1 00:00:05,013 --> 00:00:06,847 Can you see me? 2 00:00:06,881 --> 00:00:08,882 Can you hear me? 3 00:00:08,917 --> 00:00:10,651 How? 4 00:00:10,685 --> 00:00:13,220 I could be thousands of miles away, 5 00:00:13,254 --> 00:00:15,689 and yet, when you turn on whatever device 6 00:00:15,724 --> 00:00:17,858 is bringing my image and voice to you, 7 00:00:17,892 --> 00:00:19,660 I'm there. 8 00:00:19,694 --> 00:00:21,428 Instantaneously. 9 00:00:21,463 --> 00:00:23,664 How is that possible? 10 00:00:23,698 --> 00:00:25,733 To our ancestors, 11 00:00:25,767 --> 00:00:27,668 it would've seemed like sorcery. 12 00:00:27,702 --> 00:00:29,903 For them, speed of communication 13 00:00:29,938 --> 00:00:32,006 was only as fast as the swiftest horse 14 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:34,108 or sailing ships. 15 00:00:34,142 --> 00:00:37,945 Our messages travel invisibly at the speed of light. 16 00:00:37,979 --> 00:00:40,781 How did we attain such mythic powers? 17 00:00:40,815 --> 00:00:43,784 It all began in the mind of one person. 18 00:00:43,818 --> 00:00:46,120 A child of poverty 19 00:00:46,154 --> 00:00:49,123 of whom nothing was expected. 20 00:00:51,793 --> 00:00:55,763 In fact, if this man had not lived... 21 00:00:59,501 --> 00:01:02,970 the world we know might not exist today. 22 00:02:37,874 --> 00:02:40,513 Sync and corrections by n17t01 www.addic7ed.com 23 00:02:46,808 --> 00:02:48,475 Sooner or later, 24 00:02:48,510 --> 00:02:50,311 someone would've likely figured out 25 00:02:50,345 --> 00:02:52,213 some of his discoveries. 26 00:02:52,247 --> 00:02:54,748 But if Michael Faraday had never lived, 27 00:02:54,783 --> 00:02:56,717 we might still be living 28 00:02:56,751 --> 00:02:59,053 as our ancestors did in the 17th century. 29 00:02:59,087 --> 00:03:00,754 Unaware 30 00:03:00,789 --> 00:03:04,158 of armies of invisible servants awaiting our commands. 31 00:03:04,192 --> 00:03:07,094 This is the story of how we learned 32 00:03:07,128 --> 00:03:09,897 to make electrons do our bidding. 33 00:03:09,931 --> 00:03:11,966 In a way, it begins 34 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:14,902 with the greatest genius who ever lived-- 35 00:03:14,936 --> 00:03:16,937 Isaac Newton. 36 00:03:21,943 --> 00:03:25,779 This is Woolsthorpe, Newton's ancestral home. 37 00:03:25,781 --> 00:03:29,183 He walked these fields, tormented by mystery. 38 00:03:29,185 --> 00:03:31,452 Newton, the man who figured out the formula 39 00:03:31,454 --> 00:03:33,554 for the motions of the planets around the Sun, 40 00:03:33,556 --> 00:03:35,222 wanted to know 41 00:03:35,224 --> 00:03:37,858 how does the Sun make the planets act that way 42 00:03:37,860 --> 00:03:39,527 without touching them? 43 00:03:39,529 --> 00:03:42,062 How do all the apples know how to fall? 44 00:03:42,064 --> 00:03:45,065 Another genius was puzzled by another aspect 45 00:03:45,067 --> 00:03:47,635 of the same mystery. 46 00:03:55,844 --> 00:03:57,311 You see, son? 47 00:03:57,345 --> 00:03:59,813 No matter how I turn the compass, 48 00:03:59,848 --> 00:04:03,651 the needle always points the same way. 49 00:04:03,685 --> 00:04:05,019 Except... 50 00:04:11,193 --> 00:04:12,626 But how? 51 00:04:12,661 --> 00:04:14,528 They do not touch. 52 00:04:15,864 --> 00:04:18,866 I didn't hear a "Thank you," Albert. 53 00:04:24,072 --> 00:04:26,340 I can still remember this. 54 00:04:26,374 --> 00:04:28,342 The experience made a deep 55 00:04:28,376 --> 00:04:30,811 and lasting impression on me. 56 00:04:30,846 --> 00:04:33,380 Something deeply hidden 57 00:04:33,415 --> 00:04:36,517 had to be behind things. 58 00:04:36,551 --> 00:04:39,687 Between the lifetimes of Einstein and Newton, 59 00:04:39,721 --> 00:04:41,755 there lived another genius, 60 00:04:41,790 --> 00:04:44,024 one of equal stature. 61 00:04:44,059 --> 00:04:47,361 The man who solved the mystery that stumped Newton, 62 00:04:47,395 --> 00:04:49,497 also laid the foundation 63 00:04:49,531 --> 00:04:52,099 for Einstein's revolutionary insights. 64 00:04:52,133 --> 00:04:54,535 And for the way we live now. 65 00:05:13,555 --> 00:05:16,757 In 1791, in a squalid slum 66 00:05:16,791 --> 00:05:18,859 in the suburbs of London, 67 00:05:18,894 --> 00:05:21,295 Michael Faraday was born. 68 00:05:26,968 --> 00:05:29,970 He showed little promise at school. 69 00:05:33,608 --> 00:05:36,944 Pray tell us a word that begins 70 00:05:36,978 --> 00:05:38,946 with the letter R. 71 00:05:38,980 --> 00:05:40,948 Well? 72 00:05:43,318 --> 00:05:45,119 Wabbit? 73 00:05:45,153 --> 00:05:47,588 The word is "Rabbit." 74 00:05:47,622 --> 00:05:51,125 Once again, and correctly this time. 75 00:05:51,159 --> 00:05:53,160 Wabbit? 76 00:05:53,195 --> 00:05:55,329 Do you mock me? 77 00:05:55,363 --> 00:05:57,231 Have I not told you how 78 00:05:57,265 --> 00:05:58,899 to pronounce the letter R? 79 00:05:58,934 --> 00:06:02,169 Surely you can at least tell us your name? 80 00:06:02,204 --> 00:06:05,840 Michael "Fawaday," ma'am. 81 00:06:05,874 --> 00:06:07,975 Take this ha'penny, 82 00:06:08,009 --> 00:06:10,110 and buy me a cane, 83 00:06:10,145 --> 00:06:12,279 so that I may give your insolent brother 84 00:06:12,314 --> 00:06:13,480 a proper flogging. 85 00:06:29,064 --> 00:06:32,299 History does not record that Michael Faraday 86 00:06:32,334 --> 00:06:34,802 ever attended school again. 