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We were born into a mystery,
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one that has haunted us
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since at least as long
as we've been human.
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We awakened on this tiny world
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beneath a blanket of stars,
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like an abandoned baby
left on a doorstep
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without a note to explain
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where we came from, who we are,
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how our universe came to be.
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And with no idea how to end
our cosmic isolation.
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We've had to figure it all out
for ourselves.
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Best thing we had going for us
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was our intelligence,
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especially our gift
for pattern recognition,
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sharpened over eons
of evolution.
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The ones who were good at
spotting prey and predator,
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telling poisonous plants
from the nourishing ones,
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they had a better chance
to live and reproduce.
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They survived
and passed on those genes
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for pattern recognition
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with its obvious advantages.
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Cultures all over the planet
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looked up at the same stars
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and found
different pictures there.
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We used this gift for
recognizing patterns in nature
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to read the calendar
in the sky.
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The messages written
in the stars
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told our forefathers
and mothers
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when to camp
and when to move on.
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When the migratory herds
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and when the rains
and the cold would come.
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And when they would cease
for a time.
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When they observed
the direct connection
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between the motions
of the stars
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and the seasonal cycles
of life on Earth,
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they concluded, naturally,
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that what happens up there
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must be directed
at us down here.
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It makes sense, right?
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If the sky was a calendar
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and somebody stuck
a Post-it note on top of it,
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what else could it be
but a message?
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And so, when the heavenly order
was suddenly violated
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by the apparition of
a comet in the sky...
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they took it personally.
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Can we really blame them?
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Back then, they had no other
logical explanation
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for what was happening.
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This was long before
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anyone had yet to imagine Earth
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as a spinning planet
with a tilted axis,
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revolving around the Sun.
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Every ancient human culture
made the same mistake,
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a comet must be a message,
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sent by the gods...
or one particular god.
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And almost invariably,
our ancestors concluded
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the news was not good.
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It didn't matter if you were
an ancient Aztec,
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Anglo-Saxon, Babylonian, Hindu.
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Comets were portents of doom.
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The only difference among them
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was the precise nature
of the coming disaster.
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"Dis-aster," as in the
Greek word for "bad star."
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To the Masai of East Africa,
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a comet meant famine.
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To the Zulu in the south,
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it meant war.
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To the Eghap people
of the west,
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it meant disease.
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To the Djaga of Zaire,
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specifically "smallpox."
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To their neighbors, the Luba,
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a comet foretold
the death of a leader.
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The ancient Chinese
were remarkably systematic.
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Starting in roughly 1400 BC,
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they began recording
and cataloguing
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the apparitions of comets.
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A three-tailed comet
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meant calamity for the state.
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A four-tailed comet
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signified an epidemic
was coming.
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The human talent
for pattern recognition
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is a two-edged sword.
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We're especially good
at finding patterns,
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even when they
aren't really there--
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something known as
"false pattern recognition."
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We hunger for significance,
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for signs that
our personal existence
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is of special meaning
to the universe.
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To that end, we're all too eager
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to deceive ourselves and others,
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to discern a sacred image
in a grilled cheese sandwich
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or find a divine warning
in a comet.
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Today, we know exactly
where comets come from
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and what they're made of.
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Our Ship of the Imagination,
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fueled by equal parts
of science and wonder,
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can take us anywhere
in space and time.
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It can travel faster than light
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and render visible those things
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that cannot be seen.
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It's carrying us to
a mysterious realm
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that lies one light-year
from the Sun.
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What is this swarm of worlds?
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Was it organized
by alien beings?
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No.
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Just gravity.
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These are the snows
of yesteryear,
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drifting mountains
of ice and rock,
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the preserved remnants of
the birth of the solar system.
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It's called the Oort Cloud,
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after Jan Oort,
the Dutch astronomer
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who foretold its existence
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back in 1950.
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He was trying to
solve a paradox.
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There's so many ways
for comets to die.
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Because they cross
the orbits of planets,
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comets frequently
collide with them.
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Comets are largely made of ice,
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so every time they
come near the Sun,
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they lose a part of themselves
through evaporation.
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And after several
thousand trips,
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their ice is all gone,
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and what remains of the comet
is now an asteroid.
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Comets can be gravitationally
ejected from the solar system
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and exiled into space.
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And yet, somehow,
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the comets keep coming.
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Oort and other
astronomers wondered,
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"Where do all
the comets come from?"
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Oort calculated the rate
at which new comets appear
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and concluded
that there must be
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a vast, spherical
swarm of them,
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a few light-years across,
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surrounding the Sun.
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Oort's logic still holds up,
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even after all the discoveries
we've made about comets
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and the solar system in
the many decades since.
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And yet, the Oort Cloud
is a sight
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that no one has ever seen.
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Nor could we.
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It's dark out here.
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And each comet is about as far
from its closest neighbor
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as the Earth is from Saturn.
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But science gives us
special powers of our own.
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It gave Jan Oort
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the gift of prophecy.
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Oort was also the first
to correctly estimate
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the distance between the Sun
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and the center of our galaxy.
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That's a big deal--
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finding out where we are
in the Milky Way.
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Our star is about
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30,000 light-years
from the center.
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Oort was also
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the first guy to use
a radio telescope
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to map the galaxy's
spiral structure.
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And he discovered that
the center of our galaxy
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was a place of
titanic explosions,
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the first indication
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that there might have been
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a supermassive black hole
lurking there.
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Does the fact that
most of us know
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the names of mass murderers,
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but never heard of Jan Oort,
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say anything about us?
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The Oort Cloud is so enormous
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that it takes one of its comets
about a million years
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to complete a single trip
around the Sun.
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Out here, at the far edge
of the solar system,
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even a little tug from
the gravity of a passing star
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can liberate
some of these comets
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from their gravitational
bondage to the Sun.
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Some comets are flung
out of the solar system
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to wander interstellar space.
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But for others,
there's a different fate.
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This one is plunging
towards the Sun,
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gaining speed in
an unbroken free fall
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that lasts hundreds
of thousands of years.
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When Neptune's gravity
gives it another tug,
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there's a small
change in course.
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Mighty Jupiter,
the most massive
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object in our solar system--
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other than the Sun--
attracts the comet
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with its powerful
gravitational pull,
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bending its path.
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When our comet reaches
the inner solar system...
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heat from the Sun bakes it.
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A beautiful
transformation begins.
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The barren, sooty iceberg
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now sports a glowing halo...
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and a tail.
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These layers tell the story
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of how the comet was made,
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some four billion years ago.
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During the 40,000 generations
of humanity,
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there must have been
roughly 100,000 apparitions
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of a bright comet.
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For all that time,
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the best we could do was
look up in helpless wonder,
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prisoners of Earth with
nowhere to turn
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for an explanation beyond
our guilt and our fears.
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But then a friendship began
between two men that led
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to a permanent revolution
in human thought.
