF ATOMS
THAT GOES A LONG WAY TOWARD LEGITIMIZING BOHR'S VIEW.
CLASSICAL PHYSICISTS REMAIN UNCONVINCED.
HEISENBERG'S MATHEMATICAL MATRICES ARE TOO COMPLEX
AND THE MYSTERIOUS COMINGS AND GTRONS
GINE. AND THE MYSTERIOUS COMINGS AND GTRONSST TOO HARD TO IMA
WITHIN A YEAR, AN AUSTRIAN NAMED ERWIN SCHRODINGER
OFFERS AN ALTERNATIVE.
Kaku: SCHRODINGER HAD THIS BEAUTIFUL THEORY
OF THE ELECTRON AS A WAVE.
IT WAS SMEARED OUT OVER SPACE AND TIME.
IT WASN'T A PARTICLE AT ALL.
PHYSICISTS LOVED THIS IDEA.
WE HAD A PHYSICAL PICTURE.
WE COULD LOOK INSIDE THE ATOM.
PHYSICISTS KNEW HOW TO CALCULATE WITH WAVES.
THEY CALCULATED WAVES AS AN UNDERGRADUATE IN COLLEGE.
THEY KNEW HOW WAVES WENT AROUND AND FORMED ORBITS
SOPPEAL OF THE SCHRODINGER PICTURE WAS
THAT IT WAS PICTORIAL, IT WAS ALMOST NEWTONIAN
IT WAS CONTINUOUS-- NONE OF THIS QUANTUM BUSINESS--
AND YOU COULD CALCULATE WITH IT.
Osgood: SO, WHICH IS IT?
IS MATTER MADE UP OF WAVES OR PARTICLES?
THEY SEEM TO BE COMPLETE OPPOSITES.
WAVES CAN PASS THROUGH ONE ANOTHER
SOMETIMES CANCELING EACH OTHER
SOMETIMES MAKING EVEN BIGGER WAVES.
BUT PARTICLES, ON THE OTHER HAND
THEY CAN'T CANCEL EACH OTHER OUT.
SO THESE TWO PICTURES CLASHED WITH EACH OTHER
AND THEY DEBATED AND THEY HAD ARGUMENTS
AND THEY YELLED AND SCREAMED AT EACH OTHER.
IN FACT, ONE DAY HEISENBERG WAS SO WORRIED
THAT HE SIMPLY CAME DOWN WITH HIVES AND HAY FEVER
WORRYING ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT THE RIVAL PICTURE WAS CORRECT.
Osgood: IN 1926, BOHR AND HEISENBERG INVITE SCHRODINGER
TO BOHR'S NEW INSTITUTE IN COPENHAGEN
TO TRY AND WORK OUT THEIR DIFFERENCES.
HEISENBERG WRITES ABOUT THE VISIT.
Heisenberg (dramatized): THOUGH BOHR WAS AN UNUSUALLY CONSIDERATE AND OBLIGING PERSON
HE WAS ABLE IN SUCH A DISCUSSION TO INSIST FANATICALLY
AND WITH ALMOST TERRIFYING RELENTLESSNESS
ON COMPLETE CLARITY IN ALL ARGUMENTS.
HE WOULD NOT GIVE UP, EVEN AFTER HOURS OF STRUGGLING
UNTIL SCHRODINGER HAD ADMITTED
THAT HIS INTERPRETATION WAS INSUFFICIENT.
EVERY ATTEMPT FROM SCHRODINGER'S SIDE
TO GET ROUND THIS BITTER RESULT
WAS SLOWLY REFUTED, POINT BY POINT
IN INFINITELY LABORIOUS DISCUSSIONS.
Osgood: BOHR'S WIFE NURSES SCHRODINGER
WHEN HE FALLS ILL FROM EXHAUSTION.
SHE BRINGS HIM TEA AND CAKE
EVEN AS HER HUSBAND SITS ON THE EDGE OF THE BED
CONTINUING THE ARGUMENT.
STILL, SCHRODINGER CLINGS TO HIS CLASSICAL VIEW
WEARILY NOTING AT ONE POINT:
"IF ONE HAS TO GO ON WITH THESE DAMN QUANTUM JUMPS
THEN I'M SORRY I EVER STARTED TO WORK ON ATOMIC THEORY."
THE ESSENCE OF THE BOHR-HEISENBERG PICTURE
WAS THAT THE ELECTRON WAS A PARTICLE.
HOWEVER, THERE WAS A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF UNCERTAINTY
WITH REGARDS TO WHERE THE PARTICLE WAS.
NOW, ONE DAY HEISENBERG WAS SO PARALYZED
WORRYING ABOUT ALL THESE PROBLEMS
THAT HE TOOK A WALK IN THE PARK.
OUTSIDE HIS INSTITUTE, THERE'S A FAMOUS PARK
AND LATE AT NIGHT
HE WALKED THROUGH THE PARK WONDERING, "HOW CAN IT BE?
"HOW CAN IT BE THAT YOU DON'T QUITE KNOW
WHERE THE ELECTRON IS?"
AND THEN IN A FLASH HE UNDERSTOOD
BECAUSE TO UNDERSTAND WHERE AN ELECTRON IS
YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT IT.
TO LOOK AT IT, YOU HAVE TO SHINE A LIGHT ON IT
BUT WHEN YOU SHINE A LIGHT ON IT
THAT DISTURBS WHERE THE ELECTRON IS.
SO THE VERY FACT OF OBSERVING AN OBJECT CHANGES ITS LOCATION.
THEREFORE HE REALIZE THAT UNCERTAINTY
IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF HIS PICTURE.
Osgood: HEISENBERG CALLS HIS INSIGHT THE UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE.
IN A CLEAR, MATHEMATICAL WAY
IT SAYS THE MORE YOU KNOW ABOUT A PARTICLE'S POSITION
THE LESS YOU CAN KNOW ABOUT ITS SPEED AND DIRECTION.
AND THE OPPOSITE IS ALSO TRUE--
THE MORE YOU KNOW ABOUT A PARTICLE'S SPEED AND DIRECTION
THE LESS YOU CAN KNOW ABOUT WHERE IT IS AT ANY GIVEN TIME.
AND WHEN HE FINALLY HAD THAT IDEA
HE REALIZED THAT HE COULD MERGE THE SCHRODINGER PICTURE
WITH THE BOHR-HEISENBERG PICTURE TO GIVE US
THE MODERN-DAY THEORY OF THE QUANTUM PRINCIPLE.
IN OTHER WORDS, THE ELECTRON IS A POINT PARTICLE
BUT YOU DON'T KNOW QUITE WHERE IT IS
AND THE PROBABILITY OF FINDING IT AT ANY GIVEN POINT
IS GIVEN BY A WAVE-- THE SCHRODINGER WAVE.
SO WE NOW HAVE THIS BEAUTIFUL SYNTHESIS
OF WAVES AND PARTICLES.
HEISENBERG'S PRINCIPLE, INDEED, IS VERY, VERY NONINTUITIVE.
FRANKLY SPEAKING, I'D CALL IT BIZARRE.
BUT YOU CAN SEE IT AT WORK.
SUPPOSE I HAVE A LASER BEAM HERE
AND I USE A LASER BEAM BECAUSE IT'S BRIGHT
BUT I COULD USE ANY OTHER LIGHT, FOR THAT MATTER.
AND I MAKE HERE AN OPENING-- A SLIT, A VERTICAL SLIT.
AND HERE GOES THE LASER BEAM RIGHT THROUGH THE SLIT.
LIGHT GOES ON, LIGHT GOES ON
AND HERE I PROJECT THIS
ONTO THIS WALL OR SCREEN, PROJECTION SCREEN.
AND WHAT DO I SEE?
WELL, YOU SEE EXACTLY WHAT YOU PREDICT.
YOU SEE HERE THIS LASER SPOT FROM THIS BEAM.
BUT NOW I'M GOING TO MAKE THIS VERTICAL SLIT
NARROWER AND NARROWER AND NARROWER.
WELL, NOW WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO SEE?
WELL, YOU'RE GOING TO SEE EXACTLY WHAT YOU PREDICT.
YOU'RE GOING TO CUT OFF THE EDGES OF THE CIRCLE
AND THE SPOT GETS NARROWER AND NARROWER AND NARROWER
BUT NOW YOU COME TO THE POINT TH
IS ONLY ONE-HUNDREDTH OF AN INCH WIDE.
AND NOW HEISENBERG'S PRINCIPLE COMES IN
BECAUSE NOW YOU KNOW
SO PRECISELY IN THE HORIZONTAL DIRECTION
THE DIRECTION OF THE LIGHT IS NO LONGER DETERMINED--
ACCORDING TO HEISENBERG'S PRINCIPLE.
AND SO NOW WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO SEE
IT'S GOING TO SPREAD OUT IN A HORIZONTAL PLANE
AND THEREFORE WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO SEE ON THIS PROJECTION SCREEN
IT'S GOING TO GET WIDER.
EXTREMELY NONINTUITIVE, BECAUSE WHAT AM I DOING?
I'M MAKING THE SLIT NARROWER
AND NARROWER AND NARROWER AND NARROWER
AND WHAT DO YOU SEE ULTIMATELY?
THAT THE BEAM, HORIZONTALLY, BECOMES WIDER AND WIDER
AND WIDER AND WIDER AND WIDER AND WIDER AND WIDER.
NOW, THAT IS VERY NONINTUITIVE
BUT IT'S THE WAY THE WORLD WORKS.
ACCORDING TO THE QUANTUM THEORY, EVEN THE MOST BIZARRE EVENTS
HAVE A PROBABILITY OF TAKING PLACE.
THERE'S A CERTAIN PROBABILITY THAT I WILL DISSOLVE
AND SIMPLY REMATERIALIZE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THAT BRICK WALL.