87 00:06:38,139 --> 00:06:41,141 Faraday took his family's fundamentalist Christian faith 88 00:06:41,176 --> 00:06:42,710 to heart. 89 00:06:42,744 --> 00:06:44,812 It would always remain a source of strength, 90 00:06:44,846 --> 00:06:47,281 comfort and humility for him. 91 00:06:47,315 --> 00:06:50,885 He was sent to work at a bookbindery at the age of 13. 92 00:06:50,919 --> 00:06:53,988 By day, he bound the books, 93 00:06:54,022 --> 00:06:55,156 and by night, 94 00:06:55,190 --> 00:06:57,324 he read them. 95 00:06:57,359 --> 00:06:59,727 It was the beginning of a lifelong fascination 96 00:06:59,761 --> 00:07:02,897 with electricity. 97 00:07:16,444 --> 00:07:18,512 After years of working in the bookbindery, 98 00:07:18,547 --> 00:07:20,814 Faraday, now 21, 99 00:07:20,849 --> 00:07:23,250 yearned to escape to a larger world. 100 00:07:23,285 --> 00:07:24,652 His big break came 101 00:07:24,686 --> 00:07:26,153 when a customer gave him a ticket 102 00:07:26,188 --> 00:07:29,056 to a sensational new kind of entertainment-- 103 00:07:29,090 --> 00:07:32,193 science for the public. 104 00:07:36,898 --> 00:07:39,099 And it started right here 105 00:07:39,134 --> 00:07:41,402 at London's Royal Institution. 106 00:07:41,436 --> 00:07:43,370 Humphry Davy was not only 107 00:07:43,405 --> 00:07:45,840 one of the leading scientists of his day, 108 00:07:45,874 --> 00:07:48,242 he discovered several the chemical elements, 109 00:07:48,276 --> 00:07:50,344 including calcium and sodium. 110 00:07:50,378 --> 00:07:52,680 He was also a consummate showman. 111 00:07:52,714 --> 00:07:56,050 And primitive demonstrations of electricity 112 00:07:56,084 --> 00:07:58,219 never failed as a crowd pleaser. 113 00:07:58,253 --> 00:08:00,120 May we have 114 00:08:00,155 --> 00:08:02,790 the lights lowered, please? 115 00:08:04,392 --> 00:08:06,527 I am about to unleash the might 116 00:08:06,561 --> 00:08:09,129 of the 2,000 massive chemical batteries 117 00:08:09,164 --> 00:08:13,567 stored in the cellar beneath our feet. 118 00:08:16,304 --> 00:08:20,374 And now, behold the power of the mysterious force 119 00:08:20,408 --> 00:08:25,145 of electrical fluid to illuminate our future. 120 00:08:42,464 --> 00:08:47,434 Faraday was too busy taking notes to applaud. 121 00:08:50,839 --> 00:08:54,175 Faraday created a transcript of Davy's lecture. 122 00:08:54,209 --> 00:08:56,510 Using the skills he had learned as an apprentice, 123 00:08:56,545 --> 00:08:59,914 he bound them into this book. 124 00:08:59,948 --> 00:09:03,584 Perhaps such a gift would bring him to the attention 125 00:09:03,618 --> 00:09:05,619 of the great man. 126 00:09:14,062 --> 00:09:16,497 Maybe this gesture could be his means of escape 127 00:09:16,531 --> 00:09:18,866 to a much larger universe. 128 00:09:26,308 --> 00:09:27,975 Good day, sir. 129 00:09:28,009 --> 00:09:30,978 I wish you to deliver this parcel to Sir Humphry. 130 00:09:38,687 --> 00:09:40,487 It was a long shot, anyway. 131 00:09:40,522 --> 00:09:43,490 But Faraday hoped something would come of it. 132 00:09:43,525 --> 00:09:46,026 And it did. 133 00:09:48,230 --> 00:09:51,765 Uh, the experiment is ready for you now, sir. 134 00:09:57,772 --> 00:10:00,674 Ampere tells me that poor Dulong lost an eye 135 00:10:00,709 --> 00:10:03,244 and three fingers working with this. 136 00:10:09,017 --> 00:10:10,351 My eyes! 137 00:10:10,385 --> 00:10:11,619 My eyes! 138 00:10:19,473 --> 00:10:22,309 When a chemical experiment blew up in the face 139 00:10:22,343 --> 00:10:25,111 of the world-renowned scientist Humphry Davy, 140 00:10:25,146 --> 00:10:27,280 he remembered Michael Faraday, 141 00:10:27,315 --> 00:10:29,482 the lad who had gone through such lengths 142 00:10:29,517 --> 00:10:33,787 to copy down and bind the transcript of his lecture. 143 00:10:33,821 --> 00:10:36,122 You have a first-rate memory, young man. 144 00:10:36,157 --> 00:10:38,792 And I shall have temporary need of a secretary. 145 00:10:38,826 --> 00:10:42,662 Sir, I dream of a life in service to science. 146 00:10:42,697 --> 00:10:45,432 I would advise you to stick to the bookbinding. 147 00:10:45,466 --> 00:10:47,968 Science is a harsh mistress. 148 00:10:48,002 --> 00:10:50,804 Surely, a person of your station and modest means 149 00:10:50,838 --> 00:10:52,138 must have a trade. 150 00:10:52,173 --> 00:10:54,474 Trade is vicious and selfish. 151 00:10:54,509 --> 00:10:58,144 Men of science are amiable and morally superior. 152 00:10:58,179 --> 00:11:01,014 I take it I'm the first man of science 153 00:11:01,048 --> 00:11:02,382 you've ever met. 154 00:11:05,686 --> 00:11:08,889 Faraday made himself indispensable to Davy. 155 00:11:08,923 --> 00:11:11,324 The temporary job became a permanent one, 156 00:11:11,359 --> 00:11:14,127 and the Royal Institution became his lifelong home. 157 00:11:14,161 --> 00:11:17,697 By day, he assisted Davy in the lab, 158 00:11:17,732 --> 00:11:20,967 at day's end, he climbed the stairs 159 00:11:21,002 --> 00:11:22,569 to the little apartment 160 00:11:22,603 --> 00:11:25,605 where his beloved bride Sarah was waiting. 161 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:35,849 Humphry Davy and the chemist William Wollaston 162 00:11:35,883 --> 00:11:38,752 were experimenting with a mysterious phenomenon, 163 00:11:38,786 --> 00:11:43,390 one with potentially far-reaching implications. 