Watch The Mechanical Universe full season and episodes now

WATCH FREE FOR 30 DAYS

Seasons & Episodes

EP1 Introduction Jan 01, 1985

This preview introduces revolutionary ideas and heroes from Copernicus to Newton, and links the physics of the heavens and the earth.

EP2 The Law of Falling Bodies Jan 01, 0001

Galileo's imaginative experiments proved that all bodies fall with the same constant acceleration.

EP3 Derivatives Jan 01, 0001

The function of mathematics in physical science and the derivative as a practical tool.

EP4 Inertia Jan 01, 0001

Galileo risks his favored status to answer the questions of the universe with his law of inertia.

EP5 Vectors Jan 01, 0001

Physics must explain not only why and how much, but also where and which way.

EP6 Newton's Laws Jan 01, 0001

Newton lays down the laws of force, mass, and acceleration.

EP7 Integration Jan 01, 0001

Newton and Leibniz arrive at the conclusion that differentiation and integration are inverse processes.

EP8 The Apple and the Moon Jan 01, 0001

The first real steps toward space travel are made as Newton discovers that gravity describes the force between any two particles in the universe.

EP9 Moving in Circles Jan 01, 0001

A look at the Platonic theory of uniform circular motion.

EP10 Fundamental Forces Jan 01, 0001

All physical phenomena of nature are explained by four forces: two nuclear forces, gravity, and electricity.

EP11 Gravity, Electricity, Magnetism Jan 01, 0001

Shedding light on the mathematical form of the gravitational, electric, and magnetic forces.

EP12 The Millikan Experiment Jan 01, 0001

A dramatic recreation of Millikan's classic oil-drop experiment to determine the charge of a single electron.

EP13 Conservation of Energy Jan 01, 0001

According to one of the major laws of physics, energy is neither created nor destroyed.

EP14 Potential Energy Jan 01, 0001

Potential energy provides a powerful model for understanding why the world has worked the same way since the beginning of time.

EP15 Conservation of Momentum Jan 01, 0001

What keeps the universe ticking away until the end of time?

EP16 Harmonic Motion Jan 01, 0001

The music and mathematics of periodic motion.

EP17 Resonance Jan 01, 0001

Why a swaying bridge collapses with a high wind, and why a wine glass shatters with a higher octave.

EP18 Waves Jan 01, 0001

With an analysis of simple harmonic motion and a stroke of genius, Newton extended mechanics to the propagation of sound.

EP19 Angular Momentum Jan 01, 0001

An old momentum with a new twist.

EP20 Torques and Gyroscopes Jan 01, 0001

From spinning tops to the precession of the equinoxes.

EP21 Kepler's Three Laws Jan 01, 0001

The discovery of elliptical orbits helps describe the motion of heavenly bodies with unprecedented accuracy.

EP22 The Kepler Problem Jan 01, 0001

The deduction of Kepler's laws from Newton's universal law of gravitation is one of the crowning achievements of Western thought.

EP23 Energy and Eccentricity Jan 01, 0001

The precise orbit of a heavenly body — a planet, asteroid, or comet — is fixed by the laws of conservation of energy and angular momentum.

EP24 Navigating in Space Jan 01, 0001

Voyages to other planets use the same laws that guide planets around the solar system.

EP25 Kepler to Einstein Jan 01, 0001

From Kepler's laws and the theory of tides, to Einstein's general theory of relativity, into black holes, and beyond.

EP26 Harmony of the Spheres Jan 01, 0001

A last lingering look back at mechanics to see new connections between old discoveries.

EP27 Beyond the Mechanical Universe Jan 01, 0001

The world of electricity and magnetism, and 20th-century discoveries of relativity and quantum mechanics.

EP28 Static Electricity Jan 01, 0001

Eighteenth-century electricians knew how to spark the interest of an audience with the principles of static electricity.

EP29 The Electric Field Jan 01, 0001

Faraday's vision of lines of constant force in space laid the foundation for the modern force field theory.

EP30 Potential and Capacitance Jan 01, 0001

Franklin proposes a successful theory of the Leyden jar and invents the parallel plate capacitor.

EP31 Voltage, Energy, and Force Jan 01, 0001

When is electricity dangerous or benign, spectacular or useful?

