The Mechanical Universe (1985): Besetzung, Handlung & Streaming

Released in 1985, The Mechanical Universe is a dokumentarfilm series.

What it’s about. The Mechanical Universe... And Beyond, is a 52-part telecourse filmed at the California Institute of Technology, and produced by Caltech and INTELECOM Intelligent Telecommunications. The series introduces university level physics, covering topics from Copernicus to quantum mechanics. Produced starting in 1985, the videos make heavy use of historical dramatizations and visual aids to explain physics concepts. The latter were state of the art at the time, incorporating almost 8 hours of computer animation created by computer graphics pioneer Jim Blinn. Each episode opens and closes with a "phantom" lecture by Caltech professor David Goodstein. After more than a quarter century, the series is still often used as a supplemental teaching aid, for its clear explanation of fundamental concepts such as special relativity. The Mechanical Universe lectures are actual freshman physics lectures from Physics 1a and 1b courses at the California Institute of Technology. The room seen in the videos is the Bridge lecture hall. The series can be purchased, or viewed by streaming from the Annenberg website, or can be viewed on other video streaming sites such as YouTube and Google Video.

Who’s in it. The Mechanical Universe stars Chris Tashima as Freefall Rider (segment "Magic Mountain").

How it landed. With an audience score of 8.6/10, The Mechanical Universe sits among the best-reviewed titles in the catalogue.

Where to watch. Streaming options change often. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch The Mechanical Universe page.

If you liked it. Fans of The Mechanical Universe tend to enjoy Unser Kosmos: Die Reise geht weiter, Planet Erde, Planet Erde II: Eine Erde - viele Welten and Vikings.