NOW, YOU MAY SAY TO YOURSELF
"WELL, THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE-- WE'VE NEVER SEEN ANYONE DISSOLVE
AND REMATERIALIZE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF BRICK WALLS."
BUT WE ACTUALLY GIVE THIS PROBLEM
TO OUR GRADUATE STUDENTS, TO OUR Ph.D. CANDIDATES.
WE ASK THEM TO CALCULATE, USING THE QUANTUM THEORY:
"WHAT IS THE PROBABILITY
THAT YOU WILL FIND YOURSELF ON THE OTHER SIDE OF A BRICK WALL?"
NOW, TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH, YOU WOULD HAVE TO WAIT LONGER
THAN THE LIFETIME OF THE UNIVERSE
FOR SUCH AN EVENT TO TAKE PLACE.
SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY--
YOUR ATOMS ARE NOT GOING TO DISSOLVE
AND YOU'RE NOT GOING TO REMATERIALIZE
ON THE OTHER SIDE OF BRICK WALLS
BUT THERE IS A PROBABILITY YOU CAN CALCULATE
FOR THAT EVENT HAPPENING.
AND THEN YOU CAN ASK YOURSELF THE QUESTION
"DO I UNDERSTAND IT?"
I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS, "UNDERSTANDING."
I HAVE PROBLEMS WITH THAT.
PHYSICS DESCRIBES THINGS, DESCRIBES PHENOMENA
AND AS LONG AS IT IS PREDICTABLE
AS LONG AS THAT FORMALISM APPLIED IN A CERTAIN SITUATION
GIVES YOU THE RIGHT ANSWER, WHO CARES?
WHO CARES WHAT THE MEANING IS OF UNDERSTANDING?
I THINK I LEAVE THAT UP TO PHILOSOPHERS
AND I THINK THEY DON'T HAVE A CLUE EITHER, OF COURSE
BUT THEY... YOU KNOW.
Osgood: THERE ARE SOME PHYSICISTS WHO REFUSE TO ACCEPT
THAT QUANTUM MECHANICS REPRESENTS THE FULL STORY
OF THE SUBATOMIC WORLD.
THE MOST FAMOUS IS ALBERT EINSTEIN.
Einstein (dramatized): QUANTUM MECHANICS IS VERY WORTHY OF REGARD
BUT AN INNER VOICE TELLS ME THAT THIS IS NOT THE TRUE JACOB.
THE THEORY YIELDS A LOT, BUT IT HARDLY BRINGS US
ANY CLOSER TO THE SECRET OF THE OLD ONE.
IN ANY CASE, I AM CONVINCED THAT HE DOESN'T THROW DICE.
HE COULDN'T BELIEVE THAT THERE WERE BIG PATCHES OF THE WORLD
ABOUT WHICH WE COULD NOT KNOW, AND HIS IDEA
FROM EARLY ON IN HIS LIFE ALL THE WAY TO THE END OF HIS LIFE
WAS THAT THERE OUGHT TO BE
A SET OF EQUATIONS DETERMINISTIC, CAUSAL, ORDERED
FORMULATED IN SUCH A WAY
THAT THEY COULD TELL US EVERYTHING ABOUT A FUTURE
IN TERMS OF EVERYTHING ABOUT THE PRESENT.
AND QUANTUM MECHANICS WOULDN'T ALLOW IT.
HE COULDN'T STAND THAT IDEA.
Osgood: THE WORLD'S GREATEST PHYSICISTS GATHER IN BRUSSELS IN 1927.
EINSTEIN CHALLENGES BOHR
AND THE IDEA THAT UNCERTAINTY RULES THE WORLD.
WERNER HEISENBERG WRITES IN HIS DIARY.
Heisenberg (dramatized): WE ALL STAYED AT THE SAME HOTEL.
THE DISCUSSION USUALLY STARTED AT BREAKFAST
WITH EINSTEIN SERVING US UP AN IMAGINARY EXPERIMENT
BY WHICH HE THOUGHT HE HAD DEFINITELY REFUTED
THE UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE.
IN THE COURSE OF THE DAY
WE WOULD HAVE DISCUSSIONS ON THE MATTER
AND AS A RULE, BY SUPPERTIME WE WOULD HAVE REACHED THE POINT
WHERE NIELS BOHR COULD PROVE TO EINSTEIN
THAT EVEN HIS LATEST EXPERIMENT
FAILED TO SHAKE THE UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE.
EINSTEIN WOULD LOOK A BIT WORRIED
BUT BY NEXT MORNING HE WAS READY
WITH A NEW IMAGINARY EXPERIMENT MORE COMPLICATED THAN THE LAST.
Osgood: ONE OF EINSTEIN'S CHALLENGES IS SO CLEVER
IT HAS BOHR DEEPLY CONCERNED FOR THE FUTURE OF QUANTUM MECHANICS.
PHYSICIST LEON ROSENFELD WRITES.
Rosenfeld (dramatized): BOHR DID NOT SEE THE SOLUTION.
I SHALL NEVER FORGET THE SIGHT
OF THE TWO ANTAGONISTS LEAVING THE HALL--
EINSTEIN, A TALL MAJESTIC FIGURE, WALKING QUIETLY
WITH A SOMEWHAT IRONIC SMILE
AND BOHR TROTTING NEAR HIM, VERY EXCITED.
DURING THE WHOLE EVENING, BOHR WAS EXTREMELY UNHAPPY
GOING FROM ONE SCIENTIST TO ANOTHER
TRYING TO PERSUADE THEM THAT IT COULDN'T BE TRUE
THAT IT WOULD BE THE END OF PHYSICS IF EINSTEIN WERE RIGHT.
Osgood: BOHR SPENDS A SLEEPLESS NIGHT IN HIS HOTEL ROOM
BEFORE HE DISCOVERS A FLAW IN EINSTEIN'S ARGUMENT.
IRONICALLY, IT INVOLVES A SUBTLE APPLICATION
OF EINSTEIN'S OWN THEORY OF RELATIVITY.
BOHR AND EINSTEIN ARE AN ASTONISHING PAIR
IN MANY WAYS.
THEY LOVED EACH OTHER, THEY LOVED TALKING TO EACH OTHER
THEY LOVED ENGAGING WITH EACH OTHER'S IDEAS
AND YET THEY WANTED SUCH UTTERLY DIFFERENT THINGS FROM PHYSICS
THAT THEY NEVER REALLY COULD SEE EYE TO EYE.
Osgood: "GOD DOES NOT THROW DICE" WAS EINSTEIN'S UNSHAKABLE PRINCIPLE
ONE THAT HE WOULD NOYBODY TO C HALLENGE...
TO WHICH BOHR COULD ONLY COUNTER: "NOR IS IT OUR BUSINESS
TO PRESCRIBE TO GOD HOW HE SHOULD RUN THE WORLD."
EINSTEIN AND BOHR
HAVE THEIR LAST BATTLE ABOUT QUANTUM MECHANICS IN 1933.
BY THIS TIME, BOTH RELATIVITY AND QUANTUM THEORY
ERSALLY ACCEPTED BY THIS TIME, BOTH RELATIVITY ANBY PHYSICISTSORYST UNIV
AS THE MOST POWERFUL IDEAS THEY HAVE FOR EXPLAINING THE WORLD.
NOW ATTENTION SHIFTS TO ANOTHER CHALLENGE--
FIGURING OUT WHAT GOES ON INSIDE THE ATOM.
PHYSICISTS WANT TO KNOW WH NUCLEUS TOGETHER.
THEY WANT TO KNOW IF PROTONS, ELECTRONS
AND THE NEWLY DISCOVERED NEUTRONS
MAKE UP EVERYTHING IN THE UNIVERSE
OR IF THESE PARTICLES
ARE MADE UP OF SOMETHING EVEN MORE FUNDAMENTAL.
IN THE PROCESS, WHAT BEGINS AS AN INTELLECTUAL QUEST
TURNS OUT TO HAVE EXPLOSIVE CONSEQUENCES.
IN THE EARLY 1930s, ALBERT EINSTEIN EMIGRATES TO AMERICA
TO ESCAPE THE RISING TIDE
OF FASCISM AND ANTI-SEMITISM IN GERMANY.
BEFORE THE DECADE ENDS, MANY OF EUROPE'S FINEST SCIENTISTS
ARE FORCED TO MAKE THE SAME JOURNEY.
AMONG THE LAST TO LEAVE IS NIELS BOHR.
HE ARRIVES IN THE UNITED STATES IN 1939
BRINGING WITH HIM STUNNING NEWS.
IN HITLER'S GERMANY
TWO SCIENTISTS HAVE SPLIT AN ATOM OF URANIUM
RELEASING IN THAT MOMENT
SOME OF THE TREMENDOUS ENERGY BOUND UP IN MATTER.
USING SIMPLE EQUIPMENT WIDELY AVAILABLE
THEY PRODUCE THE FIRST EVIDENCE FROM A CONTROLLED EXPERIMENT
OF EINSTEIN'S FAMOUS EQUATION: E EQUALS MC-SQUARED.
I WAS IN BERKELEY
AND PEOPLE HAD GONE TO THE MEETING IN WASHINGTON
WHERE BOHR BROUGHT HIS NEWS, AND THEY CALLED UP AND SAID
"GOSH, THIS IS AMAZING-- CAN YOU DO IT?"
AND IN A DAY OR TWO, TWO OR THREE PEOPLE HAD DONE IT.
I COULD SEE THE BIG SPIKES OF FISSION
ON THE OSCILLOSCOPE SCREEN
EVERYBODY KNEW THIS WAS GOING TO BE A WARTIME DEVICE.
