NOVA: Einstein's Big Idea Series

Lectures curated around NOVA:Einstein's Big Idea to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Albert Einstein and the 100th anniversary of what is often called his "annus mirabilis".

This program explores the lives of the men and women who helped develop the concepts behind each term in the equation: E for energy; m for mass; c for the speed of light; and 2 for "squared," the multiplication of one number by itself. Genius by genius, idea by idea, NOVA: Einstein's Big Idea shows how Einstein's remarkable predecessors provided the intellectual tools for his extraordinary breakthrough, and will help you understand this famous equation as never before.

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Einstein: His Life and Universe
Walter Isaacson
April 18, 2007
00:58:53
Walter Isaacson, author of the mega-selling, acclaimed biography of Benjamin Franklin, discusses his latest work focused on the most influential scientist of the 20th century, Albert Einstein. This is the first full biography written about this great icon since all of his papers became available.
Audio-only
Einstein's Climate of Simultaneity
Stephen Kern
October 1, 2005
01:02:51
Stephen Kern describes how the culture that Einstein was immersed in had been reworking notions of time and space, and creating new ways of thinking about and experiencing simultaneity.
Audio-only
Einstein's Revolutionary Quantum Paper
John S. Rigden
October 1, 2005
01:07:30
John Rigden discusses Einstein's March paper, the only paper that Einstein himself called revolutionary, directly challenged the firm beliefs of all physicists.
Audio-only
Einstein' s Atoms: Sugar and Pollen Witnesses
John S. Rigden
October 2, 2005
00:58:14
John S. Rigden discusses the papers that Einstein published in April and May of 1905, proving the existence of atoms.
Einstein: Reshaping Space, Time, and Energy
John S. Rigden
October 2, 2005
01:02:29
John S. Rigden discusses the two groundbreaking papers that Einstein published in June and September of 1905.
Was Einstein Right?
Clifford Will
October 5, 2005
01:01:05
Clifford Will discusses how the most celebrated scientific theory of the 20th century held up under the exacting scrutiny of planetary probes, radio telescopes and atomic clocks.
Einstein's Rise to Fame
David Rowe
October 15, 2005
01:01:52
David Rowe argues that, to the extent that the relativity revolution reflected a new sensibility with deep psychological roots, it could not have found more fertile soil than in Einstein's Berlin.
Einstein Recovers Judaism and Discovers Politics
Robert Schulmann
October 16, 2005
00:49:15
Robert Schulmann examines the trajectory of Einstein's ambiguous relationship with Judaism and Jewish settlement in Palestine from 1919 until the founding of the state of Israel in 1948.
Companion Stars: Einstein & Godel at Princeton
John W. Dawson Jr.
October 16, 2005
00:59:53
John W. Dawson of Penn State University explores the professional and personal relationships between Albert Einstein and Kurt Godel. Two of the greatest geniuses of the twentieth century, Albert Einstein and Kurt Godel, were colleagues in Princeton during the years 1940-55.
Einstein's Political Priorities: World Government
David Rowe
October 16, 2005
00:49:04
David Rowe of Johannes Gutenberg Univesity takes time to discuss the political mind of Albert Einstein.
Einstein & Picasso: The Beauty that Causes Havoc
Arthur I. Miller
October 17, 2005
01:05:13
Arthur I. Miller of University College London lectures on the startling similarities between the lives and great works of Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso.
Audio-only
First Principles: Building an Einstein Factory
Howard Burton
October 22, 2005
01:01:59
Howard Burton, the executive director and chief architect of Perimeter Institute, describes the process and pitfalls of constructing a home for budding Einsteins from scratch in Waterloo.
Audio-only
Meet the "Other" Einstein
John Stachel
October 23, 2005
00:54:54
It is well known that Einstein worked to develop a unified field theory that would encompass all of physics including (he hoped) all quantum phenomena.
Audio-only
Strange Views of Space and Time: Einstein to String Theory
Gary Horowitz
October 23, 2005
01:00:37
In honor of the 100th anniversary of Einstein's "miraculous year", Gary Horowitz describes the modern view of space and time.
Audio-only
Einstein's Unfinished Symphony
Marcia Bartusiak
March 10, 2004
01:10:12
Marcia Bartusiak discusses new observatories that allow astronomers to place their hands upon the fabric of space-time and feel the very rhythms of the universe.
Einstein's Clocks, Poincare's Maps
Peter L. Galison
March 3, 2004
01:17:35
Peter Galison introduces us to the world that Einstein grew up in, and subsequently changed forever, with the release of his earth shattering theory of special relativity.
Science and Religion Dialogue: Why It Matters
George F. R. Ellis
August 19, 2004
01:51:18
Three world-renowned recipients of the Templeton Prize - a cosmologist, a philosopher, and a mathematical physicist and Anglican priest - engage in a dialogue on the common borders of science and theology.
Measure of God: Can We Reconcile Science and Religion?
Larry Witham
October 19, 2005
01:07:09
Journalist and author Larry Witham talks about the topics found in his book, The Measure of God: History's Greatest Minds Wrestle with Reconciling Science and Religion In this lecture, Witham explores the tension between science and religion that lies at the heart of contemporary debate