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Isaac Newton and Edmond Halley
could not know it,
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00:11:32,311 --> 00:11:36,047
but their collaboration would
ultimately set us free
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00:11:36,081 --> 00:11:39,517
from our long confinement
on this tiny world.
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00:11:44,680 --> 00:11:46,447
The Comet of 1664
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00:11:46,482 --> 00:11:50,051
sent shivers of dread
throughout Europe,
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00:11:50,085 --> 00:11:52,620
and the terror seemed justified
when the Plague
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and the Great Fire of London
followed soon after.
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There, with long bloody hair,
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00:12:00,696 --> 00:12:03,965
a blazing star
threatens the world
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00:12:03,999 --> 00:12:08,703
with famine, plague and war.
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00:12:10,339 --> 00:12:13,007
To princes, it spells death...
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00:12:14,176 --> 00:12:17,211
to kingdoms, many crosses...
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00:12:17,246 --> 00:12:21,516
to all estates,
inevitable losses...
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00:12:21,550 --> 00:12:24,552
to herdsmen, rot,
219
00:12:24,586 --> 00:12:27,421
to plowmen, hapless seasons,
220
00:12:27,456 --> 00:12:32,026
to sailors, it brings storms,
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00:12:32,060 --> 00:12:36,030
to cities, civil treasons.
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00:12:43,105 --> 00:12:45,439
But for one child,
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00:12:45,474 --> 00:12:48,209
the comet was not the least bit
frightening.
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00:12:52,981 --> 00:12:57,385
For him,
it was a thing of wonder.
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Like all of us,
Edmond Halley was born curious.
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00:13:00,489 --> 00:13:02,590
Hell's bells!
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00:13:02,624 --> 00:13:05,726
He was lucky to have
a father who encouraged
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00:13:05,761 --> 00:13:07,428
and nurtured his curiosity,
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00:13:07,463 --> 00:13:10,465
buying him the best
scientific instruments
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00:13:10,499 --> 00:13:12,400
and even funding his expedition
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00:13:12,434 --> 00:13:15,436
to make the first accurate star
map of the Southern Hemisphere.
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00:13:15,471 --> 00:13:18,306
Halley dropped out of Oxford
when he was 20,
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00:13:18,340 --> 00:13:20,274
and sailed to St. Helena,
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00:13:20,309 --> 00:13:23,811
an island below the equator,
off the west coast of Africa.
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00:13:29,151 --> 00:13:30,918
Hell's bells.
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00:13:30,953 --> 00:13:33,054
The problem was,
nobody told Halley
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00:13:33,088 --> 00:13:34,922
that the weather on St. Helena
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00:13:34,957 --> 00:13:38,926
was generally lousy; it took
him 12 frustrating months
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00:13:38,961 --> 00:13:43,931
to observe enough southern
stars to make a complete map.
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00:13:43,966 --> 00:13:47,969
The gods and heroes of ancient
Greece were now joined
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00:13:48,003 --> 00:13:51,105
by the mythic figures
of a new world and age,
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00:13:51,140 --> 00:13:55,309
a toucan, a compass,
a bird of paradise.
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When Halley came home
with the other half of the sky,
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00:14:06,722 --> 00:14:08,656
his map created a sensation.
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00:14:08,690 --> 00:14:11,826
Now merchants and explorers
could navigate by the stars
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00:14:11,860 --> 00:14:13,594
visible anywhere on Earth.
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00:14:13,629 --> 00:14:16,664
At the time,
the World Society of London
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00:14:16,698 --> 00:14:18,866
was the world's clearinghouse
of scientific discovery.
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00:14:18,901 --> 00:14:21,636
Its motto, "Nullius in verba,"
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00:14:21,670 --> 00:14:24,372
sums up the heart
of the scientific method.
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00:14:24,406 --> 00:14:27,375
It's Latin for
"see for yourself."
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00:14:27,409 --> 00:14:31,045
In other words,
"question authority."
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00:14:31,079 --> 00:14:32,713
Halley's star maps caught
the attention
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00:14:32,748 --> 00:14:35,016
of the Society's Curator
of Experiments.
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00:14:35,050 --> 00:14:36,784
I'd show him to you if I could,
256
00:14:36,819 --> 00:14:39,854
but no portrait of Robert Hooke
exists from his time,
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00:14:39,888 --> 00:14:42,857
only the verbal descriptions
of his contemporaries.
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00:14:42,891 --> 00:14:46,160
They called him
"lean, bent, ugly."
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00:14:46,195 --> 00:14:49,297
He was possibly the most
inventive person who ever lived.
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00:14:49,331 --> 00:14:51,065
And despite his appearance,
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00:14:51,099 --> 00:14:54,202
he was the most sought-after
party guest in all of London.
262
00:14:54,236 --> 00:14:55,970
Why?
263
00:14:56,004 --> 00:14:58,473
Hooke's insatiable curiosity
264
00:14:58,507 --> 00:15:00,541
encompassed
absolutely everything.
265
00:15:02,678 --> 00:15:05,513
Hooke discovered
a little cosmos,
266
00:15:05,547 --> 00:15:08,883
and we still call it by
the name he gave it, the cell.
267
00:15:08,917 --> 00:15:10,685
Hooke discovered
the cell by looking
268
00:15:10,719 --> 00:15:13,421
at a piece of cork
with one of his own inventions,
269
00:15:13,455 --> 00:15:15,890
the compound microscope.
270
00:15:15,924 --> 00:15:19,227
He anticipated aspects of
Darwin's theory of evolution
271
00:15:19,261 --> 00:15:22,330
by almost 200 years.
272
00:15:22,364 --> 00:15:24,432
Hooke also improved
the telescope.
273
00:15:24,466 --> 00:15:27,068
The drawings he made of the
astronomical bodies he observed
274
00:15:27,102 --> 00:15:29,203
attest
to his uncanny precision.
275
00:15:29,238 --> 00:15:33,708
After the Great Fire destroyed
central London in 1666,
276
00:15:33,742 --> 00:15:36,511
Hooke partnered with the
architect Christopher Wren
277
00:15:36,545 --> 00:15:39,580
to redesign and rebuild
the city.
278
00:15:39,615 --> 00:15:43,518
Hooke was the foremost
experimentalist of his age.
279
00:15:43,552 --> 00:15:44,886
Using coiled springs,
280
00:15:44,920 --> 00:15:46,621
he derived the
"law of elasticity,"
281
00:15:46,655 --> 00:15:49,123
known today as Hooke's Law.
282
00:15:49,158 --> 00:15:51,592
He perfected the air pump,
283
00:15:51,627 --> 00:15:53,961
the height of technology
in its time,
284
00:15:53,996 --> 00:15:57,732
and used it to experiment
on respiration and sound.
285
00:15:57,766 --> 00:16:00,768
And he experimented
with cannabis.