Osgood: AT A SUPER-SECRET FACILITY DEEP IN NEW MEXICO SCRUBLAND
THE U.S. ARMY ASSEMBLES A TEAM
OF AMERICAN AND TRANSPLANTED EUROPEAN PHYSICISTS--
THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN.
WE WERE GALVANIZED BY THE NOTION THAT THE GERMANS WERE AHEAD
BECAUSE THEY HAD SPENT A LOT OF MONEY, THEY WERE VERY GOOD
THIS WAS DISCOVERED IN GERMANY, THEY HAD ABLE PEOPLE.
ACTUALLY WE DIDN'T REALIZE THAT THEY HAD LOST SO MUCH
BY DESTROYING THE COMMUNITY AS THEY HAD DONE.
IT WAS LUCKY.
Osgood: AMERICANS HAVE THE TALENT AND PRACTICALLY UNLIMITED RESOURCES.
IN LESS THAN FIVE YEARS, $2 BILLION CREATES
A NUCLEAR PROJECT THE SIZE OF THE U.S. AUTO INDUSTRY.
YET UNTIL THE VERY END, NO ONE CAN SAY FOR SURE
THE PRODUCT OF ALL THIS EFFORT WILL WORK.
RELATIVITY, E EQUALS MC-SQUARED, WAS KNOWN
BUT IT WAS NOT KNOWN HOW TO PUT IT ALL TOGE
SO THESE PHYSICISTS, SOME OF THE BRIGHTEST MINDS OF THE WORLD
WERE CONCENTRATED AT LOS ALAMOS NOT TO DISCOVER NEW PHYSICS
BECAUSE THAT WAS ALREADY DONE BY THE BOHRS AND BY THE EINSTEINS;
THEY WERE ASSEMBLED TO SEE
WHETHER OR NOT IT WOULD ACTUALLY WORK.
WHEN I FIRST BROUGHT THE PLUTONIUM SPHERE
IN CONTACT WITH A HIGH EXPLOSIVE
I WAS QUITE SCARED ABOUT HIGH EXPLOSIVE.
AND ROGER WARNER
WHO WAS IN CHARGE OF THAT PARTICULAR ASSEMBLY
HE WAS CALM AND HE SAID, "DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT.
"YOU CAN'T RUN VERY FAR IN A MILLISECOND ANYHOW
SO YOU'LL NEVER KNOW WHAT HAPPENS IF IT GOES OFF WRONGLY."
IT WAS A NEW WORLD-- EVERYONE COULD SEE THAT.
MAYBE IT WOULD BE THE END OF THE WAR, THAT WAS VERY GOOD
BUT WHO KNOWS WHAT WAS GOING TO COME AFTER THAT?
WE DIDN'T KNOW.
WE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN MORE THAN WE DID.
Kaku: IT WAS THIS FANTASTIC EXPERIENCE OF TAKING THEORY
THEORIES THAT WERE EQUATIONS
AND BUILDING SOMETHING OF ENORMOUS POWER
THE POWER OF THE SUN.
BUT JUST LIKE THE OPENING OF PANDORA'S BOX
PERHAPS HUMANITY WAS NOT READY FOR COSMIC FIRE;
PERHAPS HUMANITY WAS NTURE ENOUGH
TO HANDLE THE POWER OF THE SUN NOW BEING PLACED ON THE EARTH.
THERE'S A UNIVERSE UP THERE THAT WE CAN'T SEE WITH OUR EYES
EVEN IF WE HAVE SOMETHING 1,000 TIMES LARGER THAN THIS.
WE HAVE TO TURN TO A DIFFERENT KIND OF TELESCOPE--
ONE WITHOUT LENSES OR MIRRORS OR ANY OF THE OTHER THINGS
ASTRONOMERS HAVE RELIED UPON FOR CENTURIES.
THIS INVISIBLE UNIVERSE HAS TO BE SEEN WITH TELESCOPES
THAT USE RADIO WAVES, X RAYS, INFRARED RAYS OR GAMMA RAYS.
EVERYTHING IN THE UNIVERSE GIVES OFF RADIATION OF SOME KIND.
FOR EXAMPLE, THE GLAZE ON THIS TEACUP EMITS GAMMA WAVES.
IMAGINE THAT IT IS A GALAXY
AND THIS GEIGER MULTITUBE A CRUDE RAY TELESCOPE.
(tube clicking rapidly)
IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 20th CENTURY
ASTRONOMERS START EXPLORING THE HEAVENS WITH INSTRUMENTS
THAT ARE SENSITIVE TO A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT FORMS OF RADIATION.
AND WHEN THEY DO
IT'S LIKE LIFTING A VEIL FROM THE FACE OF THE UNIVERSE.
Osgood: ONE OF THE MOST SURPRISING DISCOVERIES
OF POST-WAR AS
IS MADE WITH THIS DEVICE, BUILT OUTSIDE CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND.
IT MAY LOOK LIKE 4 1/2 ACRES OF LAUNDRY LINE
BUT IT'S REALLY A RADIO TELESCOPE.
AS THE EARTH ROTATES
MILES OF ANTENNA WIRE RECEIVE RADIO SIGNALS DAY AND NIGHT.
WHEN IT GOES INTO OPERATION IN 1967
JOCELYN BELL GETS THE TASK OF RUNNING IT.
WITHIN MONTHS, THE YOUNG GRADUATE STUDENT NOTICES
SOMETHING SHE'S NEVER SEEN BEFORE.
IT'S A FUNNY BLIP ON ONE OF THE LONG ROLLS OF CHART PAPER
USED TO RECORD WHAT THE TELESCOPE SEES.
THE FIRST FEW TIMES I SAW IT
I JUST PUT A QUESTION MARK BY IT AND PASSED ON.
I THINK MINE
THINGS THAT IT CAN'T RESOLVE, THINGS THAT IT CAN'T COPE WITH
BECAUSE THIS CURIOUS LITTLE SIGNAL
OCCUPIED ABOUT A QUARTER OF AN INCH IN 400 FOOT.
AND YET, SOMEHOW MY BRAIN STORED THAT WAY, WAY BACK SOMEWHERE
BUT IT STORED IT.
AND AFTER IT HAD DEALT WITH THIS PROBLEM A COUPLE OF TIMES
AND IT FACED IT THE THIRD TIME
IT SAID, "I'VE SEEN SOMETHING LIKE THIS BEFORE."
Osgood: SHE IMMEDIATELY CALLS HER THESIS ADVISOR
RADIO ASTRONOMER ANTONY HEWISH.
HE'S INTRIGUED, BUT CAUTIONS THE SIGNAL IS PROBABLY MAN-MADE.
BELL GOES BACK TO HER CHARTS
AND FIGURES OUT WHEN THE SIGNAL SHOULD COME AGAIN.
SHE SETS HER INSTRUMENTS TO RECORD A MORE DETAILED IMAGE
AND DISCOVERS THE SIGNAL IS A STRING OF PULSES
EXACTLY ONE AND A THIRD SECONDS APART.
NEVER BEFORE HAS A TELESCOPE OF ANY KIND
FOUND SOMETHING LIKE THIS.
HEAVENLY BODIES DON'T JUST PULSE ON AND OFF.
LOOK AT THE SUN-- IS THE SUN DOING THIS?
LOOK AT THE MOON-- IS THE MOON DOING THIS?
LOOK AT ALL THE STARS IN THE SKY.
LOOK AT THEM WITH YOUR NAKED EYE.
HAVE YOU EVER SEEN ONE GO...
AND ONE WAY OUT-- IT DIDN'T EXPLAIN EVERYTHING--
BUT ONE WAY OUT WAS TO SAY
WELL, MAYBE IT'S LITTLE GREEN MEN SENDING A SIGNAL TO US.
I THINK THEY WERE TOTALLY SHELL-SHOCKED
THAT THIS POSSIBILITY EXISTED.
THEY REALIZED IT WOULD BE THE DISCOVERY OF THE CENTURY.
IF WE GET IN TOUCH...
SOMEHOW RECEIVE SIGNALS FROM CIVILIZATIONS.
Bell-Burnell: WHAT DO YOU DO IF YOU HAVE REALLY PICKED UP SIGNALS
FROM ANOTHER CIVILIZATION?
DO YOU TELL THE PRESIDENT, THE PRESS OR THE POPE FIRST?
Osgood: BEFORE THEY CAN TELL ANYONE ANYTHING
SHE HEADS OUT TO THE ANTENNA ON A COLD NOVEMBER NIGHT
TO CHECK IT OUT.
AND I CAME OUT ON MY SCOOTER
SLITHERING ALL OVER THE PLACE ON THE ICE
AND WHEN I GOT HERE
THE MACHINERY WASN'T WORKING PROPERLY BECAUSE OF THE COLD.
BUT I FLICKED SWITCHES, I KICKED IT, I CURSED IT
I BREATHED HOT AIR ON IT
AND I GOT IT TO WORK FOR FIVE MINUTES.
AND IT WAS THE RIGHT FIVE MINUTES
AND IT WAS THE RIGHT SETTING
SO IT WAS LOOKING AT THE RIGHT BIT OF SKY.
AND IN CAME FOOP, FOOP, FOOP, FOOP
VERY LIKE THE FIRST LOT, BUT NOT TOTALLY THE SAME.
A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT--
ONE AND A QUARTER SECONDS INSTEAD OF ONE AND A THIRD.
AND THAT SETTLES THE LITTLE GREEN MEN QUESTION
BECAUSE IT'S SO UNLIKELY
THERE'LL BE TWO LOTS OF LITTLE GREEN MEN
OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE SKY
BOTH DECIDING TO SIGNAL TO AN INCONSPICUOUS PLANET
AND USING A NOT VERY INTELLIGENT WAY
OF DOING IT ALSO.
SO IT HAD TO BE SOMETHING STELLAR.
