Product Details

• Format: Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Allumination Filmwor
• VHS Release Date: September 17, 1996
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304106734
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #335,577 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

"What is the stuff of the world?" asks the dead-ringer-for-Linus-of-the-Peanuts-gang narrator of Smithsonian World's The Quantum Universe. This hour-long documentary looks at the shadowy rules and elements that make up the "infinite onion" that is our universe.

The "imaginably small" basis of the "inexplicably large" is an endlessly fascinating question that's been pursued by Newton, Einstein, Heisenberg, and Schrodinger, to name just a few. Given that rich history of inquiry, it's downright amazing that this program on that very topic is so dull. It's admittedly not without its moments, such as a tour of the two-mile-long Stanford Linear Accelerator (SLAC), but the majority of the program features too many dry and unimaginatively filmed close-up interviews with various researchers and astrophysicists. Throw in some horribly over-the-top performances from Tom Stoppard's spies-and-physics play, Hapgood, and you've got an astonishing yawn of a show. Those with a hankering for Hawking should stick to the real thing. Too heady for kids and too cursory for adult aficionados of this kind of thing, The Quantum Universe is an unfortunate letdown. For a documentary on the history of "the mind teaching the eye to see," you'd think the end product would be a little more riveting. --Bob Michaels

From the back cover

Smithsonian World explores the full scope of modern culture -- investigating art, science, history, literature and technology -- in order to illuminate the culture of Americans and related people and nations. The Quantum Universe examines how 20th-century physics has shaken science to its core with a theory whose interpretation remains mysterious and profound. This program features scientists and artists inspired by the world of quantum mechanics. It includes visits to the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Standford Linear Accelerator Center, excerpts from Tom Stoppard's play Hapgood, which parallels the shadowy world of espionage with quantum mechanics, and discussion with Nobel laureates Sheldon Galshow and Burtin Richter.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Inane, September 14, 1999

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Quantum Universe [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Quantum theory is one of the great developments of the 20th Century, yet this film (narrated by a child) trivializes and dilutes it without in any way making it more understandable. Produced by a woman who is apparently an artist, the film (ala Dr. Zhivago) simply provides lots of feel-good music and artistic creations "inspired" by quantum theory. It's just too cute for words. That the Smithsonian would lend its name to this kind of mindless pap is inexplicable.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Smithsonian World: The Quantum Universe, March 29, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Quantum Universe [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Awful! I was looking for a video that would contribute to better scientific understanding. This is a trivial, tedius philosophical discussion. Also, I can't believe it is dated 1995. The quality of photography & the style of everyone's glasses puts it in the '70's or 80's. Stick to Stephen Hawking's Universe and Discovery/TLC's Universe 2001. Don't waste your money on this one like I did.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For science lovers only, December 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Quantum Universe [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Those who see a kind of poetry in quantum mechanics will appreciate this documentary. Others, who view such abstruse theorizing in an thoroughly unromantic light, or who are alienated by science generally, may find it irritating and, yes, at times, "over the top." As a member of the former category, I loved it. But when I showed it to my students in a college course I was teaching, some, to my surprise, found it less than charming. Sadly, I attribute the lion's share of this response a failure to appreciate the beauty of science.