286
00:16:00,803 --> 00:16:03,437
He reported to a meeting
of the Royal Society
287
00:16:03,472 --> 00:16:06,107
that a sea captain friend
of his quote
288
00:16:06,141 --> 00:16:08,709
"had so often experimented
with it,
289
00:16:08,744 --> 00:16:10,311
that there is no cause of fear,
290
00:16:10,345 --> 00:16:13,247
though possibly there may be
of laughter."
291
00:16:17,486 --> 00:16:20,121
But coffee was the drug
of choice for England
292
00:16:20,155 --> 00:16:21,622
in the 17th century.
293
00:16:21,657 --> 00:16:24,125
Coffeehouses sprang up
all over London.
294
00:16:36,472 --> 00:16:39,507
This is where people came
to get news,
295
00:16:39,541 --> 00:16:43,244
to launch new ventures,
and to debate ideas.
296
00:16:43,278 --> 00:16:45,646
The coffeehouse
was an oasis of equality
297
00:16:45,681 --> 00:16:48,316
in a class-obsessed society.
298
00:16:48,350 --> 00:16:50,985
Here, a poor man
needn't give up his seat
299
00:16:51,019 --> 00:16:53,788
to a rich man,
nor submit to his opinion.
300
00:16:53,822 --> 00:16:56,124
It was a kind of laboratory
of democracy.
301
00:16:56,158 --> 00:16:58,793
In this highly caffeinated
atmosphere,
302
00:16:58,827 --> 00:17:03,531
Halley and Hooke met Christopher
Wren to discuss a deep mystery.
303
00:17:03,565 --> 00:17:06,968
Why do the planets move
as they do?
304
00:17:07,002 --> 00:17:09,504
The astronomer Johannes Kepler
had demonstrated,
305
00:17:09,538 --> 00:17:11,005
some 80 years before,
306
00:17:11,039 --> 00:17:13,608
that the orbits of the
planets around the Sun
307
00:17:13,642 --> 00:17:17,011
were not perfect circles,
but actually ellipses,
308
00:17:17,045 --> 00:17:20,314
and that the closer a planet
was to the Sun,
309
00:17:20,349 --> 00:17:23,284
the faster it moved.
310
00:17:23,318 --> 00:17:25,170
Why?
311
00:17:25,587 --> 00:17:28,156
Could some invisible force
from the Sun be responsible
312
00:17:28,158 --> 00:17:29,791
for this change in motion?
313
00:17:29,793 --> 00:17:31,526
If so, how did it work?
314
00:17:31,528 --> 00:17:34,929
Could there be a simple
mathematical law to describe it?
315
00:17:34,931 --> 00:17:38,733
Maybe something like Hooke's Law
of Elasticity?
316
00:17:42,271 --> 00:17:44,038
Perhaps.
317
00:17:44,072 --> 00:17:45,673
But try as he might,
318
00:17:45,707 --> 00:17:47,008
Christopher Wren couldn't
figure it out.
319
00:17:48,343 --> 00:17:49,844
Damned if I haven't tried.
320
00:17:49,878 --> 00:17:51,345
It's beyond me.
321
00:17:51,380 --> 00:17:53,347
I'll wager a book
worth 40 shillings
322
00:17:53,382 --> 00:17:54,882
to the man who can solve it!
323
00:17:54,917 --> 00:17:57,018
That book is
mine, Mr. Wren.
324
00:17:57,052 --> 00:17:58,386
I've already done
the calculation.
325
00:17:58,420 --> 00:17:59,720
Halley was delighted.
326
00:17:59,755 --> 00:18:01,556
Show us, Mr. Hooke.
327
00:18:01,590 --> 00:18:05,159
But months passed,
and Hooke failed to deliver.
328
00:18:05,194 --> 00:18:06,828
He couldn't do the math.
329
00:18:06,862 --> 00:18:08,663
None of them could.
330
00:18:08,697 --> 00:18:10,998
Finally, Halley had enough
of Hooke's excuses.
331
00:18:11,033 --> 00:18:14,068
Halley knew there must be
someone, somewhere,
332
00:18:14,103 --> 00:18:16,104
up to the challenge.
333
00:18:22,411 --> 00:18:25,379
What about that mathematician
at Cambridge?
334
00:18:25,414 --> 00:18:27,215
Clever fellow.
335
00:18:27,249 --> 00:18:29,584
He had solved central questions
about the nature of light
336
00:18:29,618 --> 00:18:33,421
years before,
when he was still only 22.
337
00:18:33,455 --> 00:18:35,389
And he invented
the reflecting telescope.
338
00:18:35,424 --> 00:18:37,091
Odd bird.
339
00:18:37,126 --> 00:18:39,260
Dropped out of sight
a while back.
340
00:18:39,294 --> 00:18:42,396
some squabble over Hooke
and his discovery about light.
341
00:18:42,431 --> 00:18:43,965
Went completely
to pieces over it
342
00:18:43,999 --> 00:18:46,534
and has been hiding out
in Cambridge ever since.
343
00:18:46,568 --> 00:18:49,570
Halley wondered if this strange,
and by all accounts,
344
00:18:49,605 --> 00:18:52,206
exceedingly difficult man,
might succeed
345
00:18:52,241 --> 00:18:53,808
where Hooke and others
had failed.
346
00:18:53,842 --> 00:18:55,376
What he couldn't know,
347
00:18:55,410 --> 00:18:58,379
what no one could possibly
imagine at the time,
348
00:18:58,413 --> 00:18:59,914
were the countless ways
349
00:18:59,948 --> 00:19:03,217
the world would be forever
changed by this meeting
350
00:19:03,252 --> 00:19:05,686
on an August day in 1684.
351
00:19:11,123 --> 00:19:13,725
Isaac Newton
was born in England
352
00:19:13,759 --> 00:19:16,027
on Christmas Day in 1642.
353
00:19:17,963 --> 00:19:21,900
Before he even opened his eyes,
his father was already dead.
354
00:19:23,936 --> 00:19:26,838
His mother left him
when he was only three
355
00:19:26,872 --> 00:19:29,941
and did not return
until he was 11.
356
00:19:29,975 --> 00:19:33,745
When she did, it was
with a new family and husband,
357
00:19:33,779 --> 00:19:36,381
a stepfather
who Isaac Newton despised.
358
00:19:41,587 --> 00:19:44,789
Newton's refuge
from his miserable family life
359
00:19:44,824 --> 00:19:48,626
was his passion to understand
how things worked,
360
00:19:48,661 --> 00:19:51,696
especially nature itself.
361
00:19:51,730 --> 00:19:55,433
In 1661, the talented young
Isaac entered Trinity College
362
00:19:55,468 --> 00:19:57,569
at Cambridge University
363
00:19:57,603 --> 00:20:00,238
where he was a consistently
lousy student,
364
00:20:00,272 --> 00:20:03,074
one without friends
or a loving family
365
00:20:03,109 --> 00:20:05,643
to provide any warmth
or encouragement.
