[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:18.71,0:00:20.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As 1905 dawned,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:20.79,0:00:27.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the soon-to-be 26-year-old Albert Einstein\Nfaced life as a failed academic.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:27.37,0:00:30.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Most physicists of the time\Nwould have scoffed at the idea
Dialogue: 0,0:00:30.49,0:00:35.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that this minor civil servant\Ncould have much to contribute to science.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:35.02,0:00:36.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Yet within the following year,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:36.81,0:00:38.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Einstein would publish not one,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:38.93,0:00:40.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not two,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.25,0:00:41.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not three,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:41.42,0:00:45.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but four extraordinary papers,\Neach on a different topic,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:45.58,0:00:51.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that were destined to radically transform\Nour understanding of the universe.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:51.16,0:00:54.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The myth that Einstein\Nhad failed math is just that.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:54.74,0:00:58.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He had mastered calculus on his own\Nby the age of 15
Dialogue: 0,0:00:58.10,0:01:00.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and done well at both\Nhis Munich secondary school
Dialogue: 0,0:01:00.67,0:01:02.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and at the Swiss Polytechnic,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:02.88,0:01:06.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where he studied for\Na math and physics teaching diploma.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:06.31,0:01:09.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But skipping classes to spend\Nmore time in the lab
Dialogue: 0,0:01:09.25,0:01:12.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and neglecting to show proper deference\Nto his professors
Dialogue: 0,0:01:12.23,0:01:15.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,had derailed his intended career path.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:15.64,0:01:18.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Passed over even\Nfor a lab assistant position,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:18.03,0:01:21.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he had to settle for a job\Nat the Swiss patent office,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:21.52,0:01:24.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,obtained with the help\Nof a friend's father.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:24.54,0:01:26.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Working six days a week as a patent clerk,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:26.59,0:01:29.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Einstein still managed to make\Nsome time for physics,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:29.83,0:01:33.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,discussing the latest work\Nwith a few close friends,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.07,0:01:35.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and publishing a couple of minor papers.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:35.64,0:01:37.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It came as a major surprise
Dialogue: 0,0:01:37.15,0:01:42.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when in March 1905 he submitted\Na paper with a shocking hypothesis.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:42.74,0:01:45.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Despite decades of evidence\Nthat light was a wave,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:45.47,0:01:49.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Einstein proposed that it could,\Nin fact, be a particle,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:49.13,0:01:53.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,showing that mysterious phenomena,\Nsuch as the photoelectric effect,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:53.05,0:01:56.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,could be explained by his hypothesis.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:56.10,0:01:58.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The idea was derided for years to come,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:58.34,0:02:01.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but Einstein was simply\Ntwenty years ahead of his time.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.100,0:02:07.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Wave-particle duality was slated to become\Na cornerstone of the quantum revolution.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:07.81,0:02:11.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Two months later in May,\NEinstein submitted a second paper,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:11.05,0:02:16.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this time tackling the centuries old\Nquestion of whether atoms actually exist.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:16.53,0:02:19.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Though certain theories were built on\Nthe idea of invisible atoms,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:19.87,0:02:24.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,some prominent scientists still\Nbelieved them to be a useful fiction,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:24.39,0:02:26.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,rather than actual physical objects.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:26.90,0:02:29.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But Einstein used an ingenious argument,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:29.03,0:02:31.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,showing that the behavior\Nof small particles
Dialogue: 0,0:02:31.27,0:02:35.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,randomly moving around in a liquid,\Nknown as Brownian motion,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:35.37,0:02:37.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,could be precisely predicted
Dialogue: 0,0:02:37.08,0:02:40.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by the collisions of millions\Nof invisible atoms.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:40.42,0:02:43.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Experiments soon confirmed\NEinstein's model,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:43.33,0:02:47.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and atomic skeptics threw in the towel.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:47.01,0:02:49.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The third paper came in June.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:49.94,0:02:51.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For a long time,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:51.01,0:02:53.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Einstein had been troubled\Nby an inconsistency
Dialogue: 0,0:02:53.46,0:02:56.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,between two fundamental\Nprinciples of physics.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:56.30,0:02:58.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The well established\Nprinciple of relativity,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:58.64,0:03:00.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,going all the way back to Galileo,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:00.66,0:03:04.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,stated that absolute motion\Ncould not be defined.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:04.18,0:03:07.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Yet electromagnetic theory,\Nalso well established,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:07.36,0:03:10.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,asserted that absolute motion did exist.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:10.18,0:03:13.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The discrepancy,\Nand his inability to resolve it,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:13.32,0:03:17.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,left Einstein in what he described\Nas a state of psychic tension.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:17.64,0:03:18.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But one day in May,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:18.72,0:03:21.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,after he had mulled over the puzzle\Nwith his friend Michele Besso,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:21.84,0:03:24.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the clouds parted.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:24.02,0:03:26.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Einstein realized\Nthat the contradiction could be resolved
Dialogue: 0,0:03:26.87,0:03:29.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if it was the speed of light\Nthat remained constant,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:29.86,0:03:32.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,regardless of reference frame,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:32.11,0:03:36.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while both time and space\Nwere relative to the observer.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:36.38,0:03:39.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It took Einstein only a few weeks\Nto work out the details
Dialogue: 0,0:03:39.43,0:03:43.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and formulate what came to be known\Nas special relativity.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:43.61,0:03:46.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The theory not only shattered\Nour previous understanding of reality
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.82,0:03:49.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but would also pave the way\Nfor technologies,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:49.19,0:03:51.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,ranging from particle accelerators,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:51.19,0:03:53.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to the global positioning system.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:53.75,0:03:55.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One might think that this was enough,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:55.59,0:03:56.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but in September,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:56.59,0:04:02.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a fourth paper arrived as a "by the way"\Nfollow-up to the special relativity paper.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:02.07,0:04:04.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Einstein had thought a little bit more\Nabout his theory,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:04.93,0:04:08.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and realized it also implied\Nthat mass and energy,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:08.69,0:04:12.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,one apparently solid\Nand the other supposedly ethereal,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:12.48,0:04:15.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,were actually equivalent.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:15.06,0:04:18.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And their relationship could be expressed\Nin what was to become the most famous
Dialogue: 0,0:04:18.93,0:04:21.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and consequential equation in history:
Dialogue: 0,0:04:21.83,0:04:25.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,E=mc^2.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:25.30,0:04:29.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Einstein would not become a world famous\Nicon for nearly another fifteen years.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:29.95,0:04:34.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was only after his later general theory\Nof relativity was confirmed in 1919
Dialogue: 0,0:04:34.80,0:04:38.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by measuring the bending of starlight\Nduring a solar eclipse
Dialogue: 0,0:04:38.52,0:04:41.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that the press would turn him\Ninto a celebrity.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:41.44,0:04:44.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But even if he had disappeared back\Ninto the patent office
Dialogue: 0,0:04:44.59,0:04:47.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and accomplished nothing else after 1905,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:47.74,0:04:50.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,those four papers of his miracle year
Dialogue: 0,0:04:50.05,0:04:55.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,would have remained the gold standard\Nof startling unexpected genius.