164 00:11:43,624 --> 00:11:45,959 This is the identical setup to Orsted's. 165 00:11:45,993 --> 00:11:50,063 Now close the circuit, Davy, and watch closely. 166 00:11:52,733 --> 00:11:56,569 What could be driving the needle away from the wire? 167 00:11:56,604 --> 00:11:58,972 Damned if I know. 168 00:11:59,006 --> 00:12:00,707 But it's as if the electric current 169 00:12:00,741 --> 00:12:03,243 makes the wire behave like some kind of magnet. 170 00:12:03,277 --> 00:12:06,613 Electricity must have something to do with magnetism. 171 00:12:06,647 --> 00:12:11,718 Now if we could only get it to turn continuously, 172 00:12:11,752 --> 00:12:13,820 imagine what might be accomplished 173 00:12:13,854 --> 00:12:17,690 if we could put these forces to work. 174 00:12:19,193 --> 00:12:21,661 After you've tidied up, Faraday, 175 00:12:21,695 --> 00:12:22,996 you might see what you can make of it. 176 00:12:24,965 --> 00:12:26,933 Davy may have been having a bit of fun 177 00:12:26,967 --> 00:12:28,902 at the expense of his young assistant, 178 00:12:28,936 --> 00:12:31,271 but Faraday was on fire. 179 00:12:31,305 --> 00:12:34,274 Up to now, electricity had been nothing more 180 00:12:34,308 --> 00:12:36,476 than an entertaining novelty toy. 181 00:12:36,510 --> 00:12:39,179 It could make a light flash for an instant 182 00:12:39,213 --> 00:12:41,448 or turn a compass needle briefly, 183 00:12:41,482 --> 00:12:44,417 but it had no practical application. 184 00:12:44,452 --> 00:12:48,588 Faraday immediately set about designing the experiment, 185 00:12:48,622 --> 00:12:52,492 devoting every moment of his spare time to the problem. 186 00:12:52,526 --> 00:12:54,694 If Faraday succeeded, 187 00:12:54,729 --> 00:12:58,098 he would be putting an infinitely large, invisible, 188 00:12:58,132 --> 00:13:01,601 and as-yet-undiscovered army of electrons 189 00:13:01,635 --> 00:13:05,205 at the command of human whim. 190 00:13:05,239 --> 00:13:08,775 How does a revolution begin? 191 00:13:08,809 --> 00:13:11,978 Sometimes it doesn't take much. 192 00:13:12,012 --> 00:13:15,281 A piece of metal, a bowl of mercury, 193 00:13:15,316 --> 00:13:17,517 a bit of cork. 194 00:13:20,221 --> 00:13:22,188 Sarah dear, send your little brother down. 195 00:13:22,223 --> 00:13:24,190 I'm about to try something knew, 196 00:13:24,225 --> 00:13:26,626 and I want him to see it. 197 00:13:26,660 --> 00:13:29,763 Why don't you do the honors, Georgie. 198 00:13:33,234 --> 00:13:35,468 There she goes. 199 00:13:35,503 --> 00:13:37,470 There she goes! 200 00:13:44,345 --> 00:13:48,048 This was the first motor 201 00:13:48,082 --> 00:13:52,585 converting electric current into continuous mechanical motion. 202 00:13:52,620 --> 00:13:54,921 Looks pretty feeble, right? 203 00:13:54,955 --> 00:13:57,190 But that turning spindle 204 00:13:57,224 --> 00:14:00,026 is the beginning of a revolution, 205 00:14:00,061 --> 00:14:02,495 one that dwarfs all the shots fired 206 00:14:02,530 --> 00:14:04,564 and bombs ever detonated 207 00:14:04,598 --> 00:14:09,669 in the sheer magnitude of its effect on our civilization. 208 00:14:09,704 --> 00:14:13,039 Try to imagine all the businesses, 209 00:14:13,074 --> 00:14:15,041 industries, technologies, 210 00:14:15,076 --> 00:14:17,410 transformations of the way we live 211 00:14:17,445 --> 00:14:20,447 that have their beginnings in that ecstatic moment 212 00:14:20,481 --> 00:14:23,583 in Michael Faraday's laboratory. 213 00:14:23,617 --> 00:14:26,186 News of Faraday's invention spread quickly, 214 00:14:26,220 --> 00:14:31,124 and suddenly, Davy's assistant was the toast of London. 215 00:14:31,158 --> 00:14:33,460 Davy didn't take it well. 216 00:14:33,494 --> 00:14:36,963 He had, after all, discovered all those elements. 217 00:14:38,966 --> 00:14:42,469 Now people were saying that his greatest discovery 218 00:14:42,503 --> 00:14:45,238 was Michael Faraday. 219 00:14:45,272 --> 00:14:47,474 Davy made sure that Faraday 220 00:14:47,508 --> 00:14:51,911 wouldn't be making any more headlines anytime soon. 221 00:14:53,981 --> 00:14:55,915 You sent for me, sir? 222 00:14:55,950 --> 00:14:58,151 I have a new challenge for you. 223 00:14:59,620 --> 00:15:01,654 I want you to take over our efforts 224 00:15:01,689 --> 00:15:04,524 to improve the quality of British optical glass. 225 00:15:05,826 --> 00:15:07,160 Those damned Bavarians 226 00:15:07,194 --> 00:15:08,895 are running circles around us. 227 00:15:08,929 --> 00:15:09,963 Glass? 228 00:15:09,997 --> 00:15:11,631 With all due respect, sir, 229 00:15:11,665 --> 00:15:14,234 I know nothing at all of glass-making. 230 00:15:14,268 --> 00:15:16,436 Then you will learn, Faraday. 231 00:15:16,470 --> 00:15:19,172 We all know what a quick study you are. 232 00:15:19,206 --> 00:15:22,509 Just analyze the chemical composition of their glass 233 00:15:22,543 --> 00:15:25,512 and work backwards to see how they made it. 234 00:15:25,546 --> 00:15:27,447 It shouldn't take you long. 235 00:15:33,988 --> 00:15:36,790 But Faraday struggled for four years 236 00:15:36,824 --> 00:15:38,324 without any success. 237 00:15:54,508 --> 00:15:57,343 This is even worse than the last batch. 