Einstein's Big Idea 19 years old
The story behind the world's most famous equation, E = mc2
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.
Credits
Einstein's Big Idea Cast
| Name | Character |
|---|---|
| Alex MacQueen He was 31, now 50 years old | as Chater |
| Shirley Henderson She was 39, now 59 years old | as Mileva Maric |
| John Lithgow He was 59, now 79 years old | as Narrator (voice) U.S. edition |
| Steven Robertson He was 28, now 47 years old | as Michael Faraday |
| Julian Rhind-Tutt He was 37, now 56 years old | as Antoine Lavoisier |
| Christopher Eccleston He was 41, now 60 years old | as Narrator (voice) |
| Samuel West He was 39, now 58 years old | as Humphry Davy |
| Wolf Kahler He was 65, now 84 years old | as Horlein |
| Christian Rubeck He was 24, now 44 years old | as Otto Hahn |
| Ian Duncan He was 44, now 63 years old | as Charles de Breteuil |
| George Layton He was 62, now 81 years old | as Emilie’s Father |
| Emily Woof She was 38, now 57 years old | as Lise Meitner |
| Aidan McArdle He was 35, now 54 years old | as Einstein |
| Philip Herbert He was 48, now 67 years old | as Count de Amerval |
| Stephen Noonan | as Marat |
| Ty Glaser She was 23, now 42 years old | as Marie Anne Lavoisier |
| Anton Lesser He was 53, now 72 years old | as Voltaire |
Einstein's Big Idea Crew
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Gary Johnstone as Director. He was 46 (now 65) years old | Directing |
| Gary Johnstone as Writer. He was 46 (now 65) years old | Writing |
Einstein's Big Idea (19 years)
The story behind the world's most famous equation, E = mc2
- Release day: Tuesday, October 11, 2005
- Runtime: 120 minutes