The Story of Physics | The Human Odyssey Series

From a falling apple to the fabric of spacetime, how did humanity unravel the rulebook of the universe? This episode of The Human Odyssey takes you on a journey through the most profound revolution in the history of human thought: the story of physics. We begin in the clockwork universe of Isaac Newton, a world of certainty and predictability where the same laws governed the planets and a cannonball. For centuries, it seemed we had solved the puzzle of creation. But as the 19th century closed, cracks began to appear in this perfect edifice. We'll explore the baffling puzzles, like the "ultraviolet catastrophe" and the "photoelectric effect," that classical physics couldn't solve, setting the stage for a radical new understanding. Join us as we witness the two great upheavals of the 20th century. We’ll follow Max Planck and Albert Einstein as they take the "quantum leap," revealing a bizarre subatomic world of probability and uncertainty. Then, we'll journey with Einstein again as he completely rewrites our understanding of space, time, and gravity with his theory of general relativity. Finally, we arrive at the frontier of modern physics—the quest for a unified theory, the "unfinished symphony" that seeks to connect the world of the very large with the world of the very small. This is the story of how our conception of reality was shattered and rebuilt, time and again, by humanity's relentless curiosity. To unlock full access to all our episodes, consider becoming a premium subscriber on Apple Podcasts or Patreon. And don’t forget to visit englishpluspodcast.com for even more content, including articles, in-depth studies, and our brand-new audio series and courses now available in our Patreon Shop!

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