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List Price: $19.95 | | Label: WGBH Boston
Salesrank: 7564
Released: January 20, 2004 |
| Our Price: $10.73 |
| Used Price: $8.99 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
One of the most ambitious and exciting scientific theories ever posed—one that may be the long-sought "Theory of Everything"—gets a masterful and lavishly animated explanation that will excite scientists and non-scientists alike. Beginning with simple and clear explanations of major concepts of physics, including gravity, electromagnetism, and relativity, The Elegant Universe illuminates one of the most revolutionary theories in physics today.
Known as string theory or superstring theory, this startling idea proposes that the fundamental ingredients of nature are inconceivably tiny strands of energy, whose different modes of vibration underlie everything that happens in the universe. The theory attempts to unite the laws of the large—general relativity—and the laws of the small—quantum mechanics—breaking a conceptual logjam that has frustrated scientists for nearly a century.
If string theory proves correct, the universe we see obscures a reality that is far richer and more complex than anyone ever imagined—a universe with numerous hidden dimensions, a universe in which the fabric of space can rip and tear, a universe that may be but one of many parallel universes.
Join host Brian Greene, professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University and the best-selling author of The Elegant Universe, for this exciting and in-depth exploration of this groundbreaking new theory.
Special DVD features include: bonus video—how the animation was created; Multidimensional Math activity; The Making of The Elegant Universe activity; printable materials and activities for educators; link to The Elegant Universe Web site; excerpt from the best-selling book The Elegant Universe; scene selections; closed captions; and described video for the visually impaired.
On two DVD9 discs. Region coding: All regions. Audio: Dolby stereo. Screen format: Letterboxed.
On two DVD9 discs. Region coding: All regions. Audio: Dolby stereo. Screen format: Letterboxed.
Description of NOVA - The Elegant Universe:
Based on Brian Greene's book, this three-part Nova program should do for physics what Cosmos did for astronomy. Greene hosts the program on the relative new concept of String Theory, a potential (and explosive) answer to the Holy Grail of science: a single, ultimate theory for everything. Part of Greene's (along with filmmakers Julia Cort and Joseph McMaster) genius is the ability to explain complex issues with ease thanks to a generous helping of graphics and humor. It starts with a perplexing anecdote: Einstein died trying to figure out if there could be an ultimate theory. His General Theory of Relativity brought order to the laws of large objects, but could not explain the chancier world of Quantum Mechanics (which deals with atomic particles). String Theory tries to marry the two. Greene and many colleagues give us a history of the quest and how String Theory was "discovered" in the 1980s. The formula has a lot of quirks, the most dazzling being the insistence there's 11 dimensions in the universe. Greene is not as natural as Cosmos creator/host Carl Sagan, but he is certainly friendly and encouraging (albeit it's quite odd for the host to be interviewed at various times in the program). Because it's a three-part show, there is some overlap at the start of hours 2 and 3. --Doug Thomas
NOVA - The Elegant Universe Reviews:
The Elegant Univese 
2009-09-29 - The Elegant Universe DVD wasn't trying to be a carbon copy of the book. Its graphics make everyday people understand complex
theories, because if you are a physicist or had read lots of String Theory literature or Quantum Physics books and purchase this DVD you are going to be bored because the main idea of the DVD is to educate and reach people that are not that interested in physics or don't have the background to understand the complexities in the book. It is great because simple examples engage and explain its theories and if you want to go deeper you can purchase the book. I noticed that some people were criticizing the repeating parts in the DVD. They may not realize that the DVD was a 3 part presentation on PBS so repetition was required in order to get people who skipped a section on TV up to speed.
I really enjoy the DVD set and now I want to read the book.
Amanda Peet is a horrible professor 
2009-09-04 - This series is ruined by the presence of Amanda Peet, a joke of a professor at the University of Toronto. She merely repeats the work of far more brilliant thinkers. She's the annoying "butch" one in the series, so you can easily recognize and fast forward past her nonsense.
Science Like No Other
2009-06-21 - I have all the secrets of infinity in my hands,
i really want to spread it to as many scientists
as possible. so here i go.
here's a simple scientific test you can experiement
with.
wear black clothes and go to a busy mall
you will notice your mind really hurts, this
is because black colors ( or dark colors )
are pulling other humans imagination and bringing
them to close to you and you read it.
this causes stress especially when you are
surrounded by religious people or something.
but when you WEAR WHITE CLOTHES..
the opposite is true, you reject everyones idealogy
and you get to feel free with your own science.
your own imagination is not disturbed.
you can optimize and re-test this if you want.
you can even wax the body hair you have
and dye your hair to yellow or white.
trust me, this is extreme science like no other
and i have it cracked, this can be used to
stop aging, reverse aging,
we can use this to time travel, be immortal
and make money too
because infinity's law suggests the more people
you spread this truth to of, the more money
you are likely to make. ( it's the reward you
get from infinity for giving people the secret )
so tell people to wear white ( be nice, by force
is prohibited by federal law of infinity ).
or just wear white clothes and walk around
shopping malls, you become a role model
and your influence alone will earn you money.
