Stephen Hawking: The Grand Design
The Key to The CosmosIn this programme, Hawking gives a summary on how the laws of physics came to be known.
How Gravity was discovered and explained by Isaac Newton through his invention of classical mechanics and fundamental calculus. How James Clerk Maxwell formulated Faraday's, Gauss' and Ampere's Laws into his theory of Electromagnetism. How Einstein used the evidence from the Michelson-Morley Experiment and his own thought experiments on simultaneity as his central axioms in Special Relativity. How Einstein developed the mass-energy equivalence and concept of space-time, essential concepts for high energy physics. How Einstein extended Relativity to General Relativity, describing accelerating bodies and used the relationship between energy and space-time to describe curvature in the form of his field equations. How Theodore Kaluza extended General Relativity with the concept of Maxwell's Theory of electromagnetism and, along with Oscar Klein, developed the Kaluza-Klein Theory, a theory which describes electromagnetism as a gauge theory where the gauge symmetry is the symmetry of circular compact dimensions. |
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THE MEANING OF LIFE
Hawking tackles the ultimate question: Is there a meaning to our lives? Is there a purpose to our existence? This used to be the realm of religion or philosophy - not science. But Hawking believes philosophy is dead and that science holds the key. So what can the laws of physics tell us about who and what we humans really are? Do we have free will or are we just complex biological machines working to the laws of nature? From Descartes to the latest advances in quantum physics, Hawking explores this fascinating territory with his famous fearless zeal as he questions the very nature of reality itself. You will never look at yourself the same way again. |
DID GOD CREATE THE UNIVERSE?Professor Stephen Hawking unfolds his personal, compelling vision of the biggest question of all: Is there a god who created and controls the universe in which we live? To answer this controversial and age old question, Hawking takes us on a journey through humanity's history of appraising our place in the Universe - from Vikings facing down eclipses to the laws of modern cosmology. Using the laws of physics, Hawking argues that the universe can pop into being from absolutely nothing, that there was no time before the creation of the universe and therefore, no room for a Grand Designer. |
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