E=mc2
Einstein Documentary
Second Brainstorm
About the beginning of the
documentary
It would be nice to start the documentary like the book ends, the
part about Creating the Earth. I would see the Big
Bang and the universe in formation (since E=mc2 is mainly the
equation explaining all that). It could look like the beginning of the movie
Contact and we would eventually, in the expansion of the universe and all the
different changes, find our solar system and the Earth. Perhaps there could be
an introduction as a voice over, perhaps not if the images are strong enough.
Then when we arrive on Earth, I would show how innocent this world
is, a bit like the beginning of the movie 2001 Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick. The Dawn of Man. I would not
show apes, but perhaps animals who could never suspect what humans are cooking
close to them, nuclear fission and H bombs in the making. We could start from
the past where nothing happens and everyone is happy and finally end up in the
future where E=mc2 gave us a lot of the technology we use today.
History line
We are going to cover different places and different times, I would
have some sort of planet earth view from space (like the DVD called Earthlight
that I have, great images: www.earthdvd.com since they are NASA films, we should be able to get them for free)
with a history line in front of the screen. When we would change location and
time, we would get out of the Earth, see the history line and then move from
space to that the new location and time. It would also give the idea of space
and time. We can build on these images later on to explain some of the concepts
about relativity.
From space it would be nice to see the nuclear explosion, like if
God was watching his creatures and came to the understanding that they might
just annihilate themselves. And later on we can see satellites in orbit beaming
communications in and out from the Earth and even to the other planets. We
could also see a little space shuttle coming in from the surface and reaching
the International Space Station. Just an idea. The way
we could move in space from one place to another would look like this software
I have called Eingana:
www.eingana.com/Eingana_2002/gb/index.htm
It would need to look more professional but I can show you exactly
what I mean and how stylish it would look.
The End
Instead of ending with the Big Bang, which really is a beginning, I
would end with our Sun imploding and exploding creating some new matter like a
small Big Bang (the part called The Fires of the Sun). Before that I would show
the explosion of a bigger star to present the formation of a Black Hole (A
Brahmin Lifts his eyes unto the sky) but it would not be as extraordinary as
the explosion of our sun (which is not big enough to turn into a Black Hole).
The Black Hole would be more like a little drawing showing what happens when a
big star explodes and the pressure creates a singularity in the middle, sucking
everything in. Then we have the full show, our Sun exploding and the Earth with
it (if it has not already gone into the Sun by then, which nobody
knows if it would have at that point).
Music
I would try to make it modern and cool, I would use some remixes of
Depeche Mode, New Order, and The Cure which can
sometimes be very long, giving us the chance to find interesting bits of music
with no singing, from which you do not even recognize the song.
When in the past I would use mostly classical music, for example
Heisenberg liked Bach and Einstein liked Bach, Mozart and Schubert. Many
comparisons have been made between Einstein and Mozart, as they were both
geniuses in their own domain and Einstein himself loved music and would have
wanted to be a musician if he had not been a physicist.
When the bomb is launched and until it explodes (without any noise
at that point), I feel that the beginning of the Eurythmics
song Beethoven (I Love to Listen To) would be suitable.
If you remember it starts with a beat that gets stronger, in the video we climb
the stairs until we find Annie Lennox at her mirror dressing as a whore. It is
like a build up to something. To listen to that beginning bit, click that link
(even if it is in Russian) and click on the little speaker symbol beside
Beethoven (I love to listen to):
First 30 seconds:
www.allofmp3.com/mcatalog.shtml?group=1822&album=7&affiliate=vgrass
Then 30 to 60 seconds:
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/clipserve/B000002WAA001001/0/104-7531246-5562343
If it does not work, go to the page about Savage on Amazon and
click on Listen to the song:
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/clipserve/B000002WAA001001/0/104-7531246-5562343
There is also Bizarre Love Triangle of New Order which I feel would
do nicely to uplift the audience at some point (we can perhaps even find
inspiration for some montages from the video):
www.neworderonline.com/mmedia/video/BLT.ram
If it does not work try this and find it in the list (there is also
a link for Quicktime in there instead of Real, it
might be better quality):
www.neworderonline.com/video.asp
There is also a wonderful remix by Duran Duran
called Burning the Ground:
www.duranduran.plus.com/multimedia/realvideo/promo/burning.htm
This is the best they ever did, it has a strong melody and almost
no one ever heard it before. Then there may be something worth investigating in
The Moody Blues, The Tomita Planets, Alphaville and
the Tangerine Dream.