Osgood: THE NEWS OF BELL'S PULSING STARS SPREADS RAPIDLY
THROUGH THE ASTROPHYSICS COMMUNITY.
IT IS CLEARLY AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY.
WHAT THEY ARE AND HOW THEY PULSE IS A REAL MYSTERY.
...FORMED IN A ROTATING MEDIUM
SO IF YOU TAKE A LARGE OBJECT COLLAPSING
IT ROTATES ENOUGH
AND YOU GO BACK TO THE OLD ARGUMENT
THAT MAYBE IT BREAKS UP.
PERHAPS IT'S A WHITE DWARF.
PERHAPS THE RESIDUE DOESN'T...
Osgood: FINALLY, A PHYSICIST CONNECTS WHAT BELL HAS FOUND
WITH AN OLD THEORY ABOUT THE DEATH THROES OF STARS.
THIS THEORY, LONG ASSUMED TO BE UNTESTABLE, PREDICTS
THAT WHEN A LARGE ENOUGH STAR RUNS OUT OF NUCLEAR FUEL
IT WILL COLLAPSE AND CRUSH THE ATOMS WITHIN IT.
WHAT'S LEFT IS LIKE NOTHING ELSE IN THE UNIVERSE--
AN INCREDIBLY DENSE OBJECT MADE ALMOST ENTIRELY OF NEUTRONS.
EVERY OPEN SPACE THAT YOU CAN THINK OF--
BETWEEN ELECTRONS IN THE ATOMS-- IS SQUEEZED OUT
AND IT BECOMES ONE HUGE NUCLEUS.
AND ELECTRONS ARE PUSHED INTO THE PROTONS, FORMING NEUTRONS.
THAT'S WHY WE CALLED THEM NEUTRON STARS.
A NEUTRON STAR HAS TYPICALLY A RADIUS OF ABOUT...
TEN KILOMETERS, SIX MILES.
BUT THE AMOUNMATTER IN A NEUTRON STAR
IS A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN THE TOTAL MASS...
ISTHE TOTAL MATTERRE THAT WE HAVE IN THE SUN.
A SPOONFUL OF THIS NEUTRON STAR MATTER WOULD WEIGH
IF YOU LIKE THE WORD "WEIGHING"
IN POUNDS, IT'S TWO TIMES 10 TO THE 11.
IT'S A TWO WITH 11 ZEROS POUNDS, IN ONE SPOONFUL.
Osgood: NEUTRON STARS CAN ROTATE UP TO 700 TIMES A SECOND.
AS THEY DO, THEIR POWERFUL MAGNETIC FIELDS
RIP THROUGH SPACE
BLASTING RADIO WAVES OUTWARD LIKE A GALACTIC LIGHTHOUSE.
IT'S THAT BEACON THAT JOCELYN BELL SEES
WITH HER RADIO TELESCOPE.
THEORY HAD SAID THAT NEUTRON STARS ARE POSSIBLE
BUT FOR DECADES, ASTRONOMERS AND PHYSICISTS CLUNG TO THE VIEW
THAT THEY'RE JUST TOO WEIRD TO BE REAL.
BELL'S DISCOVERY IS DRAMATIC CONFIRMATION
THAT THE UNIVERSE IS STRANGER AND MORE FANTASTIC
THAN ANYTHING WE EXPERIENCE IN OUR CORNER OF THE COSMOS.
THE REALITY OF NEUTRON STARS
STIRS EXCITEMENT THAT BLACK HOLES MAY ALSO BE REAL.
THEY ARE PERHAPS THE MOST FANTASTIC
AND UNLIKELY PREDICTION EVER MADE BY PHYSICISTS.
WORLD WAR I HAD JUST BROKEN OUT WHEN ALBERT EINSTEIN PUBLISHES
HIS GENERAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY.
AMONG THOSE FIGHTING ON THE RUSSIAN FRONT
IS A GERMAN ASTRONOMER AND PHYSICIST
NAMED KARL SCHWARZSCHILD.
WITH THE WAR RAGING AROUND HIM, SCHWARZSCHILD DISCOVERS
THAT EINSTEIN'S EQUATIONS PREDICT THE EXISTENCE
OF A STAR SO UNIMAGINABLY DENSE
THAT EVEN LIGHT CANNOT ESCAPE IT.
FROM THE BENDS EINSTEIN HIS CALCULATIONS.
JUST WEEKS AFTER RECEIVING EINSTEIN'S REPLY
SCHWARZSCHILD DIES ON THE FRONT LINES.
EINSTEIN MARVELS AT SCHWARZSCHILD'S WORK.
BUT HE NEVER ACCEPTS THAT SUCH A STAR COULD REALLY EXIST.
AS HE PUTS IT, "IT JUST DOESN'T SMELL RIGHT."
THROUGH THE 1960s, MOST SCIENTISTS AGREE WITH EINSTEIN.
BUT THE PUBLIC IS COMPLETELY TAKEN WITH THE IDEA
OF A DARK STAR FROM WHICH ESCAPE IS IMPOSSIBLE
WHERE TIME AND SPACE CEASE TO EXIST.
WE ARE FALLING.
TOWARDS WHAT? I WONDER.
ZEN, PUT FORWARD COORDINATE 890 ON VISUAL.
Zen: CONFIRMED.
Woman: BUT THERE'S NOTHING THERE.
ZEN, USE LONG- RANGE INTENSIFIER.
THREE GUESSES, IF Y
A BLACK HOLE.
MY GOD, WE'RE FALLING INTO A BLACK HOLE.
Osgood: THE EXISTENCE OF A REAL BLACK HOLE
IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE FOR PHYSICISTS TO ACCEPT
YET MANY HAVE TO ADMIT
SHOULD ALSO CREATE BLACK HOLES.
WHEN A STAR HAS BURNED UP ALL ITS NUCLEAR FUEL
AND THERE IS NO LONGER HEAT THAT PUSHES IT OUT
THE CORE COLLAPSES AND AND THERE IS NO LONGER HEAT IT CAN FORM A NEUTRON STAR...T
THIS COLLAPSE CAN BE SO STRONG
DEPENDING UPON THE ORIGINAL MASS OF THE STAR, THAT IT OVERSHOOTS
AND DOESN'T BECOME A NEUTRON STAR
BUT BECOME EVEN SMALLER, AND THEN IT CAN BECOME A BLACK HOLE.
IF YOU TAKE THE EARTH, TO GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE
AND YOU TAKE A VISE, A BIG VISE, AND YOU SQUEEZE THE EARTH--
THE EARTH HAS A RADIUS OF 6,400 KILOMETERS--
IF YOU COULD MAKE THE RADIUS THREE CENTIMETERS
THE EARTH WOULD BECOME A BLACK HOLE.
THREE CENTIMETERS-- THIS BIG.
THEN IT WOULD AUTOMATICALLY FURTHER COLLAPSE ONTO ITSELF.
NOTHING COULD STOP IT, AND IT WOULD BECOME A BLACK HOLE.
AND LIGHT COULD NEVER LEAVE IT.
BECAUSE THEY ALL GO AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT.
Osgood: FINDING SOMETHING THAT DOESN'T GIVE OFF LIGHT--
OR ANY OTHER KIND OF RADIATION-- IS TRICKY, TO SAY THE LEAST.
IT'S NOT UNTIL THE EARLY '70s
THAT ASTRONOMERS STUMBLE ON THE FIRST INDIRECT EVIDENCE
OF A BLACK HOLE.
THE FIRST CLUE COMES WHEN X-RAY TELESCOPES REVEAL
AN AREA OF INTENSE VIOLENCE AND TEMPERATURE
IN THE CONSTELLATION CYGNUS.
PAUL MURDIN IS ONE OF MANY ASTRONOMERS
WHO BEGIN TO FOCUS ON THIS AREA.
WORKING WITH LOUISE WEBSTER, HE FINDS A SUPERGIANT STAR
ORBITING SOMETHING THEY CAN'T SEE.
LOGICALLY, THE SUPERGIANT MUST BE CIRCLING
A MUCH SMALLER AND DENSER STAR--
ONE SO DENSE ITS GRAVITY IS SUCKING HUGE AMOUNTS OF MATTER
FROM ITS LARGER COMPANION.
ONLY THIS COULD PRODUCE THE INTENSE X RAYS
OTHER ASTRONOMERS HAD DETECTED.
FURTHER MEASUREMENTS REVEAL
GRAVITY FURTHEMUST BE GREATERREVEAL'S
THAN ANYTHING DISCOVERED BEFORE.
THE ONLY EXPLANATION IS A BLACK HOLE.
THERE IS STILL NO ABSOLUTE PROOF THAT BLACK HOLES EXIST
BUT FROM THE 1970s ON
MOST SCIENTISTS HAVE COME TO ACCEPT THEM AS REAL--
INCREDIBLY STRANGE, BUT REAL.
Lewin: WHEREAS WITH A NEUTRON STAR
AT LEAST YOU CAN IMAGINE IT HAS A SURFACE
AND YOU CAN LAND ON THAT SURFACE.
AND OKAY, IT IS A MIND-BOGGLING MAGNETIC FIELD, ALL RIGHT
BUT SO BE IT, IT'S THERE.
AND OKAY, IT ROTATES 700 TIMES PER SECOND.
BUT A BLACK HOLE HAS NO SURFACE
SO YOU CAN'T EVEN TALK ABOUT A SURFACE THAT ROTATES AROUND.
IT DOESN'T EXIST, AND THERE IS NOTIMETHAT YOU CAN DEFINE.
THAT'S PRETTY BIZARRE.
THAT GOES BEYOND, TOTALLY BEYOND MY IMAGINATION
I'LL BE VERY HONEST WITH YOU.
BUT YET, IT'S ONE OF MY SPECIALTIES.
I MEASURE THEM, I FIND THEM.
CAN I ENVISION THEM?