238 00:15:58,679 --> 00:16:00,680 No matter how hard he tried, 239 00:16:00,715 --> 00:16:04,017 Faraday could not figure out what Joseph Fraunhofer 240 00:16:04,051 --> 00:16:06,319 had discovered years before. 241 00:16:06,353 --> 00:16:10,323 What Faraday failed to grasp was that casting 242 00:16:10,358 --> 00:16:13,126 perfect optical glass for telescopes was a craft 243 00:16:13,160 --> 00:16:15,295 as well as a science, and the masters 244 00:16:15,329 --> 00:16:18,198 in Bavaria kept their secrets under lock and key. 245 00:16:25,172 --> 00:16:28,675 Faraday never did learn their secret. 246 00:16:28,709 --> 00:16:31,144 He kept a single glass brick 247 00:16:31,178 --> 00:16:34,681 as a souvenir of this failure. 248 00:16:34,715 --> 00:16:39,419 Years later, it would change the course of his life... 249 00:16:39,453 --> 00:16:41,621 and ours. 250 00:17:00,383 --> 00:17:03,718 Davy's death finally brought an end to this fruitless project, 251 00:17:03,753 --> 00:17:06,688 and Faraday, the boy from the slums, 252 00:17:06,722 --> 00:17:09,257 succeeded him as Director of the Laboratory. 253 00:17:09,292 --> 00:17:12,928 Faraday used his new authority to do something unprecedented-- 254 00:17:12,962 --> 00:17:15,697 a series of annual Christmas lectures on science 255 00:17:15,731 --> 00:17:18,967 for the young... beginning in 1825 256 00:17:19,001 --> 00:17:21,603 and continuing to this day. 257 00:17:53,102 --> 00:17:55,637 At one of the first Christmas lectures, 258 00:17:55,671 --> 00:17:57,806 Faraday enchanted his audience 259 00:17:57,840 --> 00:18:01,743 with displays of the new powers that were at his disposal. 260 00:18:01,777 --> 00:18:05,447 Suppose I want to fire a portion of gunpowder. 261 00:18:05,481 --> 00:18:07,249 I can readily do it with the power 262 00:18:07,283 --> 00:18:08,750 of electricity. 263 00:18:12,822 --> 00:18:16,524 If I receive electricity through this conducting wire, 264 00:18:16,559 --> 00:18:18,860 I can then give it to anything I touch. 265 00:18:18,895 --> 00:18:23,098 But I must stand on these insulating glass legs 266 00:18:23,132 --> 00:18:26,368 to prevent the electricity from going away into the floor. 267 00:18:29,538 --> 00:18:31,973 Now I am electrified! 268 00:18:32,008 --> 00:18:33,675 Whoa! 269 00:18:38,314 --> 00:18:41,049 Do you think I could light this gas jet 270 00:18:41,083 --> 00:18:43,318 just by touching it with my finger? 271 00:18:43,352 --> 00:18:44,486 No, don't do it! No! 272 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:47,022 No! Don't! 273 00:18:48,991 --> 00:18:52,160 Now, mind you, don't try this at home. 274 00:18:56,699 --> 00:18:59,734 And now, my children, you have seen for yourselves 275 00:18:59,769 --> 00:19:02,304 how this invisible force of electricity 276 00:19:02,338 --> 00:19:04,739 can be made to serve new purposes 277 00:19:04,774 --> 00:19:08,343 utterly unattainable by the powers we have now. 278 00:19:18,287 --> 00:19:21,323 The invention of a motor that could work continuously, 279 00:19:21,357 --> 00:19:23,525 eliminating countless human hours of drudgery, 280 00:19:23,559 --> 00:19:26,494 would be more than enough to make you a fortune 281 00:19:26,529 --> 00:19:28,496 and land you in the history books. 282 00:19:28,531 --> 00:19:31,099 But that's not how Michael Faraday saw it. 283 00:19:31,133 --> 00:19:34,269 He had absolutely no interest in patenting his ideas 284 00:19:34,303 --> 00:19:36,271 or personally profiting from them. 285 00:19:36,305 --> 00:19:38,273 And as for the history books, 286 00:19:38,307 --> 00:19:40,508 he had only written the first sentence 287 00:19:40,543 --> 00:19:43,278 of an entry that would be many pages long. 288 00:19:43,312 --> 00:19:48,416 Mr. Anderson, may I ask you to dim the lights, please? 289 00:19:48,451 --> 00:19:51,553 Gentlemen, I am about to induce a current of electricity 290 00:19:51,587 --> 00:19:53,622 merely by moving a magnet. 291 00:19:53,656 --> 00:19:55,190 Please observe what happens 292 00:19:55,224 --> 00:19:57,759 in the gap between the wires when I do so. 293 00:20:04,901 --> 00:20:08,270 Do you see how the current only flows when the magnet is moving? 294 00:20:09,672 --> 00:20:11,206 This is the conversion 295 00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:13,341 of motion into electricity. 296 00:20:23,753 --> 00:20:25,820 This was the first generator. 297 00:20:25,855 --> 00:20:29,157 From here, electricity would become available on demand. 298 00:20:29,191 --> 00:20:31,660 Faraday was continuing to change the world 299 00:20:31,694 --> 00:20:33,762 and the way people lived, 300 00:20:33,796 --> 00:20:35,830 and then, suddenly, 301 00:20:35,865 --> 00:20:39,200 an illness attacked his incomparable mind. 302 00:20:44,707 --> 00:20:46,741 My dear Schoenbein, 303 00:20:46,776 --> 00:20:50,178 I would be very grateful to have your opinion regarding... 304 00:20:54,784 --> 00:20:57,152 Regarding... 305 00:20:58,955 --> 00:21:01,790 Dear Schoenbein... Regarding... 306 00:21:11,534 --> 00:21:15,036 My dear husband, whatever is the matter? 307 00:21:15,071 --> 00:21:17,772 I began a letter to Schoenbein 308 00:21:17,807 --> 00:21:20,709 and could not remember what I meant to say. 309 00:21:20,743 --> 00:21:22,944 This is no cause for alarm. 