Customer Reviews

Nova - The Elegant Universe [VHS]

5 star:		(63)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

As a warning to other potential purchasers, please note that this is not a new program "Beyond" the original "The Elegant Universe" but just a repackaging with 2 other programs.

I thought the first DVD was great, and was just about to purchase this one because it sounded like a new program continuing where the first left off, but in fact it is EXACTLY the same program! I got the details from WGBH.org and here they are :-

THE ELEGANT UNIVERSE AND BEYOND is a compliation of three different NOVA programs that have already aired. They are listed below with synopses on each one:

1) The Elegant Universe (WG36779)

Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory Join host Brian Greene, professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University and the best-selling author of The Elegant Universe, for an in-depth exploration of the groundbreaking new string theory that will excite scientists and non-scientists alike. If string theory proves correct, the universe we see obscures a reality that is far richer and more complex than anyone ever imagined--a universe with numerous hidden dimensions, a universe in which the fabric of space can rip and tear, a universe that may be but one of many parallel universes

2) Einstein's Big Idea (WG38889)

Everyone's heard of it, but what does E=mc2 really mean? With brilliant period recreations, discover how an obscure patent clerk, Albert Einstein, came up with his shattering 1905 discovery that the realms of matter and energy are inescapably linked. Starring Aidan McArdle (Ella

Enchanted) as Einstein, and Shirley Henderson (Bridget Jones's Diary) as Einstein's first wife, Mileva Maric.

3) Einstein Revealed (WG26479)

Journey into the mind of a genius in this penetrating profile of the world's most renowned physicist, who contributed more than any other to our modern vision of physical reality. Andrew Sachs (Fawlty Towers) stars as Albert Einstein.

I Hope this helps prevent anyone wasting their money buying the same program twice.

Anyone accustomed to the sober atmosphere of science writing will be rather shocked by Nova's treatment of "The Elegant Universe". Zany examples, intentional facetiousness and dazzling imagery a serious science discussion does not make. However if you're familiar with Brian Greene's writing style you'll immediately recognize that tounge-in-cheek is par for the course.

Greene's book is at once an intellectual excercise and a lightweight science review, and for that we are all grateful: much of the 19th & 20th century science leading up to the 'discovery' of the String Theories is poorly understood by educated Americans (most definitely including me), and the brushing-up is well deserved. And while some equations are included and some (light) mathematical work required, for the most part Greene realizes that most people will require some help visualizing those things which can never be visualized; quantum mechanics, strings, 11 dimensions.

Which is why it should not come as a suprise to many familiar with his books that the Nova treatment is so lighthearted, or contains so many simplistic visual examples again and again. This new math is inaccesible to most and challenging to the rest, so the eye candy is warranted.

And what eye candy! The visual elements, while at times capricious and overwhelming, are expertly done and do serve to provide further understanding of the subject. The visual effects team at Edgeworx has provided entertaining, educational visual material that should hold up to scrutiny over time.

Greene himself is generally an engaging host. While he has but one on-camera trick (pause, put hands together, glance at floor, then BANG back at the camera), he works it, all the while clearly explaining the subject.

One last thing that can be said about Nova's "The Elegant Universe" is that it is =responsible=. There is a large cast of scientists, mathematicians and others on both sides of String Theory. It is continually brought into question as untested, untestable, and possibly dead wrong. The closest to proselytizing that anyone does is to explain that Quantum Physics, the set of mathematical ideas that give extremely good approximations of what happens to sub-atomic particles, has never made an incorrect prediction. Not so with String Theory; no one is willing to say, on-camera, that String Theory is the truth, and in so doing, the piece retains a certain respectful distance from the subject.

Nova's "The Elegant Universe" is up-to-date, expertly made and provides a reasonably accessible overview of the various ideas known as String Theory as to be approrpriate for an audience of any age. I would like to live in the alternate universe in which "Stephen Hawking's Universe" and "Nova - The Elegant Universe" were shown back-to-back to school-age children as a comprehensive introduction to modern cosmological science.

I was struggling whether I should spend $35Cdn (I bought this from amazon.ca) on this 'String Theory' that I have no clue of what it is but only aware of the interesting sound of 'Theory of Everything'. I was also worrying my limited education background and brain capacity for such complex concept. I took the risk and completed my order. Two days later, I got my dvd delivered to my door, couldn't stand finishing my dinner, I opened it and watched it right away.