366
00:20:05,678 --> 00:20:09,314
Newton mostly kept to himself,
sequestered in his room,
367
00:20:09,348 --> 00:20:11,816
studying ancient Greek
philosophers,
368
00:20:11,851 --> 00:20:14,119
geometry and languages,
369
00:20:14,153 --> 00:20:15,887
and pondering deep questions
370
00:20:15,921 --> 00:20:20,892
on the nature of matter,
space, time, and motion.
371
00:20:20,926 --> 00:20:25,597
This budding scientist
was also a passionate mystic.
372
00:20:25,631 --> 00:20:27,298
Newton believed
that a secret knowledge
373
00:20:27,333 --> 00:20:29,634
called alchemy,
known only to a small group
374
00:20:29,668 --> 00:20:33,671
of ancient philosophers,
was waiting to be rediscovered.
375
00:20:33,706 --> 00:20:37,342
He hoped to learn how
to change ordinary metals
376
00:20:37,376 --> 00:20:38,977
into silver and gold,
377
00:20:39,011 --> 00:20:41,846
and maybe even cook up
the elixir of life,
378
00:20:41,881 --> 00:20:44,015
the key to to immortality.
379
00:20:45,017 --> 00:20:47,919
He was also obsessed
380
00:20:47,953 --> 00:20:51,156
with finding hidden messages
in the words of the Bible.
381
00:20:51,190 --> 00:20:55,493
He combed through translations
in several different languages,
382
00:20:55,528 --> 00:20:58,797
hoping to decipher coded
instructions from God.
383
00:21:05,004 --> 00:21:07,205
He made elaborate calculations
in an effort
384
00:21:07,239 --> 00:21:11,609
to discover the date
of the Second Coming.
385
00:21:11,644 --> 00:21:13,511
His lifelong research
in alchemy
386
00:21:13,546 --> 00:21:16,681
and biblical chronology
never led anywhere.
387
00:21:21,353 --> 00:21:24,189
When Halley found Newton
that fateful day,
388
00:21:24,223 --> 00:21:28,526
he was living
as a virtual recluse.
389
00:21:31,163 --> 00:21:34,065
Newton had gone into hiding
13 years earlier,
390
00:21:34,100 --> 00:21:38,737
after Robert Hooke had publicly
accused Newton of stealing
391
00:21:38,771 --> 00:21:40,972
his groundbreaking work
on light and color.
392
00:21:41,006 --> 00:21:44,008
In fact, it was Isaac Newton
393
00:21:44,043 --> 00:21:45,877
who solved the mystery
of the spectrum of light,
394
00:21:45,911 --> 00:21:48,680
not Robert Hooke.
395
00:21:48,714 --> 00:21:50,849
This wound was painful
and deep,
396
00:21:50,883 --> 00:21:53,651
and Newton resolved to never
expose himself to that kind
397
00:21:53,686 --> 00:21:55,320
of public humiliation
ever again.
398
00:21:55,354 --> 00:21:58,356
Sir, I don't suppose you recall
399
00:21:58,390 --> 00:22:00,392
our meeting a few years ago?
400
00:22:00,426 --> 00:22:02,360
Yes, Mr. Halley.
401
00:22:02,394 --> 00:22:03,895
I'm sorry to bother you.
402
00:22:03,929 --> 00:22:06,765
Never mind the formalities,
get to your point.
403
00:22:06,799 --> 00:22:10,034
I've been talking with our
friends, Mr. Wren and Mr. Hooke.
404
00:22:10,069 --> 00:22:13,037
That scoundrel Hooke's
no friend of mine.
405
00:22:13,072 --> 00:22:14,839
Yes, I understand, sir.
406
00:22:14,874 --> 00:22:16,875
But the thing is
we've been debating
407
00:22:16,909 --> 00:22:19,778
the puzzling question
of planetary motion.
408
00:22:19,812 --> 00:22:21,679
We all agree that
some force of attraction
409
00:22:21,714 --> 00:22:24,382
from the Sun governs
the motions of the planets.
410
00:22:24,417 --> 00:22:27,352
We suspect there must be
a mathematical law
411
00:22:27,386 --> 00:22:29,020
to describe how this force
412
00:22:29,054 --> 00:22:31,523
changes with distance.
413
00:22:31,557 --> 00:22:32,857
And knowing of your skill...
414
00:22:32,892 --> 00:22:34,192
Yes, yes,
the attraction of gravity
415
00:22:34,226 --> 00:22:36,428
weakens with the square
of the distance.
416
00:22:36,462 --> 00:22:39,030
That's why the planets
move in ellipses.
417
00:22:39,064 --> 00:22:41,633
But, sir, how can you know this?
418
00:22:41,667 --> 00:22:44,569
Why, I have calculated it
some five years ago.
419
00:22:44,603 --> 00:22:47,472
I beg you, show it to me.
420
00:22:47,506 --> 00:22:48,873
The calculation is here...
421
00:22:48,908 --> 00:22:50,875
somewhere.
422
00:22:50,910 --> 00:22:52,110
Well, no matter.
423
00:22:52,144 --> 00:22:53,578
I shall redo it and be sure
424
00:22:53,612 --> 00:22:54,646
to send it on to you.
425
00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:56,114
This is stupendous!
426
00:22:56,148 --> 00:22:58,416
Why have we not
had word of it before?
427
00:22:58,451 --> 00:23:00,251
Newton remembered all too well
428
00:23:00,286 --> 00:23:03,288
what Hooke had done to him
429
00:23:03,322 --> 00:23:05,957
the last time
he put forth an idea.
430
00:23:05,991 --> 00:23:08,059
Just when Halley
may have begun to wonder
431
00:23:08,094 --> 00:23:11,229
if Newton was bluffing
as Hooke had done earlier,
432
00:23:11,263 --> 00:23:15,100
a messenger arrived
with an envelope from Newton.
433
00:23:18,003 --> 00:23:21,773
Here are the opening pages
of modern science
434
00:23:21,807 --> 00:23:25,076
with its all-embracing
vision of nature...
435
00:23:25,111 --> 00:23:28,847
universal laws
of motion, gravity...
436
00:23:28,881 --> 00:23:30,482
not just for the Earth,
437
00:23:30,516 --> 00:23:33,451
but for the cosmos.
438
00:23:33,486 --> 00:23:36,755
Halley raced back to Cambridge.
439
00:23:36,789 --> 00:23:39,824
Mr. Newton, I beseech you
to work all of this
440
00:23:39,859 --> 00:23:42,427
into a book
as soon as possible.
441
00:23:42,461 --> 00:23:45,930
I can assure you the Royal
Society will publish it.
442
00:23:45,965 --> 00:23:47,799
But there was
one little problem.
443
00:23:47,833 --> 00:23:50,268
We are in agreement
444
00:23:50,302 --> 00:23:53,438
that Mr. Newton has produced
a masterpiece.