310 00:21:22,979 --> 00:21:24,813 You work too hard. 311 00:21:24,847 --> 00:21:26,982 - You're exhausted. - No. 312 00:21:27,016 --> 00:21:28,283 Sarah, this is different. 313 00:21:28,317 --> 00:21:30,285 Horribly different. 314 00:21:30,319 --> 00:21:33,822 It's the third time my memory has failed me in as many days. 315 00:21:33,856 --> 00:21:35,957 I fear I'm losing my mind. 316 00:21:35,992 --> 00:21:38,260 And what would I be without that? 317 00:21:39,929 --> 00:21:44,532 Why, my darling husband, of course. 318 00:21:46,335 --> 00:21:48,303 When Faraday was 49, 319 00:21:48,337 --> 00:21:51,306 he began to battle severe memory loss and depression. 320 00:21:51,340 --> 00:21:53,842 His work came to a standstill. 321 00:21:53,876 --> 00:21:56,211 And although he never fully recovered, 322 00:21:56,245 --> 00:21:59,581 his greatest achievements still lay ahead. 323 00:22:11,101 --> 00:22:13,435 Faraday 324 00:22:13,470 --> 00:22:15,070 had immersed himself so deeply 325 00:22:15,105 --> 00:22:17,239 in electrical and magnetic experiments 326 00:22:17,274 --> 00:22:19,975 that he came to visualize the space around a magnet 327 00:22:20,010 --> 00:22:23,679 as filled with invisible lines of force. 328 00:22:23,713 --> 00:22:27,116 A magnet was not simply the magnetized bar of iron 329 00:22:27,150 --> 00:22:28,517 that you could see. 330 00:22:28,552 --> 00:22:31,353 It was also the unseen something 331 00:22:31,388 --> 00:22:33,923 in the space around the bar. 332 00:22:33,957 --> 00:22:36,425 And that something he called a field. 333 00:22:36,459 --> 00:22:39,829 A magnetic field. 334 00:22:39,863 --> 00:22:42,531 Faraday believed in the unity of nature. 335 00:22:42,566 --> 00:22:44,934 Having demonstrated the connections 336 00:22:44,968 --> 00:22:48,704 between electricity and magnetism, he wondered, 337 00:22:48,738 --> 00:22:53,442 were these two forces also connected to a third-- light? 338 00:22:53,476 --> 00:22:55,711 If he could only show a connection 339 00:22:55,745 --> 00:22:58,514 among these three invisible phenomena, 340 00:22:58,548 --> 00:23:01,050 one of nature's most intimate secrets 341 00:23:01,084 --> 00:23:02,985 would at last be revealed. 342 00:23:03,019 --> 00:23:05,020 So, what did he do? 343 00:23:05,055 --> 00:23:06,856 He designed an experiment. 344 00:23:06,890 --> 00:23:09,892 Faraday knew that light can travel as a wave. 345 00:23:09,926 --> 00:23:12,962 Waves of light vibrate randomly in all directions. 346 00:23:12,996 --> 00:23:16,565 But there's a way to isolate a single wave of light. 347 00:23:16,600 --> 00:23:19,568 It's called polarization. 348 00:23:19,603 --> 00:23:21,303 When light bounces off a reflective surface, 349 00:23:21,338 --> 00:23:22,738 like a mirror, 350 00:23:22,772 --> 00:23:25,307 it becomes polarized. 351 00:23:25,342 --> 00:23:27,176 Faraday wanted to see 352 00:23:27,210 --> 00:23:30,312 if that single ray of light could be manipulated 353 00:23:30,347 --> 00:23:32,348 by the invisible magnetic field. 354 00:23:32,382 --> 00:23:34,884 The eyepiece contained a crystal 355 00:23:34,918 --> 00:23:37,853 that acted as a kind of picket fence for light. 356 00:23:37,888 --> 00:23:39,855 Light could only pass through it 357 00:23:39,890 --> 00:23:42,324 if it was somehow moved by the magnet. 358 00:23:42,359 --> 00:23:44,527 He placed a lantern before a mirror, 359 00:23:44,561 --> 00:23:47,730 one that he would only see through the eyepiece 360 00:23:47,764 --> 00:23:51,367 if its reflection could pass through the picket fence. 361 00:23:51,401 --> 00:23:54,603 If this is hard to understand, don't feel bad. 362 00:23:54,638 --> 00:23:56,539 Scientists could not explain this phenomenon 363 00:23:56,573 --> 00:23:58,240 for another 100 years. 364 00:23:58,275 --> 00:24:01,277 Faraday knew that magnetism had no effect 365 00:24:01,311 --> 00:24:04,246 on light that was moving through air. 366 00:24:04,281 --> 00:24:06,515 But what about when it was moving through other materials? 367 00:24:06,550 --> 00:24:08,884 So what kind of material could he use 368 00:24:08,919 --> 00:24:11,520 to help the magnet move the light? 369 00:24:11,555 --> 00:24:13,622 He tried hundreds of different 370 00:24:13,657 --> 00:24:15,658 transparent chemicals and objects... 371 00:24:17,427 --> 00:24:20,396 but saw nothing through the eyepiece. 372 00:24:20,430 --> 00:24:23,032 The light was not twisted by the magnet. 373 00:24:23,066 --> 00:24:25,901 He tried crystals of calcite, 374 00:24:25,936 --> 00:24:27,937 sodium carbonate, 375 00:24:27,971 --> 00:24:29,805 calcium sulfate, 376 00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:32,441 and still, he saw nothing. 377 00:24:32,475 --> 00:24:34,210 He tried acids. 378 00:24:34,244 --> 00:24:35,277 Sulfuric acid, 379 00:24:35,312 --> 00:24:37,112 muriatic acid, 380 00:24:37,147 --> 00:24:39,148 carbonic acid. 381 00:24:39,182 --> 00:24:40,616 He tried gasses... 382 00:24:40,650 --> 00:24:43,552 oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen... 383 00:24:43,587 --> 00:24:45,221 with no success. 384 00:24:45,255 --> 00:24:47,823 The magnetic field induced 385 00:24:47,858 --> 00:24:50,159 in these substances could not twist the light 386 00:24:50,193 --> 00:24:51,660 from his lamp back into view. 387 00:24:53,497 --> 00:24:54,930 Damn! 388 00:25:01,037 --> 00:25:04,840 In desperation, he decided to try... 389 00:25:04,875 --> 00:25:06,842 the glass brick, 390 00:25:06,877 --> 00:25:10,112 the souvenir 391 00:25:10,146 --> 00:25:13,015 of his years of bondage to Davy. 392 00:25:26,229 --> 00:25:27,663 It did the trick. 