Was The Universe Made Just For Us?The Principle
Documentary
Documentary
Director: Katheryne Ktee Thomas
Scriptwriter: Rick DeLano
Interviewed: George Ellis, Michio Kaku, Julian Barbour, Lawrence Krauss and Max Tegmark
Stellar Motion Pictures
Rating: No rating but contains detailed scientific information
Running Length: 85 Minutes
Scriptwriter: Rick DeLano
Interviewed: George Ellis, Michio Kaku, Julian Barbour, Lawrence Krauss and Max Tegmark
Stellar Motion Pictures
Rating: No rating but contains detailed scientific information
Running Length: 85 Minutes
So you think planet Earth sits by itself in this universe, merrily rolling through space with neighbor planets Mars and Venus? Then, beyond are a gazillion galaxies with universes inside, so who knows we exist? This documentary, “The Principle” makes the statement that perhaps---just perhaps---Copernicus was wrong. He thought Earth was kind of a minute speck and this idea was in the forefront for centuries. Now, with intricate scientific experiments and equipment, it can be suggested--counter to Copernicus---that Earth IS in a special place, with mathematical evidence that points---really points to Earth. Now what?
Narrated by Kate Mulgrew (“Orange Is The New Black“), the film begins with statements from various personalities and the use of graphics. This gets the audience attention, plus the statement from the late Carl Sagan that “…earth is an insignificant planet in a mediocre solar system, in an average galaxy that is tucked away in space.“ The gauntlet is down. Going from the early Egyptians to Stonehenge and then to Ptolemy (planets did not move uniformly) we head toward Copernicus. He worked with Pope Leo X on updating the Julian Calendar. Then, with Johannes Kepler, it was shown that Earth revolves around the Sun. Heresy---and people were burned at the stake for this in the 16th century. This caused a rift between Church and Science that lasted for centuries
From then, each noted scientist, Newton, Mach, Morley, Lorenz and on to Einstein, added something. The idea of an expanding universe came in 1920 with Hubble and his telescope that showed a red shift, which meant things were moving away from us. In present day, there is dialoguing between scientists such as George Ellis, Michio Kaku, Julian Barbour, Lawrence Krauss and Max Tegmark with information on placing the Earth in the universe. The gentlemen are dynamic speakers.
Now there are two sides to this idea. One is back to Copernicus and the earth is insignificant and the other is that the Earth is centered (proving this with various math intricacies). What would, currently, be the final answer are sub-atomic particles. If is could be proved that there was leftover material from a “Big Bang Theory” that would settle it. The search is on.
I offer these comments from my minuscule place on Earth. The commentary tends to be above the heads of the average person and some terms are not familiar. Infinity is unattainable---and I thought that was self evident. How does this affect space exploration? Not a topic in this documentary, but I thought, worthy of some comment. UFO’s? Not a topic here, though there are a zillion galaxies out there, running away from us, apparently. Will there be a new math field to dissect this? Not mentioned.
So, perhaps, there will be a sequel to “The Principle” to explain this. In the meantime, I found this material interesting, especially Hubble and his telescope which could have had more coverage. As to canceling out one theory in favor of another, not proven in this corner.
Copyright 2015 Marie Asner
