Today, November 25th, the world celebrates 100 years of Einstein's theory of General Relativity. As a fan of science and having Einstein as one of my personal heroes I couldn't let this date pass in vain. After reading several books, biographies and articles about Einsteins contributions to the understanding of our universe, still today it blows my mind to think what he was able to accomplish with just pencil and paper. As he said to one of the Princeton guys when he accepted his post there, he needed just pencil and paper and a lot of eraser.
Einstein's work with the General Relativity allowed us to understand how gravity affects the space-time continuum and gave us a glimpse of how the universe works. The idea of black-holes and that the universe is expanding were all predicted by the genius of his work. As a non-scientist, the movie Interstellar gives a glimpse of Einsteins theory and how it would affect us when traveling to different galaxies.
The space-time continuum is a mathematical model that joins space and time into a single idea. This space-time is represented by a model where space is three-dimensional and time has the role of the fourth dimension.
Another great way to understand more about General Relativity is to check out the video that Eoin Duffy put together to celebrate this important date and to pay homage to Einstein's theory. Check out and you understand why Einstein is for me one of, if not the, brightest mind that ever lived in this little blue dot.
Credits
- JAMIE LOCHHEAD - Writer / Producer
- EOIN DUFFY - Design / Animation
- DAVID TENNANT - Narrator
- WESLEY SLOVER - Sound Design
- ANAÏS RASSAT Writer / Science Outreach / Communication
- A WINDFALL FILMS production for the SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY FACILITIES COUNCIL
Eoin Duffy is an Irish filmmaker now living and working in Vancouver Canada. Eoin has created a body of independent work that has gone on to secure multiple accolades including a dozen major festival wins, 3 Oscar accredited festival wins, a nomination for the upcoming European Film Awards, an IFTA nomination and a shortlisting for the 86th Academy Awards.
