‎Redefining Reality: The Intellectual Implications of Modern Science - Apple TV

Available on Prime Video

No subject is bigger than reality itself and nothing is more challenging to understand, since what counts as reality has been undergoing continual revision for centuries. The quest to pin down what's real is both philosophical and scientific.

Educational · 2015 · 33 min

Starring Steven Gimbel

EPISODE 1

Metaphysics and the Nature of Science

Start with the metaphysical concept of reality and how it led to a scientific worldview. Then see how the scientific picture of reality changes as theories are refined or overthrown. Explore examples such as the germ theory of disease and philosopher Thomas Kuhn's influential idea of paradigm shifts.

32 min · Jun 1, 2020
EPISODE 2

Defining Reality

Take a step back to define reality as understood by the ancient Greeks. Then work your way forward through revolutionary ideas about reality proposed by Plato, Aristotle, Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, and finally Newton, who inspired the Age of Enlightenment. Close with the Romantic backlash of the 19th century.

32 min · Jun 1, 2020
EPISODE 3

Mathematics in Crisis

The most secure science, mathematics, hit the rocks of uncertainty in the 19th and 20th centuries. Trace the shocking discoveries of non-Euclidean geometries, Cantor's paradoxes of infinite sets, and the incompleteness theorem of Kurt Gödel. See how Alice in Wonderland sheds intriguing light on this new view of reality.

30 min · Jun 1, 2020
EPISODE 4

Special Relativity

Until 1905, physical reality consisted of absolute space, absolute time, and the luminiferous aether. Learn how Einstein's special theory of relativity overthrew this deeply ingrained view and heralded an entirely new conception of reality. Examine how cultural figures such as Kurt Vonnegut drew on this legacy.

30 min · Jun 1, 2020
EPISODE 5

General Relativity

Relativity was incomplete until Einstein formulated a general theory of relativity that incorporated gravity. See how this breakthrough demolished the age-old idea of gravity as a force, replacing it with the concept of warped spacetime, leading to strange predictions such as black holes.

27 min · Jun 1, 2020
EPISODE 6

Big Bang Cosmology

Investigate the underlying reality that governs the universe. Is the universe eternally the same? Or is it changing and unstable? In modern times, this debate culminated in the contest between the steady state theory and the big bang model. Hear how unexpected events led to a spectacular solution.

28 min · Jun 1, 2020

Steven Gimbel

Host