Einstein's Big Idea (2005)

  • G
  • 10/11/2005 (US)
  • Documentary, Drama
  • 2h

The story behind the world's most famous equation, E = mc2

Overview

Over 100 years ago, Albert Einstein grappled with the implications of his revolutionary special theory of relativity and came to a startling conclusion: mass and energy are one, related by the formula E = mc2. In "Einstein's Big Idea," NOVA dramatizes the remarkable story behind this equation. E = mc2 was just one of several extraordinary breakthroughs that Einstein made in 1905, including the completion of his special theory of relativity, his identification of proof that atoms exist, and his explanation of the nature of light, which would win him the Nobel Prize in Physics. Among Einstein's ideas, E = mc2 is by far the most famous. Yet how many people know what it really means? In a thought-provoking and engrossing docudrama, NOVA illuminates this deceptively simple formula by unraveling the story of how it came to be.

Gary Johnstone

Director, Writer

David Bodanis

Writer

Cast

Aidan McArdle's headshot

Aidan McArdle

Einstein
Anton Lesser's headshot

Anton Lesser

Voltaire
Andrew Callaway's headshot

Andrew Callaway

Maupertuis
Julian Rhind-Tutt's headshot

Julian Rhind-Tutt

Antoine Lavoisier
Shirley Henderson's headshot

Shirley Henderson

Mileva Maric
Ty Glaser's headshot

Ty Glaser

Marie Anne Lavoisier
Andy Crabbe's headshot

Andy Crabbe

Habicht
Samuel West's headshot

Samuel West

Humphry Davy

Recommendations