Product Details

• Actors: Albert Einstein
• Directors: Ken Druckerman
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Closed-captioned
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: A&E HOME VIDEO
• DVD Release Date: February 24, 2009
• Run Time: 94 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001E1822M
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #33,476 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

This is the extraordinary story of Albert Einstein and his decades-long battle to prove his Theory of General Relativity amid the violence of war and his tumultuous personal life.

For centuries, Isaac Newton's Law of Gravity stood untouched. But in 1915, Einstein attacked Newton with a mind-boggling theory: Gravity is not pulling you down ... instead, massive bodies like the Sun and the Earth are bending space and time around you, pushing you down. During a total solar eclipse, he predicted, that warp in space-time should reveal itself. Fiercely competitive astronomers raced each other to exotic locations to see if Einstein was right... or wrong. Hardships, weather, and war foiled their expeditions again and again. When, against all odds, a blazing glimpse was finally captured, the humble Einstein exploded into a global icon.

This rich DVD from HISTORY® moves beyond theories and the cult of personality to breathe new life into the man, not the myth.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating theories and personal details - clearly explained, February 19, 2009

By 

Roy Massie (Birmingham, AL United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Einstein: The Real Story of the Man Behind the Theory (DVD)

I first saw part of this movie on History channel and now I own it. Before this movie, I had trouble seeing the forest for the trees when it comes to Einstein. But this movie explains the four most prominent theories (from his miracle year in 1905) using stunning graphics and explanations from contemporary physicists. This is my favorite part of the movie.

But, there is a broader story being told about how a great man can almost be overlooked by institutional thinking. And, how relatively mundane things like clouds and international disputes (okay wars) can threaten to extinguish some of the most important scientific advancements ever.

Einstein is not portrayed as a saint here either. His personal details both charming and somewhat crass are all woven into the story of how one of the greatest minds of history unlocked and proved some of the most perplexing problems to date.

I love it. If you care anything about Einstein, get it. It is not overly technical and it is fascinating on all dimensions.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Story, July 27, 2009

By 

Sandra (CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Einstein: The Real Story of the Man Behind the Theory (DVD)

I bought this for my husband who is a physicist. I had no intention of watching it myself. However I was making lunch one day when he slipped in the DVD, and I was hooked while listening from the adjoining room. I finished lunch in front of the TV fascinated by the story I had never heard about. Especially the difficulty and the years it took to try to confirm Einstein's theory of relativity - what some scientists went through just to be at the right spot to photograph an eclipse that would help prove the theory - I can't do it justice with my review or explanation. Highly Recommended!!!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, April 3, 2010

By 

magellan (Santa Clara, CA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Einstein: The Real Story of the Man Behind the Theory (DVD)

This is a very fine documentary on the events leading up to and surrounding the ultimate confirmation of the General Theory of Relativity. Besides the scientific information, you learn a lot about Einstein's personal and professional life, which was more eventful for a retiring academic than one would think, including something about his family life and his two wives. It took eight tense years for Einstein to finally get confirmation during a solar eclipse of his theory. Marginal photographic equipment, uncooperative weather, remote and hard to reach locations--even a world war--interfered with these eclipse expeditions, until one (William Wallace Campbell's, whose first expedition had failed) finally succeeded. The film includes interesting archival footage shot from a WWI biplane of the Lick Observatory atop Mt. Hamilton, which for a time housed the largest reflector in the world (100 inches), before the 200-inch Palomar telescope exceeded it, and the second largest refracting telescope (36 inches), which was interesting to see also. As a young amateur astronomer 30 years ago, I was fortunate enough to attend an open house there once and got to look through the Hooker 36-inch refractor. With commentary by theoretical physicist Michio Kaku, astrophysicist Neil Degrasse Tyson, Einstein expert and historian of science Diana L. Kormos-Buchwald, and other experts to flesh out the story, it's an excellent account of this important event in science.