NOVA: Einstein's Big Idea
by Gary Johnstone
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Aidan McArdle, John Lithgow, Shirley HendersonDirector: Gary Johnstone
Brand: Wgbh Wholesale
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Letterboxed, NTSC, Widescreen
Running Time: 112 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-12-06
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: PBS
Product features:
- Everyone's heard of it, but what does E=mc2 -- the world s most famous equation -- really mean? And why did it change the world? With brilliant period recreations, NOVA dramatizes how an obscure young patent clerk, Albert Einstein, came up with his shattering 1905 discovery that the realms of matter and energy are inescapably linked. An accessible, suspenseful epic, Einstein's Big Idea re
Movie Reviews of NOVA: Einstein's Big Idea
Movie Review: Fine dramatic depiction of the discoveries of Einstein and his precursors
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a 112-minute NOVA production directed by Gary Johnstone based on the book E=MC2 by David Bodanis. John Lithgow narrates and Aiden McArdle stars as Albert Einstein. It's the kind of documentary that melds interviews with scientists and historians with reconstructions of historical events by actors. "Einstein's Big Idea" is a particularly good example of this genre.
Bodanis realized when he conceived the book that it wasn't enough merely to write about Einstein. It was necessary to bring Einstein's precursors and their ideas and discoveries into the mix. This film does the same and does it well. Recalled is the story of Michael Faraday who discovered electromagnetic induction and that of Antoine Lavoisier who demonstrated the conservation of matter. Worth noting is the influence of women in these stories. Shirley Henderson plays Einstein's first wife and fellow physicist Mileva Maric while Ty Glaser portrays Lavoisier's wife, Marie Anne, who was a fine chemist in her own right. Included is the sad story of Lise Meitner, Austrian born Jewish physicist, who was betrayed by fellow physicist Otto Hahn in Nazi Germany in that he won a Nobel Prize in large part because of work she had done.
What impressed me about this production was the fine acting by especially Shirley Henderson who is an outstanding actress, and Aiden McArdle who looked the spitting image of a young Albert Einstein. Ty Glaser was also very good. Johnstone's direction was first rate. His ability to recreate various time periods in a realistic way should propel him toward a career adapting historical novels to the screen.
The film concentrates on the personalities of the scientists and their struggles and successes. The actual science is secondary. Consequently this is a good film for people, especially young people, interested in science but without yet a lot of scientific training.
Summary of NOVA: Einstein's Big Idea
Everyone's heard of it, but what does E=mc2 -- the world?s most famous equation -- really mean? And why did it change the world?With brilliant period recreations, NOVA dramatizes how an obscure young patent clerk, Albert Einstein, came up with his shattering 1905 discovery that the realms of matter and energy are inescapably linked. An accessible, suspenseful epic, Einstein's Big Idea reveals the roots of his astonishing breakthrough in the human stories of men and women whose innovative thinking across four centuries helped lead to E=mc2, and ultimately unleashed the power of the atom.
Here are stories rich with achievement and failure, feuds and duplicity, love and rivalry, politics and revenge: Michael Faraday, the penniless blacksmith?s son who fought the ridicule of the scientific establishment; Antoine Lavoisier, the cool-headed experimenter who fell victim to the guillotine; and Lise Meitner, the physicist who weathered Nazi persecution and personal betrayal on her path to discovering the splitting of the atom.
As one discovery builds on the next, Einstein's Big Idea shows how Einstein's saga began with the personal lives of these pioneers and their years of persistence, ingenuity, sacrifice, and heroic struggle against the odds.
The film stars Aidan McArdle (Ella Enchanted) as Einstein, and Shirley Henderson (Bridget Jones and Harry Potter) as Einstein's first wife, Mileva Maric.
Special DVD features include: materials and activities for educators; a link to the NOVA Web site; scene selections; closed captions; and described video for the visually impaired.
On one DVD5 disc. Region coding: All regions. Audio: Dolby stereo. Screen format: Letterboxed.
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