EP32 The Electric Battery Jan 01, 0001

Volta invents the electric battery using the internal properties of different metals.

EP33 Electric Circuits Jan 01, 0001

The work of Wheatstone, Ohm, and Kirchhoff leads to the design and analysis of how current flows.

EP34 Magnetism Jan 01, 0001

Gilbert discovered that the earth behaves like a giant magnet. Modern scientists have learned even more.

EP35 The Magnetic Field Jan 01, 0001

The law of Biot and Sarvart, the force between electric currents, and Ampère's law.

EP36 Vector Fields and Hydrodynamics Jan 01, 0001

Force fields have definite properties of their own suitable for scientific study.

EP37 Electromagnetic Induction Jan 01, 0001

The discovery of electromagnetic induction in 1831 creates an important technological breakthrough in the generation of electric power.

EP38 Alternating Current Jan 01, 0001

Electromagnetic induction makes it easy to generate alternating current while transformers make it practical to distribute it over long distances.

EP39 Maxwell's Equations Jan 01, 0001

Maxwell discovers that displacement current produces electromagnetic waves or light.

EP40 Optics Jan 01, 0001

Many properties of light are properties of waves, including reflection, refraction, and diffraction.

EP41 The Michelson-Morley Experiment Jan 01, 0001

In 1887, an exquisitely designed measurement of the earth's motion through the ether results in the most brilliant failure in scientific history.

EP42 The Lorentz Transformation Jan 01, 0001

If the speed of light is to be the same for all observers, then the length of a meter stick, or the rate of a ticking clock, depends on who measures it.

EP43 Velocity and Time Jan 01, 0001

Einstein is motivated to perfect the central ideas of physics, resulting in a new understanding of the meaning of space and time.

EP44 Mass, Momentum, Energy Jan 01, 0001

The new meaning of space and time make it necessary to formulate a new mechanics.

EP45 Temperature and Gas Laws Jan 01, 0001

Hot discoveries about the behavior of gases make the connection between temperature and heat.

EP46 Engine of Nature Jan 01, 0001

The Carnot engine, part one, beginning with simple steam engines.

EP47 Entropy Jan 01, 0001

The Carnot engine, part two, with profound implications for the behavior of matter and the flow of time through the universe.

EP48 Low Temperatures Jan 01, 0001

With the quest for low temperatures came the discovery that all elements can exist in each of the basic states of matter.

EP49 The Atom Jan 01, 0001

A history of the atom, from the ancient Greeks to the early 20th century, and a new challenge for the world of physics.

EP50 Particles and Waves Jan 01, 0001

Evidence that light can sometimes act like a particle leads to quantum mechanics, the new physics.

EP51 From Atoms to Quarks Jan 01, 0001

Electron waves attracted to the nucleus of an atom help account for the periodic table of the elements and ultimately lead to the search for quarks.

EP52 The Quantum Mechanical Universe Jan 01, 0001

A last look at where we've been and a peek into the future.

8.8| 0h30m| en| More Info

Released: 01 January 1985 Ended

Producted By:

Country:

Budget: 0

Revenue: 0

Official Website: http://www.its.caltech.edu/~tmu/

Synopsis

The Mechanical Universe... And Beyond, is a 52-part telecourse filmed at the California Institute of Technology, and produced by Caltech and INTELECOM Intelligent Telecommunications. The series introduces university level physics, covering topics from Copernicus to quantum mechanics. Produced starting in 1985, the videos make heavy use of historical dramatizations and visual aids to explain physics concepts. The latter were state of the art at the time, incorporating almost 8 hours of computer animation created by computer graphics pioneer Jim Blinn. Each episode opens and closes with a "phantom" lecture by Caltech professor David Goodstein. After more than a quarter century, the series is still often used as a supplemental teaching aid, for its clear explanation of fundamental concepts such as special relativity. The Mechanical Universe lectures are actual freshman physics lectures from Physics 1a and 1b courses at the California Institute of Technology. The room seen in the videos is the Bridge lecture hall. The series can be purchased, or viewed by streaming from the Annenberg website, or can be viewed on other video streaming sites such as YouTube and Google Video.

Stream Online

The movie is currently not available onine

Cast

Director

Producted By

The Mechanical Universe