NOVA Season 31 Episode 4 The Elegant Universe: String's the Thing (2) 2003
Part 2, "String's the Thing," opens with a whimsical scene in a movie theater in which the history of the universe runs backwards to the Big Bang, the moment at which general relativity and quantum mechanics both came into play, and therefore the point at which our conventional model of reality breaks down. Then it's string theory to the rescue as Greene describes the steps that led from a forgotten 200-year-old mathematical formula to the first glimmerings of strings—quivering strands of energy whose different vibrations give rise to quarks, electrons, photons, and all other elementary particles. Strings are truly tiny, being smaller than an atom by the same factor that a tree is smaller than the solar system. But, as Greene explains, they are able to combine the laws of the large and the laws of the small into a proposal for a single, harmonious theory of everything.
- Released: 2003-10-28
- Runtime: 55 minutes
- Genre: Documentary
- Stars:
- Director:
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1. Infinite Secrets 2003-09-30
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2. Who Killed the Red Baron? 2003-10-07
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6. Wright Brothers' Flying Machine 2003-11-11
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7. Magnetic Storm 2003-11-18
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8. Volcano Above the Clouds 2003-11-25
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9. MARS Dead or Alive 2004-01-04
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10. Secrets of the Crocodile Caves 2004-01-20
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11. Dogs and More Dogs 2004-02-03
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12. Descent Into the Ice 2004-02-10
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13. Crash of Flight 111 2004-02-17
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14. Life and Death in the War Zone 2004-03-02
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15. Hunt for the Supertwister 2004-03-30
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17. World in the Balance: China Revs Up (2) 2004-04-20
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18. Battle Plan Under Fire 2004-05-04