445
00:23:53,472 --> 00:23:57,108
However, I'm afraid
the Royal Society has...
446
00:23:57,143 --> 00:24:01,045
well, regrettably sales
for the History of Fish...
447
00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:04,983
have not lived up
to our financial expectations.
448
00:24:05,017 --> 00:24:07,819
It's an impressive book.
449
00:24:07,853 --> 00:24:09,721
Extremely comprehensive.
450
00:24:09,755 --> 00:24:11,523
Really.
451
00:24:11,557 --> 00:24:15,060
It's filled with lavish
illustrations of...
452
00:24:15,094 --> 00:24:18,530
well, fish.
453
00:24:18,564 --> 00:24:20,965
The disappointing sales led
to a bigger problem.
454
00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:23,501
The Royal Society
pretty much blew
455
00:24:23,536 --> 00:24:26,504
its total annual budget
on the History of Fish.
456
00:24:26,539 --> 00:24:29,240
In fact, they were
so strapped for cash,
457
00:24:29,275 --> 00:24:31,676
they had to pay
poor Halley's salary
458
00:24:31,710 --> 00:24:34,379
with copies
of their worst-selling book.
459
00:24:34,413 --> 00:24:37,582
With no money to print
Newton's Principia,
460
00:24:37,616 --> 00:24:40,718
the scientific revolution
hung in the balance.
461
00:24:43,219 --> 00:24:45,113
Without Halley's heroic efforts,
462
00:24:45,190 --> 00:24:47,257
the reclusive Newton's
masterwork
463
00:24:47,343 --> 00:24:49,364
might never have seen
the light of day.
464
00:24:49,707 --> 00:24:51,907
But Halley was
a man on a mission,
465
00:24:51,909 --> 00:24:55,511
absolutely determined to bring
Newton's genius to the world.
466
00:24:55,513 --> 00:24:58,080
That pre-scientific world,
467
00:24:58,082 --> 00:25:00,549
the world ruled by fear,
468
00:25:00,551 --> 00:25:03,686
was poised at the edge
of a revolution.
469
00:25:03,688 --> 00:25:07,056
Everything depended
on whether or not Edmond Halley
470
00:25:07,058 --> 00:25:10,059
could get Newton's book out
to the wider world.
471
00:25:10,061 --> 00:25:12,861
Halley resolved not only
to edit Newton's book,
472
00:25:12,863 --> 00:25:15,864
but to publish it
at his own expense.
473
00:25:15,866 --> 00:25:17,766
Newton completed
the first two volumes,
474
00:25:17,768 --> 00:25:19,968
laying the mathematical
framework
475
00:25:19,970 --> 00:25:22,538
for the physics of motion.
476
00:25:22,540 --> 00:25:25,574
The third volume
would settle once and for all
477
00:25:25,576 --> 00:25:27,443
who won the coffeehouse wager.
478
00:25:27,445 --> 00:25:29,712
Newton applied
his principles to explain
479
00:25:29,714 --> 00:25:31,847
all the known motions
of the Earth,
480
00:25:31,849 --> 00:25:34,216
the Moon and the planets.
481
00:25:34,218 --> 00:25:37,186
Unfortunately,
there was this problem.
482
00:25:37,220 --> 00:25:39,021
Now Halley also took on the role
483
00:25:39,055 --> 00:25:41,957
of Newton's psychotherapist.
484
00:25:41,992 --> 00:25:45,327
Isaac, I'm afraid
that Mr. Hooke requires
485
00:25:45,362 --> 00:25:48,664
an acknowledgment in the preface
of your third volume.
486
00:25:48,698 --> 00:25:49,998
But I have done so.
487
00:25:50,033 --> 00:25:52,134
Thanking him,
Mr. Wren and yourself
488
00:25:52,168 --> 00:25:55,237
for prodding me to think again
on astronomical matters.
489
00:25:55,271 --> 00:25:58,474
Mr. Hooke has been going
about London saying
490
00:25:58,508 --> 00:26:00,976
that you got
the Law of Gravity from him.
491
00:26:01,011 --> 00:26:02,578
Why, that litigious little...
492
00:26:02,612 --> 00:26:03,912
Never!
493
00:26:03,947 --> 00:26:05,748
I would sooner
burn the third volume
494
00:26:05,782 --> 00:26:07,750
than deface it with such a lie.
495
00:26:07,784 --> 00:26:09,218
To hell with Hooke.
496
00:26:09,252 --> 00:26:10,552
He will be long forgotten
497
00:26:10,587 --> 00:26:12,888
when your ideas
are still being celebrated.
498
00:26:14,758 --> 00:26:18,827
More copies of
that dreadful book?
499
00:26:18,862 --> 00:26:21,563
Wherever shall we put them all?
500
00:26:21,598 --> 00:26:23,098
We talked about this,
Mary, dear.
501
00:26:23,133 --> 00:26:25,768
This is my salary
from the Society.
502
00:26:25,802 --> 00:26:28,570
They have nothing else
with which to pay me.
503
00:26:28,605 --> 00:26:30,839
If only Mr. Hooke
and Mr. Newton
504
00:26:30,874 --> 00:26:32,875
were more like you.
505
00:26:32,909 --> 00:26:34,877
Halley and Wren
decided to confront Hooke
506
00:26:34,911 --> 00:26:36,545
about his false claims.
507
00:26:36,579 --> 00:26:39,181
That law is mine, I tell you!
508
00:26:39,215 --> 00:26:40,549
I proved it first.
509
00:26:40,583 --> 00:26:42,384
Then fetch your proof here
at once.
510
00:26:42,419 --> 00:26:43,619
Let us see it.
511
00:26:43,653 --> 00:26:47,222
Surely we have waited
on it long enough.
512
00:26:47,257 --> 00:26:50,359
You'll simply have to
take my word for it.
513
00:26:50,393 --> 00:26:52,761
Empty claims
may persuade elsewhere,
514
00:26:52,796 --> 00:26:54,963
but not here.
515
00:26:54,998 --> 00:26:57,599
Put up or shut up, Mr. Hooke.
516
00:26:59,002 --> 00:27:01,136
Blasted Newton.
I'll make him pay.
517
00:27:16,653 --> 00:27:20,088
If it wasn't for Edmond Halley,
518
00:27:20,123 --> 00:27:22,257
Newton's great book would've
never been conceived,
519
00:27:22,292 --> 00:27:24,793
nor written, nor printed.
520
00:27:24,827 --> 00:27:27,095
Okay. So what?
521
00:27:27,130 --> 00:27:29,264
What difference does
that make to us?
522
00:27:29,299 --> 00:27:32,067
What's the big deal?
523
00:27:37,340 --> 00:27:40,475
When Isaac Newton was born
in this house
524
00:27:40,510 --> 00:27:44,146
in 1642,
the world was very different.
