Genius by Stephen Hawking

2016
Genius by Stephen Hawking

Seasons & Episodes

  • 1

EP1 Can We Time Travel? May 18, 2016

Stephen Hawking challenges three ordinary people to determine if time travel is possible. The fascinating journey of discovery features DeLoreans, atomic clocks, a giant black hole and a large swath of New York City.

EP2 Are We Alone? May 18, 2016

Professor Stephen Hawking challenges three ordinary people to work out the likelihood of alien life out there in the universe. See why the team has their minds blown in a way they were never expecting.

EP3 Why Are We Here? May 25, 2016

Stephen Hawking gives three ordinary people a truly mind-bending challenge: Can they work out why they exist at all? Hawking takes them down a rabbit hole of profound realizations, helping them think like philosophers as much as scientists.

EP4 Where Did the Universe Come From? May 25, 2016

Stephen Hawking challenges three ordinary people to work out where the universe came from. Hawking leads the trio on an extraordinary journey of discovery featuring racing cars, ice-skaters, balloons and running tracks.

EP5 What Are We? Jun 01, 2016

Stephen Hawking challenges three ordinary people to find out what we really are. Self-assembling machines, light-up bacteria and the world's first physical demonstration of evolution in action conspire to revolutionize their view of life.

EP6 Where Are We? Jun 01, 2016

Stephen Hawking challenges three ordinary people to think like a genius. Can they measure the earth, the solar system and even the universe - and find our true place in the cosmos?
7.7| 0h30m| TV-G| en| More Info
Released: 18 May 2016 Ended
Producted By: Bigger Bang
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: http://www.pbs.org/show/genius-stephen-hawking/
Synopsis

Professor Stephen Hawking challenges a selection of volunteers to think like the greatest geniuses in history and solve some of humanity's most enduring questions.

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Reviews

TxMike I was able to see the first and second episodes on PBS last night. I am a scientist and have always been interested in these subjects. I found them interesting but was a bit put off by the technique used.In each case three "ordinary people" are chosen to solve riddles presented by Hawking (remotely) in an overall effort for him to show that ordinary people can think like a genius. However as the programming moved along and the "ordinary people" began to analyze things in a quick manner to demonstrate the principle involved, it was clear that these "ordinary people" had received lots of coaching. In fact at times it appeared that their discussions might have been scripted.Regardless, the first episode covers "Time Travel", is it possible? In it they conclude that travel back in time is not possible, everything about it would violate the laws of physics. What about travel to a future time? Well that, in theory, is not only possible but happens in practice. Since space and time are "warped" by gravity, people and things nearer massive objects have time slowed down for them thus when they re-join people farther from the massive object they are in "the future" relative to their own time. This was demonstrated by transporting a Cesium atomic clock to the top of a mountain and leaving its exact twin at a lower level. However the change in time, a few nanoseconds per day, is so small the "time travel" could never be noticed. However if one were to travel to the center of our galaxy, about 25,000 light-years away, and orbit the super massive black hole, then return later, they would return to a time some years in the future. Clearly there is no way for a person to travel to a point that far away and, even if they did could not survive the gravity near the black hole.So the only scientific conclusion is "time travel" shall always remain an interesting subject for science fiction but will never be possible for humans.The second episode related to the possibility of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe and includes a discussion of the SETI efforts over the past 30 years or so. A much better program for this is "The Search for Life: The Drake Equation" (2010). In the simplistic approach here Hawking concludes that there must be intelligent life elsewhere because the universe is so vast with so many stars and planets around many of them. However it is also possible that Earth is alone in that. It is a question we will likely never answer because if intelligent life exists elsewhere it is too far away to ever contact them.Edit: I decided to skip the rest of the episodes, they are done in an entertainment style, not really targeted for trained scientists. I don't care for the "three ordinary people" learning to think like geniuses focus of the series.