Physics: Modern Physics

The Physics: series is a collection of physics documentaries I found compelling enough to incorporate into my high school physics curriculum when circumstances allowed. Many were episodes of PBS's NOVA. Others came from BBC, NASA, or were produced for theatrical release.

These documentaries relate to origins of E=mc2 and consequences of atomic weapons.

Physics: Modern Physics on Teachers Pay Teachers

P R O G R A M S

1. EINSTEIN’S BIG IDEA 

Over 100 years ago, Albert Einstein grappled with the implications of his revolutionary special theory of relativity and came to a startling conclusion: mass and energy are one, related by the formula E = mc2. In "Einstein's Big Idea," NOVA dramatizes the remarkable story behind this equation. E = mc2 was just one of several extraordinary breakthroughs that Einstein made in 1905, including the completion of his special theory of relativity, his identification of proof that atoms exist, and his explanation of the nature of light, which would win him the Nobel Prize in Physics. Among Einstein's ideas, E = mc2 is by far the most famous. Yet how many people know what it really means? In a thought-provoking and engrossing docudrama, NOVA illuminates this deceptively simple formula by unraveling the story of how it came to be.

2. ATOMIC CAFE

This darkly humorous documentary consists of archival footage about nuclear warfare. Drawing largely on government propaganda and training films for American soldiers, the movie, presented in collage form, features clips from early in the Cold War era that are filled with alarming misinformation. Some segments address the alleged safety of nuclear radiation, "duck and cover" drills and other related topics, including instructions for living in a fallout shelter.