525
00:27:44,180 --> 00:27:46,381
Everyone looked
at the perfection
526
00:27:46,416 --> 00:27:49,051
of the clockwork motions
of the planets in the sky
527
00:27:49,085 --> 00:27:50,986
and could only understand it
as the work
528
00:27:51,020 --> 00:27:52,654
of a master clock maker.
529
00:27:52,689 --> 00:27:54,756
How else to explain it?
530
00:27:54,791 --> 00:27:57,125
There was only one way
such a thing could come about
531
00:27:57,160 --> 00:27:58,593
in their imagination;
532
00:27:58,628 --> 00:28:00,629
only one answer for them--
533
00:28:00,663 --> 00:28:02,097
God.
534
00:28:02,131 --> 00:28:04,399
For reasons beyond
our understanding,
535
00:28:04,434 --> 00:28:06,969
God just created
the solar system that way.
536
00:28:07,003 --> 00:28:09,938
But this explanation is
the closing of a door.
537
00:28:09,973 --> 00:28:13,508
It doesn't lead
to other questions.
538
00:28:23,653 --> 00:28:24,953
Along came Newton,
539
00:28:24,988 --> 00:28:28,090
a God-loving man
who's also a genius.
540
00:28:28,124 --> 00:28:30,258
He could write
the laws of nature
541
00:28:30,293 --> 00:28:32,694
in perfect
mathematical sentences--
542
00:28:32,729 --> 00:28:35,163
formulas
that applied universally
543
00:28:35,198 --> 00:28:38,133
to apples, moons, planets
544
00:28:38,167 --> 00:28:40,335
and so much more.
545
00:28:42,372 --> 00:28:45,207
With one foot still
in the Middle Ages,
546
00:28:45,241 --> 00:28:48,477
Isaac Newton imagined
the whole solar system.
547
00:28:48,511 --> 00:28:50,846
Newton's laws of gravity
and motion
548
00:28:50,880 --> 00:28:54,716
revealed how the Sun held
distant worlds captive.
549
00:28:54,751 --> 00:28:56,885
His laws swept away the need
550
00:28:56,919 --> 00:28:58,520
for a master clock maker
551
00:28:58,554 --> 00:29:01,990
to explain the precision
and beauty of the solar system.
552
00:29:02,025 --> 00:29:05,227
Gravity is the clock maker.
553
00:29:05,261 --> 00:29:08,630
Matter obeyed commandments
we could discover,
554
00:29:08,665 --> 00:29:11,233
laws the Bible hadn't mentioned.
555
00:29:11,267 --> 00:29:14,236
Newton's answer to why the
solar system is the way it is
556
00:29:14,270 --> 00:29:17,806
opened the way to an infinite
number of questions.
557
00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:19,841
Principia also happened
to include
558
00:29:19,876 --> 00:29:21,843
the invention of calculus,
559
00:29:21,878 --> 00:29:24,479
and the first
sound theoretical basis
560
00:29:24,514 --> 00:29:26,982
for an end to our imprisonment
on Earth--
561
00:29:27,016 --> 00:29:29,184
space travel.
562
00:29:32,588 --> 00:29:35,257
Newton envisioned
the firing of a cannonball...
563
00:29:37,060 --> 00:29:39,561
with increasingly greater
explosive thrust.
564
00:29:42,031 --> 00:29:45,400
He reasoned
that with enough velocity,
565
00:29:45,435 --> 00:29:48,003
the bounds of gravity
could be broken,
566
00:29:48,037 --> 00:29:49,938
and the cannonball could escape
567
00:29:49,973 --> 00:29:52,274
to orbit the Earth.
568
00:29:52,308 --> 00:29:55,410
This changed everything.
569
00:30:57,340 --> 00:31:01,910
Newton's Principia Mathematica
set us free in another way.
570
00:31:01,945 --> 00:31:03,812
By finding the natural laws
571
00:31:03,846 --> 00:31:06,615
governing the comings
and goings of comets,
572
00:31:06,649 --> 00:31:08,750
he decoupled the motions
of the heavens
573
00:31:08,785 --> 00:31:12,521
from their ancient connections
to our fears.
574
00:31:15,084 --> 00:31:18,360
If Halley hadn't been standing
next to Newton for all those years,
575
00:31:18,395 --> 00:31:23,402
perhaps the world would remember him
for his own accomplishments and discoveries.
576
00:31:23,437 --> 00:31:26,539
But the only thing that comes
to mind for most people
577
00:31:26,574 --> 00:31:31,023
is the comet,
the irony is that discovering a comet
578
00:31:31,058 --> 00:31:34,941
is actually one of the
few things that Halley never did.
579
00:31:39,966 --> 00:31:42,588
An ice to starboard
580
00:31:42,623 --> 00:31:44,404
Come About..
581
00:31:47,619 --> 00:31:50,230
After the publication
of the Principia
582
00:31:50,265 --> 00:31:54,117
Halley was commanded by
his king to lead three ocean voyages,
583
00:31:54,152 --> 00:31:58,687
scientific expeditions to solve
navigational problems for the British navy.
584
00:31:58,722 --> 00:32:04,353
Halley used this opportunity to make
the first map of the Earth's magnetic field
585
00:32:08,114 --> 00:32:10,983
And he was also a businessman.
586
00:32:13,086 --> 00:32:15,888
Halley perfected
the diving bell...
587
00:32:17,424 --> 00:32:19,525
...and used his invention
to start
588
00:32:19,559 --> 00:32:22,628
a flourishing commercial
salvage operation.
589
00:32:26,900 --> 00:32:29,068
Mmm, ah, Dr. Halley's gone
and done it this time.
590
00:32:29,102 --> 00:32:32,304
I reckon he's been down
there at least three hours.
591
00:32:32,338 --> 00:32:35,040
Not one to
risk the lives of others,
592
00:32:35,075 --> 00:32:38,477
Halley personally tested
his own invention.
593
00:32:42,115 --> 00:32:45,617
I make it exactly four hours
since our descent.
594
00:32:45,652 --> 00:32:47,753
Not at all bad for ten fathoms.
595
00:32:53,093 --> 00:32:55,027
He invented the weather map.
596
00:32:57,797 --> 00:33:01,333
And the symbols he devised
for indicating prevailing winds
597
00:33:01,367 --> 00:33:03,802
are still in use today.
598
00:33:13,513 --> 00:33:16,148
Halley laid the groundwork
599
00:33:16,182 --> 00:33:18,250
for the science
of population statistics.
600
00:33:18,284 --> 00:33:19,585
How?
601
00:33:19,619 --> 00:33:22,588
He compared the birth,
marriage, death,
602
00:33:22,622 --> 00:33:25,491
and population densities
of London and Paris.
603
00:33:25,525 --> 00:33:27,793
He actually had to pace off
604
00:33:27,827 --> 00:33:28,961
the entire perimeter
of Paris, on foot,
605
00:33:28,995 --> 00:33:31,196
to learn its true dimensions.