The first 3 minutes was the trailer/intro of this 3 hours DVD. It really drew my attention with interesting topics and high quality special effects & CG animation. I knew my $35Cdn was very well spent. The first hour talked about the ground concepts of basic forces: Gravity & Quantum Mechanics. Don't worry, you don't need a science or physic degree to understand these concepts. The beauty of this DVD is that it uses various scenarios, via pictures, animiation, & special effects to depict the complex concepts to you in a very simple & understandable way. Trust me, even your grade 6 children are able to comprehend the elegant universe theory from this DVD. The first hour was focusing on these basic forces, what Albert Einstein wanted to do with unification, and what the problems were. The second hour talked about how the String theory evolve and help to solve the puzzle of Einstein's unification problem. And the last hour will take the String theory to realize the possiblilities of 11th dimensions, the impacts to our world, and the future of this 'Theory of everything'. If you still find difficulties to understand those concepts, don't worry, you will find lots of interactive education materials from the second DVD. There's an initeresting demo let you to build from 1 dimensional line to a 4-dimensional hypercube visually. I absolutely found those extra goodies were very helpful.

The only picky thing I disliked was there're quite lengthy advertisings at the beginning of each episode. However, you can always skip it using fast forward. Honestly, this is a true FIVE STARS DVD. It's entertaining, it's simple, visual, excellent three hours programme. You and your kids will sure benefit from this amazing 'Theory of Elegant Universe' --- String.

I thoroughly enjoy this video. Having not seen the original release, I was pleased to have the included Einstein videos. As for "The Elegant Universe", it turns extremely complicated mathematical foundations of past, present and current advancing theoretical physics into visually inspiring explanations that a person who is not an everyday Stephen Hawking can comprehend. However, a person who is not somewhat familiar with these concepts may be completely blown away and may have a hard time believing let alone understanding them. I have read many books relating to the material so it painted a much clearer picture of what I already know. With that said, I recommend this DVD to anyone who has ever questioned the laws governing the existence of everyday natural phenomena as well as the existence of the universe itself, or just curious about physics in general. A++

I was excited to see these programs put out by NOVA, and I have always thought highly of the television program. However, I did not actually learn a whole lot from these specific episodes. While being a show on String Theory, the program beat around the bush about explaining how String Theory works. While covering Newton, Einstein, and Bohr, the NOVA never made a real attempt to explain their theories, but rather gave extremely vague understandings of everything.

No I do not believe that "The Elegant Universe" should delve on hairy mathematics, but it should answer "whys" and "hows" rather than just simply tell us that there are strings in subatomic atoms. Instead, it wasted so much time repeating things over and over like "people who believed in more dimensions a long time ago would have been labeled 'crackpots' but now String Theory demands it" or "if you can't test something then it's runs the risk of being philosophy." While those are interesting points, they are repeated in these documentarys over and over by the same people with computer graphics running all over the screen, never really doing a great job explaining any these claims.

I think this would actually be pretty good for anyone who has little knowledge on physics, but definitely not for anyone who is at least familiar with what String Theory is.

This set of DVDs is not made for physicists, but rather for people who would like to get an idea about quantum physics and string theory. It is made for general public - and it's done well - it's beautiful, informative and entertaining. You can watch it even if you have absolutely no knowledge about quantum physics or string theory.

The DVD takes you through a little bit of history of quantum physics, through experiments and discoveries made, and in the end leaves you with more questions - so if you'd like to know more, you may want to pick up some books, perhaps beginning with Elegant Universe, the book that served as a base for this DVD, Fabric of the Cosmos and others.

I have read and enjoyed the book several times, enjoying it ever more on subsequent passes. Having just viewed the first two-thirds of this three-part (three-hour) series, I have to say that although my expectations were quite high, this production exceeded them by a great margin. The methods chosen to elucidate arcane issues in physics have been brilliantly chosen and magnificently illustrated. The running commentary by the main players in the thirty-odd years of String Theory development - of whom thoroughly engaging host Brian Greene is but one - lends an authenticity to the program that cannot fail to educate as well as to entertain.

Professor Greene fairly glows - exuding sincere enthusiasm and excitement for the concepts, history, and people involved. He is undoubtedly a terrific physicist AND educator to be able to make such difficult concepts as clearly understandable by "civilians" as he has. I foresee that he will be for the popularization of physics and a scientific world view what Carl Sagan was for astronomy almost four decades ago.

I am ordering a copy of the DVD as soon as it's available so that I can enjoy it again and again, and so that in fifty years, my grandkids can say, "Gee! Gramps was there right at the beginning!"

Because I loved the program on PBS, it was clear that I would buy the DVD, too. The DVD comes with the audio descriptions that you can turn on: in that case, a woman uses every second of silence to tell us what's going on. She says, for example, "Brian starts to talk with the other Brian." The DVD contains 3 hours of the string theory show as well as 5 minutes or so that sketches the events that happened "behind the scenes". It is interesting to learn and see how some of the computer effects were created. There are no subtitles, as far as I see.

Well, it has been revealed in the newspapers that more than 3 million U.S. dollars have been spent to create this NOVA show and most of the money went to computer graphics. The story starts in a house in Princeton, New Jersey, the actual house where Einstein spent the last decades of his life. The main task for the actor who plays Einstein is to die, but Brian Greene certainly shows his skills in more difficult contexts!

