The Elegant Universe

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.

The main question the documentary is asking itself (and the user) is "are we discussing science or philosophy?". I am inclined to choose the last option since almost none of the presented statements have been or ever can be verified.

The documentary consist of a lot of talking, mostly sharing opinions.

An opinion is nice, but please keep it real and on track with facts. In addition, the documentary tents to repeat it self, not once but numerous times, which I found a bit annoying and cheap.

Also the discussion of the string theory kicks of after lets say 2 hours, so be prepared to sit out the first 2 hours seeing through the birth of the string theory and the history of Albert Einstein's career.

Overall conclusion: it is a boring documentary, it provides you with a lot of opinions. I did not learn much and left with a feeling of dissatisfaction, though it did succeed to make me more skeptical regarding the so called string theory and its 11 dimensions.

I rated it a six, barely.

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.

Ladies and gentlemen: the show begins with this documentary film. It's structured in three chapters, each one chronologically arranged. The first presents the classical physics and links to Einstein. The second studies in depth the quantum physics and enters in String theory. The last reveals the Everything theory... The difficult concepts used here are introduced in a very simple way, with daily objects; although you must believe them without checking by yourself -if you are not a scientist- (and even if you are a scientist!!). The film is not a masterpiece by its fabulous technique or the way it's produced; what really imports is the story, and WHAT A STORY!!!

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.