606
00:33:31,231 --> 00:33:32,598
He came to the conclusion
607
00:33:32,632 --> 00:33:34,333
that since roughly half
of all adults fail
608
00:33:34,367 --> 00:33:35,801
to reproduce children,
609
00:33:35,835 --> 00:33:37,803
who themselves survive
to reproduce,
610
00:33:37,837 --> 00:33:40,706
every married couple must have
four children
611
00:33:40,740 --> 00:33:43,208
in order to maintain
the population.
612
00:33:46,212 --> 00:33:48,814
And it was Edmond Halley
who gave us
613
00:33:48,848 --> 00:33:50,449
the actual scale
of the solar system.
614
00:33:50,483 --> 00:33:53,018
He figured out a clever way
to find the distance
615
00:33:53,053 --> 00:33:54,553
from Earth to the Sun.
616
00:33:54,587 --> 00:33:56,822
It involved precisely measuring
the time it took
617
00:33:56,856 --> 00:34:00,192
for the planet Venus
to cross the Sun's disc.
618
00:34:03,163 --> 00:34:05,964
27 years after Halley's death,
619
00:34:05,999 --> 00:34:09,334
Captain James Cook made
his first voyage to Tahiti
620
00:34:09,369 --> 00:34:11,904
for the express purpose
of testing Halley's method
621
00:34:11,938 --> 00:34:14,506
during a transit of Venus
across the Sun.
622
00:34:14,541 --> 00:34:16,909
Using a special filter
to protect his vision
623
00:34:16,943 --> 00:34:20,079
from being destroyed
by looking directly at the Sun,
624
00:34:20,113 --> 00:34:22,815
Cook and his men made it
possible for us to know
625
00:34:22,849 --> 00:34:27,152
that the Sun
is 93 million miles from Earth.
626
00:34:27,187 --> 00:34:29,555
And Halley was the first
to realize
627
00:34:29,589 --> 00:34:33,425
that the so-called "fixed" stars
were not fixed at all.
628
00:34:33,460 --> 00:34:35,227
How'd he do it?
629
00:34:35,261 --> 00:34:37,830
He pored over
the observations made
630
00:34:37,864 --> 00:34:40,499
by the ancient Greek astronomers
of the brightest stars.
631
00:34:40,533 --> 00:34:43,235
And he compared their
observations with the ones
632
00:34:43,269 --> 00:34:47,272
he himself made of the same
stars 1,800 years later.
633
00:34:47,307 --> 00:34:49,541
Why hadn't anyone noticed
this before?
634
00:34:49,576 --> 00:34:52,544
Halley figured out that it would
only become apparent
635
00:34:52,579 --> 00:34:55,681
if you waited long enough
between observations.
636
00:34:55,715 --> 00:34:58,217
It's hard to perceive
the motions of things
637
00:34:58,251 --> 00:34:59,551
that are far away.
638
00:34:59,586 --> 00:35:02,254
And the stars
are so very far away,
639
00:35:02,288 --> 00:35:04,590
that you would need
to track them for many centuries
640
00:35:04,624 --> 00:35:07,960
before you could detect
that they moved at all.
641
00:35:09,896 --> 00:35:13,532
Halley discovered the first
clue to a magnificent reality,
642
00:35:13,566 --> 00:35:17,970
all the stars are in motion,
streaming past each other,
643
00:35:18,004 --> 00:35:20,639
rising and falling like
merry-go-round horses
644
00:35:20,673 --> 00:35:26,412
in their Newtonian dance around
the center of our galaxy.
645
00:35:26,446 --> 00:35:30,649
And, oh, yes, there was that
thing about the comet.
646
00:35:34,421 --> 00:35:37,890
What were those strange and
beautiful celestial visitors
647
00:35:37,924 --> 00:35:40,492
that appeared without warning
from time to time?
648
00:35:40,527 --> 00:35:44,596
Halley set out to solve this
mystery as a detective would,
649
00:35:44,631 --> 00:35:46,932
by gathering all credible
eyewitness testimony.
650
00:35:46,966 --> 00:35:49,501
The earliest precise
observations of a comet
651
00:35:49,536 --> 00:35:52,404
that Halley could find
were made in Constantinople
652
00:35:52,439 --> 00:35:56,742
by Nikephoros Gregoras,
a Byzantine astronomer and monk
653
00:35:56,776 --> 00:35:59,011
in June 1337.
654
00:35:59,045 --> 00:36:02,314
Halley hunted down
every astronomical observation
655
00:36:02,348 --> 00:36:08,187
of a comet recorded in Europe
between 1472 and 1698.
656
00:36:08,221 --> 00:36:11,290
And remember,
there was no such thing
657
00:36:11,324 --> 00:36:13,125
as a search engine
or a computer.
658
00:36:13,159 --> 00:36:16,362
All Halley had
were his books and his mind.
659
00:36:16,396 --> 00:36:18,197
Now here comes the hard part,
660
00:36:18,231 --> 00:36:21,200
Halley had to take the
observations made for each comet
661
00:36:21,234 --> 00:36:25,337
and find the shape of its
actual path through space.
662
00:36:25,372 --> 00:36:27,439
No one else but Newton
had yet attempted
663
00:36:27,474 --> 00:36:30,776
to apply his new set of laws
to an astronomical question.
664
00:36:30,810 --> 00:36:34,113
In an arduous tour de force
of mathematical brilliance,
665
00:36:34,147 --> 00:36:38,484
Halley discovered that comets
were bound to the Sun
666
00:36:38,518 --> 00:36:40,753
in long elliptical orbits.
667
00:36:44,557 --> 00:36:49,194
And he was the first to know
that the comets seen in 1531,
668
00:36:49,229 --> 00:36:55,067
1607, and 1682...
669
00:36:55,101 --> 00:36:57,069
were one and the same--
670
00:36:57,103 --> 00:37:00,305
a single comet that returned
every 76 years.
671
00:37:00,340 --> 00:37:03,675
In a stunning example
of true pattern recognition,
672
00:37:03,710 --> 00:37:06,678
he predicted
it would be seen again
673
00:37:06,713 --> 00:37:08,881
more than 50 years
in the future.
674
00:37:10,583 --> 00:37:13,652
For millennia, comets had been
props for mystics,
675
00:37:13,686 --> 00:37:18,257
who considered them to be
merely omens of human events.
676
00:37:18,291 --> 00:37:20,059
Halley shattered their monopoly,
677
00:37:20,093 --> 00:37:22,528
beating them at their own game,
678
00:37:22,562 --> 00:37:26,198
a game that no scientist
had ever played before...
679
00:37:26,232 --> 00:37:27,900
prophecy.
680
00:37:27,934 --> 00:37:30,235
And he did not hedge his bet.
681
00:37:30,270 --> 00:37:31,837
Like Babe Ruth predicting
682
00:37:31,871 --> 00:37:34,673
where his next home run
would land in the stands,
683
00:37:34,708 --> 00:37:37,609
Halley stated flatly
that the comet would return
684
00:37:37,644 --> 00:37:42,214
at the end of 1758, from
a particular part of the sky,
685
00:37:42,248 --> 00:37:44,516
following a specific path.