NO.
Osgood: CURRENT THEORY HOLDS
THAT THERE ARE BILLIONS OF BLACK HOLES IN THE UNIVERSE
INCLUDING ENORMOUS ONES AT THE CENTER OF MOST GALAXIES.
THESE ARE SO LARGE, THEY MUST HAVE DEVOURED MILLIONS
PERHAPS EVEN BILLIONS OF STARS.
BUT EVEN THE BIRTH AND GROWTH OF BLACK HOLES
AREN'T NEARLY AS FANTASTIC
AS THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE ITSELF.
Osgood: FOR MOST OF HUMAN EXISTENCE
THE QUESTION OF HOW EVERYTHING BEGAN
IS ONE THAT ONLY RELIGION DARED TO ANSWER.
BUT DISCOVERY
THAT THE UNIVERSE IS EXPANDING, SOME SCIENTISTS BEGIN TO BELIEVE
THAT THEY TOO MIGHT HAVE SOMETHING TO OFFER.
THEIR REASONING GOES SOMETHING LIKE THIS:
IF THE UNIVERSE IS EXPANDING
THEN IN THE PAST, IT MUST HAVE BEEN SMALLER.
GO FAR ENOUGH BACK
AND EVN CRUNCHED TOGETHER
IN A POINT OF INFINITE DENSITY.
OUR UNIVERSE BEGAN, THEY SUGGEST
WHEN THAT POINT EXPLODED
CREATING THE EXPANSION LL SEE TODAY.
THIS VISION COMES TO BE CALLED THE BIG BANG THEORY OF CREATION.
AT THE START OF THE 1960s, SCIENTISTS ARE EQUALLY DIVIDED
BETWEEN THIS BIG BANG THEORY
AND A COMPETING NOTION THAT THE UNIVERSE IS ETERNAL
CALLED THE STEADY-STATE THEORY.
BUT THERE'S NO REAL HARD EVIDENCE FOR EITHER ONE.
IN FACT, ALMOST NO ONE EXPECTS
THE DEBATE WILL EVER BE RESOLVED.
IN THE EARLY '60s, ROBERT DICKE
AN ASTROPHYSICIST AT PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
COMES UP WITH WHAT HE THINKS IS A WAY TO TEST
WHETHER OR NOT THE UNIVERSE STARTED WITH A BIG BANG.
HE'S CONVINCED THAT IF IT HAPPENED
THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE SHOULD BE FILLED WITH RADIATION
LEFT FROM THE MOMENT OF CREATION.
Man: BOB DICKE'S REASONING WAS QUITE INTERESTING.
HE REASONED THAT IF THE UNIVERSE HAD GONE THROUGH
THIS BIG BANG PHASE
IT MUST HAVE BEEN VERY HOT AND VERY DENSE
AND THERE MUST HAVE A LOT OF HEAT RADIATION
VERY HIGH TEMPERATURE
AND HE COULDN'T FIND ANY THEORETICAL WAY
TO GET RID OF THIS RADIATION.
IT MUST STILL BE AROUND.
IT MUST STILL BE AROUND.OOLE D OFF BECAUSE THE UNIVERSE EXPANDED
BUT IT MUST STILL BE AROUND AND IN THE MICROWAVE BAND
THE BAND WHERE RADAR WORKS.
Osgood: IT'S A TRULY AMAZING POSSIBILITY--
15-BILLION-YEAR-OLD HEAT
TRANSFORMED BY THE EXPANSION OF SPACE
INTO LOW-LEVEL RADIO STATIC
THAT PERMEATES EVERY CORNER OF THE UNIVERSE.
IF IT'S THERE, THE ONLY COSMOLOGICAL THEORY
THAT CAN EXPLAIN HOW IT GOT THERE IS THE BIG BANG.
NICE THING ABOUT DICKE'S THEORY IS...
Osgood: DICKE CONVINCES DAVID WILKINSON AND ANOTHER YOUNG PHYSICIST
TO BUILD AN ANTENNA
AND SEARCH FOR THIS COSMIC BACKGROUND RADIATION.
...FIT ON A VERY SPECIFIC CURVE CALLED THE BLACK BODY CURVE.
Wilkinson: WE WEREN'T IN ANY PARTICULAR HURRY
BECAUSE BOB DICKE'S IDEA WAS SO ORIGINAL.
WE WEREN'T TOO WORRIED
ABOUT SOMEBODY ELSE GETTING THERE BEFORE WE DID.
SO WE CHARGED AHEAD RATHER SLOWLY.
WE HAD NO MICROWAVE EQUIPMENT AT ALL.
WE HAD TO ORDER THINGS NEW.
WE WENT DOWN TO ARCH STREET IN PHILADELPHIA
AND DUG AROUND IN THE WORLD WAR II SURPLUS SHOPS
TO FIND THINGS THAT WERE CHEAP.
BOB DICKE IS A RATHER FRUGAL EXPERIMENTALIST
SO IF WE COULD FIND IT IN THE JUNK SHOP, WE DID THAT.
Osgood: THIS IS THE ANTENNA THAT RESULTED.
IT'S CAREFULLY CALIBRATED USING SUPER-COLD HELIUM.
WHILE WILKINSON IS BUILDING IT
TWO OTHER SCIENTISTS, JUST 30 MILES AWAY
ARE SETTING UP AN EXPERIMENT
THAT SEEMS TO HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE BIG BANG.
WITH COLLEAGUE ARNO PENZIAS
BOB WILSON PLANS TO USE THIS MICROWAVE ANTENNA
TO STUDY OUR GALAXY.
UNAWARE OF DICKE'S IDEA. TO STUDY OUR GALAXY. HE'S
IN FACT, HE DOESN'T BELIEVE IN THE BIG BANG
BUT PREFERS A UNIVERSE WITH NO BEGINNING OR END.
Man: I LIKED THE STEADY STATE.
IT'S PHILOSOPHICALLY SATISFYING
BECAUSE THERE'S NO END TO THE UNIVERSE IN THE FUTURE.
IT GOES ON FOREVER IN THE SAME SORT OF STATE THAT IT IS.
AND THERE'S NO BEGINNING FOR IT, EITHER.
SO PHYSICISTS GENERALLY LIKE STEADY STATE
BECAUSE THEY DON'T LIKE TO HAVE TO HAVE A TIME
BEYOND WHICH THEY CAN'T KNOW ANYTHING.
Osgood: WILSON AND PENZIAS ARE THEN JUST GETTING STARTED
ON THEIR SCIENTIFIC CAREERS.
THEY HAVE NO DESIRE TO CONFRONT A PROBLEM
AS DIFFICULT AS WHETHER OR NOT THE UNIVERSE HAD A BEGINNING.
THEY JUST WANT TO MAKE SOME SMALL CONTRIBUTION TO ASTRONOMY.
Wilson: DOING SCIENCE BY OURSELVES WAS A GREAT NEW ADVENTURE.
WE SORT OF HAD A CHANCE AT BELL LABS
TO BECOME SCIENTISTS-- YOU KNOW, IN THE REAL SENSE--
AND MAKE USE OF THIS UNIQUE INSTRUMENT
AND, YOU KNOW, WE REALLY DEVOTED OURSELVES TO IT.
Osgood: WILSON AND PENZIAS BELIEVE
THE HOLMDEL ANTENNA WILL MAKE A GREAT RADIO TELESCOPE
BECAUSE IT'S DESIGNED TO REJECT
ALL EXTRANEOUS SIGNALS, OR NOISE.
VERY FIRST TIME ALL EXTRANEOUS SIGNALS, THEY USE ITUT FROM THE
EXTRANEOUS NOISE IS EXACTLY WHAT IT SEEMS TO BE PICKING UP.
Wilson: EVERY TIME WE STARTED UP
WE SAW THE SAME NOISE LEVEL.
EVERYWHERE IN THE SKY WE POINTED
WE SAW THE SAME NOISE LEVEL.
Osgood: IT ISN'T A LOT OF NOISE, BUT THEY FEAR IT'S ENOUGH
TO COMPROMISE SOME OF THEIR RESEARCH.
SO THEY DECIDE TO FIND OUT WHAT'S CAUSING IT
AND GET RID OF IT.
THEY CHECK TO SEE IF IT'S THERE AT NIGHT.
THEY CHECK TO SEE IF IT'S THERE IN DIFFERENT SEASONS.
THEY CHECK ALL POSSIBLE GROUND-BASED SOURCES
OF RADIO NOISE.
THEY CHECK THE ANTENNA ITSELF AND TAPE ALL ITS JOINTS.
THEY DOUBLE-CHECK EVERY PIECE OF EQUIPMENT IN THE SYSTEM.
AND THE NOISE IS ALWAYS THERE.
WITH FEW ALTERNATIVES LEFT TO TRY
THEY DECIDE TO CHECK A REAL LONG SHOT.
Wilson: A SET OF PIGEONS HAD STARTED ROOSTING
UP IN THE THROAT OF THE THING, AND OF COURSE THEY'D COATED IT
WITH THE SAME WHITE PIGEON DROPPINGS
THAT YOU SEE ON STATUES AND SO FORTH IN THE CITY.
WE GOT A LADDER FROM THE CARPENTERS
AND A COUPLE OF PUSH BROOMS AND SOME SCRUB BRUSHES
AND SCRAPED OFF THE DIFFICULT ONES
AND SWEPT THE WHOLE THING OUT.
Osgood: THEY CHECK AGAIN
AND REALIZE THEY COULD HAVE LEFT THE PIGEONS ALONE.
A YEAR OF THIS STRUGGLE HAS LEFT THEM CONVINCED
THE ANTENNA IS FINE.
THE ONLY POSSIBILITY LEFT, AND IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE
IS THAT EVERY CORNER OF THE UNIVERSE IS FILLED
WITH THE SAME NOISE.
