Inspiration to become a Scientist
The release of The Theory of Everything (2014) has inspired an interest in the study of science. Which of these other films would best inspire an interest in a career in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)?
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- DirectorMorten TyldumStarsBenedict CumberbatchKeira KnightleyMatthew GoodeDuring World War II, the English mathematical genius Alan Turing tries to crack the German Enigma code with help from fellow mathematicians while attempting to come to terms with his troubled private life.Alan Turing (1912-1954, father of theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence)
- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsMatthew McConaugheyAnne HathawayJessica ChastainWhen Earth becomes uninhabitable in the future, a farmer and ex-NASA pilot, Joseph Cooper, is tasked to pilot a spacecraft, along with a team of researchers, to find a new planet for humans.Science adviser: Kip Thorne (1940-, theoretical physicist)
- DirectorJon AmielStarsPaul BettanyJennifer ConnellyIan KellyTorn between faith and science, and suffering hallucinations, English naturalist Charles Darwin struggles to complete 'On the Origin of Species' and maintain his relationship with his wife.Charles Darwin (1809-1882, naturalist and geologist, best known for his contributions to evolutionary theory), Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-1911, botanist), and Thomas Huxley (1825-1895, biologist)
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsLeonardo DiCaprioCate BlanchettKate BeckinsaleA biopic depicting the early years of legendary director and aviator Howard Hughes' career from the late 1920s to the mid 1940s.Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. (1905-1976, aviator, aerospace engineer, inventor and filmmaker)
- DirectorRon HowardStarsRussell CroweEd HarrisJennifer ConnellyA mathematical genius, John Nash made an astonishing discovery early in his career and stood on the brink of international acclaim. But the handsome and arrogant Nash soon found himself on a harrowing journey of self-discovery.John Forbes Nash, Jr. (1928-, mathematician, known for work in game theory, differential geometry and partial differential equations)
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsJodie FosterMatthew McConaugheyTom SkerrittDr. Ellie Arroway, after years of searching, finds conclusive radio proof of extraterrestrial intelligence, sending plans for a mysterious machine.Story by Carl Sagan (1934-1996, astronomer, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist)
- DirectorGregg LachowStarsMegan MurphyE.B. MolloyKara McMahonOrville Wright (1871-1948) and Wilbur Wright (1867-1912), inventors and aviation pioneers
- DirectorMatthew BroderickStarsMatthew BroderickPatricia ArquetteJeffrey ForceStory of the early life of genius and Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman.Richard Feynman (1918-1988, physicist)
- DirectorPeter GreenawayStarsBert SevenhuijsenJacques BonnafféBarbara M. MessnerA revisionist biopic on Charles Darwin, illustrated via 18 tableaux covering details from Darwin's birth, his defining voyage on the HMS Beagle, the publication of his seminal Theory of Evolution and his ultimate death and consequent burial at Westminster Abbey.Charles Darwin (1809-1882, naturalist and geologist, best known for his contributions to evolutionary theory)
- DirectorRoland JofféStarsPaul NewmanDwight SchultzBonnie BedeliaThis film reenacts the Manhattan Project, the secret WWII project, and the first atomic bombs designed, built, and tested in Los Alamos.J. Robert Oppenheimer (1904-1967, theoretical physicist)
- DirectorMichael AptedStarsSigourney WeaverBryan BrownJulie HarrisThe story of Dian Fossey, a scientist who came to Africa to study the vanishing mountain gorillas, and later fought to protect them.Dian Fossey (1932-1985, zoologist, primatologist and anthropologist)
- DirectorJoseph LoseyStarsTopolEdward FoxColin BlakelyThis biopic is about Galileo Galilei, the seventeenth century Italian who laid the foundations of modern science. Galileo made himself one of the world's first telescopes and discovered the moons of Jupiter. He supported Copernicus' theory that the Earth revolved around the Sun. This brought him in conflict with the Catholic Church. By threatening him with torture, the Church forced him to recant his views in front of a tribunal, and sentenced him to house arrest. However, Galileo's trials and theories inspired others like Sir Isaac Newton and Johannes Kepler to prove that the Earth was not the center of the universe. Some years ago, the Pope accepted that Earth does revolve around the Sun and issued a rare apology for what the Church had done to Galileo. The Catholic Church recanted.Galileo Galilei (1564-1642, physicist, mathematician, engineer, astronomer and philosopher)
- DirectorFrank VogelStarsReimar J. BaurTrude BechmannKurt BöweBiography of the astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)Johannes Kepler (1571-1630, mathematician and astronomer)
- DirectorEwa PetelskaCzeslaw PetelskiStarsAndrzej KopiczynskiBarbara WrzesinskaCzeslaw WollejkoNicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543, mathematician and astronomer)
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsKeir DulleaGary LockwoodWilliam SylvesterAfter uncovering a mysterious artifact buried beneath the Lunar surface, a spacecraft is sent to Jupiter to find its origins: a spacecraft manned by two men and the supercomputer HAL 9000.Written by Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008, science fiction writer, science writer, futurist and inventor)
- DirectorJ. Lee ThompsonStarsCurd JürgensVictoria ShawHerbert LomThe story of rocket scientist Dr. Werner von Braun's career, from the 1920s until the late 1950s.Wernher von Braun (1912-1977, aerospace engineer and space architect)