393 00:25:27,697 --> 00:25:29,465 The force of the magnet 394 00:25:29,499 --> 00:25:31,200 twisted the light 395 00:25:31,234 --> 00:25:33,803 so that it could pass through the crystal. 396 00:25:33,837 --> 00:25:36,172 So, what's the big deal? 397 00:25:36,206 --> 00:25:38,440 Faraday had demonstrated the existence 398 00:25:38,475 --> 00:25:41,076 of the physical reality that surrounds us, 399 00:25:41,078 --> 00:25:43,846 but which no one had ever been able to detect. 400 00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:45,881 It was as dramatic a breakthrough 401 00:25:45,916 --> 00:25:48,651 as seeing the cosmos for the very first time 402 00:25:48,685 --> 00:25:50,052 through a telescope. 403 00:25:50,086 --> 00:25:53,722 By showing that an electromagnetic force 404 00:25:53,757 --> 00:25:55,558 could manipulate light, 405 00:25:55,592 --> 00:25:58,994 Faraday had discovered a deeper unity of nature. 406 00:25:59,029 --> 00:26:01,564 He had opened a door for Einstein 407 00:26:01,598 --> 00:26:04,166 and all the physicists who came after him 408 00:26:04,201 --> 00:26:05,968 to glimpse the interplay 409 00:26:06,002 --> 00:26:09,205 of hidden, primal forces in the universe. 410 00:26:09,239 --> 00:26:12,308 Even as he approached the summit of his genius, 411 00:26:12,342 --> 00:26:14,476 he was plagued by depression 412 00:26:14,511 --> 00:26:16,178 and doubts about his ability 413 00:26:16,213 --> 00:26:18,514 to retain even the simplest thoughts. 414 00:26:18,548 --> 00:26:22,551 My dear friend, I find a difficulty in answering 415 00:26:22,586 --> 00:26:25,521 or even acknowledging properly a scientific letter, 416 00:26:25,555 --> 00:26:28,691 for I cannot now hold it at once in my mind. 417 00:26:28,725 --> 00:26:31,961 The memory of the parts fail me. 418 00:26:34,731 --> 00:26:37,166 P.S. You will be sorry to see 419 00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:39,068 the tone of this short note, 420 00:26:39,102 --> 00:26:42,938 but my dearest husband is not quite so well as usual, 421 00:26:42,973 --> 00:26:45,508 but I hope he will improve. 422 00:26:45,542 --> 00:26:48,544 Yours very truly, S. Faraday. 423 00:26:50,647 --> 00:26:54,049 As a young man, Faraday had risen from poverty, 424 00:26:54,084 --> 00:26:56,519 in one of the most class-conscious societies 425 00:26:56,553 --> 00:26:58,888 the world has ever known, 426 00:26:58,922 --> 00:27:02,791 to become the most celebrated scientist of his time. 427 00:27:02,826 --> 00:27:06,395 By age 40, he had invented the electric motor, 428 00:27:06,429 --> 00:27:09,098 the transformer, the generator, 429 00:27:09,132 --> 00:27:12,134 machines that would change everything about the home, 430 00:27:12,169 --> 00:27:14,570 the farm, the factory. 431 00:27:14,604 --> 00:27:18,240 Now, at 60, decades after the fertile periods 432 00:27:18,275 --> 00:27:20,476 of the greatest physicists, 433 00:27:20,510 --> 00:27:23,279 plagued by memory loss and melancholy, 434 00:27:23,313 --> 00:27:26,382 he fearlessly probed deeper 435 00:27:26,416 --> 00:27:29,819 into the mysterious invisible forces. 436 00:27:45,057 --> 00:27:49,093 The world thought that Michael Faraday was a has-been. 437 00:27:49,128 --> 00:27:51,029 Despite his depression, 438 00:27:51,063 --> 00:27:54,365 he remained as passionately curious as ever. 439 00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:55,934 Having discovered the unity 440 00:27:55,968 --> 00:27:58,436 of electricity, magnetism and light, 441 00:27:58,470 --> 00:28:00,271 Faraday needed to know 442 00:28:00,306 --> 00:28:04,075 how this trinity of natural forces work together. 443 00:28:09,448 --> 00:28:11,749 ♪ this is the way the ladies walk... ♪ 444 00:28:11,784 --> 00:28:13,351 This was nothing new. 445 00:28:13,385 --> 00:28:14,953 Children had been playing with magnets 446 00:28:14,987 --> 00:28:16,921 and iron filings for centuries. 447 00:28:16,956 --> 00:28:20,525 Everyone had always assumed that this lovely pattern 448 00:28:20,559 --> 00:28:23,544 was just something that iron did. 449 00:28:23,979 --> 00:28:27,131 Faraday knew that electric current turns a wire into a magnet, 450 00:28:27,265 --> 00:28:29,600 so he expected to find related patterns 451 00:28:29,634 --> 00:28:33,037 in iron filings around a wire carrying electricity. 452 00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:37,241 But where others saw merely lovely shapes, 453 00:28:37,275 --> 00:28:40,945 Faraday saw something profound. 454 00:28:40,979 --> 00:28:45,416 The patterns were not simply a quirk of iron filings; 455 00:28:45,450 --> 00:28:48,419 they existed in the space around a magnet 456 00:28:48,453 --> 00:28:49,987 or an electric current, 457 00:28:50,021 --> 00:28:52,556 even in the absence of iron filings. 458 00:28:52,591 --> 00:28:55,292 The patterns were the traces, the footprints 459 00:28:55,327 --> 00:28:57,428 of invisible fields of force, 460 00:28:57,462 --> 00:29:02,099 that reached out into the space around anything magnetic. 