Monday, January 17, 2011

Einstein and Eddington

Does science has national barriers? How come people trapped in faith brought revolution in the arena of science which challenged their own faith? How science is inseparable from the humans who drive it? Does science is internalized or externalized?

The stunning drama “Einstein and Eddington” presents the moments from history to address these questions. It combines conspicuous passion for science with inspiring dramatic elements. The film produced by BBC/HBO reminds us the days of great conflicts in history as well as in science. It was a time of political, social and scientific conflicts which gave rise to a new world of ideas.

The film brings to our notice that “it’s that war isn't always the mother of invention, that war can hold science back and that only by divorcing themselves from the petty constraints of religion, prejudice and politics can true change come”.

Eddington (a true believer of god) was appointed as chief astronomer at Cambridge and was asked to study about the theories of an unknown scientist called Einstein. Eddington was supposed to defend Newtonian status quo and “preserve the order of the universe..!”. Even though he denies Einstein in his presentation, he was not so sure about it. He was confused and tries to know more about Einstein’s works. You can see Eddington who was a nationalist but believed in the course of science was trapped by the ideas of a scientist from an enemy country.

On the other side you can see Einstein who refused to become a nationalist or support imperialist dreams of Germany. He was angry on the climate of Prussian Academy of Science, Berlin where many scientists are doing research for the war machinery. He refused to sign “Manifesto to the civilized world”, a list of prominent German scientists, artists and academics supporting the war. His theory of relativity and general relatively were not just scientific ideas; it were crushing blow to the beliefs of many scientists of the time. At a time when many had to cling to every last remaining scrap of their beliefs, his theories would break it.

The film presents an invisible bond of comradeship between Einstein and Eddington based on their love towards science.

It is one of the best films made about scientific discovery, which maintains a balance between drama and fact, passion and principal and creates a stunning work as a result.

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