BBC Four The Atom (complete)

BBC Atom

In this three-part documentary series, Professor Jim Al-Khalili tells the story of one of the greatest scientific discoveries ever: that the material world is made up of atoms.


1. THE CLASH OF THE TITANS
First Aired: BBC Four Thu 26 Jul, 2007

Author and nuclear physicist Professor Jim Al-Khalili looks at what led to the discovery that everything is made of atoms. The programme looks at how the discovery affected the scientific world including the atomic energy theories of Albert Einstein and Werner Heisenberg and quantum mechanics.

2. THE KEY TO THE COSMOS
First Aired: BBC Four Thu 2 Aug, 2007

Professor Jim Al-Khalili continues his investigation of the atom by looking at radioactivity, the Atom Bomb and the Big Bang, and even why we are here and how we were made. He shows that, in the quest to understand the atom, the mystery of how the entire universe was created became revealed.

3. THE ILLUSION OF REALITY
First Aired: BBC Four Thu 9 Aug, 2007

In the last in the series Professor Jim Al-Khalili explores how studying the atom forced us to rethink the nature of reality itself.

He discovers that there might be parallel universes in which different versions of us exist, finds out that empty space isn't empty at all, and investigates the differences in our perception of the world, the universe and reality.