The Elegant Universe

My local PBS station WHYY Philadelphia recently showed "The Elegant Universe." After three hours of watching it, besides having my brain hurt, I learned all about wormholes, quantum mechanics and parallel realities and alternate universes.

The last hour of the show was about "String Theory" Physics, a semi-new branch of physics which makes many of the the ideas of science fiction not only possible, but PROBABLE. With the "String Theory" it sounds like wormholes, alternate realities and alternate timelines ARE possible and it could just be a matter of time until we get the knowledge to use them.

Although it may not have given new information to someone familiar with the topic, I found the show VERY interesting and informative. It was very understandable to anyone who is just being introduced to this subject.

The Elegant Documentary -

Don't watch this movie ... if you're an egotistical know-all student of physics. This much less than one percent (miniscule fraction) of the population may find that this show just tells them what they have already learned and already know.

Do watch this movie! - If you're one of the massive majority of people that fall into the greater than 99% of the population that does not study or already have a sound knowledge of the theories of physics including Relativity, Quantum, String and M-theory.

What a brilliantly architected documentary. Starting with some helpful historical background you will be lead step by elegant step into a Universe of pure magic - and dimensions beyond. I have always had a huge appreciation of Mathematics. This movie can easily give you an insight into what an exquisitely beautiful language mathematics is without making you feel like you're about to fail the grade.

The show is repetitive at times as the original format was a mini-series split over three shows. It therefore makes sense to give us polite little reminders of the principles being presented. I found this immensely helpful as it kept reminding me of the multitude of questions and possible answers that make up this amazing tapestry of our very existence.

We are all (and everything around us) is vibrational-energy with a natural tendency towards harmony. This movie may blow your mind - or at least help you realize that the universe is far far bigger than that which we see around us (even with the Hubble Telescope) and far far smaller than the protons and neutrons within the atoms we learned about in high-school. M-theory holds many magnificent magnitudes of 'possibility'.

It just seemed so appropriate that all of this elegance should by it's very nature move (by admission by the many brilliant scientists presenting) out of the realm of Science and into the realm of Philisophy.

You do not have to be religious at all to feel like this movie brought you one step closer to God.

Bravo Brian Greene. Well done indeed.

P.S. If you're interested in feeling even more comfortable and at home in your place in the Universe and would like some more insight into the 'possibilities' Quantum mechanics blended with Spirituality (of all things) can bring then I highly recommend that you also watch "What the Bleep!? - Down the Rabbit Hole". Yes I know they make a few silly mistakes by suggesting a Shaman may not be able to see a boat if he hasn't seen one before (my eyes process light reflections just fine - I see things everyday that I've never seen before) and brain cells are cells in the body that actually don't divide. But if you can get over these little hurdles and put down the things you don't like and hang on to those that you do - there is a lot to like about this film.

Then watch "The Secret" (2006 documentary about The Law of Attraction - search for IMDb title "tt0846789"). This information just might change your life profoundly - forever. If you search deeper you might even find the Universe is talking to us with thought (if you'll listen) - and some are - and that is truly incredible. There is a modern day Jesus/Mohammad/Buddha (those, among others, that history suggests have communicated with the non-physical) alive today and she lives in Texas. I know some of you know what I'm talking about.

I do not consider myself religious by any traditional definition but I have never felt more at home or as comfortable in the Universe as I do now.

If you want to know the hard mechanics, the mathematical underpinnings and other details behind string theory, look elsewhere. If you want to know what physicists are up to these days, then you've found your documentary.

The film makes no attempt to explain the equations behind string theory, but instead gives a synopsis of science history and thinking, followed by the theories developed from that history, in a very plain and simple way most people (read that as people who are not into physics) can understand.

There're no incredibly long differentials strung out on a chalk board or butcher paper for the more educated viewer to scrutinize, copy, and hence play with. What this film is is a presentation of how the scientific community, and specifically high energy physics, is dealing with explaining the basic and fundamental mechanics of existence. If you thought otherwise, and are into physics, and were subsequently let down by the program, then maybe you're not as bright as you thought. That's just some food for thought. I think Einstein once remarked that he believed the universe, at its core, ought to be elegant, simple, and easy to understand. That's the whole point of this documentary: To explain to people how and why the world around us is the way it is.

Myself, a person who's trained in science and who's read some literature on the more theoretical fields of physics, I found this mini-series to be very entertaining, and hope I get to see another special about the next big breakthrough in physics. I learned about things that, quite frankly, I had no idea existed.

If you're just an amateur scientist, or just have a passing interest in scientific things, then this small series should entertain. Heck, even if you're an undergrad you might learn something. Enjoy :-)

I read the book related to the series and was utterly confused when extra dimensions and membranes came into play. This series provides some clear visuals and animations which gives me sort of and overall picture of the theory. But unless you are a mathematician or a physicist most of these theoretical aspects will go way over your head.

I hope this String Theory or M-Theory will be practically proven in the future which will unlock whole new aspects of the universe. I guess we have to wait and as we are currently limited by the level of technology.

Depending on where you come from and where you are going to, there is something for everyone. There are people that keep up with the latest information on the universe; for those people, this is a great program to show where the public is. It also is nice to have what you already know restated so you can look at it from a different angle. For people that slept through school or attended the Stone Age, this is maybe a shocker for the last time you looked. Then there are people that see this as a wakeup call for the first time.

The program is designed to give you basic information about the latest theories on how the universe works and goes beyond Einstein to attempt to tie all the theories up into a single elegant bundle (Superstrings.)

The visuals help and having a different media allows one to retain information better. However, the format leaves something to be desired. Redundancy goes beyond reinforcing to boredom. The sound byte format leaping from one person to another, when it is just as possible to stay with one person for a completed thought, is like watching a used car commercial. Anyone concept could be a whole program in itself (and probably is.) They show formula and say here it is two seconds later it is gone, and they are off on another subject.

In any event, you will not look at the universe in the same old way.