Season 1 (1985)
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Episodes 52
Introduction
This preview introduces revolutionary ideas and heroes from Copernicus to Newton, and links the physics of the heavens and the earth.
Read MoreGalileo's imaginative experiments proved that all bodies fall with the same constant acceleration.
Read MoreThe function of mathematics in physical science and the derivative as a practical tool.
Read MoreNewton lays down the laws of force, mass, and acceleration.
Read MoreNewton and Leibniz arrive at the conclusion that differentiation and integration are inverse processes.
Read MoreThe first real steps toward space travel are made as Newton discovers that gravity describes the force between any two particles in the universe.
Read MoreA look at the Platonic theory of uniform circular motion.
Read MoreAll physical phenomena of nature are explained by four forces: two nuclear forces, gravity, and electricity.
Read MoreShedding light on the mathematical form of the gravitational, electric, and magnetic forces.
Read MoreA dramatic recreation of Millikan's classic oil-drop experiment to determine the charge of a single electron.
Read MoreAccording to one of the major laws of physics, energy is neither created nor destroyed.
Read MorePotential energy provides a powerful model for understanding why the world has worked the same way since the beginning of time.
Read MoreWhat keeps the universe ticking away until the end of time?
Read MoreThe music and mathematics of periodic motion.
Read MoreAn old momentum with a new twist.
Read MoreFrom spinning tops to the precession of the equinoxes.
Read MoreThe discovery of elliptical orbits helps describe the motion of heavenly bodies with unprecedented accuracy.
Read MoreThe deduction of Kepler's laws from Newton's universal law of gravitation is one of the crowning achievements of Western thought.
Read MoreThe precise orbit of a heavenly body — a planet, asteroid, or comet — is fixed by the laws of conservation of energy and angular momentum.
Read MoreVoyages to other planets use the same laws that guide planets around the solar system.
Read MoreFrom Kepler's laws and the theory of tides, to Einstein's general theory of relativity, into black holes, and beyond.
Read MoreA last lingering look back at mechanics to see new connections between old discoveries.
Read MoreThe world of electricity and magnetism, and 20th-century discoveries of relativity and quantum mechanics.
Read MoreEighteenth-century electricians knew how to spark the interest of an audience with the principles of static electricity.
Read MoreFaraday's vision of lines of constant force in space laid the foundation for the modern force field theory.
Read MoreFranklin proposes a successful theory of the Leyden jar and invents the parallel plate capacitor.
Read MoreWhen is electricity dangerous or benign, spectacular or useful?
Read MoreVolta invents the electric battery using the internal properties of different metals.
Read MoreThe work of Wheatstone, Ohm, and Kirchhoff leads to the design and analysis of how current flows.
Read MoreThe law of Biot and Sarvart, the force between electric currents, and Ampère's law.
Read MoreForce fields have definite properties of their own suitable for scientific study.
Read MoreThe discovery of electromagnetic induction in 1831 creates an important technological breakthrough in the generation of electric power.
Read MoreElectromagnetic induction makes it easy to generate alternating current while transformers make it practical to distribute it over long distances.
Read MoreMaxwell discovers that displacement current produces electromagnetic waves or light.
Read MoreIn 1887, an exquisitely designed measurement of the earth's motion through the ether results in the most brilliant failure in scientific history.
Read MoreIf the speed of light is to be the same for all observers, then the length of a meter stick, or the rate of a ticking clock, depends on who measures it.
Read MoreEinstein is motivated to perfect the central ideas of physics, resulting in a new understanding of the meaning of space and time.
Read MoreThe new meaning of space and time make it necessary to formulate a new mechanics.
Read MoreHot discoveries about the behavior of gases make the connection between temperature and heat.
Read MoreThe Carnot engine, part one, beginning with simple steam engines.
Read MoreWith the quest for low temperatures came the discovery that all elements can exist in each of the basic states of matter.
Read MoreEvidence that light can sometimes act like a particle leads to quantum mechanics, the new physics.
Read MoreElectron waves attracted to the nucleus of an atom help account for the periodic table of the elements and ultimately lead to the search for quarks.
Read MoreThe Quantum Mechanical Universe
A last look at where we've been and a peek into the future.
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