About Einstein's Big Idea
- Released on October 11, 2005
Over 100 years ago, Albert Einstein grappled with the implications of his revolutionary special theory of relativity and came to a startling conclusion: mass and energy are one, related by the formula E = mc2. In "Einstein's Big Idea," NOVA dramatizes the remarkable story behind this equation. E = mc2 was just one of several extraordinary breakthroughs that Einstein made in 1905, including the completion of his special theory of relativity, his identification of proof that atoms exist, and his explanation of the nature of light, which would win him the Nobel Prize in Physics. Among Einstein's ideas, E = mc2 is by far the most famous. Yet how many people know what it really means? In a thought-provoking and engrossing docudrama, NOVA illuminates this deceptively simple formula by unraveling the story of how it came to be.
Full Cast of Einstein's Big Idea
Aidan McArdle plays Einstein
Anton Lesser plays Voltaire
Andrew Callaway plays Maupertuis
Julian Rhind-Tutt plays Antoine Lavoisier
Shirley Henderson plays Mileva Maric
Ty Glaser plays Marie Anne Lavoisier
Andy Crabbe plays Habicht
Samuel West plays Humphry Davy
Daniel D'Alessandro plays Algarotti
Brendan Fleming plays Hermann Einstein
Gregory Fox-Murphy plays Brande
Philip Herbert plays Count de Amerval
Chris Jenkinson plays Dr. Haller
Wolf Kahler plays Horlein
George Layton plays Emilie’s Father
Alex MacQueen plays Chater
Richard Mulholland plays Emilie’s Tutor
Stephen Noonan plays Marat
Christopher Eccleston plays Narrator (voice)
John Lithgow plays Narrator (voice) U.S. edition
Steven Robertson plays Michael Faraday
Christian Rubeck plays Otto Hahn
Emily Woof plays Lise Meitner
Ian Duncan plays Charles de Breteuil
Crew of Einstein's Big Idea
- Aidan McArdle
- Anton Lesser
- Andrew Callaway
- Julian Rhind-Tutt
- Shirley Henderson
- Ty Glaser
- Andy Crabbe
- Samuel West
- Daniel D'Alessandro
- Brendan Fleming
- Gregory Fox-Murphy
- Philip Herbert
- Chris Jenkinson
- Wolf Kahler
- George Layton
- Alex MacQueen
- Richard Mulholland
- Stephen Noonan
- Christopher Eccleston
- John Lithgow
- Steven Robertson
- Christian Rubeck
- Emily Woof
- Ian Duncan