DESPERATE, THEY BEGIN CALLING OTHER ASTRONOMERS FOR HELP
AND ONE SUGGESTS CALLING BOB DICKE.
AND THE PHONE RANG, AND BOB PICKED IT UP
AND IT WAS TWO GUYS FROM BELL LABS WHO HAD A PROBLEM
WHICH AT FIST DIDN'T SEEM TO HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH US.
WE DIDN'T LEARN VERY MUCH ON THE TELEPHONE
BUT THEY AGREED TO COME OUT AND SEE WHAT WE HAD DONE
AND TELL US ABOUT WHAT THEY HAD IN MIND.
UH, HE HUNG UP THE PHONE
AND I'LL NEVER FORGET EXACTLY WHAT HE SAID.
THESE ARE HIS EXACT WORDS.
HE SAID, "WELL, BOYS, WE'VE BEEN SCOOPED."
Osgood: ROBERT WILSON AND ARNO PENZIAS HAD ALREADY HEARD
THE ECHO OF THE BIG BANG.
THEIR ANNOYING BACKGROUND NOISE WAS, IN FACT
NOTHING LESS THAN A WHISPER FROM CREATION ITSELF.
IN THE BEGINNING, SOME 15 BILLION YEARS AGO
THE UNIVERSE EXPLODED FROM A SINGLE POINT.
LESS THAN ONE MINUTE LATER, IT'S A MILLION BILLION MILES ACROSS.
IT STILL HAS AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE
OF A BILLION DEGREES.
THE UNIVERSE CONTINUES TO EXPAND AND COOL.
GRADUALLY, GRAVITY DRAWS TOGETHER ATOMS
AND THEN CLUMPS OF ATOMS.
AND GALAXIES ARE CREATED.
EVENTUALLY, AROUND SOME OF THE STARS, PLANETS FORM
AND ON AT LEAST ONE, LIFE BEGINS.
IF EVERYTHING IN THE UNIVERSE BEGAN IN A SINGLE POINT
IT'S HARD NOT TO WONDER WHAT IT TOOK
TO GO FROM SUCH ULTIMATE SIMPLICITY TO ALL OF THIS.
MANY PHYSICISTS BELIEVE THAT AT THE BEGINNING OF TIME
THERE WAS ONLY A SINGLE PARTICLE GOVERNED BY A SINGLE FORCE.
FROM THAT STARTING POINT, WITHIN A TINY FRACTION OF A SECOND
PARTICLES LIKE PROTONS AND ELECTRONS EVOLVED
AND FORCES LIKE GRAVITY AND MAGNETISM CAME INTO BEING
BUT DID THE UNIVERSE HAVE TO BE LIKE THIS?
COULD IT HAVE TURNED OUT ANY OTHER WAY?
PERHAPS IF WE CAN WORK BACK TO THE MOMENT OF CREATION
TO THAT ULTIMATE PARTICLE AND FORCE
WE'LL COME TO UNDERSTAND WHY THE UNIVERSE IS THE WAY IT IS
AND EVEN TO EXPRESS IT
IN WHAT PHYSICISTS CALL "THE FINAL THEORY"
WHICH, IT'S HOPED, CAN BE CAPTURED IN A SINGLE EQUATION
THAT CAN FIT ON A T-SHIRT.
THIS MAY EXPLAIN EVERYTHING.
WHEN WE LOOK AT NATURE, WE SEE THE COMPLEXITIES
THE DIFFERENCES AMONG THINGS.
BUT SCIENTISTS TEND TO LOOK FOR THE CONNECTIONS
THE SIMPLICITY THAT LIES AT THE HEART OF IT ALL.
Man: THE MORE YOU LEARN ABOUT NATURE, THE SIMPLER IT LOOKS.
AND THAT'S WHY I THINK WE WILL FIND A FINAL THEORY
BECAUSE ALTHOUGH I CAN IMAGINE THINGS GETTING
INFINITELY MORE COMPLICATED, COMPLICATION WITHOUT END
I CAN'T IMAGINE SIMPLICITY WITHOUT END.
THE WHOLE PROGRESS OF PHYSICS HAS BEEN
TOE DESCRIPTION OF NATURE
AND HOW SIMPLE CAN THINGS GET?
SIMPLICITY MUST FINALLY TERMINATE.
THERE MUST BE SOMETHING SO SIMPLE
THAT WE CAN'T IMAGINE ANYTHING MORE SIMPLE.
Osgood: BUT IN THE YEARS FOLLOWING WORLD WAR II
PHYSICISTS ARE STUNNED
TO FIND THEIR DREAM OF ULTIMATE SIMPLICITY SLIPPING AWAY.
EXPERIMENTS MEANT TO REVEAL SIMPLICITY
FIND EVER GREATER COMPLEXITY.
Newsreel announcer: BERKELEY CALIFORNIA, HOME OF THE BEVATRON.
THE B.E.V. STANDS FOR BILLIONS OF ELECTRON VOLTS...
WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL ATOM SMASHER.
Osgood: IT'S THE BEGINNING OF THE ERA OF BIG SCIENCE.
GIANT ATOM SMASHERS ARE BUILT
TO ACCELERATE SUBATOMIC PARTICLES TOS
AND SMASH THEM INTO OTHER ATOMS.
Galison: EACH NEW ACCELERATOR BUILT AFTER THE WAR WAS MORE POWERFUL
THAN THE ONE THAT CAME BEFORE.
EACH WAS ABLE TO RAM PARTICLES INTO EACH OTHER HARDER
AND TO SHOW WHAT WAS HAPPENING AT A SMALLER AND SMALLER SCALE.
IT WAS JUST LIKE THE TELESCOPES.
WITH EACH NEW TELESCOPE THAT WAS BUILT
YOU COULD SEE FURTHER OUT INTO SPACE, GATHER MORE LIGHT
RESOLVE OBJECTS MORE PRECISELY.
WITH EACH NEW ACCELERATOR
PEOPLE WERE ABLE TO SEE DEEPER INTO MATTER
MORE PRECISELY, BETTER RESOLUTION, SMALLER SCALE.
Osgood: PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE TRACKS
OF THE OBJECTS PRODUCED IN THESE ACCELERATORS
REVEAL A MULTITUDE OF NEW PARTICLES
THAT SEEM JUST AS FUNDAMENTAL
AS THE FAMILIAR PROTCTRON.
Kaku: WE WERE LITERALLY DROWNING IN SUBATOMIC PARTICLES.
ONE YEAR, OUT OF SHEER FRUSTRATION
J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER, FATHER OF THE ATOMIC BOMB, STATED
THAT THE PHYSICIST
WHO DOES NOT DISCOVER A NEW PARTICLE THAT YEAR
SHOULD WIN THE NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS.
THERE WERE HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF PARTICLES
WHICH LOOKED JUST AS ELEMENTARY AS THE PROTON.
IT BECAME CLEAR THAT IF ELEMENTARY MEANT ANYTHING
EITHER THERE WAS SOMETHING MORE ELEMENTARY
OR PERHAPS THEY WERE ALL ELEMENTARY--??
A FRIGHTENING IDEA.
Osgood: AMONG THE PHYSICISTS UNHAPPY WITH ALL THIS COMPLICATION
IS A BRASH YOUNG THEORIST NAMED MURRAY GELL-MANN.
BY THE AGE OF 25
GELL-MANN IS ALREADY WELL KNOWN IN THE WORLD OF PHYSICS
FOR HIS ENCYCLOPEDIC INTERESTS AND KNOWLEDGE
HIS QUICK AND CREATIVE MIND
AND HIS FREQUENTLY ABRASIVE PERSONAL STYLE.
A COLLEAGUE SAYS OF HIM
AY HAS NO PARTICULAR TALENT FOR PHYSICSRR
BUT HE'S SO SMART, HE'S A GREAT PHYSICIST ANYWAY."
THE IMPORTANT THING IS FIRST TO STEEP YOURSELF IN THE PROBM
TO LOOK AT THE PUZZLE, ALL THE PIECES OF THE PUZZLE.
Osgood: BY LOOKING FOR PATTERNS AND SYMMETRIES
GELL-MANN FINDS A WAY
TO ORGANIZE ALL THE NEWLY DISCOVERED PARTICLES
INTO FAMILIES.
THEN, INSPIRED BY A CHANCE ENCOUNTER
DURING A VISIT TO COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN NEW YORK
HE TAKES A GIANT STEP TOWARD SIMPLICITY.
Kaku: OVER LUNCH, A PHYSICIST APPROACHED HIM AND SAID
"ISN'T IT POSSIBLE THAT YOUR THEORIES COULD BE EXPLAINED
BY POSTULATING THREE EVEN MORE FUNDAMENTAL PARTICLES?"
WELL, EYONE AT THAT TABLE DISMISSED THAT IDEA IMMEDIATELY
AND THEY P TO THIS PHYSICIST WHAT WAS WRONG.
YOU WOULD HAVE FRACTIONALLY CHARGED PARTICLES
AN OUTRAGEOUS, RIDICULOUS IDEA
BECAUSE EVERYONE KNEW
THAT PARTICLES WERE EITHER PLUS ONE OR MINUS ONE IN CHARGE
NEVER ONE-THIRD OR TWO-THIRDS.
Osgood: BUT OVER THE MONTHS THAT FOLLOW
GELL-MANN GROWS TO LOVE THE IDEA OF THIS DEEPER LEVEL OF REALITY.
THE FACT NO ONE'S EVER SEEN PARTICLES THIS BIZARRE
HE DECIDES ISN'T HIS PROBLEM.
IN EARLY 1964, GELL-MANN PROPOSES TO THE WORLD
HE CALLS "QUARKS."
HIS THREE QUARKS COULD COMBINE IN DIFFERENT WAYS
IT WOULD SIMPLIFY, ORGANIZE
IT WAS A GREAT SCIENTIFIC ADVANCE.
THE PROBLEM WAS THAT NO ONE HAD EVER SEEN ANYTHING
THAT LOOKED LIKE A QUARK.
NOW, WHAT ARE THE QUARKS?
ARE THEY ACTUALLY REAL OBJECTS?
WELTAL FRIENDS ARE MAKING A SEARCH FOR THEM
IN ALL SORTS OF PLACES.
ONE ATOMIC SPECTROSCOPIST FRIEND OF MINE CALLS ME UP
SOMETIMES AT MIDNIGHT HIS P ROGRESS
IN A SEARCH FOR QUARKS IN SEAWATER.
MOST THINGS WITH CURIOUS CHEMICAL BEHAVIOR IN THE OCEAN
END UP EATEN BY OYSTERS.
(laughter)
AND SO NOW HE'S GRINDING UP OYSTERS...
(laughter)
AND LOOKING FOR THE ATOMIC LEVELS IN THE OYSTERS.
SO FAR, THOUGH, NO QUARKS.
Kaku: PHYSICISTS WERE FACED WITH A PARADOX:
WHERE WERE THE QUARKS?
EVERYWHERE WE LOOKED
WE COULD NOT FIND ANY PHYSICAL EVIDENCE FOR THE QUARKS
AND IN FACT, SOME PHYSICISTS EVEN BEGAN
TO DOUBT THE CORRECTNESS OF THE THEORY.
HOWEVER, OVER THE YEARS
INDIRECT EVIDENCE BEGAN TO TRICKLE IN
CONFIRMING THIS THEORY.
AND NOW WHEN EXPERIMENTERS TAKE A HARD LOOK AT THE PROTON
THEY SEE STRONG EVIDENCE OF THE QUARKS INSIDE.
FOR STARTERS, THEY'RE SO SMALL
IT'S HARD TO APPLY TO THEM OUR NORMAL NOTIONS OF SIZE.
HEM AS POINTS. E T
POINTS? COME ON!
WHAT DO YOU MEAN, POINTS?
HOW CAN SOMETHING HAVE A MASS AND A CHARGE
AND BE A POINT?
WELL, IT TAKES A LITTLE...
A FEW MUSCLES IN THE MIND THAT HAVN
BUT IF YOU WORK ON THEM FOR A WHILE
YOU CAN IMAGINE SUCH AN OBJECT.
IT'S A LITTLE BIT LIKE ALICE IN WONDERLAND.
REMEMBER THE CHESHIRE CAT SITTING ON THE TREE, SMILING
AND ALICE IS NOTICING
WHEN THE CAT DISAPPEARS, THE SMILE IS LEFT BEHIND?
YOU REMEMBER THAT?
WELL, IN A WAY YOU CAN LOOK AT THAT AS YOU TAKE A QUARK
AND IT'S SPINNING, AND IT HAS A...
IT'S SPHERICAL, IF YOU LIKE
AND IT HAS MASS AND CHARGE AND SPIN
AND ALL THESE OTHER PROPERTIES THAT WE LIKE TO MEASURE ABOUT IT
BUT IN FRONT OF YOUR EYES, IT'S SHRINKING
AND FINALLY, IT... POOF! SHRINKS TO A POINT
LEAVING BEHIND ITS SPIN, ITS CHARGE, ITS MASS
AND IF IT HAS A SMILE, LEAVING BEHIND ITS SMILE.
THAT'S THE IDEA OF POINT PARTICLES.
Osgood: WITH QUARKS, PHYSICS' JOURNEY INTO THE HEART OF MATTER
TAKES A GIANT STEP TOWARD ITS GOAL
OF FINDING AN ULTIMATE PARTICLE FROM WHICH EVERYTHING IS MADE.
INSTEAD OF HUNDREDS OF FUNDAMENTAL PARTICLES IN NATURE
NOW THERE ARE SIMPLY THREE: ELECTRONS, QUARKS
AND NEUTRINOS, TINY PARTICLES WITH ALMOST NO MASS
THAT RARELY INTERACT WITH THE STUFF WE'RE MADE OF.
THE SEARCH FOR A SINGLE FUNDAMENTAL PARTICLE
IS MATCHED BYR A SINGLE FORC E
THAT GOVERNS THE BEHAVIOR OF EVERYTHING.
THIS WAS ALBERT EINSTEIN'S GREAT QUEST
FOR THE LAST 25 YEARS OF HIS LIFE.
MORE THAN ONCE, HE THOUGHT HE HAD DONE IT
ONLY TO LEARN HIS SOLUTION WAS FATALLY FLAWED.
WHEN EINSTEIN WAS WORKING ON UNIFICATION
HE RECOGNIZED TWO FORCES: GRAVITY AND ELECTROMAGNETISM.
BUT TODAY, PHYSICISTS HAVE TO DEAL WITH TWO OTHERS:
THE STRONG FORCE AND THE WEAK FORCE.
THE WEAK FORCE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR MANY FORMS OF RADIOACTIVITY.
THE STRONG FORCE HOLDS OUR NUCLEUS TOGETHER.
THE NUCLEUS IS FULL OF PROTONS, WHICH ALL HAVE POSITIVE CHARGES.
THE NUCLEUS IS FULL OF PROTONS, WHICH ALL HAVE POSITIVE CHARGES. AND IF THERE WAS NOTHING TO HOLD THEM TOGETHER
THE ELECTRIC FORCES WOULD MAKE THEM FLY APART
BECAUSE EQUAL CHARGES ARE REPELLED.
THE STRONG FORCE PREVENTS THAT FROM HAPPENING.
Osgood: ONE OF THE PHYSICISTS WHO PLAYS A KEY ROLE
IN THE QUEST FOR UNIFICATION IS STEPHEN WEINBERG.
HIS SPECIALTY IS THE TWO FORCES WITHIN THE ATOMIC NUCLEUS:
THE WEAK AND THE STRONG.
Weberg: LIKE A LOT OF OTHER PHYSICISTS, I GOT STARTED WITH CHEMISTRY.
I HAD A HAND-ME-DOWN CHEMISTRY SET
THAT WAS GIVEN TO ME BY AN OLDER COUSIN.
FIRST I JUST LIKED TO PLAY WITH THE POWDERS AND THE LIQUIDS
AND MAKE COLORED SMOKE AND THINGS LIKE THAT
AND GRADUALLY, JUST READING ABOUT IT
I BECAME AWARE
THAT WHAT WENT ON INSIDE AN ATOM WAS SOMETHING
THAT COULDN'T BE EXPLAINED IN TERMS OF ORDINARY THINGS
THAT I KNEW ABOUT IN EVERYDAY LIFE.
THERE WAS SOMETHING STRANGE AND WONDERFUL
ABOUT PHYSICS, WHICH WAS THE SCIENCE
THAT GOVERNED WHAT GOES ON IMS.
Osgood: THAT FEELING ABOUT PHYSICS STAYS WITH WEINBERG
IN THE LATE '60s, HE'S STRUGGLING UNSUCCESSFULLY
TO USE CERTAIN MATHEMATICAL IDEAS
TO MAKE SENSE OF THE STRONG FORCE
THE ONE THAT HOLDS ATOMIC NUCLEI TOGETHER.
Weinberg: AND THEN AT A CERTAIN POINT
I THINK WHEN I WAS DRIVING MY CAR TO M.I.T.
I REALIZED, MY GOODNESS, THIS KIND OF MATHEMATICAL IDEA
ALTHOUGH IT'S A COMPLETE LOSER
AS FAR AS THE STRONG FORCES ARE CONCERNED
IS JUST WHAT WE NEED TO MAKE A THEORY OF THE WEAK FORCE.
AND TO MY SURPRISE, ALTHOUGH CERTAINLY NOT MY DISAPPOINTMENT
WHAT CAME OUT AT THE END
WAS NOT JUST THE THEORY OF THE WEAK FORCES
BUT, INEVITABLY, A UNIFIED THEORY
OF WEAK AND ELECTROMAGNETIC FORCES.
ALL OF A SUDDEN, FROM FOUR FUNDAMENTAL FORCES
WE NOW HAD THREE FUNDAMENTAL FORCES
AND THIS CHANGED THE ENTIRE TERRAIN OF THEORETICAL PHYSICS.
Osgood: IN ORDER TO TEST WEINBERG'S THEORY
THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY SPENDS A STAGGERING $150 MILLION
TO MODIFY AND MAKE MORE POWERFUL
ITS LARGEST PARTICLE ACCELERATOR.
THE PROT??S ARE IN THE MACHINE.
WE'RE NOW IN THE COUNTDOWN.
Osgood: IN THE SUBATOMIC SHRAPNEL CREATED IN THESE COLLISIONS
LIES THE EVIDENCE THAT CONFIRMS
THE CORRECTNESS OF ELECTRO-WEAK UNIFICATION.
THE FOUR FUNDAMENTAL FORCES ARE NOW THREE.
BUT JUST AS THREE TYPES OF PARTICLES DOESN'T SATISFY
NEITHER DOES THREE FORCES.
IN THE MID-1980s
WORK BEGINS ON WHAT MOST PHYSICISTS BELIEVE
IS THE KEY TO GETTING EVEN CLOSER TO THE HEART OF MATTER.
IT'S CALLED THE SUPERCONDUCTING SUPERCOLLIDER, OR S.S.C.
WITH AN UNDERGROUND PARTICLE RING 50 MILES LONG
IT'S DESIGNED TO RE-CREATE THE CONDITIONS OF THE UNIVERSE
IN ITS FIRST TRILLION-TRILLION-TRILLIONTH OF A SECOND.
IT WAS TO BE A DEVICE SO LARGE
IT WOULD ENCLOSE TOWNS INSIDE IT.