686
00:37:44,551 --> 00:37:47,286
There is hardly a prophecy
attempted by the mystics
687
00:37:47,320 --> 00:37:50,456
that ever even strives
for comparable precision.
688
00:38:08,568 --> 00:38:10,603
That's Halley's Comet.
689
00:38:10,637 --> 00:38:13,038
Out here at the edge
of the solar system,
690
00:38:13,073 --> 00:38:14,440
it doesn't look like much.
691
00:38:14,474 --> 00:38:17,943
Just a big hunk of ice
and rock in space.
692
00:38:17,978 --> 00:38:19,979
That's because beyond
the orbit of Neptune,
693
00:38:20,013 --> 00:38:22,481
nearly five billion kilometers
from the Sun,
694
00:38:22,515 --> 00:38:24,984
comets lead very quiet lives.
695
00:38:27,487 --> 00:38:30,756
As it reaches the far end
of its orbit,
696
00:38:30,790 --> 00:38:33,759
it'll slow down till the Sun
allows it to go no farther.
697
00:38:33,793 --> 00:38:38,464
Then it will begin its long fall
back to the inner solar system.
698
00:38:38,498 --> 00:38:42,101
Halley's comet is in free fall
around the Sun.
699
00:38:42,135 --> 00:38:45,471
Everything in our solar system--
the Earth, the Moon,
700
00:38:45,505 --> 00:38:47,573
the other planets, comets,
asteroids,
701
00:38:47,607 --> 00:38:50,809
all of them are falling
around the Sun.
702
00:38:50,844 --> 00:38:53,846
Gravity pulls the planets
towards the Sun,
703
00:38:53,880 --> 00:38:55,781
but because of
their orbital momentum,
704
00:38:55,815 --> 00:38:59,818
they keep moving around the Sun,
never falling into it.
705
00:39:03,823 --> 00:39:05,958
Robert Hooke had died
years before,
706
00:39:05,992 --> 00:39:08,761
having ruined his health
with some bad habits...
707
00:39:08,795 --> 00:39:12,798
daily doses of wormwood,
opium, mercury.
708
00:39:12,832 --> 00:39:15,968
A few months later, Newton was
elected to replace him
709
00:39:16,002 --> 00:39:18,204
as president
of the Royal Society.
710
00:39:18,238 --> 00:39:20,973
It is said
that a portrait of Hooke
711
00:39:21,007 --> 00:39:23,776
once hung on these walls.
712
00:39:23,810 --> 00:39:28,314
Halley lived on to accomplish
many more astonishing feats.
713
00:39:28,348 --> 00:39:32,985
He worked right up
to his death at age 85.
714
00:39:33,019 --> 00:39:36,522
His final act was to call
for a glass of wine.
715
00:39:36,556 --> 00:39:38,891
He downed it with pleasure...
716
00:39:38,925 --> 00:39:41,060
and breathed his last breath.
717
00:39:46,199 --> 00:39:50,169
Some believe that it was
on a night like this
718
00:39:50,203 --> 00:39:53,172
that Isaac Newton finally
took his revenge
719
00:39:53,206 --> 00:39:55,040
against Robert Hooke.
720
00:40:09,589 --> 00:40:12,057
But Halley's prophecy
was not forgotten.
721
00:40:12,092 --> 00:40:13,659
50 years later,
722
00:40:13,693 --> 00:40:16,328
as the time of the predicted
return approached,
723
00:40:16,363 --> 00:40:18,097
the world's astronomers vied
724
00:40:18,131 --> 00:40:21,000
to be the first
to catch sight of his comet.
725
00:40:21,034 --> 00:40:22,601
They weren't disappointed.
726
00:40:22,636 --> 00:40:26,872
It's been welcomed back
every 76 years since.
727
00:40:26,907 --> 00:40:30,276
When Halley's Comet returns
to our skies,
728
00:40:30,310 --> 00:40:33,345
sunlight will warm up the ice
on its surface,
729
00:40:33,380 --> 00:40:35,347
once again setting loose
730
00:40:35,382 --> 00:40:39,285
the dust and gases
trapped within.
731
00:40:41,254 --> 00:40:43,722
Halley's Comet most recently
visited our neighborhood
732
00:40:43,757 --> 00:40:46,592
back in 1986.
733
00:40:46,626 --> 00:40:49,695
And if you're
seeing this in 2061,
734
00:40:49,729 --> 00:40:51,664
then you'll know it's back.
735
00:40:54,234 --> 00:40:56,068
May you feel the wonder
of all those
736
00:40:56,102 --> 00:40:58,470
who came before you...
737
00:40:58,505 --> 00:41:00,472
and none of the fear.
738
00:41:00,507 --> 00:41:04,109
Newton's laws made it possible
for Edmond Halley
739
00:41:04,144 --> 00:41:06,812
to see some 50 years
into the future
740
00:41:06,846 --> 00:41:09,815
and predict the behavior
of a single comet.
741
00:41:09,849 --> 00:41:13,152
Scientists have been using
these laws ever since,
742
00:41:13,186 --> 00:41:16,055
opening the way to the Moon
743
00:41:16,089 --> 00:41:19,091
and even beyond
our solar system.
744
00:41:19,125 --> 00:41:21,860
The baby in the basket
is learning to walk...
745
00:41:28,335 --> 00:41:30,870
and to know the cosmos.
746
00:41:34,975 --> 00:41:36,308
Which brings me
747
00:41:36,343 --> 00:41:38,077
to one last prophecy.
748
00:41:38,111 --> 00:41:41,247
Using nothing more than
Newton's laws of gravitation,
749
00:41:41,281 --> 00:41:43,949
we astronomers
can confidently predict
750
00:41:43,984 --> 00:41:46,252
that several billion years
from now,
751
00:41:46,286 --> 00:41:48,988
our home galaxy, the Milky Way,
752
00:41:49,022 --> 00:41:53,325
will merge with our neighboring
galaxy Andromeda.
753
00:41:54,895 --> 00:41:57,096
Because the distances
between the stars
754
00:41:57,130 --> 00:41:59,465
are so great
compared to their sizes,
755
00:41:59,499 --> 00:42:02,935
few if any stars in either
galaxy will actually collide.
756
00:42:02,969 --> 00:42:05,871
Any life on the worlds
of that far-off future
757
00:42:05,906 --> 00:42:09,842
should be safe, but they would
be treated to an amazing,
758
00:42:09,876 --> 00:42:13,846
billion-year-long light show...
759
00:42:13,880 --> 00:42:17,516
a dance of
a half a trillion stars...
760
00:42:17,551 --> 00:42:22,054
to music first heard
on one little world
761
00:42:22,088 --> 00:42:26,825
by a man who had
but one true friend.