Einstein's Universe

A documentary produced in 1979 by WGBH and the BBC to celebrate the centenary of the birth of Albert Einstein. Narrated and hosted by Peter Ustinov and written by Nigel Calder, the author of the accompanying book of the same title, the film takes place at the University of Texas' McDonald Observatory where a staff of renowned scientists and physicists take both Ustinov and the viewer through a hands-on experience of the various facets of Einstein's theory of general relativity. 1979 was the 100th anniversary of Einstein's birth, and BBC honours the memory of an extraordinary man in the way he would have wished: by explaining his extraordinary ideas. Astronomers and physicists have confirmed that we do indeed live in Einstein's Universe: time does run faster at 30,000 feet; there is enough energy in a matchstick to lift a mountain; the universe is expanding in the way the equations of relativity predict. In our era of laser beams, atomic clocks, spaceflight and black holes, the principles of relativity can at last be made clear and vivid. Peter Ustinov speaks Einstein's words and imagines; he is a relativistic time-traveller. He also appears as himself, the layman, setting out to understand the bizarre concepts of relativity. Einstein's Universe is set in the lonely ranchlands of Texas, where motorcycles can apparently travel close to the speed of light, changing shape and colour as they illustrate the relativity of motion.