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The Best Episodes of The Elegant Universe

Every episode of The Elegant Universe ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of The Elegant Universe!

Binge this in Unknown•Peaking at 8.3/10

One of the most ambitious and exciting theories ever proposed—one that may be the long-sought "theory of everything," which eluded even Einstein—gets a masterful, lavishly computer-animated explanation from bestselling author-physicist Brian Greene, when NOVA presents

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    The Elegant Universe Season 1 Episode 1 - Einstein's Dream
    8.3/10(66 votes)

    #1 - Einstein's Dream

    S1:E1

    Introduces string theory and shows how modern physics—composed of two theories that are ferociously incompatible—reached its schizophrenic impasse: One theory, general relativity, successfully describes big things like stars and galaxies, while another, quantum mechanics, is equally successful at explaining small things like atoms and subatomic particles. Albert Einstein, the inventor of general relativity, dreamed of finding a single theory that would embrace all of nature's laws. But in this quest for the so-called unified theory, Einstein came up empty-handed, and the conflict between general relativity and quantum mechanics has stymied all who've followed. That is, until the discovery of string theory.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. The Elegant Universe Season 1 Episode 2 - String's the Thing
    8.1/10(58 votes)

    #2 - String's the Thing

    S1:E2

    Opens with a whimsical scene in a movie theater in which the history of the universe runs backwards to the Big Bang, the moment at which general relativity and quantum mechanics both came into play, and therefore the point at which our conventional model of reality breaks down. Then it's string theory to the rescue as Greene describes the steps that led from a forgotten 200-year-old mathematical formula to the first glimmerings of strings—quivering strands of energy whose different vibrations give rise to quarks, electrons, photons, and all other elementary particles.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. The Elegant Universe Season 1 Episode 3 - Welcome to the 11th Dimension
    7.9/10(59 votes)

    #3 - Welcome to the 11th Dimension

    S1:E3

    Edward Witten of Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study, aided by others, revolutionized string theory by successfully uniting the five different versions into a single theory that is cryptically named "M-theory," a development that requires a total of eleven dimensions.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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Best Episodes Summary

"Einstein's Dream" is the best rated episode of "The Elegant Universe". It scored 8.3/10 based on 66 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Unknown, it aired on 10/28/2003. This episode scored 0.2 points higher than the second highest rated, "String's the Thing".