Beyond the Big Bang (4 Sep. 2007)

Documentary that explores how mankind came to understand the Universe and its origins in the Big Bang, from the earliest people who looked up at the sky and wondered about its nature to ... See full summary »

Director:

Luke Ellis

Writer:

Matthew P. Hickey

Stars:

David Ackroyd, Thaine H. Allison Jr., Ralph Alpher

Cast

Episode credited cast:
David Ackroyd	...	Narrator
Thaine H. Allison Jr.	...	Galileo Galilei
Ralph Alpher	...	Interview
Nima Arkani-Hamed	...	Interview
Michael Bosemen	...	Johannes Kepler
Gerald Brodin	...	Nicholas Copernicus
James Casey	...	Isaac Newton
Owen Gingerich	...	Interview
Marcelo Gleiser	...	Interview
Brian Greene	...	Interview
Sterling Greene	...	Early Man
Alan Guth	...	Interview
Maya Harvey	...	Girl at Carnival
Michio Kaku	...	Interview
Jonathan Kelley	...	Pope Urban VIII

Storyline

Documentary that explores how mankind came to understand the Universe and its origins in the Big Bang, from the earliest people who looked up at the sky and wondered about its nature to modern physicists like Einstein, Gamow, Alpher And Guth.

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Taglines:

"Where Do We Begin?"

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Genres:

Documentary | History | Sci-Fi

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 September 2007 (USA)

Filming Locations:

England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Workaholic Productions

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Physicist Ralph Alpher, a pioneer of the Big Bang theory, gave his last interview for this documentary.

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Goofs

At 1:21 the narrator states: "One of these lumps of stardust, after being pummeled for eons by residual solar debris, has temperatures warm enough to allow for hydrogen dioxide, water, to build up in the atmosphere." Hydrogen dioxide is called hydrogen peroxide. Water is dihydrogen monoxide.

User Reviews

Double-Length Episode

This is the only two-hour episode. Accordingly, this the meatiest.

It covers the entire history of astronomy and astrophysics to the present. It is amazing how much territory they cover in just this one episode. No way could they do that with just the one hour of a typical episode.

We can think of this episode as a series synopsis, overview or condensed version of the series in one episode. It is by no means a substitution for the plethora of knowledge the entire series offers. Many subjects aren't even touched upon, which are gone into fine detail in some episodes, like "The Colonization of Space." However, this one episode could stand alone as a magnificent presentation of humankind's ascent of the "ladder of knowledge" of astronomy, astrophysics and particle/macro-physics to date.

This is the episode by which one can judge the entire series. You can see that I gave it a 10. Perfection of presentation, it may not have. But up-to-date content, it has in spades. It might be lacking for detail in some places. But that's the hook to watch the rest of the series. I'm surprised this wasn't the pilot episode.

This is an aside: I was watching this episode when a UPS delivery arrived needing my signature. I paused the recording, which leaves the title lettered over the screen. As I was signing for the packages the driver noticed what I had been watching and said, "The Universe! I love that series!" I was flabbergasted to find a fellow "Universe" enthusiast randomly at my door. This series must be more popular than I realized.