- DirectorTony PatonStarsClarence MuseErnest AndersonMaidie NormanAt the offices of Consolidated Producers Corporation, producer Tony Paton is determined to make a film about the great African American chemist, George Washington Carver. His backer, Murphy, is skeptical about the marketability of such a project, but Paton convinces him that it is time to depict the truth about races, creeds, and religions and trust that ticket buyers will make their own decisions about the merits of such an unusual film. The story begins in Alabama, at the great Negro university, the Tuskegee Institute: Carver, who teaches as well as does research at the institute, chats on his front porch with two children. One of the children, a boy named Augustus, tells Carver that he wants to be just like him when he grows up, and then asks if the scientist, who has demonstrated the many uses of the peanut, can even make the homely crop sing. A bemused Carver then asks the children to sing a Sunday school song, as the music gives him inspiration to continue his labors. Later, in his laboratory, Carver assists his young apprentice, Robert, in perfecting a "chemurgy" process which will make the earth's soil more productive. One day, Mr. Jeffries, an entrepreneur, arrives with a business proposition for Carver. Jeffries suggests that they manufacture soap, butter, flour and axle grease, all to be made using Carver's formulas. Carver rejects the proposition, however, as he wants no profits from his work, and sends the disappointed Jeffries away. Lucretia, Augustus's mother and Robert's fiance, next knocks on the lab door to tell the men that her son is very sick. Carver is at first annoyed at having his work again interrupted, but when he sees the note that the boy's physician, Dr. Miller, has written, he discovers to his shock that the boy has poliomyelitis. Carver tells Lucretia to go to her sister's house and pray, imploring her to maintain a "mustard seed of faith." With his own mustard seed of faith, Carver determines to find a cure for the damaging effects of the polio virus. Carver goes to visit Augustus and, looking at a picture of the boy's father, tells Robert that the man was one of Tuskegee's best students, but died as a medic in the war. Carver then says he hopes that Augustus, who will surely pursue his father's career, will not be a wheelchair-bound scientist. Carver tries an experimental treatment on Augustus, which includes massage, to promote circulation and re-establish the connection of the brain to the atrophied muscles. Time passes, and Augustus makes great progress. Years later, Robert and Lucretia, now married, and Augustus, go to visit Carver. Lucretia says that they will take Carver home with them to dine upon his favorite dish. Carver replies that he has a hunch that he should not go. Sensing that his death is near, Carver tells the men to learn more about the polio virus, and then tells Lucretia to make herself useful by sewing dresses for a few more little girls. He finishes his speech by telling Augustus never to forget the benefits of education as well as the peanut and all its uses. Carver says he must complete his final experiment in eternity, and his figure is seen passing through a closed door upon which a flower is painted.George Washington Carver (1864-1943, scientist, botanist, educator and inventor)
- DirectorDudley NicholsStarsRosalind RussellAlexander KnoxDean JaggerAn Australian nurse discovers an effective new treatment for infantile paralysis, but experiences great difficulty in convincing doctors of the validity of her claims.Elizabeth Kenny (1880-1952, developed treatment of poliomyelitis, established principles of muscle rehabilitation which became the foundation of physical therapy, or physiotherapy)
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyAlbert LewinStarsGreer GarsonWalter PidgeonHenry TraversDespite himself, accomplished physicist and avowed bachelor Pierre Curie falls for brilliant student Marie, and together they embark on the discovery of radium.Marie Curie (1867-1934, physicist and chemist) and Pierre Curie (1859-1906, physicist)
- DirectorClarence BrownStarsSpencer TracyRita JohnsonLynne Overman82-year-old inventor and entrepreneur Thomas Alva Edison is honored in 1929 and he reflects back on his sixty-year career of scientific achievement.Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931, inventor)
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsEdward G. RobinsonRuth GordonOtto KrugerTrue story of the doctor who considered it was not immoral to search for a drug that would cure syphillis.Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915, physician and scientist who worked in the fields of hematology, immunology and chemotherapy)
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsPaul MuniJosephine HutchinsonAnita LouiseThe biography of the pioneering French microbiologist who helped revolutionize agriculture and medicine.Louis Pasteur (1822-1895, chemist and microbiologist)
- DirectorJoe JohnstonStarsJake GyllenhaalChris CooperLaura DernThe true story of Homer Hickam, a coal miner's son who was inspired by the first Sputnik launch to take up rocketry against his father's wishes.Homer Hickam (1943-, former NASA engineer)
- DirectorRon HowardStarsTom HanksBill PaxtonKevin BaconNASA must devise a strategy to return Apollo 13 to Earth safely after the spacecraft undergoes massive internal damage putting the lives of the three astronauts on board in jeopardy.James A. Lovell (1928-, Commander), John L. "Jack" Swigert (1931-1982, Command Module Pilot), Fred W. Haise (1933- , Lunar Module Pilot), Gene Kranz (1933-, Lead Flight Director White Team), Glynn Lunney (1936-, Flight Director Black Team), Milt Windler (Flight Director Maroon Team), Gerry Griffin (1934-, Flight Director Gold Team), and thousands of support personnel.
- DirectorIrving CummingsStarsDon AmecheLoretta YoungHenry FondaThe story of how Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone.Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922, scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator)