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CNN Live Sunday
A Look at Albert Einstein
Aired November 17, 2002 - 18:57 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Finally tonight -- Albert Einstein -- and what do you really know about the man? Sure -- he had a head of wild, white hear and arguably the most brilliant and complex mind of the 20th century -- sure, there was that.
Many of his theories are still being taught and sometimes even understood. Well, now we can all find out more about the man behind the mind. CNN's Garrick Utley explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARRICK UTLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is a face that transcends time -- the face of genius, of humor and humanity. Why dose Albert Einstein still speak to us nearly a century after his greatest discoveries? Why is he chosen for a major new exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City?
Even if this simple equation E=mc2 is beyond most of us, we do understand that it changed our world.
MICHAEL SHARA, CURATOR, AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: The reason basically is that the civilization we have today is due to Albert Einstein. With his E=mc2 he gave us the key to understanding nuclear energy, nuclear power plants, bombs, some of the most fundamental things that affect us -- that touch our universe, that touch us -- are due to him.
UTLEY: And he discovered so much more in his writings and calculations. He changed the way science looks at light. He proved that there is no single measure of time -- that it would be possible to time travel into the future in theory and he redefined gravity -- not as some force pulling on us but as the effect of massive objects that warp space and time.
Einstein made most of his world-changing discoveries when he was still in his 20s. By the time he fled Fascism and came to the United States, he was in his 50s and a mega celebrity.
SHARA: If you rolled Madonna and Tiger Woods and George Bush and every great athlete, every great movie star, every great world leader into one -- that was Einstein at the time.
UTLEY: And he used his fame and influence. In this letter to President Roosevelt on the eve of World War II he warned that the Nazis might soon build nuclear weapons and that the United States should do it first, which it did with the first atom bombs. Einstein had developed the theory that led to these ultimate weapons of mass destruction. But as a pacifist and a tireless campaigner for human rights, the public saw a heart and a soul as well as the mind.
The FBI saw a possible security risk. It compiled a file of more than 1,000 pages and proved nothing.
So how will young people of today connect with the genius of the past?
SHARA: It's harder for someone who's 10 or 12 years old today but all I can do to really bring them in is to point at their world and say, "See that laptop that you're using -- that laptop computer? That can be traced back to Einstein. Do you see the sun? We understand why it shines because of Einstein."
UTLEY: Albert Einstein was seen by many as the most important figure of the 20th century, but why stop there? He observed that things like politics, war and our personal lives are for the moment, but an equation, he said, is for eternity.
Garrick Utley, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired November 17, 2002 - 18:57 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Finally tonight -- Albert Einstein -- and what do you really know about the man? Sure -- he had a head of wild, white hear and arguably the most brilliant and complex mind of the 20th century -- sure, there was that.
Many of his theories are still being taught and sometimes even understood. Well, now we can all find out more about the man behind the mind. CNN's Garrick Utley explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARRICK UTLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is a face that transcends time -- the face of genius, of humor and humanity. Why dose Albert Einstein still speak to us nearly a century after his greatest discoveries? Why is he chosen for a major new exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City?
Even if this simple equation E=mc2 is beyond most of us, we do understand that it changed our world.
MICHAEL SHARA, CURATOR, AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: The reason basically is that the civilization we have today is due to Albert Einstein. With his E=mc2 he gave us the key to understanding nuclear energy, nuclear power plants, bombs, some of the most fundamental things that affect us -- that touch our universe, that touch us -- are due to him.
UTLEY: And he discovered so much more in his writings and calculations. He changed the way science looks at light. He proved that there is no single measure of time -- that it would be possible to time travel into the future in theory and he redefined gravity -- not as some force pulling on us but as the effect of massive objects that warp space and time.
Einstein made most of his world-changing discoveries when he was still in his 20s. By the time he fled Fascism and came to the United States, he was in his 50s and a mega celebrity.
SHARA: If you rolled Madonna and Tiger Woods and George Bush and every great athlete, every great movie star, every great world leader into one -- that was Einstein at the time.
UTLEY: And he used his fame and influence. In this letter to President Roosevelt on the eve of World War II he warned that the Nazis might soon build nuclear weapons and that the United States should do it first, which it did with the first atom bombs. Einstein had developed the theory that led to these ultimate weapons of mass destruction. But as a pacifist and a tireless campaigner for human rights, the public saw a heart and a soul as well as the mind.
The FBI saw a possible security risk. It compiled a file of more than 1,000 pages and proved nothing.
So how will young people of today connect with the genius of the past?
SHARA: It's harder for someone who's 10 or 12 years old today but all I can do to really bring them in is to point at their world and say, "See that laptop that you're using -- that laptop computer? That can be traced back to Einstein. Do you see the sun? We understand why it shines because of Einstein."
UTLEY: Albert Einstein was seen by many as the most important figure of the 20th century, but why stop there? He observed that things like politics, war and our personal lives are for the moment, but an equation, he said, is for eternity.
Garrick Utley, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