461 00:29:05,604 --> 00:29:08,539 The compass needle that people wondered at 462 00:29:08,574 --> 00:29:11,275 for a thousand years was not reacting 463 00:29:11,310 --> 00:29:13,911 to some far away magnetic North Pole. 464 00:29:13,946 --> 00:29:16,447 It was detecting a continuous force field 465 00:29:16,482 --> 00:29:19,150 that stretched all the way there. 466 00:29:21,420 --> 00:29:24,856 Earth itself is a giant magnet. 467 00:29:24,890 --> 00:29:26,391 And like any other magnet, 468 00:29:26,425 --> 00:29:28,893 its lines of force extend far out 469 00:29:28,927 --> 00:29:31,396 into the space surrounding it. 470 00:29:31,430 --> 00:29:34,532 They're everywhere, all around us. 471 00:29:34,566 --> 00:29:36,300 They've always been. 472 00:29:36,335 --> 00:29:39,070 But nobody had ever noticed them before. 473 00:29:39,104 --> 00:29:41,973 Nobody human, that is. 474 00:29:45,277 --> 00:29:48,246 Birds are the last living descendants of the dinosaurs. 475 00:29:50,649 --> 00:29:52,784 Pigeons and other birds are remarkably good 476 00:29:52,818 --> 00:29:54,719 at finding their way around. 477 00:29:54,753 --> 00:29:58,089 They can migrate thousands of miles without getting lost. 478 00:29:58,123 --> 00:30:02,160 How? Partly by recognizing familiar landmarks-- 479 00:30:02,194 --> 00:30:04,562 rivers, mountains, stars. 480 00:30:04,596 --> 00:30:06,264 Even certain smells can serve 481 00:30:06,298 --> 00:30:09,434 as signposts for migrating birds. 482 00:30:09,468 --> 00:30:12,003 But birds also have an inner compass. 483 00:30:12,037 --> 00:30:15,239 They can actually sense the Earth's magnetic field. 484 00:30:15,274 --> 00:30:19,010 Their brains process magnetic data in much the same way 485 00:30:19,044 --> 00:30:21,612 ours process visual data. 486 00:30:21,647 --> 00:30:23,981 By sensing the direction of the field, 487 00:30:24,016 --> 00:30:26,084 birds can tell north from south. 488 00:30:26,118 --> 00:30:29,120 That's one way North American birds know which way to go 489 00:30:29,154 --> 00:30:30,855 when they head south for the winter. 490 00:30:30,889 --> 00:30:33,191 The field is stronger near the poles 491 00:30:33,225 --> 00:30:35,026 than it is at the equator, 492 00:30:35,060 --> 00:30:38,629 a fact that birds use to figure out their latitude. 493 00:30:38,664 --> 00:30:41,299 There are also small irregularities in the field, 494 00:30:41,333 --> 00:30:42,767 locations where the field 495 00:30:42,801 --> 00:30:45,203 is a little weaker or stronger. 496 00:30:45,237 --> 00:30:47,638 Just like a distinctive mountain or river, 497 00:30:47,673 --> 00:30:51,676 these magnetic anomalies can serve as landmarks. 498 00:31:01,487 --> 00:31:04,555 For thousands of years, humans have used carrier pigeons 499 00:31:04,590 --> 00:31:07,458 to send messages to distant locations. 500 00:31:07,493 --> 00:31:09,627 It was a crucial method of communication 501 00:31:09,661 --> 00:31:11,496 as recently as World War II. 502 00:31:11,530 --> 00:31:13,197 When you think about it, we've been using 503 00:31:13,232 --> 00:31:16,234 magnetic fields to communicate for a long time. 504 00:31:16,268 --> 00:31:19,103 We just didn't know it. 505 00:31:27,279 --> 00:31:29,914 So why does our planet have a magnetic field at all? 506 00:31:29,948 --> 00:31:31,682 What causes it? 507 00:31:31,717 --> 00:31:34,919 The answer lies deep inside the Earth. 508 00:31:34,953 --> 00:31:38,089 Liquid iron, circulating around the solid part of the core 509 00:31:38,123 --> 00:31:39,590 as Earth rotates, 510 00:31:39,625 --> 00:31:43,361 acts like a wire carrying an electric current. 511 00:31:43,395 --> 00:31:45,196 And as Faraday showed us, 512 00:31:45,230 --> 00:31:47,765 electric currents produce magnetic fields. 513 00:31:47,800 --> 00:31:49,367 And that's a good thing. 514 00:31:49,401 --> 00:31:51,769 Our magnetic field protects us from the onslaught 515 00:31:51,804 --> 00:31:55,873 of cosmic rays, which would be very damaging to our biosphere. 516 00:31:55,908 --> 00:31:59,210 Cosmic rays can rip through DNA. 517 00:31:59,244 --> 00:32:01,612 Without our magnetic field, the rate of mutation 518 00:32:01,647 --> 00:32:03,781 in living organisms would be much higher. 519 00:32:03,816 --> 00:32:07,952 Fortunately, most of this cosmic shrapnel gets trapped 520 00:32:07,986 --> 00:32:10,722 in the Van Allen belts, donut-shaped zones 521 00:32:10,756 --> 00:32:15,593 of charged particles corralled by our magnetic shield. 522 00:32:23,302 --> 00:32:26,704 Knowing that the Earth itself is like a giant bar magnet 523 00:32:26,739 --> 00:32:29,774 explains one of the most beautiful sights in the sky, 524 00:32:29,808 --> 00:32:31,809 the aurora. 525 00:32:34,012 --> 00:32:36,581 Charged particles from the Sun, the solar wind, 526 00:32:36,615 --> 00:32:39,417 are constantly bombarding the Earth. 527 00:32:39,451 --> 00:32:42,954 You can think of the solar wind as a kind of electric current. 528 00:32:42,988 --> 00:32:45,056 Our planet's magnetic field 529 00:32:45,090 --> 00:32:47,725 channels that current towards the North and South Poles. 530 00:32:47,760 --> 00:32:49,560 When it hits our atmosphere, 531 00:32:49,595 --> 00:32:51,396 the oxygen and nitrogen molecules 532 00:32:51,430 --> 00:32:56,134 in the air glow like giant fluorescent lightbulbs. 533 00:33:17,389 --> 00:33:18,956 When Faraday pursued 534 00:33:18,991 --> 00:33:21,359 his last and most profound discovery, 535 00:33:21,393 --> 00:33:23,361 the poverty of his childhood stymied him 536 00:33:23,395 --> 00:33:25,129 as it never had before. 