WHITE as you know is a color that pushes
while BLACK is a color that pulls light.
so imagine if you were made up of light
and you were wearing black clothes.
you'd age faster than anyone else.
if you were wearing white, because it pushes
the light back, you could stop yourself
from aging.
try experiementing this with luxury places
because there is a competition going on, on earth.
it's as if everyones soul has some jealousy
inside them and they do not like it when
someone is about to spread the truth and rise
into power.
so keep yourself safe, experienment around
luxury stores where your safety is not jeapordized.
if you are a highly scientific person, try avoiding
conversation with highly religious people.
my own great parents are religious, so i am not
talking to them not even on the phone.
their voice and the way they think can interfier
with my imagination and distort the science
i am working on.
please feel free to ask me for more information
i am on youtube right now
youtube.com/summertimedancings
post comments on my channel i'll respond 24/7
to every question you have.
on my youtube page i found david's video wow
i really want to give this guy all the secrets i have
he can put it into media, become a billionaire
and spark a revolution that can save us all.
i mean all of us, we are all about to become
immortal supreme beings.
all we have to do is wear white clothes
and be obsessed with white stuff.
very simple.
this is no joke, i am about to get this party started
Summer Time Dance
Hunk!
2009-06-05 - Well, this guy sure is cute for a nerd. Clearly i've got the wrong professors. The show was produced very well and the goofy tone and visuals helped set things plain enough for me. Good show, nice butt.
NOVA - The Elegant Universe (2003)-Great DVD, however, theory may or may not be true!
2009-05-20 - NOVA - The Elegant Universe (2003)- This DVD did a great job of presenting string and membrane theory deserving of a full five stars as well as our attention. My only question is has string theory progressed on the issue of providing some testable new predictions which would prove the existence of strings and membranes? I am rooting for string theorists but at the same time can't turn my back on scientists who point out that physics is an empirical science. Until the string theory community produces some predictions which can be tested in the lab or by telescope, we must reserve some measure of healthy doubt. See Lee Smolin's book THE TROUBLE WITH PHYSICS.
As far as this great DVD production was concerned I can't recall seeing such beautiful animation work on strings, membranes, and the beautiful curvature of space time in close proximity to gravitating bodies. If you look closely at the animation of the moon orbiting the earth as the earth orbits the sun you will see the modest space-time curvature produced by the earth as well as the primary curvature produced by the mass of the sun.
Review of related book by Lee Smolin, THE TROUBLE WITH PHYSICS
I am a mechanical engineer, so my mathematical understanding of physics doesn't go much beyond special relativity, introductory quantum mechanics and just an appreciation for what general relativity has to say about mass telling space how to curve.
Lee Smolins book is written for the lay public as well as physicists and was a very interesting and eye opening read on the great number of string theories which abound. According to Smolins, string theory is very likely just a beautiful mathematical "bookkeeping" system which can relate current observations to each other and unify some of the forces of nature.
The author is a onetime string theorist who has since left the field and insists after 30 years there have been no breakthroughs and certainly no predictions of any new particles or phenomena which can be tested. Based on what Smolins is saying it sounds to me like string theory amounts to a multi-dimensional curve fitting spline whose coefficients can be calculated and precisely tuned to rationalize just about everything we already know, but makes no new and testable predictions.
He also says that it scarcely has the needed properties to call it a "theory of everything" and that far too much time is being spent on it by too many people caught up in its mathematical beauty and elegance, something he admits it has a great deal of. The idea of subatomic vibrating, open and closed rubber bands being the ultimate component of particles and energy is very appealing to many people.
He also says that the string community spends time calculating these potentially infinite ("fit" coefficients) universes and the only test of their work is that it fits known prior phenomena. Furthermore, the only critical test a new string theory receives is peer review from a specialized community that is starting to believe that predictions of any new observations are not in the cards and we shouldn't be looking for them anyhow. When we stop requiring a theory to anticipate new observations we are no longer following the scientific method.
Until I read this book I believed, based on my faith in physics, physicists and the scientific method, that string theory was the answer to everything and only required time for it to provide some testable predictions. It has had over 30 years time and research by a disproportionate percent of the physics community. I am now not so certain that it is a valid theory, especially after some of the strongest string theorists are telling us not to look for testable predictions.
