PBS.NOVA.2005.Einsteins.Big.Idea Subtitles

00:00:10,378 --> 00:00:12,(ticking)

00:00:15,683 --> 00:00:17,MAN:
When we think
of E equals m c-squared,

00:00:17,184 --> 00:00:19,we have this vision of Einstein
as an old, wrinkly man

00:00:19,587 --> 00:00:20,with white hair.

00:00:20,955 --> 00:00:25,MAN 2:
E equals m c-squared
is not about an old Einstein.

00:00:27,762 --> 00:00:31,It's actually about a young,
energetic, dynamic,

00:00:31,198 --> 00:00:32,even a s***y Einstein.

00:00:35,002 --> 00:00:38,ACTOR AS EINSTEIN:
What would I see if I rode
on a beam of light?

00:00:44,812 --> 00:00:46,MAN:
Perhaps some sort

00:00:46,380 --> 00:00:48,of electrical force is emanating

00:00:48,749 --> 00:00:49,outwards from
the wire.

00:00:49,850 --> 00:00:51,What?

00:00:51,085 --> 00:00:52,MAN:
Faraday, my dear boy,

00:00:52,153 --> 00:00:53,electricity flows
through a wire,

00:00:53,587 --> 00:00:55,not sideways to it.

00:00:55,790 --> 00:00:57,You see, John?

00:00:57,358 --> 00:00:58,You see?

00:01:02,830 --> 00:01:05,MAN:
It is my great ambition
to demonstrate

00:01:05,466 --> 00:01:09,that nature is a closed system;

00:01:09,403 --> 00:01:11,that in any transformation,

00:01:11,338 --> 00:01:16,no amount of matter, no mass,
is ever lost,

00:01:16,043 --> 00:01:17,and none is gained.

00:01:19,613 --> 00:01:20,The people...

00:01:20,648 --> 00:01:21,Lavoisier.

00:01:21,982 --> 00:01:24,It is they who will determine
right and wrong.

00:01:28,956 --> 00:01:30,( both laughing )

00:01:30,724 --> 00:01:31,MAN:
Emilie,

00:01:31,725 --> 00:01:32,you are
being absurd!

00:01:32,793 --> 00:01:33,Why ascribe
to an object

00:01:33,828 --> 00:01:37,a vague and immeasurable
force like vis viva?

00:01:37,198 --> 00:01:40,It is a return
to the old ways!

00:01:40,434 --> 00:01:43,Are you capable of discovering
something of your own?

00:01:43,838 --> 00:01:45,I discovered you!

00:01:45,506 --> 00:01:48,WOMAN:
There is no right time
for the truth.

00:01:54,381 --> 00:01:55,Fr?ulein Meitner?

00:01:55,616 --> 00:01:56,Yes?

00:01:56,550 --> 00:01:57,Otto Hahn.

00:01:58,953 --> 00:02:00,The nucleus is our focus.

00:02:01,655 --> 00:02:03,The Jewess endangers
our institute.

00:02:03,424 --> 00:02:04,We can't harbor
a Jew!

00:02:04,592 --> 00:02:08,If she stays,
the regime will
shut us all down!

00:02:11,799 --> 00:02:13,They've split the atom.

00:02:13,901 --> 00:02:15,No, no, no.

00:02:15,269 --> 00:02:17,You've split the atom!

00:02:19,273 --> 00:02:25,Energy equals mass
times the square of
the speed of light!

00:02:25,379 --> 00:02:26,( laughs )

00:02:30,451 --> 00:02:32,Would you like me to check
your mathematics?

00:02:47,434 --> 00:02:50,Major funding for NOVA
is provided by the following...

00:02:52,540 --> 00:02:55,Shouldn't what makes
each of us unique

00:02:55,609 --> 00:02:59,supporting NOVA and promoting
public understanding of science.

00:03:01,916 --> 00:03:05,Funding for "Einstein's
Big Idea" is provided

00:03:05,886 --> 00:03:08,by the National
Science Foundation,

00:03:08,889 --> 00:03:12,where discoveries begins.

00:03:12,059 --> 00:03:15,And by the Alfred P. Sloan
Foundation,

00:03:15,029 --> 00:03:17,to portray the lives
of men and women

00:03:17,231 --> 00:03:20,engaged in scientific
and technological pursuit.

00:03:20,034 --> 00:03:22,And the U.S. Department
of Energy,

00:03:22,937 --> 00:03:25,fostering science and security.

00:03:25,072 --> 00:03:29,And the Universities
Research Association.

