The Story of the Atom
Solving the mystery of the atom is one of the most inspiring and important stories in all of science. It is a story of incredible ideas, amazing insights, and revelations from some of the greatest geniuses in the last 100 years.
T
he personalities who contributed to understanding the atom include big names like Ernest Rutherford, Albert Einstein, Erwin Schrödinger, Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, and James Chadwick. These geniuses helped us understand the strange world of the atom, a world so strange, it defies our most common perceptions of reality.
An amazing documentary called ‘The Atom‘ tells the story behind the great discoveries of the atom from some of the most brilliant minds of the twentieth century. This BBC miniseries is narrated by Jim Al-Khalili, the head of theoretical nuclear physics at the University of Surrey.
The Clash of the Titans
The first episode covers the greatest scientific discovery, the atom. After its discovery, physicists try to understand its structure and in the process unravelled secrets so shocking, that a whole new science, needed to be created. These discoveries are fundamental for not only physics today, but chemistry and biology too. This episode is mostly about Einstein and Heisenberg and some of the greatest ideas ever imagined.
The Key to The Cosmos
The second in this series shows how the secrets of the atom helped reveal the creation of the universe. It covers great discoveries including that of radioactivity, the atomic bomb, and the big bang. It tells of the greatest scientific minds of the 20th century who took it upon themselves to understand some of the biggest questions about the universe and us.
The Illusion of Reality
The final episode brings us to the point where the nature of our reality is seriously questioned. It talks about theories that try to explain what the discoveries of the atomic world really mean to our reality. Ideas and theories discussed include: parallel universes, affecting the past, and the illusion of reality.
NOTE: This series is not completely up to date with the latest discoveries of the atom as it was made a few years before the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was operational.