String theorists continue Einstein's quest for the final theory of the Universe. Strings are vibrating everywhere. Brian Greene jumps from the skyscraper to show how weak gravity is. Identical women playing the cello represent the different versions of string theory, but Brian eventually climbs the ladder to see that there exists one woman (M-theory) only whose image is reflected in five mirrors. A quantum elevator shows how weird physics becomes at the very short distance scales. Five Brians Greenes drink different beverages in the quantum café where everything is uncertain. Dozens of famous theoretical physicists and Nobel prize winners have their say about string theory, and Steven Weinberg disagrees with the slightly narrow-minded, but nevertheless elegant (and critical) viewpoints of Sheldon Glashow who shared the Nobel prize with Weinberg. Obviously, 1000 words is not enough to describe all interesting points in the show. For us, physicists, it is of course amusing to see so many colleagues of ours.

The show covers a large fraction of the most important moments in the history of physics - Newton's and Maxwell's discoveries, Einstein's relativity theories, and the breakthroughs brought by quantum mechanics. The key ideas of these theories are explained using very amusing video effects.

Nevertheless, the focus is on the incompatibility of quantum mechanics and general relativity, and especially string theory - our hottest candidate for a theory to unify all forces and matter in the Universe. We learn about Gabriele Veneziano whose formula started the whole industry. We also learn from Lenny Susskind - who was among the first people who realized that Veneziano's formula described strings (but he was not the only one, as the show suggests!) - got drunk when his paper was rejected (I guess it was not the only time). :-) John Schwarz and Michael Green work on a theory that none is interested in, but once they discover the anomaly cancellation in 1984, most of the theoretical physics community is taken by storm: the first superstring revolution starts. The different versions of string theory are unified during the second superstring revolution, initiated by Witten (well, this is also a bit simplified picture and the contributions of many other important people are not acknowledged, but 3 hours is clearly not enough to do everything perfectly). The braneworlds (and even the controversial ekpyrotic - born out of fire - Universe) are among the very recent advances that are covered. Brian Greene travels through the wormholes and calls his extraterrestrial friend, living on another brane, who is just watching the Simpsons.

PBS has not forgotten to show the existing as well as the future accelerators that are meant to verify these new ideas - for example to find the superparticles or the extra dimensions. No one tries to pretend that string theory has been proved, and many physicists admit that the theory can be wrong at the end. There are many other fascinating things in the show that make it comparable to the Matrix - except that you will never feel sick if you watch The Elegant Universe.

While this show is a lot of fun, I would still recommend everyone to read the book ("The Elegant Universe", and perhaps also the very new book by Brian Greene called "The Fabric of the Cosmos") because many subtleties just could not be included in the DVD version. The book explains how and why the fundamental things in relativity and quantum mechanics (and string theory, of course) work the way they do, and these things are missing on the DVD. Perhaps, you will be so excited that you will buy a technical textbook about string theory, too.

The whole concept of the string theory is fascinating. If this theory holds true, and is ever provable, it will be like the DNA of all life.

'The Elegant Universe' offers an interesting collection of perspectives. All in all it's quite credible, even though they're talking on a subject where many assumptions have to be made. But the fact that our species can even talk about it is something to think about. We're kind of like the mirrors and instruments revealing the inner hidden side that cannot be revealed except through the human experience of mind and senses. That alone is fascinating to me.

I agree that this dvd is sometimes on a grade school level in its delivery. One perspective could be that it loses some credibility because of this approach. But then again, the complexity and technical aspect could easily overwhelm the viewer, so some comic relief might help us keep our attention peeked. I highly recommend this dvd along with 'Stephen Hawking's Universe." I very much look forward to future dvd's on this subject.

I really wondered when I saw this who wrote it and edited it. Although they were able to get interviews with most of the top string theory people, the show itself lacked information. I thought it would actually give an overview of string theory (not with mathematical rigor, but a little detail) when in fact it feels more like an unexplained mysteries show. I have seen small town colleges host better "string theory for everyone" lectures than this high cost production.

For example, why do we need extra dimensions? There are many simple explanations for this that would have fit in well, but no attempt was made. What are the differences between the string theories? Again it is easy to summarize, but ignored completely.

My other complaint is the somewhat arrogant attitude of the narrator, especially near the end. After going through a long show on how wonderful string theory is, there is almost no mention of competing theories. I don't mean an in depth review, but a few minutes to summarize where the weaknesses of string theory are considered strengths in something like loop quantum gravity (ie how come a theory of everything has to assume that there is already a universe in existence?).

The show leaves the impression that string theory is perfect and anyone working on other theories is foolish. It also leaves the impression that the theory is too complicated to even summarize for the masses.