IT WAS A MACHINE THAT WOULD REQUIRE BUSES
TO GET FROM ONE PART TO ANOTHER.
IT WAS A MACHINE THAT WOULD SHIP VOLUMES OF DATA
EQUIVALENT TO THE ENTIRE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
OUT TO DISTANT LABORATORIES AROUND THE WORLD
WITH AMAZING FREQUENCY.
THE DETECTORS, THE SITES
WHERE THE ACTUAL PHYSICS WOULD BE CONDUCTED
WOULD COST A BILLION DOLLARS APIECE
AND HAVE SOMEWHERE NEAR A THOUSAND PHYSICISTS
AND PROBABLY AN EQUIVALENT NUMBER OF TECHNICIANS
AT EACH ONE.
Osgood: BUT IN 1993, AFTER AN INVESTMENT OF $2 BILLION
CONSTRUCTION ON THE S.S.C. IS HALTED.
YEARS OF ESCALATING COSTS HAVE ERODED CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORT.
THE MESSAGE TO SCIENTISTS IS, FIND ANOTHER WAY TO HUNT
FOR THE ULTIMATE PARTICLE AND THE ULTIMATE FORCE.
PHYSICISTS ARE DEVASTATED.
Galison: WHEN THE AMERICAN PARTICLE PHYSICS COMMUNITY
GAMBLED ON THE S.S.C.
THEY HAD ESSENTIALLY TO SHUT DOWN PROGRAM AFTER PROGRAM
IN THE HOPES THAT THEY COULD CONVINCE THE POLITICIANS
THAT BY MAKING THESE SACRIFICES
THEY SHOULD RECEIVE THE AMOUNT OF FUNDS
NECESSARY TO BUILD THE SUPERCONDUCTING SUPERCOLLIDER.
WHEN THE S.S.C. WAS CANCELED
THEY ESSENTIALLY LOST EVERYTHING.
(playing Bach sonata)
Osgood: EVEN STILL, THE SEARCH FOR UNIFICATION GOES ON.
IN THE 1980s, THEORISTS PROPOSE
THAT AT THE HEART OF EVERYTHING
ARE INFINITESIMALLY SMALL VIBRATING STRINGS.
STRING THEORY, QUITE SIMPLY
IS THE MOST EXCITING IDEA TO HIT PHYSICS
SINCE THE DAYS OF EINSTEIN AND BOHR.
IT MAY WELL BE THE FINAL THEORY--
THE ONE THAT EXPLAINS ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING.
Kaku: THE PYTHAGOREANS BELIEVED
THAT MUSIC WAS THE LANGUAGE OF NATURE;
THAT THE HARMONIES ON A VIOLIN STRING--
WHICH THEY WORKED OUT FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY--
WERE THE HARMONIES OF THE UNIVERSE.
AND THEY THOUGHT THAT ALL AROUND US, SURROUNDING US WAS MUSIC--
THE MUSIC OF THE SPHERES.
UNFORTUNATELY, THAT IDEA NEVER GOT ANYWHERE
BECAUSE THAT COULDN'T EXPLAIN THE ELEMENTS.
NOW WE THINK THAT IF I HAVE A SUPER-POWERFUL MICROSCOPE
AND COULD PEER INTO AN ELECTRON
I WOULD SEE A VIBRATING VIOLIN STRING.
IT CHANGES INTO GRAVITY.
IT CHANGES INTO LIGHT.
SO, IN OTHER WORDS
OUR BODIES ARE NOTHING BUT COLLECTIONS OF STRINGS.
AND THE LAWS GOVERNING THESE STRINGS
ARE THE HARMONIES OF THE STRINGS
AND THEY ARE THE LAWS OF PHYSICS.
Osgood: THEORISTS USUALLY IMAGINE STRINGS
AS INCREDIBLY SMALL CLOSED LOOPS
MORE LIKE RUBBER BANDS THAN ANYTHING ELSE.
ORDINARY MATTER, EVEN SPACE, TIME AND ENERGY
ARE NOTHING MORE THAN THE VIBRATIONS OF STRINGS.
TO PHYSICISTS THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL, ELEGANT, SIMPLE--
EVERYTHING THEY DREAM ABOUT.
THEN WHEN I INTEGRATE...
Osgood: BUT THE MATHEMATICS NEEDED TO DESCRIBE THEM IS ANYTHING BUT.
A-B-C-D...
MY CLAIM IS THAT
THIS THING I WRITE ON THIS SIDE OF THE EQUATION
IS A SUPER-SYMMETRIC DEFINITION OF AN INDEX
AND THE STATEMENT IS THAT THE TOPOLOGY OF THE SUPERSPACE
CAN ONLY BE GENERATED
BY THE TOPOLOGY OF THE BOSONIC MANIFOLD.
Gates: MATHEMATICS FOR A THEORETICAL PHYSICIST
REALLY IS AN EXTRASENSORY ORGAN.
I CANNOT MAKE MYSELF AS SMALL AS AN ATOM;
I CANNOT MAKE MYSELF THE SIZE OF A PROTON.
BUT WITH MATHEMATICS
I HAVE AN ACCURATE REPRESENTATION OF THAT
I HAVE AN ACCURATE REPRESENTATION OF THAT CAN USE MY MIND
TO ACTUALLY LOOK AT THOSE SMALL THINGS.
THE FUNNY THING...
Osgood: ONE OF THE STRANGEST THINGS ABOUT STRING THEORY
IS THAT IT ONLY WORKS
IF THERE ARE TEN OR MORE DIMENSIONS.
CROSS E-8 HETEROTIC THEORY.
SOME PEOPLE SAY TO US, "BUT THAT'S NOT COMMONSENSICAL.
THAT VIOLATES COMMON SENSE."
WELL, WHY SHOULD COMMON SENSE
HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE UNIVERSE?
WHY SHOULD THE UNIVERSE CARE ABOUT YOUR COMMON SENSE?
SO WE PHYSICISTS ARE PRISONERS.
WE ARE PRISONERS OF EXPERIMENT, PRISONERS OF OUR MATHEMATICS
AND WE SIMPLY GO WHERE THE MATHEMATICS...
GO WHERE THE EXPERIMENTS TAKE US.
WITH STRING THEORY, THEY'RE GOING WAY OUT.
THEY'RE USING MATHEMATICS
IN A WAY THAT PHYSICISTS HAVE NEVER USED MATHEMATICS BEFORE.
IN TEN DIMENSIONS, WE CAN LOOK AT THE ENTIRE CLIFFORD ALGEBRA
OF THE DIRAC MATRICES.
MORE AND MORE ESOTERIC,
AND, MOST UNFORTUNATELY OF ALL
FURTHER AND FURTHER REMOVED FROM EXPERIMENTAL VERIFICATION.
BUT IN A SENSE, IT'S THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN.
IT'S THE ONLY HOPE WE HAVE OF UNIFYING EVERYTHING.
WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT NOW
IS UNDERSTANDING ALL FOUR FUNDAMENTAL FORCES.
THAT'S THE POWER OF THIS THEORY.
WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A THEORY OF THE UNIVERSE.
WILL IT GIVE ME BETTER COLOR TELEVISION?
THE ANSWER IS NO.
IT'S NOT GOING TO GIVE YOU A BIGGER TOASTER.
IT'S NOT GOING TO GIVE YOU BETTER SLICED BREAD.
BUT IT WILL GIVE YOU IS A THEORY THAT WILL AFFECT
THE FUTURE COURSE OF HUMAN CIVILIZATION.
YOUR GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN WILL ONE DAY LIVE
TO HARNESS THE POWER OF THE UNIFIED FIELD THEORY.
Osgood: NO ONE KNOWS IF STRING THEORY IS THE FINAL THEORY
BUT IF IT ISN'T, PHYSICISTS ARE SURE TO KEEP SEARCHING.
Lewin: I THINK IT'S ALMOST A RELIGIOUS BELIEF
THAT THINGS MUST SOMEHOW... VERY DEEP DOWN BE SIMPLE
AND THAT WE ARE TO SOME DEGREE BLIND
AND DON'T SEE THE SIMPLICITY, BUT ARE SEARCHING FOR IT.
NOW, THAT'S WHAT PHYSICS HAS BEEN DOING ALWAYS--
VERY DIFFICULT PROCESSES, VERY DIFFICULT PHENOMENON
WHICH SEEMINGLY ARE UNRELATED, CHAOTIC...
THROUGH SIMPLE DESCRIPTIONS PULL THEM TOGETHER AND UNIFY THEM.
AND THAT WILL GO ON FOR A LONG, LONG TIME.
Osgood: ASTRONOMERS WILL ALSO KEEP TRYING TO SOLVE
THE MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE.
ON A MOUNTAIN IN ARIZONA
TEAM OF SCIENTISTS ONIS SEARCHING THE SKYNA ONE
FOR CLUES TO THE ULTIMATE FATE OF THE COSMOS.
AT THIS AND OTHER TELESCOPES AROUND THE WORLD
THEY'RE MEASURING LIGHT
FROM STARS HALFWAY ACROSS THE UNIVERSE.
AND THIS IS SUPERNOVA...
Osgood: THEN, BOB KIRSHNER AND HIS COLLEAGUES
USE THOSE MEASUREMENTS Osgood: THEN, BOB KIRSHNER WITH EINSTEIN'S EQUATIONSILL
TO CALCULATE THE APPROXIMATE MASS OF THE ENTIRE COSMOS.
THIS IS NOT EASY.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT WE'RE SUPPOSED TO DO
EXCEPT JUST SIT THERE AND TAKE IT.
Osgood: IF KIRSHNER FINDS ENOUGH MASS
IT MEANS THE UNIVERSE WILL ONE DAY STOP EXPANDING