Interesting Quotes:
"There is scarcely any important fundamental idea in modern
physics whose origin does not trace back at least in part to Einstein."
-I.I. Rabi
Rabi, Isidor Isaac (1898-1988), American
physicist and Nobel laureate, known for his development of the magnetic resonance
method for the study of the hyperfine structure of atomic spectra. Rabi was
born in Rymanów, Austria (now in Poland), and
received his Ph.D. degree from Columbia University in 1927 for a dissertation
on the magnetic properties of crystals. In 1930 Rabi began research on the
magnetic properties of atomic nuclei in an effort to ascertain the nature of
the force binding the protons in the nuclei. He was awarded the 1944 Nobel
Prize in physics for his invention of a method to measure the hyperfine transition
levels of atoms by using known radio frequencies to cause transitions between
these energy levels. Rabi worked on radar development during World War II and
was one of the leading scientists on the project that developed the atomic
bomb.
_____
Narcissism and Betrayal - Einstein was still the nicest and gentle
physicist you could find. Even though most of what concerns the history of the
equation E=mc2 is filled with betrayals and horrible people ready to
do anything to get the credits they don't deserve, it is important to point out
that Einstein is one of the only Physicists who remained humble and funny,
never to do anything bad to anyone, even after he became widely recognised for
his work:
"The same spirit that characterized Einstein's unique scientific
achievements also marked his attitude in all human relations. Notwithstanding
the increasing reverence which people everywhere felt for his attainments and
character, he behaved with unchanging natural modesty and expressed himself
with a subtle and charming humor. He was always
prepared to help people in difficulties of any kind, and to him, who himself
had experienced the evils of racial prejudice, the
promotion of understanding among nations was a foremost endeavor.
His earnest admonitions on the responsibility involved in our rapidly growing
mastery of the forces of nature will surely help to meet the challenge to
civilization in the proper spirit."
---Niels Bohr
____
"What the inventive genius of mankind has bestowed upon us in
the last hundred years could have made human life care free and happy if the
development of the organizing power of man had been able to keep step with his
technical advances. As it is, the hardly bought achievements of the machine age
in the hands of our generation are as dangerous as a razor in the hands of a
three-year-old child."
-"The 1932 Disarmament Conference" By Albert Einstein,
Berlin, September 4, 1931, The Nation, September 23,
1931.
______
This quote applies mostly to us, it was said to Einstein by the
producer of the movie they were working on in Hollywood, a movie about E=mc2
and relativity (of course it was only a satire of the Hollywood industry by the
American playwright George S. Kaufman):
"I want the Professor to have the best," said the producer,
"because I'm sure he's going to give us a great picture. Now, Professor,
here's the problem: how can we treat this theory of yours so as to keep it just
as you wrote it—because this has got to be your picture—and still make it
entertainment? Because first and foremost a motion picture
has got to be entertainment. But of course we want your theory in it
too."
I will send you the full article in my next e-mail (einstein_in_hollywood) as it is interesting to know that
someone thought of a similar movie in 1938 when Einstein was still alive,
ultimately it ended up being nothing about relativity.
_______
"At first even many scientists didn't really grasp relativity,
prompting Arthur Eddington's celebrated wisecrack
(asked if it was true that only three people understood relativity, the witty
British astrophysicist paused, then said, "I am trying to think who the
third person is")."
---This was taken on the Time Magazine website, the link is below…
________
Important website: www.albert-einstein.com
It offers many links to Albert Einstein stories, the link
"Person of the Century" will bring you to the website of Time
Magazine that declared Einstein Man of the Century.
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