537 00:33:25,164 --> 00:33:26,864 He needed help 538 00:33:26,899 --> 00:33:30,067 and found it in one who had come from another world. 539 00:33:43,236 --> 00:33:45,370 Michael Faraday had solved the mystery 540 00:33:45,404 --> 00:33:47,539 that baffled Isaac Newton. 541 00:34:04,991 --> 00:34:08,727 This was how the Sun told the planets how to move 542 00:34:08,761 --> 00:34:11,029 without touching them. 543 00:34:11,063 --> 00:34:13,231 The Sun does touch the planets 544 00:34:13,266 --> 00:34:15,066 with its gravitational field, 545 00:34:15,401 --> 00:34:17,702 and Earth's gravitational field 546 00:34:17,737 --> 00:34:21,106 tells the apples how to fall. 547 00:34:29,048 --> 00:34:33,384 All this is a dream. 548 00:34:34,654 --> 00:34:37,456 Unfortunately, that was the prevailing view 549 00:34:37,490 --> 00:34:39,057 among his fellow scientists. 550 00:34:39,092 --> 00:34:41,326 Faraday was dreaming. 551 00:34:41,361 --> 00:34:42,961 They admired his inventiveness 552 00:34:42,995 --> 00:34:45,030 and his genius for experimentation, 553 00:34:45,064 --> 00:34:47,866 but they regarded his invisible "lines of force" 554 00:34:47,900 --> 00:34:51,336 and his ideas about light and gravity as hand-waving, 555 00:34:51,371 --> 00:34:54,673 meaning there was nothing solid to back it up. 556 00:34:54,707 --> 00:34:57,876 Some openly ridiculed his theories. 557 00:34:57,910 --> 00:35:00,212 They needed to see his ideas expressed 558 00:35:00,246 --> 00:35:02,681 in the language of modern physics, 559 00:35:02,715 --> 00:35:04,383 precise equations. 560 00:35:04,417 --> 00:35:05,851 This was the one area 561 00:35:05,885 --> 00:35:07,519 where Faraday's childhood poverty 562 00:35:07,553 --> 00:35:08,887 and lack of formal education 563 00:35:08,921 --> 00:35:12,491 actually held him back. 564 00:35:12,525 --> 00:35:15,193 He couldn't do the math. 565 00:35:15,228 --> 00:35:19,765 Faraday had finally hit a wall that he could not overcome. 566 00:35:19,799 --> 00:35:22,367 And then, the greatest theoretical physicist 567 00:35:22,402 --> 00:35:25,203 of the 19th century came along. 568 00:35:25,238 --> 00:35:29,374 James Clerk Maxwell was born into a world of wealth 569 00:35:29,409 --> 00:35:31,009 and privilege, 570 00:35:31,044 --> 00:35:35,380 an only child of doting middle-aged parents. 571 00:35:40,053 --> 00:35:43,221 By his early 20s, he had made a name for himself 572 00:35:43,256 --> 00:35:44,956 as a mathematician. 573 00:35:44,991 --> 00:35:47,359 While other scientists had come to think of Faraday 574 00:35:47,393 --> 00:35:49,795 as old-fashioned; a great figure of the past 575 00:35:49,829 --> 00:35:52,631 but no part of the future of physics, 576 00:35:52,665 --> 00:35:56,101 James Clerk Maxwell knew better. 577 00:35:56,135 --> 00:35:58,103 He began by reading everything 578 00:35:58,137 --> 00:36:00,706 Faraday had written on electricity. 579 00:36:00,740 --> 00:36:03,709 He became convinced that Faraday's fields of force 580 00:36:03,743 --> 00:36:06,211 were real, and he set out to give them 581 00:36:06,245 --> 00:36:09,181 a precise mathematical formulation. 582 00:36:39,883 --> 00:36:42,549 _ 583 00:36:55,294 --> 00:36:58,096 An equation in physics is just a shorthand description 584 00:36:58,131 --> 00:37:01,600 of something that can be represented in space and time. 585 00:37:01,634 --> 00:37:05,037 For instance, the equation that describes the arc of a pendulum 586 00:37:05,071 --> 00:37:09,875 shows that it can never swing higher than its initial height. 587 00:37:25,224 --> 00:37:28,360 When Maxwell translated Faraday's experimental 588 00:37:28,394 --> 00:37:32,464 observation on electromagnetic fields into equations, 589 00:37:32,498 --> 00:37:35,400 he discovered an asymmetry. 590 00:37:36,669 --> 00:37:38,637 See that bottom one? 591 00:37:38,671 --> 00:37:41,206 It cries out for something else. 592 00:37:41,240 --> 00:37:43,208 Great mathematician that he was, 593 00:37:43,242 --> 00:37:46,678 Maxwell added a single term to balance it. 594 00:37:46,713 --> 00:37:50,348 This tweaking of the equation changed Faraday's static field 595 00:37:50,383 --> 00:37:54,219 into waves that spread outward at the speed of light. 596 00:37:54,253 --> 00:37:57,556 It wasn't long before we found a way to turn those waves... 597 00:37:59,258 --> 00:38:01,727 into couriers 598 00:38:01,761 --> 00:38:04,129 for our messages. 599 00:38:05,631 --> 00:38:07,532 Can you see me? 600 00:38:07,567 --> 00:38:09,935 Can you hear me? 601 00:38:09,969 --> 00:38:12,871 This is how. 602 00:38:17,744 --> 00:38:21,279 This technology has transformed human civilization 603 00:38:21,314 --> 00:38:23,415 from a patchwork of cities, 604 00:38:23,449 --> 00:38:25,417 towns and villages 605 00:38:25,451 --> 00:38:29,454 into an intercommunicating organism... 606 00:38:38,731 --> 00:38:41,800 linking us at light speed... 607 00:38:47,807 --> 00:38:49,741 to each other... 608 00:38:58,318 --> 00:39:01,086 and to the cosmos. 609 00:39:33,652 --> 00:39:36,888 Nothing is too wonderful to be true, 610 00:39:36,922 --> 00:39:40,734 if it be consistent with the laws of nature. 611 00:39:42,686 --> 00:39:45,537 Sync and corrections by n17t01 www.addic7ed.com