1 00:00:04,109 --> 00:00:06,576 PATRICK STEWART: SINCE THE DAWN OF HUMANKIND, 2 00:00:06,643 --> 00:00:09,643 WE HAVE LOOKED TO THE STARS AND WONDERED, 3 00:00:09,710 --> 00:00:12,109 WHAT'S UP THERE? 4 00:00:12,176 --> 00:00:17,810 WHAT LIES BEYOND THIS SMALL, BLUE PLANET WE CALL HOME? 5 00:00:17,910 --> 00:00:21,209 "IF ONLY," OUR ANCESTORS THOUGHT, 6 00:00:21,276 --> 00:00:25,343 "THERE WAS A WAY TO BRING THE SKY CLOSER 7 00:00:25,410 --> 00:00:29,209 TO REALLY SEE THE STARS." 8 00:00:29,276 --> 00:00:34,510 JUST HOW HUMANITY MANAGED TO DO THIS IS QUITE A TALE. 9 00:00:36,176 --> 00:00:40,243 IT WOULD TAKE CRYSTALS FORGED INSIDE THE EARTH... 10 00:00:41,676 --> 00:00:44,710 JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF SALT, 11 00:00:44,777 --> 00:00:49,410 A CHANCE ALIGNMENT OF TWO SMALL PIECES OF GLASS, 12 00:00:49,476 --> 00:00:53,044 A PROPERTY BOOM IN NEW YORK, 13 00:00:53,109 --> 00:00:57,376 AND AN ACCIDENT OF CHEMISTRY AND LIGHT 14 00:00:57,443 --> 00:01:01,476 TO CREATE THE DEVICE THAT WOULD OPEN OUR EYES 15 00:01:01,543 --> 00:01:03,343 TO THE UNIVERSE ITSELF-- 16 00:01:03,410 --> 00:01:05,710 THE TELESCOPE. 17 00:01:07,209 --> 00:01:10,076 THESE ARE THE INVENTIONS THAT DEFINE OUR AGE 18 00:01:10,143 --> 00:01:13,043 AND CHANGED OUR WORLD FOREVER. 19 00:01:13,109 --> 00:01:17,343 THEY HAVE ALLOWED US TO MOVE ON THE GROUND 20 00:01:17,410 --> 00:01:19,910 AND IN THE AIR, 21 00:01:19,977 --> 00:01:22,276 TO CONNECT WITH EACH OTHER, 22 00:01:22,343 --> 00:01:25,510 AND MAKE MACHINES IN OUR OWN IMAGE... 23 00:01:27,276 --> 00:01:33,610 EACH A STORY OF INGENUITY, OF WONDER, OF BREAKTHROUGH. 24 00:01:45,877 --> 00:01:49,376 STEWART: TODAY, WE ARE ON THE BRINK OF A NEW REVOLUTION. 25 00:01:49,443 --> 00:01:53,376 GIANT NEW TELESCOPES ARE BEING BUILT ALL OVER THE WORLD, 26 00:01:53,443 --> 00:01:57,209 WHICH SCIENTISTS HOPE WILL ANSWER SOME OF THE OLDEST 27 00:01:57,309 --> 00:02:02,710 AND MOST PROFOUND QUESTIONS HUMANS HAVE EVER ASKED-- 28 00:02:02,777 --> 00:02:05,943 HOW BIG IS THE UNIVERSE? 29 00:02:06,010 --> 00:02:08,877 ARE WE ALONE? 30 00:02:08,943 --> 00:02:12,276 DO THE STARS GO ON FOREVER? 31 00:02:15,810 --> 00:02:18,843 THIS IS A REALLY FANTASTIC TIME TO BE AN ASTRONOMER, 32 00:02:18,910 --> 00:02:21,476 HELPING US BUILD THE PICTURE OF UNDERSTANDING 33 00:02:21,543 --> 00:02:26,243 ABOUT THE UNIVERSE THAT WAS COMPLETELY UNIMAGINABLE EVEN 100 YEARS AGO. 34 00:02:28,043 --> 00:02:31,143 STEWART: AROUND THE WORLD, A NEW GENERATION OF TELESCOPES 35 00:02:31,209 --> 00:02:36,309 IS PUSHING THE LIMITS OF OUR VISION EVER DEEPER INTO THE COSMOS, 36 00:02:36,376 --> 00:02:41,276 AND THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE IS STILL AT THE FOREFRONT OF THIS EFFORT. 37 00:02:41,343 --> 00:02:45,109 ASTRONOMERS HERE AT THE SPACE TELESCOPE SCIENCE INSTITUTE 38 00:02:45,176 --> 00:02:49,476 ARE COMBINING IMAGES FROM HUBBLE WITH OTHER TELESCOPES 39 00:02:49,543 --> 00:02:53,343 TO STRETCH OUR VISION AS FAR AS POSSIBLE. 40 00:02:53,410 --> 00:02:56,443 SALMON: WE'RE LOOKING FOR THE MOST DISTANT GALAXIES 41 00:02:56,510 --> 00:02:58,343 THAT WE CAN FIND IN THE UNIVERSE. 42 00:02:58,410 --> 00:03:01,877 THERE'S ENTIRE SYSTEMS AND WORLDS OUT THERE 43 00:03:01,943 --> 00:03:05,410 THAT, YOU KNOW, I'M SEEING FOR THE FIRST TIME. 44 00:03:05,510 --> 00:03:07,410 STEWART: THE STORY OF THE TELESCOPE 45 00:03:07,476 --> 00:03:10,910 IS INSEPARABLE FROM WHO WE ARE. 46 00:03:10,977 --> 00:03:14,109 MAN: IT TOOK OVER 13 BILLION YEARS TO GET TO THIS POINT 47 00:03:14,176 --> 00:03:16,510 WHERE WE COULD BUILD TELESCOPES IN SPACE 48 00:03:16,576 --> 00:03:18,443 AND WITNESS OUR ORIGINS. 49 00:03:25,276 --> 00:03:28,576 STEWART: THESE GLEAMING TECHNOLOGICAL MIRACLES 50 00:03:28,643 --> 00:03:32,309 OF GLASS AND STEEL DEFINE OUR AGE. 51 00:03:32,376 --> 00:03:37,576 BUT THE TELESCOPE'S ORIGIN IS STRANGER THAN YOU WOULD IMAGINE. 52 00:03:37,643 --> 00:03:43,109 IT WOULD ALL BEGIN WITH A PILE OF ROCKS IN SOUTHERN EUROPE. 53 00:03:43,176 --> 00:03:57,877 ♪ 54 00:03:57,943 --> 00:04:00,777 MAN: 6,000 YEARS AGO, THE STONE AGE PEOPLE 55 00:04:00,843 --> 00:04:02,343 LIVING IN THIS PART OF PORTUGAL 56 00:04:02,410 --> 00:04:04,576 BUILT THESE STONE STRUCTURES. 57 00:04:06,309 --> 00:04:07,576 FOR THE LAST 10 YEARS, 58 00:04:07,643 --> 00:04:09,076 I'VE BEEN STUDYING THESE ANCIENT SITES 59 00:04:09,143 --> 00:04:12,243 AROUND THE COUNTRYSIDE WHERE I GREW UP. 60 00:04:12,343 --> 00:04:14,309 AND I BELIEVE THESE MEGALITHS WERE ONE OF 61 00:04:14,376 --> 00:04:18,343 OUR EARLIEST ATTEMPTS TO STUDY THE STARS. 62 00:04:18,410 --> 00:04:22,610 BUT WHY WERE THE STARS SO IMPORTANT TO THESE ANCIENT PEOPLE? 63 00:04:22,676 --> 00:04:24,543 BECAUSE THE STONE AGE COMMUNITIES LIVING HERE 64 00:04:24,610 --> 00:04:27,309 WERE HUNTER GATHERERS AND SHEPHERDS. 65 00:04:27,376 --> 00:04:31,309 THEY WERE LIVING OFF THE LAND, WHICH ISN'T ALWAYS EASY. 66 00:04:31,376 --> 00:04:33,010 THAT'S WHY IN THE SUMMER 67 00:04:33,076 --> 00:04:35,643 THEY WOULD GO INTO THE MOUNTAIN RANGES THAT WERE GREEN 68 00:04:35,710 --> 00:04:38,977 AND PROVIDED ENOUGH PASTURE FOR THEIR ANIMALS AND FOR THEMSELVES. 69 00:04:39,044 --> 00:04:42,343 AND THE BEST WAY TO KNOW WHEN IT WAS TIME 70 00:04:42,410 --> 00:04:45,943 TO MOVE TO THE MOUNTAINS WAS TO LOOK TO THE STARS. 71 00:04:46,044 --> 00:04:50,610 SO HOW DID THESE MEGALITHS HELP THEM IN THIS QUEST? 72 00:04:50,676 --> 00:04:52,943 IN A PERFECTLY DARK NIGHT SKY, 73 00:04:53,010 --> 00:04:56,109 THE HUMAN EYE CAN SEE AROUND 5,000 STARS. 74 00:04:58,443 --> 00:05:02,309 TO LOOK BEYOND AND SEE THINGS THAT WE WOULDN'T NORMALLY SEE, 75 00:05:02,376 --> 00:05:05,209 WE NEED THE TELESCOPE. 76 00:05:05,276 --> 00:05:10,777 AND I THINK THAT SUCH TECHNOLOGY WAS ALREADY PRESENT 6,000 YEARS AGO, 77 00:05:10,843 --> 00:05:13,209 1,000 YEARS BEFORE STONEHENGE 78 00:05:13,276 --> 00:05:17,243 AND ABOUT 1,500 YEARS BEFORE THE PYRAMIDS IN EGYPT. 79 00:05:18,910 --> 00:05:21,309 AND WE ALSO FIND THE REMAINS OF IT HERE IN PORTUGAL 80 00:05:21,376 --> 00:05:25,676 IN THE SHAPE OF THESE STONE MONUMENTS OR DOLMENS. 81 00:05:25,743 --> 00:05:28,643 THEY ONLY HAD STONE TOOLS, WOODEN TOOLS, 82 00:05:28,710 --> 00:05:30,343 AND POSSIBLY BONE TOOLS. 83 00:05:30,410 --> 00:05:32,176 AND YET, SOMEHOW THEY MANAGED 84 00:05:32,243 --> 00:05:34,476 TO CARVE THESE ROCKS OUT OF THE LANDSCAPE, 85 00:05:34,543 --> 00:05:38,209 DRAG THEM A FEW MILES, AND PUT THEM IN PLACE. 86 00:05:38,276 --> 00:05:39,910 THIS WAS CLEARLY A PROJECT 87 00:05:39,977 --> 00:05:42,877 OF HUGE SIGNIFICANCE FOR THESE COMMUNITIES, 88 00:05:42,943 --> 00:05:44,810 AND THEY DIDN'T JUST DO IT ONCE. 89 00:05:44,877 --> 00:05:47,343 THERE ARE BETWEEN 15 AND 20 MONUMENTS 90 00:05:47,410 --> 00:05:49,243 IN THIS RIVER VALLEY ALONE 91 00:05:49,309 --> 00:05:52,176 WITH THE SAME ORIENTATION, TOWARDS THE EAST. 92 00:05:55,143 --> 00:05:57,109 I THINK THESE ROCK CHAMBERS WERE USED 93 00:05:57,176 --> 00:05:59,143 TO ACCUSTOM THEIR EYES TO THE DARK, 94 00:05:59,209 --> 00:06:02,309 ALLOWING THEM TO SEE FAINTER STARS. 95 00:06:05,543 --> 00:06:10,010 USING COMPUTER SOFTWARE, WE CAN RECONSTRUCT THE SKIES 6,000 YEARS AGO, 96 00:06:10,076 --> 00:06:16,510 AS IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SEEN FROM INSIDE THESE STONE MONUMENTS. 97 00:06:16,576 --> 00:06:19,343 IN THE COURSE OF A YEAR, AS WE ORBIT THE SUN, 98 00:06:19,410 --> 00:06:20,810 AS SEEN FROM THE EARTH, 99 00:06:20,877 --> 00:06:22,410 THE SUN APPEARS TO PASS THROUGH 100 00:06:22,476 --> 00:06:24,476 DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE SKY. 101 00:06:24,576 --> 00:06:27,276 IN THE SPRING, A STAR CALLED ALDEBARAN BEGINS 102 00:06:27,343 --> 00:06:30,143 TO APPEAR CLOSE TO THE SUN AS IT RISES IN THE EAST, 103 00:06:30,209 --> 00:06:32,209 MARKING THE PERFECT TIME OF THE YEAR 104 00:06:32,276 --> 00:06:34,176 TO MOVE TO HIGHER PASTURE. 105 00:06:34,243 --> 00:06:37,143 THE PROBLEM IS THAT ALDEBARAN IS ALL BUT OBSCURED 106 00:06:37,209 --> 00:06:39,343 BY THE GLARE OF THE RISING SUN, 107 00:06:39,410 --> 00:06:41,510 WHICH MAKES IT HARD TO SEE. 108 00:06:41,576 --> 00:06:43,343 BUT I THINK THESE DOLMEN, 109 00:06:43,410 --> 00:06:45,643 WITH THEIR LARGE CHAMBERS AND LONG, STONE TUNNEL, 110 00:06:45,710 --> 00:06:49,943 WOULD HAVE ALLOWED THEM TO FOCUS THEIR EYES ON A SMALLER PATCH OF SKY 111 00:06:50,010 --> 00:06:51,977 TO SEE THE STAR AT SUNRISE 112 00:06:52,044 --> 00:06:54,977 SOONER THAN THEY WOULD BY STANDING OUTSIDE, 113 00:06:55,044 --> 00:06:58,076 SIGNALING TO MOVE TO THE MOUNTAINS FOR THE SUMMER. 114 00:06:58,176 --> 00:07:01,376 THESE STRUCTURES MARK THE MOMENT IN HUMAN HISTORY 115 00:07:01,443 --> 00:07:05,343 WHEN WE REALIZED THAT THE SKIES RAN PREDICTABLY LIKE CLOCKWORK, 116 00:07:05,410 --> 00:07:07,777 AND IF YOU COULD SEE THE STARS BETTER 117 00:07:07,843 --> 00:07:10,576 AND, THEREFORE, DECIPHER THE PATTERNS IN THE NIGHT SKY, 118 00:07:10,643 --> 00:07:13,943 IT COULD HELP YOU TO SURVIVE. 119 00:07:14,010 --> 00:07:15,810 ACROSS THE WORLD THERE ARE MANY OTHER 120 00:07:15,877 --> 00:07:17,343 STONE STRUCTURES FROM THIS TIME 121 00:07:17,410 --> 00:07:21,076 WHICH ALSO APPEAR TO BE ALIGNED WITH THE HEAVENS. 122 00:07:21,143 --> 00:07:23,977 IT SEEMS THAT AS SOON AS WE COULD DEPLOY TECHNOLOGY, 123 00:07:24,044 --> 00:07:28,309 EVEN STONE TECHNOLOGY, WE APPLIED IT TO THE STARS. 124 00:07:30,376 --> 00:07:33,943 TO ME, THIS POTENTIALLY REPRESENTS HUMANITY'S FIRST STEPS 125 00:07:34,010 --> 00:07:37,810 INTO THIS JOURNEY OF DISCOVERING THEIR PLACE IN THE COSMOS. 126 00:07:39,877 --> 00:07:44,043 STEWART: ACROSS THE WORLD, OUR ANCESTORS WERE EXPLORING THE HEAVENS. 127 00:07:44,109 --> 00:07:48,576 FROM EGYPT TO AUSTRALIA, EARLY HUMAN CIVILIZATIONS 128 00:07:48,643 --> 00:07:52,343 WERE DRIVING A REVOLUTION IN HUMAN VISION, 129 00:07:52,410 --> 00:07:55,843 STRETCHING OUR SIGHT FURTHER OUT INTO THE COSMOS 130 00:07:55,910 --> 00:07:58,810 THAN THE NAKED EYE ALONE COULD ACHIEVE. 131 00:07:58,877 --> 00:08:04,010 BUT THE TELESCOPE REQUIRES ONE MATERIAL ABOVE ALL OTHERS-- 132 00:08:04,076 --> 00:08:05,743 GLASS. 133 00:08:05,843 --> 00:08:09,743 AND THE FIRST GLASS WOULD COME FROM THE EARTH ITSELF. 134 00:08:09,810 --> 00:08:11,877 WOMAN: OVER 5,000 YEARS AGO, 135 00:08:11,943 --> 00:08:14,376 THE PEOPLE OF RIFEH AND EL BADARI IN CENTRAL EGYPT 136 00:08:14,443 --> 00:08:17,877 STARTED TO PICK UP SMALL PIECES OF GLASSY QUARTZ CRYSTAL 137 00:08:17,943 --> 00:08:20,376 THAT CAUGHT THEIR EYE, AND THIS IS ONE OF THEM. 138 00:08:20,443 --> 00:08:23,209 AROUND THE WORLD, PEOPLE WERE FINDING 139 00:08:23,276 --> 00:08:26,343 NATURALLY-OCCURRING CRYSTAL FRAGMENTS LIKE THIS 140 00:08:26,410 --> 00:08:28,710 THAT APPEARED TO DISTORT THE LIGHT. 141 00:08:28,777 --> 00:08:31,910 NO ONE KNOWS FOR SURE WHAT THEY MIGHT HAVE BEEN USED FOR, 142 00:08:31,977 --> 00:08:34,710 PERHAPS AS A TOOL OF SOME KIND OR SIMPLY AS JEWELRY 143 00:08:34,777 --> 00:08:36,843 OR SOME KIND OF DECORATION. 144 00:08:36,910 --> 00:08:39,476 BUT THEY ALL HAVE ONE THING IN COMMON-- 145 00:08:39,576 --> 00:08:41,843 THEY COULD CONTROL LIGHT. 146 00:08:43,476 --> 00:08:46,777 STEWART: HOW THEY WERE DOING THIS REMAINED A MYSTERY, 147 00:08:46,843 --> 00:08:49,343 ONE THAT WOULD ONLY BE SOLVED BY SOMEONE LIVING 148 00:08:49,410 --> 00:08:53,643 IN AN EXTRAORDINARY PLACE AT AN EXTRAORDINARY TIME. 149 00:08:59,109 --> 00:09:04,276 MAN: BAGHDAD IN THE 9th CENTURY REALLY WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST 150 00:09:04,343 --> 00:09:07,376 AND MOST AMAZING CITIES IN HISTORY-- 151 00:09:07,443 --> 00:09:12,443 PERFECTLY ROUND, 4 MILES IN CIRCUMFERENCE WITH 4 GATES, 152 00:09:12,543 --> 00:09:15,843 EACH AT RIGHT ANGLES TO THE OTHER. 153 00:09:18,843 --> 00:09:24,010 CLEARLY THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE HERE JUST LOVED MATH AND LOVED USING MATH. 154 00:09:27,710 --> 00:09:32,510 BAGHDAD IN THIS PERIOD WAS LIKE FLORENCE DURING THE RENAISSANCE 155 00:09:32,576 --> 00:09:34,676 OR SILICON VALLEY IN THE AGE OF THE INTERNET. 156 00:09:34,743 --> 00:09:40,143 WE OFTEN TALK ABOUT THIS MYTHICAL PLACE, THE HOUSE OF WISDOM. 157 00:09:41,443 --> 00:09:43,443 SOME WOULD SAY IT WAS A LIBRARY 158 00:09:43,510 --> 00:09:45,176 OR IT WAS A TRANSLATION HOUSE 159 00:09:45,276 --> 00:09:47,943 THAT BROUGHT TOGETHER THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE GREEKS, 160 00:09:48,010 --> 00:09:49,410 THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE PERSIANS, 161 00:09:49,476 --> 00:09:51,044 THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE INDIANS, 162 00:09:51,109 --> 00:09:54,276 ALL CONVERGING ON THIS ONE SPOT IN BAGHDAD 163 00:09:54,343 --> 00:09:56,076 IN THE HOUSE OF WISDOM, 164 00:09:56,143 --> 00:09:58,510 A CROSS FERTILIZATION OF IDEAS 165 00:09:58,576 --> 00:10:03,109 THAT HADN'T REALLY HAPPENED ANYTIME BEFORE THAT IN HISTORY. 166 00:10:03,176 --> 00:10:12,176 ♪ 167 00:10:12,243 --> 00:10:15,810 ONE OF THE GREATEST OF SCHOLARS OF THE MEDIEVAL TIME 168 00:10:15,877 --> 00:10:20,043 WAS IBN AL-HAYTHAM, WHO WAS CURIOUS ABOUT THE WORLD. 169 00:10:26,877 --> 00:10:30,276 ANCIENT GREEKS COULDN'T AGREE ON THE NATURE OF LIGHT, 170 00:10:30,343 --> 00:10:31,810 ON HOW WE SEE. 171 00:10:31,877 --> 00:10:34,176 SOME THOUGHT IT WAS LIGHT ENTERING OUR EYES, 172 00:10:34,243 --> 00:10:36,710 SOME THOUGHT IT WAS LIGHT BEAMED OUT FROM OUR EYES. 173 00:10:38,076 --> 00:10:39,910 STEWART: IN A GROUND-BREAKING EXPERIMENT 174 00:10:39,977 --> 00:10:44,109 THAT WOULD PROVE WHICH IT IS, IBN AL-HAYTHAM BLOCKED A WINDOW, 175 00:10:44,176 --> 00:10:47,777 LEAVING A TINY HOLE 176 00:10:47,843 --> 00:10:49,610 TO CREATE WHAT'S KNOWN TODAY 177 00:10:49,676 --> 00:10:55,176 AS A PINHOLE CAMERA OR CAMERA OBSCURA. 178 00:10:59,643 --> 00:11:02,109 A FAINT VIEW OF THE STREET OUTSIDE 179 00:11:02,176 --> 00:11:04,543 MATERIALIZED ON THE WALL OPPOSITE, 180 00:11:04,610 --> 00:11:09,076 PROVING THAT THE LIGHT WAS ENTERING THE ROOM FROM THE STREET, 181 00:11:09,143 --> 00:11:12,843 RATHER THAN BEING PROJECTED FROM HIS EYES. 182 00:11:12,910 --> 00:11:15,343 BUT THERE WAS A SECOND REVELATION-- 183 00:11:15,410 --> 00:11:18,843 THE IMAGE WAS UPSIDE DOWN. 184 00:11:18,910 --> 00:11:21,643 IBN AL-HAYTHAM REALIZED THIS MUST BE 185 00:11:21,710 --> 00:11:24,410 BECAUSE THE LIGHT FROM OUTSIDE WAS TRAVELING 186 00:11:24,476 --> 00:11:27,410 IN STRAIGHT LINES AS IT ENTERED THE ROOM. 187 00:11:27,476 --> 00:11:30,777 IN FACT, ALL LIGHT BOUNCES OFF OBJECTS 188 00:11:30,843 --> 00:11:35,376 IN ALL DIRECTIONS IN STRAIGHT LINES. 189 00:11:35,443 --> 00:11:36,710 AND ONCE YOU KNOW THAT, 190 00:11:36,777 --> 00:11:38,810 YOU CAN START TO MANIPULATE LIGHT 191 00:11:38,877 --> 00:11:42,743 AND USE IT TO REVEAL THINGS THAT WERE PREVIOUSLY HIDDEN. 192 00:11:46,410 --> 00:11:49,309 AL KAHLILI: LIGHT TRAVELS IN STRAIGHT LINES. 193 00:11:49,376 --> 00:11:53,643 [SPEAKS ARABIC] 194 00:11:53,710 --> 00:11:55,843 A PHRASE THAT WOULD BE TRANSLATED INTO 195 00:11:55,910 --> 00:11:58,044 OTHER LANGUAGES ALL AROUND THE WORLD. 196 00:11:58,143 --> 00:12:00,777 [PEOPLE SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGES] 197 00:12:16,443 --> 00:12:18,476 IBN AL-HAYTHAM'S THEORIES ARE DOCUMENTED 198 00:12:18,543 --> 00:12:20,510 IN HIS CELEBRATED "BOOK OF OPTICS," 199 00:12:20,576 --> 00:12:25,410 WRITTEN ALMOST EXACTLY 1,000 YEARS AGO IN THE EARLY 11th CENTURY. 200 00:12:25,476 --> 00:12:29,643 ITS PAGES CONTAIN PROFOUND IDEAS ABOUT THE NATURE OF LIGHT, 201 00:12:29,710 --> 00:12:32,877 AND THEY EXPLAIN WHY THOSE CRYSTAL LENSES 202 00:12:32,977 --> 00:12:35,176 DISTORT THE LIGHT AS THEY DO. 203 00:12:35,243 --> 00:12:40,010 FOR ME, IBN AL-HAYTHAM IS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT PHYSICIST OF HIS AGE. 204 00:12:40,076 --> 00:12:43,143 HIS ACCURATE MODELING OF THE NATURE OF LIGHT 205 00:12:43,209 --> 00:12:45,843 IS A REVOLUTION OF SUCH IMPORTANCE 206 00:12:45,910 --> 00:12:47,943 THAT IT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO UNLOCK 207 00:12:48,010 --> 00:12:51,010 THE SECRETS OF THE ENTIRE COSMOS. 208 00:12:51,076 --> 00:13:00,209 ♪ 209 00:13:00,276 --> 00:13:02,276 JAMES: AL HAYTHAM'S BREAKTHROUGH WILL EXPLAIN 210 00:13:02,343 --> 00:13:04,443 HOW THOSE NATURAL CRYSTALS CONTROL THE LIGHT. 211 00:13:04,510 --> 00:13:08,209 IT'S JUST A GLIMPSE OF HOW WE MIGHT BRING THE STARS CLOSER. 212 00:13:08,276 --> 00:13:12,309 BUT TO DO THAT, WE ARE ALSO GOING TO NEED THIS. 213 00:13:12,376 --> 00:13:13,743 IT'S A PLANT CALLED SAMPHIRE. 214 00:13:13,810 --> 00:13:15,777 IN ENGLISH, WE ALSO CALL IT GLASSWORT. 215 00:13:15,843 --> 00:13:18,476 AND THIS PLANT, REMARKABLY, HOLDS THE KEY 216 00:13:18,543 --> 00:13:22,576 TO THE REVOLUTION WHICH WILL ULTIMATELY BRING US THE TELESCOPE. 217 00:13:28,376 --> 00:13:29,810 IN THE 13th CENTURY, 218 00:13:29,877 --> 00:13:33,309 VENICE IS THE WORLD CENTRE OF GLASSMAKING. 219 00:13:40,777 --> 00:13:43,309 AND MOST OF THE INNOVATION WHICH TAKES PLACE HERE 220 00:13:43,376 --> 00:13:47,810 IS TO BE FOUND ON THIS SMALL VENETIAN ISLAND CALLED MURANO. 221 00:13:52,044 --> 00:13:54,476 THE FIERCE COMPETITION OF GLASSMAKERS HERE MEANT 222 00:13:54,543 --> 00:13:58,343 THAT IT'S A KIND OF GEEK'S PARADISE FOR GLASS. 223 00:13:58,410 --> 00:14:00,176 IT WAS THE VERY FIRST TIME PEOPLE CARED ABOUT 224 00:14:00,243 --> 00:14:02,710 EVERY SINGLE TECHNICAL DETAIL TO CREATE 225 00:14:02,777 --> 00:14:05,743 THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WORK THAT THEY POSSIBLY COULD. 226 00:14:07,109 --> 00:14:10,376 MOST GLASS AT THIS TIME IS OPAQUE 227 00:14:10,443 --> 00:14:13,243 DUE TO BUBBLES AND IMPURITIES IN THE MIXTURE. 228 00:14:15,410 --> 00:14:18,443 THE HOLY GRAIL FOR THE ARTISANS OF MURANO 229 00:14:18,510 --> 00:14:22,176 IS TO WORK OUT HOW TO MAKE GLASS THAT'S PERFECTLY CLEAR 230 00:14:22,243 --> 00:14:24,376 THROUGH CAREFUL AND METICULOUS EXPERIMENTATION 231 00:14:24,443 --> 00:14:27,143 WITH NEW AND OLD INGREDIENTS. 232 00:14:29,176 --> 00:14:31,343 ON THE TRADE ROUTES BETWEEN EAST AND WEST, 233 00:14:31,410 --> 00:14:34,743 VENICE COULD EASILY SOURCE THE MAIN INGREDIENTS OF GLASS-- 234 00:14:34,810 --> 00:14:36,543 SILICON DIOXIDE OR SAND 235 00:14:36,610 --> 00:14:40,109 AND VARIOUS SODIUM AND CALCIUM MINERAL SALTS. 236 00:14:41,543 --> 00:14:44,410 THE SECRET WAS THE SHIFT FROM THE USE 237 00:14:44,476 --> 00:14:48,943 OF MINERAL SALTS TO PLANT-BASED SALTS 238 00:14:49,010 --> 00:14:52,209 FROM PLANTS WHICH GROW IN SALTY ENVIRONMENTS 239 00:14:52,276 --> 00:14:55,143 AND A PARTICULAR PLANT THAT WE CALL SAMPHIRE, 240 00:14:55,209 --> 00:14:58,843 WHICH TRAPS SALT BUT ALMOST NOTHING ELSE. 241 00:14:58,910 --> 00:15:01,376 AND SO, WHEN YOU BURN IT, YOU GET A VERY CLEAN, 242 00:15:01,443 --> 00:15:06,476 PURE MATERIAL TO ADD TO YOUR SILICA TO CREATE YOUR GLASS. 243 00:15:08,276 --> 00:15:11,176 REMARKABLY, THE ASH FROM THIS MARINE PLANT 244 00:15:11,243 --> 00:15:14,743 SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCES THE MELTING POINT OF SILICON... 245 00:15:17,143 --> 00:15:19,309 WHICH ALLOWED THEM TO KEEP IT AT A TEMPERATURE 246 00:15:19,410 --> 00:15:22,209 WHERE THE GLASS WAS LIQUID ENOUGH THAT ANY LITTLE BUBBLES 247 00:15:22,276 --> 00:15:25,043 AND IMPURITIES WOULD COME TO THE TOP AND POP. 248 00:15:26,676 --> 00:15:29,243 THIS THEN WAS THE REVOLUTION WHICH WOULD ALLOW THEM 249 00:15:29,309 --> 00:15:33,209 TO MAKE GLASS WHICH WAS VERY CLEAR AND VERY PURE. 250 00:15:33,276 --> 00:15:36,343 AND IT WAS THAT SHIFT WHICH ALLOWED THE VENETIANS 251 00:15:36,410 --> 00:15:39,610 TO CREATE THIS VERY, VERY TRANSPARENT CRISTALLO, 252 00:15:39,676 --> 00:15:44,309 THE NAME GIVEN TO CLEAR ROCK CRYSTAL BY THE GREEKS. 253 00:15:52,243 --> 00:15:54,010 STEWART: THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME 254 00:15:54,076 --> 00:15:57,010 WE HAD MASS PRODUCED CLEAR GLASS. 255 00:15:57,076 --> 00:15:59,943 THIS REVOLUTION IN GLASS TECHNOLOGY 256 00:16:00,010 --> 00:16:02,843 WOULD HAVE MANY CONSEQUENCES FOR SOCIETY, 257 00:16:02,910 --> 00:16:06,376 BUT PERHAPS THE GREATEST WAS THE WAY IT WOULD CHANGE 258 00:16:06,443 --> 00:16:08,610 HOW WE SAW THE WORLD. 259 00:16:08,676 --> 00:16:11,576 HERE IN THE BASILICA OF SAN NICOLO IN TREVISO, 260 00:16:11,643 --> 00:16:13,243 JUST NORTH OF VENICE, 261 00:16:13,309 --> 00:16:15,877 LIES EVIDENCE OF WHAT MUST HAVE SEEMED 262 00:16:15,943 --> 00:16:19,376 AN ASTONISHING INVENTION AT THE TIME. 263 00:16:19,443 --> 00:16:23,176 JAMES: PAINTED BY TOMMASO DA MODENA IN 1352, 264 00:16:23,243 --> 00:16:25,410 THE FRESCO DEPICTS A GROUP OF MONKS 265 00:16:25,476 --> 00:16:31,044 IN A MONASTERY SCRIPTORIUM POURING OVER THEIR MANUSCRIPTS. 266 00:16:31,109 --> 00:16:33,810 BUT LOOK CLOSER. 267 00:16:33,877 --> 00:16:36,943 ONE OF THEM IS WEARING SPECTACLES. 268 00:16:41,410 --> 00:16:45,610 THIS EXQUISITE FRESCO FROM ALMOST 700 YEARS AGO 269 00:16:45,676 --> 00:16:50,376 IS THE FIRST IMAGE OF SPECTACLES IN SOCIETY. 270 00:16:50,443 --> 00:16:53,143 IT ALLOWED THE MONKS TO KEEP ON READING AND WRITING 271 00:16:53,209 --> 00:16:55,410 FOR DECADES LONGER THAN BEFORE. 272 00:16:55,476 --> 00:16:58,810 THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO ACCEPT FAILING EYESIGHT AS THE WILL OF GOD. 273 00:16:58,910 --> 00:17:02,076 THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO DELEGATE THE REALLY IMPORTANT TASK 274 00:17:02,143 --> 00:17:04,877 OF ACQUIRING KNOWLEDGE TO YOUNGER PEOPLE. 275 00:17:04,943 --> 00:17:07,843 THEY COULD JUST KEEP ON GOING, AND SO THEY DID. 276 00:17:13,044 --> 00:17:15,543 WE DON'T KNOW WHO CREATED THESE FIRST GLASS LENSES. 277 00:17:15,610 --> 00:17:17,676 THEY ARE LOST TO HISTORY. 278 00:17:17,743 --> 00:17:19,109 BUT IT'S NO EXAGGERATION TO SAY 279 00:17:19,176 --> 00:17:21,010 THAT YOU CAN DRAW A DIRECT LINE 280 00:17:21,076 --> 00:17:24,410 FROM THESE SPECTACLES TO THE EXTRAORDINARY OPTICAL INSTRUMENTS 281 00:17:24,476 --> 00:17:27,510 THAT WE USE TODAY TO GAZE INTO SPACE. 282 00:17:30,910 --> 00:17:35,076 STEWART: BY THE 13th CENTURY, WE HAD CLEAR GLASS LENSES. 283 00:17:35,143 --> 00:17:39,309 BUT THAT ALONE WON'T BRING THE STARS CLOSER. 284 00:17:39,376 --> 00:17:43,176 TO DO THAT, WOULD TAKE ANOTHER 300 YEARS 285 00:17:43,243 --> 00:17:45,943 AND THE BIRTH OF AN INSTRUMENT DESIGNED TO SEE 286 00:17:46,010 --> 00:17:49,309 MORE CLEARLY THROUGH THE FOG OF WAR. 287 00:17:49,376 --> 00:17:53,576 [CANONS FIRING] 288 00:17:53,643 --> 00:17:57,343 IN 1608, A BRUTAL 40-YEAR CONFLICT 289 00:17:57,410 --> 00:18:01,044 BETWEEN THE DUTCH AND THE SPANISH WAS IN DEADLOCK. 290 00:18:01,109 --> 00:18:05,076 BOTH SIDES WERE DESPERATE TO FIND A MILITARY ADVANTAGE 291 00:18:05,143 --> 00:18:07,910 THAT WOULD GIVE THEM THE EDGE. 292 00:18:07,977 --> 00:18:11,743 [CLANG] 293 00:18:11,810 --> 00:18:15,343 PITTS: ENTER HANS LIPPERSHEY, A YOUNG LENS-MAKER 294 00:18:15,410 --> 00:18:17,676 FROM THE PROVINCIAL TOWN OF MIDDLEBURG. 295 00:18:17,743 --> 00:18:20,977 HE HAS A SHOP IN WHICH HE'S BEEN USING LENSES 296 00:18:21,044 --> 00:18:23,343 TO MAKE EYEGLASSES FOR PEOPLE. 297 00:18:23,410 --> 00:18:26,576 AND AT THIS POINT, 1608, EYEGLASS MANUFACTURING 298 00:18:26,643 --> 00:18:29,276 HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR ALMOST 300 YEARS. 299 00:18:32,076 --> 00:18:34,443 STEWART: THE STORY HAS IT THAT ONE DAY LIPPERSHEY 300 00:18:34,510 --> 00:18:36,777 WAS WATCHING TWO CUSTOMERS IN HIS SHOP 301 00:18:36,843 --> 00:18:39,810 PLAYING WITH A PAIR OF LENSES. 302 00:18:43,376 --> 00:18:45,309 PITTS: ONE HAS A CONVEX LENS, 303 00:18:45,376 --> 00:18:48,676 THE TYPE USED IN SPECTACLES TO MAGNIFY OBJECTS, 304 00:18:48,743 --> 00:18:52,143 WHICH SHE USES TO LOOK AT A WEATHER VANE. 305 00:18:53,977 --> 00:18:57,143 BUT WHEN SHE MOVES THE LENS TOO FAR FROM HER EYE, 306 00:18:57,209 --> 00:19:00,443 THE IMAGE BLURS. 307 00:19:00,510 --> 00:19:02,376 THE OTHER GIRL WAS HOLDING A CONCAVE LENS 308 00:19:02,443 --> 00:19:05,076 IN FRONT OF THE CONVEX LENS... 309 00:19:07,710 --> 00:19:10,676 WHICH TO THEIR SURPRISE AND DELIGHT RE-SHARPENS 310 00:19:10,743 --> 00:19:13,843 THE MAGNIFIED IMAGE FROM THE FIRST LENS 311 00:19:13,910 --> 00:19:17,309 BY BENDING THE LIGHT BACK INTO A PARALLEL RAY, 312 00:19:17,376 --> 00:19:20,643 BRIGHTENING THE IMAGE AS IT ENTERS THE EYE. 313 00:19:22,676 --> 00:19:25,309 SO WHAT HE DOES WITH THESE TWO LENSES 314 00:19:25,376 --> 00:19:29,943 IS HE PUTS THEM TOGETHER IN THE CORRECT ORIENTATION INSIDE A TUBE. 315 00:19:31,443 --> 00:19:33,410 STEWART: AS LIPPERSHEY LOOKS THROUGH IT, 316 00:19:33,476 --> 00:19:37,410 HE REALIZES THAT A TOOL LIKE THIS COULD INDEED 317 00:19:37,476 --> 00:19:39,443 BE HELPFUL TO THE DUTCH IN BATTLE, 318 00:19:39,510 --> 00:19:42,076 ALLOWING THEM TO SEE THE SPANISH INVADERS 319 00:19:42,143 --> 00:19:46,610 FROM MUCH FURTHER AWAY THAN THEIR EYES ALONE WOULD ALLOW. 320 00:19:46,710 --> 00:19:48,910 PITTS: HE QUICKLY ASKS THE DUTCH AUTHORITIES 321 00:19:48,977 --> 00:19:50,710 FOR AN EXCLUSIVE PATENT FOR IT, 322 00:19:50,777 --> 00:19:54,676 CONVINCED HE WILL MAKE HIS FORTUNE. 323 00:19:54,743 --> 00:19:56,343 [SPEAKING DUTCH] 324 00:19:56,410 --> 00:19:59,443 PITTS: THEY SET UP A COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER THE CLAIM. 325 00:19:59,510 --> 00:20:02,076 [MEN SPEAKING DUTCH] 326 00:20:08,109 --> 00:20:11,376 PITTS: UNFORTUNATELY, THE GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS DECIDE 327 00:20:11,443 --> 00:20:15,676 HIS PARTICULAR CONSTRUCTION IS NOT UNIQUE ENOUGH 328 00:20:15,743 --> 00:20:18,843 TO SEPARATELY AWARD HIM THE PATENT 329 00:20:18,943 --> 00:20:23,010 AND THE RECOGNITION AS THE INVENTOR. 330 00:20:23,076 --> 00:20:25,877 SILVA: THAT ONE DECISION BY THE DUTCH AUTHORITIES 331 00:20:25,943 --> 00:20:29,109 ACTUALLY GAVE LIPPERSHEY'S INVENTION TO THE WORLD. 332 00:20:29,176 --> 00:20:32,343 STEWART: WITH LIPPERSHEY'S ATTEMPT TO PATENT HIS INVENTION, 333 00:20:32,410 --> 00:20:35,543 THE SECRET OF THE SPYGLASS WAS UNLEASHED, 334 00:20:35,610 --> 00:20:38,209 AND THE IDEA HURTLED ACROSS EUROPE 335 00:20:38,276 --> 00:20:41,376 TO A MAN WE'VE ALL HEARD OF, 336 00:20:41,443 --> 00:20:45,443 SOMEONE WHOSE NAME WOULD BECOME SYNONYMOUS WITH THE TELESCOPE. 337 00:20:45,510 --> 00:20:48,376 JAMES: IN VENICE, ITALY, TALK OF A SPYGLASS 338 00:20:48,443 --> 00:20:51,476 CREATED BY A CERTAIN DUTCHMAN CAME TO THE ATTENTION 339 00:20:51,543 --> 00:20:54,209 OF A 44-YEAR-OLD MATH TEACHER. 340 00:20:55,977 --> 00:20:58,276 INSPIRED BY LIPPERSHEY'S SPYGLASS, 341 00:20:58,343 --> 00:21:01,576 HE STARTS TO APPLY LOGIC AND CALCULATION 342 00:21:01,643 --> 00:21:03,076 TO ANALYZE THESE PHENOMENA 343 00:21:03,143 --> 00:21:05,743 AND EXPERIMENT WITH LENSES HIMSELF. 344 00:21:05,810 --> 00:21:11,143 HE QUICKLY MAKES HIS OWN VERSION OF THE SPYGLASS IN A SINGLE DAY, 345 00:21:11,209 --> 00:21:13,843 AND THEN WRITES TO HIS FRIENDS TO BRAG ABOUT WHAT HE'S DONE. 346 00:21:13,910 --> 00:21:16,209 AND THE LETTER HE SENDS RECORDS A MOMENT 347 00:21:16,276 --> 00:21:19,343 THAT WILL CHANGE THE COURSE OF HUMAN HISTORY. 348 00:21:19,410 --> 00:21:21,410 HIS NAME? 349 00:21:21,476 --> 00:21:24,043 GALILEO. 350 00:21:24,109 --> 00:21:26,343 "APPLYING MY EYE TO THE CONCAVE LENS, 351 00:21:26,443 --> 00:21:29,376 "I SAW OBJECTS SATISFACTORILY LARGE AND NEAR, 352 00:21:29,443 --> 00:21:32,044 "FOR THEY APPEARED ONE-THIRD OF THE DISTANCE OFF 353 00:21:32,109 --> 00:21:34,309 "AND 9 TIMES LARGER THAN WHEN THEY WERE SEEN 354 00:21:34,376 --> 00:21:36,309 WITH THE NATURAL EYE ALONE." 355 00:21:38,044 --> 00:21:40,376 GALILEO WASN'T NECESSARILY MOTIVATED 356 00:21:40,443 --> 00:21:42,343 BY PURE INTELLECTUAL CURIOSITY. 357 00:21:42,410 --> 00:21:45,977 HE WAS REALLY EXCITED BY FAME AND GLORY AND POWER, 358 00:21:46,043 --> 00:21:47,843 AND HE WAS REALLY TRYING TO SHOW OFF 359 00:21:47,910 --> 00:21:49,443 TO SOME OF THE RULING FAMILIES, 360 00:21:49,510 --> 00:21:52,743 SUCH AS THE MEDICIS OF FLORENCE AND THE DOGE IN VENICE. 361 00:21:55,543 --> 00:21:59,343 GALILEO'S LIFE IS PIECED TOGETHER FROM FRAGMENTS OF HIS WRITINGS, 362 00:21:59,443 --> 00:22:02,443 INCLUDING, SURPRISINGLY, A SHOPPING LIST THAT HE PUT TOGETHER 363 00:22:02,510 --> 00:22:06,810 FOR A TRIP TO VENICE IN THE WINTER OF 1609. 364 00:22:08,243 --> 00:22:10,309 THE LIST, JOTTED ON THE BACK OF A LETTER, 365 00:22:10,376 --> 00:22:13,044 ALLOWS HISTORIANS TO WORK OUT WHAT MATERIALS 366 00:22:13,109 --> 00:22:15,243 HE WAS USING TO MAKE HIS LENSES. 367 00:22:15,309 --> 00:22:19,743 THE INGREDIENTS FOR ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS TELESCOPES IN HISTORY-- 368 00:22:19,810 --> 00:22:22,209 HIGH-QUALITY CRYSTAL BLANKS, 369 00:22:22,276 --> 00:22:26,376 POLISHED GLASS, ARTILLERY BALLS AND DISH-SHAPED MOLDS, 370 00:22:26,443 --> 00:22:28,576 AND TRIPOLI POWDER, PITCH, AND FELT 371 00:22:28,643 --> 00:22:30,443 FOR THE GRINDING AND POLISHING OF THE GLASS 372 00:22:30,510 --> 00:22:33,309 INTO THE LENSES HE NEEDED. 373 00:22:33,410 --> 00:22:36,376 ALONGSIDE THESE INGREDIENTS, THERE WERE ALSO REMINDERS 374 00:22:36,443 --> 00:22:38,376 TO PICK UP SOME CHICKPEAS AND LENTILS, 375 00:22:38,443 --> 00:22:44,710 SOME SUGAR, PEPPER, SOME CINNAMON, CLOVES, AND SOME JAM. 376 00:22:44,777 --> 00:22:47,010 ALONG WITH HIS TASTE IN FOOD, 377 00:22:47,076 --> 00:22:49,843 THIS IS THE BEST CLUE WE HAVE TO THE CONSTRUCTION 378 00:22:49,910 --> 00:22:52,176 OF HIS REVOLUTIONARY TELESCOPE. 379 00:22:52,243 --> 00:22:54,343 [SPEAKS ITALIAN] 380 00:22:54,410 --> 00:22:57,777 THIS SHOPPING LIST REALLY GIVES ME GOOSEBUMPS, 381 00:22:57,843 --> 00:22:59,610 NOT ONLY BECAUSE IT GIVES ME AN INSIGHT 382 00:22:59,676 --> 00:23:02,143 INTO GALILEO'S LIFE 400 YEARS AGO, 383 00:23:02,209 --> 00:23:04,043 BUT IT ALSO SHOWS HE WAS GRINDING 384 00:23:04,109 --> 00:23:05,910 AND POLISHING HIS OWN LENSES. 385 00:23:06,010 --> 00:23:09,109 AND AS A GLASSMAKER, I CAN REALLY IDENTIFY WITH THAT. 386 00:23:09,176 --> 00:23:10,843 BUT THE TELESCOPE HE WAS MAKING WITH THEM 387 00:23:10,910 --> 00:23:13,010 IS REALLY SOMETHING ELSE. 388 00:23:15,710 --> 00:23:18,510 STEWART: THE ORIGINAL TELESCOPE THAT GALILEO BUILT 389 00:23:18,576 --> 00:23:20,810 WAS A VERY CRUDE INSTRUMENT, 390 00:23:20,877 --> 00:23:25,143 BUT THE VERSION HE MADE FOR THE MEDICI WAS REFINED, 391 00:23:25,209 --> 00:23:29,643 PERFECTED, AND WRAPPED IN BEAUTIFUL RED LEATHER. 392 00:23:29,710 --> 00:23:32,877 IT'S KNOWN AS THE PRESENTATION TELESCOPE 393 00:23:32,943 --> 00:23:36,343 AND REMAINS ONE OF THE GREAT TREASURES OF ASTRONOMY. 394 00:23:36,410 --> 00:23:40,209 PITTS: FOR ME, AN ENCOUNTER WITH THE PRESENTATION TELESCOPE 395 00:23:40,309 --> 00:23:43,176 WAS LIKE A RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE. 396 00:23:43,243 --> 00:23:48,010 STEWART: IN 2009, THE TELESCOPE WAS BROUGHT FROM ITALY TO HERE, 397 00:23:48,076 --> 00:23:51,977 THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE IN PHILADELPHIA. 398 00:23:52,044 --> 00:23:53,877 PITTS: WHEN I FIRST CAME INTO THE ROOM 399 00:23:53,943 --> 00:23:55,877 WHERE THE TELESCOPE HAD BEEN PLACED, 400 00:23:55,943 --> 00:23:58,376 I WAS ACTUALLY SPEECHLESS, 401 00:23:58,443 --> 00:24:02,676 BECAUSE HERE IN FRONT OF ME WAS AN ICONIC INSTRUMENT, 402 00:24:02,743 --> 00:24:08,143 AN ICONIC INSTRUMENT USED BY ONE OF THE MOST BRILLIANT SCIENTISTS EVER. 403 00:24:14,510 --> 00:24:16,676 THE CHANGES IN THE UNIVERSE, 404 00:24:16,743 --> 00:24:19,043 THE CHANGES IN THE WAY WE PURSUE SCIENCE 405 00:24:19,109 --> 00:24:22,543 ARE ALL DERIVATIVE FROM THIS INSTRUMENT AS IT SITS, 406 00:24:22,610 --> 00:24:26,343 AND ALL I CAN DO IS STAND IN AWE 407 00:24:26,410 --> 00:24:28,143 THAT I'M SO CLOSE TO IT. 408 00:24:28,209 --> 00:24:33,510 IT'S AS IF I CAN FEEL THE GENIUS OF GALILEO RADIATING OFF IT, 409 00:24:33,576 --> 00:24:37,109 AND IT'S ALMOST PALPABLE. 410 00:24:39,410 --> 00:24:42,243 OF COURSE, THE ONLY WAY TO APPRECIATE GALILEO'S GENIUS 411 00:24:42,309 --> 00:24:44,576 IS TO TAKE A LOOK INSIDE. 412 00:24:46,977 --> 00:24:48,910 OBVIOUSLY THIS ISN'T GALILEO'S TELESCOPE, 413 00:24:48,977 --> 00:24:51,877 BUT IT IS A VERY GOOD REPLICA. 414 00:24:51,943 --> 00:24:55,276 PITTS: HERE IS THE INSTRUMENT CREATED BY THE PERSON 415 00:24:55,343 --> 00:24:57,810 WHO OPENED THE UNIVERSE IN A WAY IN WHICH 416 00:24:57,877 --> 00:25:01,376 THE UNIVERSE HAD NEVER BEEN EXPANDED BEFORE. 417 00:25:01,443 --> 00:25:04,977 THE WORK THAT WAS DONE WITH THIS INSTRUMENT COMPLETELY CHANGED 418 00:25:05,044 --> 00:25:08,410 OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE UNIVERSE WE LIVE IN, 419 00:25:08,476 --> 00:25:11,209 AND IT BEGAN TO ALTER OUR UNDERSTANDING 420 00:25:11,276 --> 00:25:12,943 OF OUR PLACE IN IT. 421 00:25:13,010 --> 00:25:15,376 AS I LOOK AT THE WAY IN WHICH IT'S BUILT, 422 00:25:15,443 --> 00:25:20,376 I BEGIN TO FEEL AS IF I CAN SEE INTO HIS WAY OF THINKING. 423 00:25:20,476 --> 00:25:23,743 IT'S ALMOST AS IF HE AND I ARE STANDING TOGETHER, 424 00:25:23,810 --> 00:25:26,576 HE SHOWING HOW HE BUILT IT, 425 00:25:26,643 --> 00:25:29,343 ME APPRECIATING THE INSTRUMENTATION 426 00:25:29,410 --> 00:25:32,109 WE HAVE TODAY TO STUDY THE UNIVERSE 427 00:25:32,176 --> 00:25:35,843 GIVEN WHAT HE DID SO MANY YEARS AGO. 428 00:25:37,243 --> 00:25:39,743 GALILEO USED A CONVEX LENS TO GATHER LIGHT 429 00:25:39,810 --> 00:25:41,410 FROM WHEREVER HE POINTED THE TELESCOPE, 430 00:25:41,476 --> 00:25:44,443 AND HE USED A CONCAVE LENS TO THEN FOCUS THAT LIGHT 431 00:25:44,510 --> 00:25:47,076 SO THAT HE COULD SEE THE OBJECT CLEARLY. 432 00:25:47,143 --> 00:25:50,777 GALILEO ACTUALLY SEARCHED THROUGH HUNDREDS OF PIECES OF GLASS 433 00:25:50,843 --> 00:25:54,143 AT THE MURANO GLASSWORKS TO GET JUST THE RIGHT PIECES 434 00:25:54,209 --> 00:25:56,076 THAT WERE CLOSE TO THE SHAPE HE NEEDED. 435 00:25:56,143 --> 00:25:58,343 HE GROUND THE GLASS VERY CAREFULLY, 436 00:25:58,410 --> 00:26:00,376 THEN POLISHED EACH OF THE LENSES 437 00:26:00,443 --> 00:26:04,309 SO THAT IT WOULD BE JUST THE RIGHT SHAPE TO MAKE A PERFECT IMAGE, 438 00:26:04,376 --> 00:26:06,476 USING THESE TWO LENSES. 439 00:26:06,543 --> 00:26:09,843 STEWART: BY APPLYING IBN AL-HAYTHAM'S KNOWLEDGE OF OPTICS 440 00:26:09,910 --> 00:26:12,543 TO LIPPERSHEY'S PATENT APPLICATION, 441 00:26:12,610 --> 00:26:15,510 GALILEO WAS ABLE TO IMPROVE THE SPYGLASS'S 442 00:26:15,576 --> 00:26:19,443 POWERS OF MAGNIFICATION ALMOST TENFOLD. 443 00:26:21,143 --> 00:26:25,176 BUT IT'S WHAT HE DID NEXT WHICH WOULD MAKE HIS NAME 444 00:26:25,243 --> 00:26:28,843 SYNONYMOUS WITH THE INVENTION OF THE TELESCOPE. 445 00:26:28,910 --> 00:26:32,610 HE HELD IT UP AND POINTED IT 446 00:26:32,676 --> 00:26:36,343 AT THE BIGGEST OBJECT IN THE NIGHT SKY. 447 00:26:36,410 --> 00:26:39,410 PITTS: AND WHAT HE SEES WHEN HE LOOKS AT THE MOON 448 00:26:39,476 --> 00:26:41,877 IS ABSOLUTELY ASTONISHING. 449 00:26:41,943 --> 00:26:45,010 HE TAKES INCREDIBLE NOTES AND MAKES INCREDIBLE DRAWINGS 450 00:26:45,076 --> 00:26:47,343 ABOUT WHAT HE SEES OF THE MOON. 451 00:26:47,410 --> 00:26:50,010 AND THIS WAS A VERY BIG CHALLENGE FOR HIM AT THE TIME, 452 00:26:50,076 --> 00:26:52,176 BECAUSE HIS EYEPIECE DIDN'T ALLOW HIM 453 00:26:52,243 --> 00:26:53,576 TO SEE THE ENTIRE MOON, 454 00:26:53,643 --> 00:26:55,977 HE COULD ONLY SEE SMALL BITS AT A TIME. 455 00:26:56,044 --> 00:26:59,910 SO HE WOULD OBSERVE, TAKE NOTES, MAKE SOME SKETCHES, 456 00:27:00,010 --> 00:27:03,343 AND OVER TIME, HE COULD THEN BUILD UP AN IMAGE 457 00:27:03,410 --> 00:27:06,376 OF WHAT THE MOON APPEARED LIKE THROUGH THE TELESCOPE, 458 00:27:06,443 --> 00:27:08,543 WHAT HE COULD SEE OF THE SURFACE OF THE MOON 459 00:27:08,610 --> 00:27:10,443 WITH ITS CRATERS AND ITS VALLEYS 460 00:27:10,510 --> 00:27:12,276 AND OTHER SORTS OF FEATURES. 461 00:27:12,343 --> 00:27:15,076 IT'S AN ENTIRE WORLD UNTO ITSELF, 462 00:27:15,143 --> 00:27:17,076 AND WHAT GALILEO'S TELESCOPE IS DOING FOR US 463 00:27:17,143 --> 00:27:19,943 IS MAKING OBJECTS THAT HADN'T BEEN VISIBLE 464 00:27:20,010 --> 00:27:22,376 BEFORE NOW VISIBLE TO US. 465 00:27:22,443 --> 00:27:25,643 AND WE BEGIN TO REALIZE THAT THERE ARE A GREAT MANY MORE STARS AVAILABLE 466 00:27:25,710 --> 00:27:28,309 THAN WE HAD EVER REALIZED IN THE PAST. 467 00:27:30,643 --> 00:27:32,209 DE SILVA: WITH THE BIRTH OF THESE INSTRUMENTS, 468 00:27:32,309 --> 00:27:35,309 SUDDENLY EVERYONE COULD LOOK UP INTO THE SKY 469 00:27:35,376 --> 00:27:37,243 AND SEE IT FOR WHAT IT IS. 470 00:27:37,309 --> 00:27:40,643 JAMES: HE TRANSFORMED THE WAY WE THOUGHT ABOUT TRUTH AND EVIDENCE. 471 00:27:40,710 --> 00:27:42,676 WE COULD SUDDENLY SEE THINGS FOR OURSELVES. 472 00:27:42,743 --> 00:27:46,010 WE NO LONGER HAD TO ACCEPT SOMEONE ELSE'S AUTHORITY FOR THAT. 473 00:27:46,076 --> 00:27:49,410 PITTS: IT ALLOWS OTHER SCIENTISTS AROUND THE WORLD 474 00:27:49,476 --> 00:27:52,943 TO BECOME REPORTERS ON WHAT THE UNIVERSE IS DOING, 475 00:27:53,010 --> 00:27:55,176 WHAT NATURE IS PRESENTING US, 476 00:27:55,243 --> 00:27:57,576 HOW THIS UNIVERSE WORKS. 477 00:27:57,643 --> 00:28:01,943 STEWART: "YOU WILL BEHOLD THROUGH THE TELESCOPE A HOST OF STARS, 478 00:28:02,010 --> 00:28:04,810 "WHICH ESCAPE THE UNASSISTED SIGHT 479 00:28:04,877 --> 00:28:09,176 SO NUMEROUS AS TO BE ALMOST BEYOND BELIEF." 480 00:28:11,309 --> 00:28:15,710 GALILEO PUSHED THE LIMITS OF OUR SEEING TO THE MOONS OF JUPITER, 481 00:28:15,777 --> 00:28:17,676 THE RINGS OF SATURN, 482 00:28:17,743 --> 00:28:21,243 AND ULTIMATELY TO THE EDGES OF OUR OWN GALAXY, 483 00:28:21,309 --> 00:28:23,810 THE MILKY WAY. 484 00:28:23,877 --> 00:28:27,510 IN THE FOLLOWING YEARS, THERE WAS AN EXPLOSION 485 00:28:27,576 --> 00:28:29,043 OF TELESCOPES AROUND THE WORLD 486 00:28:29,109 --> 00:28:32,309 AS LENSES GREW BIGGER AND MORE POWERFUL, 487 00:28:32,376 --> 00:28:35,443 THEN ISAAC NEWTON'S MIRRORS WERE HARNESSED 488 00:28:35,510 --> 00:28:37,877 TO CAPTURE EVEN MORE LIGHT, 489 00:28:37,943 --> 00:28:40,510 EXTENDING THE POWER OF THE TELESCOPE 490 00:28:40,610 --> 00:28:44,309 TO SEE EVEN DEEPER INTO THE COSMOS. 491 00:28:47,443 --> 00:28:52,176 BUT THERE WAS STILL A FUNDAMENTAL LIMIT TO THE TELESCOPE. 492 00:28:52,243 --> 00:28:57,076 THE HUMAN EYE WAS STILL PART OF THE TECHNOLOGY, 493 00:28:57,143 --> 00:29:02,410 THE ASTRONOMER LIMITED TO DRAWING WHAT THEY COULD SEE THROUGH THE EYE PIECE. 494 00:29:06,243 --> 00:29:10,943 TO SEE MORE, TO CAPTURE THE UNIVERSE AS IT REALLY IS 495 00:29:11,010 --> 00:29:15,109 WOULD TAKE A BREAKTHROUGH IN PARIS 496 00:29:15,176 --> 00:29:19,309 MADE BY CHANCE THROUGH A SPILT BOTTLE OF MERCURY. 497 00:29:26,443 --> 00:29:31,176 IN THE 1830s, TAKING A PICTURE WASN'T EXACTLY EASY. 498 00:29:33,243 --> 00:29:35,576 POLISH A SILVER PLATE, 499 00:29:35,643 --> 00:29:38,710 EXPOSE IT TO IODINE TO SENSITIZE IT, 500 00:29:38,777 --> 00:29:41,343 AND THEN THE TRICKY PART, 501 00:29:41,410 --> 00:29:44,309 FIND A SUBJECT THAT'S NOT GOING TO MOVE 502 00:29:44,376 --> 00:29:46,810 FOR ABOUT 8 HOURS. 503 00:29:46,910 --> 00:29:51,410 THAT'S HOW LONG IT TOOK TO TAKE A SINGLE PHOTOGRAPH. 504 00:29:51,476 --> 00:29:53,943 ONLY THE MOST DEVOTED PIONEERS 505 00:29:54,010 --> 00:29:56,777 COULD BE BOTHERED TO TAKE PICTURES. 506 00:29:56,843 --> 00:30:00,109 PHOTOGRAPHIC PLATES WERE NOT VERY SENSITIVE TO LIGHT. 507 00:30:00,176 --> 00:30:04,044 SO UN-SENSITIVE, IN FACT, AS TO RENDER THE TECHNOLOGY 508 00:30:04,109 --> 00:30:07,410 OF PHOTOGRAPHY ALMOST USELESS. 509 00:30:07,476 --> 00:30:12,676 BUT PARISIAN LOUIS DAGUERRE WAS DETERMINED TO CHANGE ALL THAT. 510 00:30:12,743 --> 00:30:15,276 A SHOWMAN AND THEATER ENTREPRENEUR, 511 00:30:15,343 --> 00:30:18,977 HE WAS MOTIVATED BY THE PROMISE OF GREATER FAME AND WEALTH 512 00:30:19,044 --> 00:30:24,476 AND DEVOTED YEARS TO FINDING A SOLUTION. 513 00:30:24,543 --> 00:30:29,243 ONE DAY HE PLACED AN ABORTED PHOTOGRAPHIC PLATE IN HIS CUPBOARD. 514 00:30:29,309 --> 00:30:32,176 THE PLATE HAD BARELY BEEN EXPOSED TO LIGHT. 515 00:30:32,243 --> 00:30:35,543 DAGUERRE WAS SAVING IT FOR ANOTHER TRY. 516 00:30:39,076 --> 00:30:44,176 WEEKS LATER, HE PULLED IT FROM THE CUPBOARD AGAIN, 517 00:30:44,243 --> 00:30:48,143 ONLY TO FIND A FULLY DEVELOPED PHOTOGRAPH ON IT. 518 00:30:48,209 --> 00:30:51,376 PUZZLED, HE RUMMAGED IN THE CUPBOARD 519 00:30:51,443 --> 00:30:54,777 AND DISCOVERED A SPLIT BOTTLE OF MERCURY. 520 00:30:56,743 --> 00:30:59,977 COULD THE FUMES FROM THE MERCURY HAVE ENHANCED 521 00:31:00,044 --> 00:31:03,510 THE LIGHT SENSITIVITY OF THE PHOTOGRAPHIC PLATE, 522 00:31:03,576 --> 00:31:08,044 MEANING THAT LESS LIGHT IS REQUIRED TO TAKE A PICTURE? 523 00:31:08,109 --> 00:31:13,410 TO FIND OUT, DAGUERRE PUT HIS THEORY TO THE TEST. 524 00:31:19,010 --> 00:31:20,777 MAN: MY NAME IS BINH DAHN, 525 00:31:20,843 --> 00:31:23,309 AND I'M AN ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY 526 00:31:23,376 --> 00:31:26,443 AT SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY. 527 00:31:28,777 --> 00:31:30,376 I'M HEADING OUT INTO THE DESERT 528 00:31:30,443 --> 00:31:34,343 CLOSE TO WHERE I LIVE TO RECREATE DAGUERRE'S EXPERIMENT. 529 00:31:34,410 --> 00:31:51,343 ♪ 530 00:31:51,410 --> 00:31:55,209 IT IS 8:00 IN THE MORNING, AND LOUIS IS JUST ADDING 531 00:31:55,276 --> 00:31:58,510 THE FINAL POLISH TO HIS SILVER PLATE. 532 00:32:01,510 --> 00:32:04,676 AND HE LOOKS OUT HIS WINDOW, 533 00:32:04,743 --> 00:32:09,543 AND HE SEES THIS BEAUTIFUL PARIS STREET SCENE-- 534 00:32:09,610 --> 00:32:12,443 PEOPLE WALKING DOWN THE STREET, 535 00:32:12,510 --> 00:32:17,543 HORSES CARRYING PEOPLE, AND WAGONS. 536 00:32:17,610 --> 00:32:22,543 SO, LOUIS TAKES A LIGHT-SENSITIVE PLATE... 537 00:32:25,376 --> 00:32:28,109 HE SETS UP HIS CAMERA... 538 00:32:30,843 --> 00:32:34,243 AND HE INSERTS HIS PLATE 539 00:32:34,343 --> 00:32:38,843 AND EXPOSED THE SCENE FOR 10 MINUTES. 540 00:32:38,910 --> 00:33:01,476 ♪ 541 00:33:01,543 --> 00:33:03,443 AND THEN HE CLOSED THE LENS, 542 00:33:03,510 --> 00:33:05,376 HE REMOVED THE PLATE, 543 00:33:05,443 --> 00:33:10,343 AND HE RUNS TO HIS MERCURY POT AND DEVELOPED THE PLATE. 544 00:33:10,410 --> 00:33:20,510 ♪ 545 00:33:20,576 --> 00:33:26,143 LOUIS HAS TO WAIT BEFORE HE SEES THIS IMAGE. 546 00:33:31,643 --> 00:33:35,209 THERE WERE TONS OF PEOPLE WALKING THE STREET HERE, 547 00:33:35,276 --> 00:33:38,476 AND THEY DISAPPEAR BECAUSE THEY WERE MOVING. 548 00:33:38,543 --> 00:33:42,843 THE MAN THAT WAS STANDING STILL GETTING HIS BOOTS SHINED 549 00:33:42,910 --> 00:33:45,376 WAS RECORDED INTO HISTORY. 550 00:33:45,443 --> 00:33:50,810 EVEN DAGUERRE WAS OVERWHELMED WITH THE QUALITY OF THIS IMAGE. 551 00:33:52,410 --> 00:33:55,309 AND IT'S JUST LIKE THIS SCENE HERE. 552 00:33:56,810 --> 00:33:58,843 THIS IS A PICTURE I'VE JUST TAKEN. 553 00:33:58,910 --> 00:34:01,176 IT'S ABOUT A MINUTE EXPOSURE. 554 00:34:01,243 --> 00:34:04,843 SO THOSE WHO WERE STANDING STILL WERE RECORDED ONTO THIS PLATE HERE. 555 00:34:04,910 --> 00:34:08,276 OTHER FOLKS WERE MOVING AROUND TAKING IN THE SCENE, 556 00:34:08,343 --> 00:34:10,777 SO THEY BECAME GHOSTLY. 557 00:34:10,843 --> 00:34:14,143 LOUIS FEELS IT WAS HIS LUCKY DAY. 558 00:34:14,243 --> 00:34:20,877 FINALLY, HE WAS ABLE TO RECORD A PERSON STANDING THERE. 559 00:34:20,943 --> 00:34:25,010 IT'S LIKE THE MOST WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE IN LIFE 560 00:34:25,076 --> 00:34:29,176 TO SEE THAT YOU'RE ABLE TO RECORD HISTORY 561 00:34:29,243 --> 00:34:30,843 JUST AT THAT ONE MOMENT. 562 00:34:30,910 --> 00:34:33,610 AND THAT, FOR ME, IS JUST, LIKE, AN AMAZING QUALITY. 563 00:34:33,676 --> 00:34:37,143 IT GIVES ME TEARS JUST TO THINK ABOUT IT. 564 00:34:39,710 --> 00:34:42,843 STEWART: GREAT NEWS FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS, 565 00:34:42,910 --> 00:34:45,276 AND FOR THE REST OF US, TOO. 566 00:34:45,343 --> 00:34:49,610 BUT WHAT DOES IT HAVE TO DO WITH THE TELESCOPE? 567 00:34:49,676 --> 00:34:52,343 WHEN THE TECHNOLOGY OF PHOTOGRAPHY WAS COMBINED 568 00:34:52,410 --> 00:34:56,476 WITH THE MAGNIFICATION CAPABILITIES OF THE TELESCOPE, 569 00:34:56,543 --> 00:35:01,044 WE GO FROM GALILEO'S HAND-DRAWN VIEW OF THE MOON 570 00:35:01,109 --> 00:35:06,910 TO THIS EXQUISITE IMAGE, THE DAWN OF MODERN ASTRONOMY. 571 00:35:08,510 --> 00:35:10,443 DAHN: WITH THE ABILITY TO TRACK THE NIGHT SKY, 572 00:35:10,510 --> 00:35:14,309 SUDDENLY WE'RE ABLE TO SEE FURTHER INTO THE UNIVERSE 573 00:35:14,376 --> 00:35:16,410 THAN EVER BEFORE. 574 00:35:16,476 --> 00:35:24,376 SO DAGUERREOTYPE BECAME A TOOL IN SCIENCE TO RECORD THE NIGHT SKY. 575 00:35:24,443 --> 00:35:26,743 AL KAHLILI: THIS WAS A DEVELOPMENT THAT THE EARLY PIONEERS 576 00:35:26,810 --> 00:35:29,309 OF PHOTOGRAPHY COULDN'T POSSIBLY HAVE IMAGINED. 577 00:35:29,376 --> 00:35:32,343 STEWART: PHOTOGRAPHY, COUPLED WITH THE TELESCOPE, 578 00:35:32,410 --> 00:35:35,743 PROVED TO BE A POWERFUL COMBINATION OF TECHNOLOGIES, 579 00:35:35,810 --> 00:35:39,610 CHANGING OUR VIEW OF THE COSMOS ONCE MORE. 580 00:35:39,676 --> 00:35:42,343 WE'D SUCCESSFULLY BROUGHT THE STARS CLOSER, 581 00:35:42,410 --> 00:35:44,343 BUT HOW CLOSE WERE THEY? 582 00:35:44,410 --> 00:35:49,044 ASTRONOMY NEEDED A YARDSTICK TO GIVE SCALE TO OUR VISION. 583 00:35:50,843 --> 00:35:55,076 AND UNEXPECTEDLY, IT WOULD COME FROM A BOOM IN REAL ESTATE. 584 00:36:00,109 --> 00:36:04,010 IN THE 1840s, NEW YORK WAS ON THE UP. 585 00:36:04,076 --> 00:36:06,977 INVESTORS WERE LINING UP TO POUR MONEY 586 00:36:07,044 --> 00:36:09,943 INTO A BUILDING BOOM IN THE BIG APPLE. 587 00:36:13,643 --> 00:36:18,643 ENTREPRENEUR CORTLAND PALMER WAS ABOUT TO MAKE A FORTUNE IN MANHATTAN. 588 00:36:18,710 --> 00:36:21,710 BY THE TIME HE DIED IN 1874, 589 00:36:21,777 --> 00:36:23,109 HE WAS A MULTI-MILLIONAIRE 590 00:36:23,176 --> 00:36:25,810 AND LEFT HIS MONEY TO HIS CHILDREN. 591 00:36:25,877 --> 00:36:29,076 HIS DAUGHTER, MARY ANNA PALMER DRAPER, 592 00:36:29,143 --> 00:36:33,243 WAS MARRIED A PIONEER OF ASTRO-PHOTOGRAPHY. 593 00:36:35,010 --> 00:36:36,910 CONVINCED OF ITS POTENTIAL, 594 00:36:36,977 --> 00:36:39,309 SHE MADE A SUBSTANTIAL DONATION 595 00:36:39,376 --> 00:36:44,410 TO HARVARD UNIVERSITY FOR A MAJOR ASTRONOMY PROJECT. 596 00:36:44,476 --> 00:36:46,643 WOMAN: THE HARVARD OBSERVATORY AT THE TIME 597 00:36:46,710 --> 00:36:49,309 WAS VERY INTERESTED IN ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY 598 00:36:49,376 --> 00:36:52,209 AND WANTED TO MAKE AN ENTIRE MAP OF THE SKY 599 00:36:52,276 --> 00:36:54,109 WITH THESE PHOTOGRAPHS THAT WERE TAKEN BOTH 600 00:36:54,176 --> 00:36:56,977 IN THE NORTHERN AND THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE. 601 00:37:02,743 --> 00:37:04,843 SO NOW THAT YOU HAVE THOUSANDS OF PHOTOGRAPHS, 602 00:37:04,910 --> 00:37:08,710 YOU NEEDED A TEAM TO ORGANIZE THEM AND STUDY THEM. 603 00:37:08,777 --> 00:37:11,410 THE HARVARD OBSERVATORY HIRED A TEAM OF WOMEN 604 00:37:11,476 --> 00:37:16,076 WHO WERE SPECIFICALLY STUDYING THE STARS USING GLASS PLATES, 605 00:37:16,143 --> 00:37:18,410 WHICH WAS VERY UNUSUAL BACK THEN 606 00:37:18,476 --> 00:37:20,910 BECAUSE THERE WEREN'T VERY MANY WOMEN WORKING IN THE SCIENCES. 607 00:37:20,977 --> 00:37:23,343 SO THESE WOMEN DID NUMBER CRUNCHING ALL DAY, 608 00:37:23,410 --> 00:37:26,410 AND THAT'S WHY THEY WERE KNOWN AS THE HUMAN COMPUTERS. 609 00:37:26,476 --> 00:37:35,643 ♪ 610 00:37:35,710 --> 00:37:37,710 SOME OF THE WOMEN THAT WERE WORKING HERE, 611 00:37:37,777 --> 00:37:40,343 THEIR JOB WAS TO MEASURE THE BRIGHTNESS OF STARS. 612 00:37:40,410 --> 00:37:42,543 SOME OF THE TOOLS THAT THESE WOMEN USED 613 00:37:42,610 --> 00:37:44,510 INCLUDED FLY SPANKERS, 614 00:37:44,576 --> 00:37:46,610 WHICH WERE TINY LITTLE PIECES OF GLASS PLATES 615 00:37:46,676 --> 00:37:48,977 THAT HAD DIFFERENT SIZED STARS ON THEM. 616 00:37:49,044 --> 00:37:51,777 IT WAS CALLED A FLY SPANKER BECAUSE IT WAS TOO LITTLE 617 00:37:51,843 --> 00:37:53,810 TO DO A FLY MUCH DAMAGE. 618 00:37:53,877 --> 00:37:56,443 SO AS YOU CAN SEE, THERE ARE DIFFERENT SIZED DOTS 619 00:37:56,510 --> 00:37:58,010 WITH NUMBERS WRITTEN NEXT TO THEM, 620 00:37:58,076 --> 00:38:00,076 AND THESE WERE USED AS THE STANDARD FOR MEASURING. 621 00:38:00,143 --> 00:38:03,676 SO SAY YOU WANTED TO MEASURE THIS LITTLE "A" STAR HERE. 622 00:38:03,743 --> 00:38:05,576 YOU COULD BRING UP YOUR FLY SPANKER 623 00:38:05,643 --> 00:38:07,309 AND TRY TO FIND THE BEST MATCH, 624 00:38:07,410 --> 00:38:10,543 AND THEN THAT WAS THE BRIGHTNESS OF YOUR STAR. 625 00:38:10,610 --> 00:38:13,076 STEWART: BUT THIS IMPRESSIVE STAR CATALOGUE 626 00:38:13,143 --> 00:38:15,243 WAS MISSING VITAL INFORMATION-- 627 00:38:15,309 --> 00:38:16,743 DISTANCE. 628 00:38:16,810 --> 00:38:19,777 AFTER ALL, IF TWO STARS HAVE IDENTICAL BRIGHTNESS 629 00:38:19,843 --> 00:38:21,710 AS SEEN FROM THE EARTH, 630 00:38:21,777 --> 00:38:24,376 IT DOESN'T MEAN THEY ARE THE SAME DISTANCE AWAY. 631 00:38:24,443 --> 00:38:28,777 ONE STAR COULD BE QUITE DIM IN REALITY, YET QUITE CLOSE, 632 00:38:28,843 --> 00:38:32,777 AND THE OTHER, HUGE AND POWERFUL, BUT A LONG WAY OFF, 633 00:38:32,843 --> 00:38:35,977 AND STILL THEY WOULD LOOK THE SAME FROM EARTH. 634 00:38:36,044 --> 00:38:39,376 WITHOUT KNOWING THE TRUE BRIGHTNESS OF A STAR, 635 00:38:39,443 --> 00:38:43,443 ASTRONOMERS HAD NO IDEA HOW FAR AWAY IT WAS. 636 00:38:43,510 --> 00:38:45,977 BUT ONE WOMAN HAD AN IDEA. 637 00:38:46,044 --> 00:38:50,743 SMITH ZRULL: HENRIETTA LEAVITT WAS KNOWN FOR BEING A VERY METICULOUS WORKER. 638 00:38:50,810 --> 00:38:52,877 SHE OFTEN STAYED LATE INTO THE EVENING 639 00:38:52,943 --> 00:38:54,510 TO MAKE SURE THAT SHE MEASURED ALL OF THE STARS 640 00:38:54,576 --> 00:38:56,510 THAT SHE WANTED TO MEASURE THAT DAY. 641 00:38:56,576 --> 00:38:59,743 AND I THINK THAT REALLY COMES THROUGH WHEN YOU LOOK AT HER NOTES. 642 00:39:01,076 --> 00:39:02,743 THROUGH THIS VERY METICULOUS APPROACH, 643 00:39:02,810 --> 00:39:04,376 SHE WAS ABLE TO HAVE A BREAKTHROUGH 644 00:39:04,443 --> 00:39:07,543 THAT IS NOW KNOWN AS THE LEAVITT LAW. 645 00:39:07,610 --> 00:39:09,643 STEWART: LEAVITT'S LAW IS A LITTLE COMPLEX, 646 00:39:09,710 --> 00:39:13,543 BUT IT'S THE KEY TO UNLOCKING THE UNIVERSE. 647 00:39:13,643 --> 00:39:17,943 THERE ARE SOME STARS THAT REGULARLY GET SLIGHTLY DIMMER OVER TIME 648 00:39:18,010 --> 00:39:21,376 BEFORE RETURNING TO THEIR FORMER GLORY. 649 00:39:21,443 --> 00:39:27,276 THESE VARIABLE STARS HAVE A KIND OF HEARTBEAT OF BRIGHTNESS. 650 00:39:27,343 --> 00:39:30,777 LEAVITT STUDIED A GROUP OF THEM AND DISCOVERED 651 00:39:30,843 --> 00:39:33,343 THAT THE DIMMER ONES BEAT QUICKLY. 652 00:39:33,410 --> 00:39:36,510 THE ONES THAT ARE BRIGHTER BEAT MORE SLOWLY. 653 00:39:36,576 --> 00:39:40,643 IT'S AS IF THE BIG, BRIGHT STARS HAVE A SLOW HEARTBEAT 654 00:39:40,710 --> 00:39:44,410 AND THE SMALLER, DIMMER ONES, A FAST ONE. 655 00:39:44,476 --> 00:39:48,044 FIND A VARIABLE STAR ANYWHERE IN THE SKY 656 00:39:48,143 --> 00:39:52,376 AND ITS HEARTBEAT GIVES ITS TRUE BRIGHTNESS AWAY. 657 00:39:52,443 --> 00:39:55,710 NOW ITS DISTANCE CAN BE MEASURED BY HOW BRIGHT 658 00:39:55,777 --> 00:39:58,143 IT APPEARS FROM THE EARTH. 659 00:39:58,209 --> 00:40:00,743 SMITH ZRULL: AND BAM, YOU HAVE A YARDSTICK FOR ASTRONOMERS 660 00:40:00,810 --> 00:40:03,543 SO THAT THEY COULD START TO MEASURE DISTANCES IN SPACE 661 00:40:03,610 --> 00:40:06,276 IN WAYS THAT THEY COULDN'T DO BEFORE. 662 00:40:08,777 --> 00:40:10,777 FOR THE FIRST TIME, ASTRONOMERS WERE ABLE 663 00:40:10,843 --> 00:40:13,777 TO UNDERSTAND EXACTLY HOW LARGE OUR GALAXY IS. 664 00:40:13,843 --> 00:40:17,376 SO THIS 19th-CENTURY PROPERTY BOOM IN NEW YORK 665 00:40:17,443 --> 00:40:21,176 HAD ACCIDENTALLY UNLOCKED THE SCALE OF THE UNIVERSE. 666 00:40:23,309 --> 00:40:25,743 HENRIETTA LEAVITT'S DISCOVERY ALLOWED US 667 00:40:25,810 --> 00:40:29,010 TO MEASURE DISTANCES TO STARS VERY ACCURATELY. 668 00:40:29,076 --> 00:40:32,109 FOR THE FIRST TIME, WE COULD REALLY CHART THE COSMOS 669 00:40:32,176 --> 00:40:35,743 AND CREATE A MAP OF THE VISIBLE UNIVERSE. 670 00:40:37,243 --> 00:40:38,676 STEWART: BY THE 1920s, 671 00:40:38,743 --> 00:40:42,043 WE COULD SEE THE STARS BETTER THAN EVER BEFORE. 672 00:40:42,109 --> 00:40:45,843 AND WE NOW WE KNEW HOW FAR AWAY THEY WERE, TOO. 673 00:40:45,910 --> 00:40:51,510 BUT WAS THIS THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE OR WAS THERE MORE OUT THERE? 674 00:40:53,209 --> 00:40:57,243 TANTALIZINGLY, THERE ON OUR PHOTOGRAPHIC PLATES, 675 00:40:57,309 --> 00:41:01,010 RIGHT AT THE LIMITS OF WHAT OUR TELESCOPES COULD RECORD AT THE TIME, 676 00:41:01,076 --> 00:41:05,777 ARE A SERIES OF CLOUDY PATCHES, LIKE THIS ONE, 677 00:41:05,843 --> 00:41:09,743 KNOWN THEN AS THE ANDROMEDA NEBULA. 678 00:41:11,376 --> 00:41:14,176 THE EXACT NATURE OF THESE CLOUDY PATCHES 679 00:41:14,243 --> 00:41:16,676 WAS THE BURNING QUESTION OF THE AGE, 680 00:41:16,743 --> 00:41:19,343 THE SO-CALLED GREAT DEBATE, 681 00:41:19,410 --> 00:41:21,676 BECAUSE THE ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION 682 00:41:21,743 --> 00:41:26,576 WOULD REVEAL A FUNDAMENTAL TRUTH ABOUT OUR UNIVERSE. 683 00:41:26,676 --> 00:41:28,410 PITTS: IF YOU LOOKED AT THE EVIDENCE 684 00:41:28,510 --> 00:41:31,343 THAT COULD BE GATHERED THROUGH TELESCOPES AT THE TIME, 685 00:41:31,410 --> 00:41:34,143 THE DEBATE, OF COURSE, SURROUNDED THIS IDEA 686 00:41:34,209 --> 00:41:39,309 OF WHETHER THERE WERE A NUMBER OF GALAXIES LIKE OUR GALAXY. 687 00:41:39,376 --> 00:41:42,410 AND THIS DEBATE RAGED ON. 688 00:41:42,476 --> 00:41:45,410 STEWART: WERE THESE BLURRY PATCHES OF LIGHT 689 00:41:45,476 --> 00:41:47,643 NEARBY CLUMPS OF GAS AND DUST 690 00:41:47,710 --> 00:41:51,977 OR WERE THEY A MUCH MORE DISTANT COLLECTION OF STARS, 691 00:41:52,043 --> 00:41:54,977 GALAXIES IN THEIR OWN RIGHT? 692 00:41:55,044 --> 00:41:58,143 TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION, PHILANTHROPISTS FUNDED 693 00:41:58,209 --> 00:42:01,010 THE CONSTRUCTION OF AN EXCITING NEW TELESCOPE, 694 00:42:01,109 --> 00:42:04,309 THE LARGEST TELESCOPE AT THE TIME. 695 00:42:05,877 --> 00:42:07,977 IT WAS TO BE BUILT ON MOUNT WILSON, 696 00:42:08,044 --> 00:42:12,010 5,700 FEET ABOVE THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES. 697 00:42:13,676 --> 00:42:17,376 TRANSPORTING THE GIANT 8-FOOT MIRROR UP THE MOUNTAIN 698 00:42:17,443 --> 00:42:20,610 PUSHED THE CONSTRUCTION TEAM TO THEIR LIMITS. 699 00:42:22,443 --> 00:42:26,309 OPERATING THE TELESCOPE WOULD PROVE EVEN HARDER. 700 00:42:27,810 --> 00:42:30,276 PITTS: EVEN WITH WHAT WAS, FOR THAT TIME, 701 00:42:30,343 --> 00:42:33,010 A VERY MODERN AND HIGHLY-CAPABLE INSTRUMENT, 702 00:42:33,109 --> 00:42:34,943 THE 100-INCH HOOKER REFLECTOR, 703 00:42:35,043 --> 00:42:36,710 IT STILL WAS AN INSTRUMENT 704 00:42:36,777 --> 00:42:40,576 THAT YOU HAD TO WORK REALLY HARD TO OPERATE 705 00:42:40,643 --> 00:42:43,376 IN A WAY TO BRING YOU THE INFORMATION YOU NEEDED. 706 00:42:43,443 --> 00:42:47,343 IT WASN'T AS THOUGH YOU COULD SIMPLY PUT A CAMERA ON THE TELESCOPE, 707 00:42:47,410 --> 00:42:49,643 TAKE A PICTURE, AND YOU'D HAVE YOUR INFORMATION. 708 00:42:49,710 --> 00:42:51,743 OBJECTS THAT WERE OUT THERE, 709 00:42:51,810 --> 00:42:55,010 LIKE THE GREAT NEBULA IN ANDROMEDA, 710 00:42:55,076 --> 00:42:57,710 WERE STILL VERY FUZZY, CLOUD-LIKE OBJECTS. 711 00:42:57,777 --> 00:42:59,243 SO YOU COULDN'T JUST TAKE A PICTURE, 712 00:42:59,309 --> 00:43:01,076 AND THAT WOULD BE THE END OF YOUR WORK. 713 00:43:01,143 --> 00:43:04,843 IN FACT, YOU HAD TO PAINSTAKINGLY TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS, 714 00:43:04,910 --> 00:43:08,309 NIGHT AFTER NIGHT AFTER NIGHT AFTER NIGHT. 715 00:43:08,410 --> 00:43:14,243 THAT TASK WOULD FALL TO A 29-YEAR-OLD ASTRONOMER, EDWIN HUBBLE. 716 00:43:14,309 --> 00:43:17,076 HUBBLE WAS A VERY UNUSUAL INDIVIDUAL. 717 00:43:17,143 --> 00:43:19,676 AND WE CAN SEE THAT IF WE LOOK AT HIS EARLY HISTORY. 718 00:43:19,743 --> 00:43:21,143 BEFORE HE BECAME AN ASTRONOMER, 719 00:43:21,209 --> 00:43:23,777 HE WAS A VERY ACCOMPLISHED ATHLETE. 720 00:43:23,843 --> 00:43:26,410 HE WAS A BOXER. HE WAS A BASEBALL PLAYER. 721 00:43:26,476 --> 00:43:28,943 HE DID ALL SORTS OF ATHLETIC PURSUITS, 722 00:43:29,010 --> 00:43:31,309 BUT HE WANTED TO BE THE WINNER. 723 00:43:32,943 --> 00:43:35,010 HE NEEDED TO BE THAT PERSON, 724 00:43:35,076 --> 00:43:39,010 BECAUSE THIS WORK REQUIRED SUCH ATTENTION TO DETAIL, 725 00:43:39,076 --> 00:43:43,443 AND HE WANTED TO BE AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL 726 00:43:43,510 --> 00:43:45,977 OF ACCOMPLISHMENT IN THIS FIELD. 727 00:43:46,044 --> 00:43:50,610 STEWART: IN 1923, HUBBLE BEGAN THE PAINSTAKING TASK 728 00:43:50,676 --> 00:43:54,643 OF REPEATEDLY PHOTOGRAPHING THE ANDROMEDA NEBULA. 729 00:43:56,043 --> 00:43:57,343 PITTS: HOOKER MIGHT HAVE BEEN THE BIGGEST 730 00:43:57,410 --> 00:43:59,309 AND BEST INSTRUMENT AT THE TIME, 731 00:43:59,376 --> 00:44:02,376 BUT TRACKING TINY PATCHES OF THE NIGHT SKY WITH ACCURACY 732 00:44:02,443 --> 00:44:06,309 AS THE EARTH TURNS IS STILL A DAUNTING CHALLENGE. 733 00:44:08,943 --> 00:44:13,276 HUBBLE HAD TO ACTUALLY BE IN THE OBSERVATORY AT THE TELESCOPE 734 00:44:13,343 --> 00:44:16,743 COLLECTING THE DATA, TRYING TO GATHER INFORMATION 735 00:44:16,810 --> 00:44:19,376 THAT HAD NEVER BEEN COLLECTED BEFORE, 736 00:44:19,443 --> 00:44:23,676 AND THERE WERE SO MANY DIFFERENT KINDS OF ROADBLOCKS 737 00:44:23,743 --> 00:44:26,977 HE HAD TO OVERCOME IN ORDER TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN. 738 00:44:27,044 --> 00:44:29,610 NOT ONLY DO YOU HAVE TO MOVE THE TELESCOPE ITSELF, 739 00:44:29,676 --> 00:44:33,510 BUT YOU ALSO HAVE TO MOVE THE DOME SO THE SLIP LINES UP PERFECTLY, 740 00:44:33,576 --> 00:44:35,543 AND THE WHOLE BUILDING HAS TO BE IN ALIGNMENT 741 00:44:35,610 --> 00:44:37,209 WITH THE TELESCOPE TO WORK. 742 00:44:37,276 --> 00:44:39,576 AND IT WASN'T SIMPLY PRESSING A BUTTON. 743 00:44:39,643 --> 00:44:41,977 THIS WAS A VERY MANUAL OPERATION. 744 00:44:42,044 --> 00:44:46,043 IN SOME INSTANCES, AN EXPOSURE MIGHT LAST SEVERAL NIGHTS, 745 00:44:46,109 --> 00:44:48,510 WHICH MEANT THAT YOU HAD TO REPOSITION THE TELESCOPE 746 00:44:48,610 --> 00:44:50,877 TO EXACTLY THE RIGHT PLACE THE NEXT NIGHT 747 00:44:50,943 --> 00:44:52,543 THAT YOU WANTED TO TAKE AN EXPOSURE, 748 00:44:52,610 --> 00:44:55,343 UNTIL YOU BUILT UP ENOUGH OF AN IMAGE ON A PLATE 749 00:44:55,410 --> 00:44:58,710 TO GIVE YOU SOME DATA THAT YOU COULD THEN USE. 750 00:45:00,843 --> 00:45:02,777 AS AN ASTRONOMER WHO'S SPENT MANY A COLD NIGHT 751 00:45:02,843 --> 00:45:04,543 AT A TELESCOPE GATHERING DATA, 752 00:45:04,610 --> 00:45:06,643 I HAVE A DEEP RESPECT FOR HIS WORK. 753 00:45:06,710 --> 00:45:09,376 EACH IMAGE HE GATHERED WAS HARD WON, 754 00:45:09,443 --> 00:45:12,343 BECAUSE HE HAD TO CONSTANTLY RE-ADJUST THE TELESCOPE 755 00:45:12,410 --> 00:45:14,376 TO KEEP IT ACCURATELY TRACKING. 756 00:45:14,443 --> 00:45:17,343 IT TOOK TIME AFTER TIME AFTER TIME OF HIM PHOTOGRAPHING 757 00:45:17,410 --> 00:45:21,076 OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN TO GET THE RIGHT RESOLUTION, 758 00:45:21,176 --> 00:45:22,576 TO GET EVERYTHING NICE AND STABLE 759 00:45:22,676 --> 00:45:24,877 TO DELIVER WHAT HE NEEDED. 760 00:45:24,943 --> 00:45:30,309 WITH EVERY IMAGE HE GATHERED, THE UNIVERSE GOT BIGGER. 761 00:45:30,376 --> 00:45:45,977 ♪ 762 00:45:46,044 --> 00:45:48,977 IN THIS DRAWER ARE THE HUNDREDS, THE THOUSANDS OF PLATES 763 00:45:49,043 --> 00:45:53,376 THAT EDWIN P. HUBBLE WORKED SO HARD TO COLLECT. 764 00:45:53,443 --> 00:45:57,309 AND GETTING THAT FIRST PLATE WAS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT 765 00:45:57,376 --> 00:46:01,176 BECAUSE HE CAN REACH DEEPER INTO THE UNIVERSE 766 00:46:01,243 --> 00:46:04,777 THAN ANYONE HAS EVER REACHED BEFORE. 767 00:46:04,843 --> 00:46:08,343 THOSE RESULTS WERE ABSOLUTELY ASTOUNDING, 768 00:46:08,410 --> 00:46:11,610 THE FIRST PROOF THAT INSTEAD OF SEEING A NEBULA, 769 00:46:11,676 --> 00:46:16,309 IT'S REALLY A GALAXY, A COLLECTION OF STARS. 770 00:46:16,376 --> 00:46:18,143 THAT PLATE SETTLED THE DEBATE, 771 00:46:18,209 --> 00:46:21,743 THE ANDROMEDA NEBULA WAS MADE OF STARS. 772 00:46:24,643 --> 00:46:26,810 BUT THIS RAISED ANOTHER QUESTION. 773 00:46:26,910 --> 00:46:28,309 WAS IT PART OF OUR GALAXY? 774 00:46:28,410 --> 00:46:31,676 TO FIND OUT, HUBBLE NEEDED TO FIND A VARIABLE STAR 775 00:46:31,743 --> 00:46:34,977 TO APPLY HENRIETTA'S MEASURING STICK. 776 00:46:35,044 --> 00:46:37,476 SO ONE IMAGE ISN'T GOING TO DO IT FOR HIM. 777 00:46:37,543 --> 00:46:41,576 HE HAS TO TAKE MULTIPLE IMAGES OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN 778 00:46:41,643 --> 00:46:45,410 SO THAT HE CAN SEE THE VARIABILITY OF THAT PARTICULAR STAR, 779 00:46:45,476 --> 00:46:49,510 AND HE CAN IDENTIFY THAT ONE STAR OUT OF ALL THE OTHER STARS 780 00:46:49,576 --> 00:46:51,610 THAT ARE FOUND IN THAT GALAXY. 781 00:46:53,243 --> 00:46:54,777 AND HERE IT IS. 782 00:46:54,843 --> 00:46:58,710 THIS IS THE EXTRAORDINARY PLATE IN WHICH HUBBLE CAPTURED 783 00:46:58,777 --> 00:47:00,877 THAT MEASURING STICK HE NEEDED. 784 00:47:00,977 --> 00:47:02,943 IN FACT, UP HERE IN THE TOP CORNER, 785 00:47:03,010 --> 00:47:07,476 YOU CAN SEE WHERE HE SCRIBBLED IN RED LETTERS "V-A-R," 786 00:47:07,543 --> 00:47:09,176 MEANING VARIABLE. 787 00:47:09,243 --> 00:47:12,510 THIS WAS THE PLATE THAT PRESENTED ALL THE INFORMATION 788 00:47:12,576 --> 00:47:16,710 HE NEEDED TO UNDERSTAND THE TRUE NATURE OF THE UNIVERSE. 789 00:47:18,443 --> 00:47:21,243 STEWART: USING LEAVITT'S LAW TO CALCULATE THE DISTANCE, 790 00:47:21,309 --> 00:47:25,143 IT WAS CLEAR THAT ANDROMEDA WAS VERY, VERY FAR AWAY. 791 00:47:25,209 --> 00:47:29,843 WHAT HE WAS LOOKING AT WAS TRULY REVOLUTIONARY. 792 00:47:29,910 --> 00:47:35,043 PITTS: WHAT WAS BEING SEEN WERE GALAXIES JUST LIKE OURS. 793 00:47:35,143 --> 00:47:37,476 HUBBLE DIDN'T JUST FIND A BUNCH OF NEW STARS, 794 00:47:37,543 --> 00:47:39,843 HE FOUND AN ENTIRELY NEW GALAXY. 795 00:47:39,910 --> 00:47:42,443 IN SEEING THE ANDROMEDA GALAXY FOR WHAT IT WAS, 796 00:47:42,510 --> 00:47:46,443 HUBBLE REALLY CHANGED HOW WE PERCEIVED OUR PLACE IN THE UNIVERSE. 797 00:47:48,076 --> 00:47:49,877 STEWART: NOT CONTENT WITH DISCOVERING 798 00:47:49,943 --> 00:47:52,376 THAT ANDROMEDA IS A DISTANT GALAXY, 799 00:47:52,443 --> 00:47:55,243 HUBBLE DEVOTED THE FOLLOWING YEARS TO PHOTOGRAPHING 800 00:47:55,309 --> 00:47:58,910 MORE AND MORE GALAXIES THROUGH THE GIANT TELESCOPE. 801 00:47:58,977 --> 00:48:03,143 AND WHAT HE DISCOVERED WAS EVEN MORE ASTOUNDING. 802 00:48:04,643 --> 00:48:06,610 EVERY GALAXY HE EXAMINED APPEARED TO BE 803 00:48:06,676 --> 00:48:10,143 MOVING AWAY FROM US AT A TREMENDOUS SPEED. 804 00:48:10,209 --> 00:48:15,343 AND THE MORE DISTANT THE GALAXY, THE FASTER IT WAS RECEDING. 805 00:48:15,410 --> 00:48:19,243 ASTRONOMERS HAD ALWAYS THOUGHT OF THE UNIVERSE AS STATIC, 806 00:48:19,309 --> 00:48:22,376 BUT WHAT EDWIN HUBBLE REVEALED WAS THAT 807 00:48:22,443 --> 00:48:25,910 THE UNIVERSE IS EXPANDING. 808 00:48:25,977 --> 00:48:29,743 WHAT'S MORE, IF WE RUN THE COSMIC CLOCK BACKWARDS, 809 00:48:29,810 --> 00:48:31,343 EVERYTHING WOULD HAVE EMERGED 810 00:48:31,410 --> 00:48:34,343 FROM A SINGLE POINT OF INFINITE DENSITY, 811 00:48:34,410 --> 00:48:40,010 MARKING THE BEGINNING OF THE UNIVERSE, THE BIG BANG. 812 00:48:41,643 --> 00:48:43,309 IT'S SUCH A PROFOUND IDEA 813 00:48:43,376 --> 00:48:47,576 THAT IT TRIGGERED A WHOLE NEW REALM OF COSMOLOGICAL INQUIRY. 814 00:48:47,643 --> 00:48:51,176 BUT NO MATTER HOW ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY BECAME, 815 00:48:51,243 --> 00:48:54,910 TELESCOPES WERE LIMITED BY BEING ON EARTH, 816 00:48:54,977 --> 00:48:57,309 PEERING OUT THROUGH AN ATMOSPHERE 817 00:48:57,376 --> 00:49:01,276 THAT DISTORTS OUR VIEW OF THE NIGHT SKY. 818 00:49:01,343 --> 00:49:05,044 IT WOULD TAKE ANOTHER REVOLUTION TO PLACE TELESCOPES 819 00:49:05,109 --> 00:49:09,109 IN A PLACE WHERE THEY COULD TRULY SEE THE UNIVERSE. 820 00:49:11,543 --> 00:49:14,276 THE WORLD'S FIRST MAJOR SPACE-BASED 821 00:49:14,376 --> 00:49:19,109 OPTICAL TELESCOPE WAS LAUNCHED IN 1990, 822 00:49:19,176 --> 00:49:22,877 AND IT WAS NAMED AFTER THE MAN WHO INSPIRED IT. 823 00:49:24,476 --> 00:49:27,910 ABOVE THE ATMOSPHERE AND WITH A CLEAR VIEW OF THE SKY, 824 00:49:27,977 --> 00:49:31,510 THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE COULD TAKE THE LONGEST 825 00:49:31,576 --> 00:49:36,410 TIME EXPOSURES IN THE HISTORY OF ASTRONOMICAL PHOTOGRAPHY, 826 00:49:36,476 --> 00:49:41,710 ATTEMPTING TO DO WHAT OUR ANCIENT ANCESTORS COULD ONLY HAVE DREAMED OF-- 827 00:49:41,777 --> 00:49:45,410 TO SEE THE FURTHEST REACHES OF THE UNIVERSE 828 00:49:45,476 --> 00:49:48,243 IN EXQUISITE DETAIL. 829 00:49:48,343 --> 00:49:53,143 BRETT SALMON AND DAN COE ARE TWO OF THE LUCKY ASTRONOMERS 830 00:49:53,209 --> 00:49:55,743 AT THE SPACE TELESCOPE SCIENCE INSTITUTE 831 00:49:55,810 --> 00:49:59,276 WHO GET TO WORK WITH HUBBLE EVERY DAY. 832 00:49:59,343 --> 00:50:02,143 SALMON: WE WANTED TO USE HUBBLE TO LOOK 833 00:50:02,209 --> 00:50:04,343 INTO THE DEEPEST PARTS OF THE UNIVERSE, 834 00:50:04,410 --> 00:50:07,977 AND SO ONE OF THE SIMPLEST IDEAS WAS TO JUST 835 00:50:08,044 --> 00:50:10,010 INVEST A LARGE AMOUNT OF HUBBLE'S TIME 836 00:50:10,076 --> 00:50:14,977 TO STARE AT THIS BLACK PATCH OF SKY FOR A REALLY LONG TIME. 837 00:50:15,044 --> 00:50:17,877 STEWART: IN 1995, THE INSTITUTE'S DIRECTOR 838 00:50:17,943 --> 00:50:24,309 ROBERT WILLIAMS DECIDED TO DO THIS EXPERIMENT DURING THE CHRISTMAS VACATION. 839 00:50:24,376 --> 00:50:29,743 OVER 10 DAYS, HUBBLE COLLECTED 342 SEPARATE EXPOSURES, 840 00:50:29,810 --> 00:50:34,410 ADDING UP TO MORE THAN 100 HOURS OF OBSERVATION TIME, 841 00:50:34,476 --> 00:50:37,710 THE LONGEST EVER ATTEMPTED. 842 00:50:37,777 --> 00:50:39,877 IT WAS A GAMBLE. 843 00:50:39,943 --> 00:50:42,443 NO ONE KNEW WHAT TO EXPECT. 844 00:50:42,510 --> 00:50:45,710 COE: THE FIRST TIME THAT HUBBLE LOOKED AT A BLANK FIELD, 845 00:50:45,777 --> 00:50:48,044 IT WAS A BIT RISKY. 846 00:50:48,109 --> 00:50:50,543 SOME PEOPLE THOUGHT THERE MIGHT NOT BE ANYTHING THERE 847 00:50:50,610 --> 00:50:51,943 IN A BLANK PATCH OF SKY. 848 00:50:52,010 --> 00:50:53,309 BUT THAT RISK WAS REWARDED. 849 00:50:53,376 --> 00:50:55,243 IN THAT SMALL PATCH OF SKY, 850 00:50:55,343 --> 00:50:57,843 ABOUT THE SIZE OF A GRAIN OF SAND AT ARM'S LENGTH, 851 00:50:57,910 --> 00:51:00,343 WE SAW THOUSANDS OF GALAXIES. 852 00:51:00,410 --> 00:51:03,176 SALMON: THE HUBBLE DEEP FIELD IS SURPRISING TO EVERYONE 853 00:51:03,243 --> 00:51:06,710 BECAUSE ALMOST EVERYTHING IN THAT IMAGE IS A GALAXY. 854 00:51:06,777 --> 00:51:08,843 COE: JUST IN THAT VERY SMALL PATCH OF SKY, 855 00:51:08,910 --> 00:51:10,710 THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF GALAXIES. 856 00:51:10,777 --> 00:51:13,209 STEWART: IT WAS SUCH A SUCCESS THAT SINCE THEN, 857 00:51:13,276 --> 00:51:16,076 THE TECHNIQUE HAS BEEN TRIED AGAIN AND AGAIN, 858 00:51:16,143 --> 00:51:20,610 AND EACH TIME WE SEE EVEN MORE GALAXIES. 859 00:51:20,676 --> 00:51:22,476 COE: SO OVER THE ENTIRE SKY, 860 00:51:22,543 --> 00:51:24,977 THERE ARE PROBABLY TRILLIONS OF GALAXIES. 861 00:51:25,044 --> 00:51:28,243 AND EVERY GALAXY HAS BILLIONS OF STARS IN IT, 862 00:51:28,343 --> 00:51:30,977 EACH STAR BEING LIKE OUR SUN, MORE OR LESS. 863 00:51:31,044 --> 00:51:33,710 AND SO, THE UNIVERSE IS SO VAST, 864 00:51:33,777 --> 00:51:37,376 AND IT REALLY MAKES YOU FEEL INSIGNIFICANT IN A WAY, 865 00:51:37,443 --> 00:51:39,343 BUT WE'RE ALSO VERY SPECIAL, THAT WE'RE ABLE 866 00:51:39,410 --> 00:51:43,343 TO BUILD TELESCOPES TO OBSERVE ALL OF THOSE GALAXIES. 867 00:51:43,410 --> 00:51:47,143 STEWART: THIS DISCOVERY, THAT SO MANY GALAXIES EXIST, 868 00:51:47,209 --> 00:51:52,010 HAS CHANGED OUR PERSPECTIVE ON OUR PLACE IN THE UNIVERSE ONCE AGAIN. 869 00:51:52,076 --> 00:51:55,777 IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO LOOK AT THESE DEEP FIELD IMAGES 870 00:51:55,843 --> 00:51:57,576 AND NOT FEEL INTIMIDATED 871 00:51:57,643 --> 00:52:00,343 BY THE EXTRAORDINARY DEPTH TO THE COSMOS. 872 00:52:00,410 --> 00:52:04,777 THE GALAXIES WE'VE NOW MAPPED ACROSS THE UNIVERSE 873 00:52:04,843 --> 00:52:06,910 FORM THEIR OWN WEBS OF MATTER, 874 00:52:06,977 --> 00:52:10,276 THE LARGEST STRUCTURES EVER DISCOVERED. 875 00:52:10,343 --> 00:52:12,376 COE: THIS TYPE OF WORK IS VERY EXCITING. 876 00:52:12,443 --> 00:52:14,743 YOU'RE DISCOVERING THE MOST DISTANT GALAXIES KNOWN 877 00:52:14,810 --> 00:52:17,143 THAT PEOPLE HAVEN'T SEEN BEFORE. 878 00:52:17,209 --> 00:52:18,877 HERE'S THE CANDIDATE THAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT. 879 00:52:18,943 --> 00:52:21,076 KIND OF ZOOM IN HERE. 880 00:52:21,143 --> 00:52:22,910 COE: AND SO, WE'RE REALLY LOOKING FORWARD 881 00:52:22,977 --> 00:52:25,610 TO THE JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE STARTING TO WRITE 882 00:52:25,676 --> 00:52:28,076 THAT FIRST CHAPTER OF COSMIC HISTORY FOR US. 883 00:52:28,143 --> 00:52:31,076 STEWART: WITH THE NEW JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE, 884 00:52:31,143 --> 00:52:35,710 WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO SEE AS FAR AS PHYSICS ALLOWS. 885 00:52:35,810 --> 00:52:40,610 PITTS: IT'S A WONDER THAT WE, HUMANS ON THIS LITTLE PLANET, 886 00:52:40,676 --> 00:52:44,943 OVER IN A CORNER OF THE UNIVERSE SOMEPLACE, CAN UNDERSTAND IT. 887 00:52:45,010 --> 00:52:48,710 THAT, TO ME, JUST IS THE MOST AMAZING THING. 888 00:52:48,777 --> 00:52:51,176 STEWART: ONCE MORE, WE'RE ON THE BRINK 889 00:52:51,243 --> 00:52:55,343 OF ANOTHER REVOLUTION IN OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE COSMOS. 890 00:52:55,410 --> 00:52:59,777 THIS IS OUR LATEST LEAP IN THE STORY OF THE TELESCOPE, 891 00:52:59,843 --> 00:53:02,309 AN INVENTION THAT'S ULTIMATELY GIVEN US 892 00:53:02,376 --> 00:53:04,576 A GLIMPSE AT THE EDGES OF THE UNIVERSE, 893 00:53:04,643 --> 00:53:09,676 AND IN DOING SO, A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON OUR PLACE WITHIN IT. 894 00:53:10,977 --> 00:53:13,743 THANKS TO A TECHNOLOGY FROM WARFARE 895 00:53:13,810 --> 00:53:16,743 WHICH TODAY LIFTS OUR STATE-OF-THE-ART TELESCOPES 896 00:53:16,810 --> 00:53:19,309 HIGH ABOVE THE ATMOSPHERE, 897 00:53:19,376 --> 00:53:21,977 TO THE ACCIDENTS AND EXPERIMENTS IN CHEMISTRY, 898 00:53:22,044 --> 00:53:25,410 WHICH GAVE US CLEAR GLASS AND PHOTOGRAPHY. 899 00:53:25,476 --> 00:53:28,410 THE MARVEL OF MEDIEVAL MATHEMATICS, 900 00:53:28,476 --> 00:53:33,010 AND THE HUNTER GATHERERS WHO FIRST ATTEMPTED TO BRING THE STARS CLOSER, 901 00:53:33,076 --> 00:53:36,343 TODAY WE ALL HAVE A VIEW OF THE UNIVERSE 902 00:53:36,410 --> 00:53:41,610 WHICH CONNECTS US TO A COSMOS FROM WHICH WE HAVE ALL COME. 903 00:53:41,710 --> 00:53:46,343 PERHAPS THIS IS THE REAL GIFT OF THE REVOLUTION 904 00:53:46,410 --> 00:53:49,443 THAT HAS GIVEN US THE TELESCOPE. 905 00:53:51,243 --> 00:53:52,510 STEWART: NEXT TIME ON "BREAKTHROUGH," 906 00:53:52,576 --> 00:53:54,576 THE STORY OF HOW WE TOOK TO THE SKY, 907 00:53:54,576 --> 00:53:57,243 A TALE FULL OF EXTRAORDINARY ACCIDENTS 908 00:53:57,309 --> 00:53:59,476 AND BIZARRE CONNECTIONS. 909 00:53:59,543 --> 00:54:03,343 IT INVOLVES THE ILL-FATED PENNY-FARTHING BICYCLE 910 00:54:03,410 --> 00:54:06,243 AND SEVERAL TRIPS TO THE BEACH, 911 00:54:06,309 --> 00:54:09,777 A VISIONARY STUDENT, 912 00:54:09,877 --> 00:54:12,777 AND A LEGENDARY GENIUS, 913 00:54:12,843 --> 00:54:15,743 TO GIVE US OUR GREAT SUPERPOWER-- 914 00:54:15,810 --> 00:54:18,576 THE ABILITY TO FLY.