00:03:29,877 --> 00:03:31,Major funding for NOVA
is also provided

00:03:31,745 --> 00:03:33,by the Corporation
for Public Broadcasting,

00:03:33,581 --> 00:03:36,and by PBS viewers like you--
thank you.

00:03:50,264 --> 00:03:52,NARRATOR:
A hundred years ago,

00:03:52,866 --> 00:03:56,a deceptively simple formula
revealed a hidden unity

00:03:56,036 --> 00:03:58,buried deep in the fabric
of the universe.

00:04:02,643 --> 00:04:05,It tells
of a fantastic connection

00:04:05,980 --> 00:04:08,between energy,
matter and light.

00:04:10,884 --> 00:04:14,Its author was
a youthful Albert Einstein.

00:04:14,722 --> 00:04:18,It's the most famous equation
in the world:

00:04:18,959 --> 00:04:23,E equals m c-squared.

00:04:25,733 --> 00:04:27,MAN:
All aboard!

00:04:30,571 --> 00:04:32,( train whistle toots )

00:04:32,773 --> 00:04:34,LITHGOW:
But while we've all heard

00:04:34,975 --> 00:04:36,of Einstein's big idea,

00:04:36,677 --> 00:04:39,very few of us know
what it means.

00:04:41,982 --> 00:04:46,In fact, E equals m c-squared
is so remarkable

00:04:46,553 --> 00:04:50,that even Einstein wasn't sure
if it was really true.

00:04:54,194 --> 00:04:55,WOMAN:
Albert, darling,

00:04:55,496 --> 00:04:58,you're later than I expected.

00:05:00,334 --> 00:05:02,We've only g***t sausage
and cheese tonight.

00:05:04,405 --> 00:05:05,What is it?

00:05:05,773 --> 00:05:07,We need to talk.

00:05:07,941 --> 00:05:09,Has something happened?

00:05:09,376 --> 00:05:10,Oh, no, nothing.

00:05:10,244 --> 00:05:12,Sorry, no.

00:05:12,012 --> 00:05:13,I spent most of the day

00:05:13,914 --> 00:05:18,staring out
the window at work
looking at trains,

00:05:18,185 --> 00:05:19,and I started
to think

00:05:19,353 --> 00:05:24,about an object
and how much energy it had.

00:05:24,391 --> 00:05:25,Can I explain it to you?

00:05:25,492 --> 00:05:26,Of course you can.

00:05:26,660 --> 00:05:29,But first...
( kisses ) dinner!

00:05:29,363 --> 00:05:31,Hmm? Food, then talk.

00:05:34,635 --> 00:05:37,I think the gods
are laughing at me.

00:05:40,941 --> 00:05:44,LITHGOW:
The gods were not laughing
at Einstein.

00:05:44,411 --> 00:05:48,He'd united
in one stunning insight

00:05:48,415 --> 00:05:51,the work of many
who had come before him--

00:05:51,518 --> 00:05:55,scientists who'd fought
and even died

00:05:55,055 --> 00:05:58,to create each part
of the equation.

00:05:58,125 --> 00:06:00,The story
of E equals m c-squared

00:06:00,994 --> 00:06:03,starts long before Einstein

00:06:03,464 --> 00:06:06,with the discovery
of "E" for energy.

00:06:19,913 --> 00:06:21,In the early 19th century,

00:06:21,715 --> 00:06:25,scientists didn't think
in terms of "energy";

00:06:25,786 --> 00:06:30,they thought in terms of
individual "powers" or "forces."

00:06:30,991 --> 00:06:34,These were all disconnected,
unrelated things:

00:06:34,261 --> 00:06:38,the power of the wind,
the force of a door closing,

00:06:38,599 --> 00:06:40,a crack of lightning.

00:06:40,367 --> 00:06:41,( thunder rumbles )

00:06:41,502 --> 00:06:42,The idea that there might be

00:06:42,803 --> 00:06:46,some sort of overarching,
unifying energy

00:06:46,373 --> 00:06:51,which lay behind all these
forces had yet to be revealed.

00:06:51,645 --> 00:06:53,One lowly man's drive

00:06:53,447 --> 00:06:56,to understand the hidden
mysteries of nature

00:06:56,550 --> 00:06:58,would begin to change all that.

00:07:05,592 --> 00:07:08,MAN:
Young Michael Faraday hated
his job.

00:07:08,662 --> 00:07:11,He was uneducated,
the son of a blacksmith.

00:07:11,198 --> 00:07:14,He'd been lucky to become
a bookbinder's apprentice.

00:07:16,136 --> 00:07:17,But Faraday craved one thing....