The Conquest of Light

A Brief History of Time(en)

This shows physicist Stephen Hawking's life as he deals with the ALS that renders him immobile and unable to speak without the use of a computer. Hawking's friends, family, classmates, and peers are interviewed not only about his theories but the man himself.

Popular Science J-8-1(en)

A variety of scientific subjects, including the laboratory of a plastic surgeon in London, and his method for applying permanent makeup; a new school for kiddies employing finger paint so they can express their urge to put things on paper; Army aviation, showing the latest development in blind landing. Produced in Cinecolor.

Land of White Alice(en)

Film sponsored by Western Electric (AT&T's equipment manufacturing division), the builder of the United States Air Force's White Alice Communications System in Alaska. Introduces the people and geography of the new state as well as the Western Electric radio-relay system, which links far-flung military sites, alert stations, and missile-warning facilities. Ralph Caplan praised the film's "intrinsically dramatic and highly photogenic" portrayal of communications equipment.

Gravitation - Urkraft des Universums(de)

Polarograf(cs)

Cosmic Voyage(en)

The Academy Award® nominee Cosmic Voyage combines live action with state-of-the-art computer-generated imagery to pinpoint where humans fit in our ever-expanding universe. Highlighting this journey is a "cosmic zoom" based on the powers of 10, extending from the Earth to the largest observable structures in the universe, and then back to the subnuclear realm.

Luminescence(pt)

A thinking about light and how it surrounds our lives.

Root of All Evil?(en)

In this two-part Channel 4 series, Professor Richard Dawkins challenges what he describes as 'a process of non-thinking called faith'. He describes his astonishment that, at the start of the 21st century, religious faith is gaining ground in the face of rational, scientific truth. Science, based on scepticism, investigation and evidence, must continuously test its own concepts and claims. Faith, by definition, defies evidence: it is untested and unshakeable, and is therefore in direct contradiction with science. In addition, though religions preach morality, peace and hope, in fact, says Dawkins, they bring intolerance, violence and destruction. The growth of extreme fundamentalism in so many religions across the world not only endangers humanity but, he argues, is in conflict with the trend over thousands of years of history for humanity to progress to become more enlightened and more tolerant.

Proměny energie(cs)

Testerep(en)

A team of scientists search for the lost island of Testerep in front of the Belgian coast, venturing into artificial landscapes and virtual realities.

Perseverance, une année sur Mars(fr)

The Nervous System(en)

An educational film about the nervous system produced by Encyclopædia Britannica Films, an educational film production company in the 20th century owned by Encyclopædia Britannica Inc.

The Frog(en)

An educational film about frogs produced by Encyclopædia Britannica Films, an educational film production company in the 20th century owned by Encyclopædia Britannica Inc.

Microcosmos(fr)

A documentary of insect life in meadows and ponds, using incredible close-ups, slow motion, and time-lapse photography. It includes bees collecting nectar, ladybugs eating mites, snails mating, spiders wrapping their catch, a scarab beetle relentlessly pushing its ball of dung uphill, endless lines of caterpillars, an underwater spider creating an air bubble to live in, and a mosquito hatching.

WEED(en)

This 1971 color anti-drug use and abuse film was produced by Concept Films and directed by Brian Kellman for Encyclopedia Britannica. “Weed: The Story of Marijuana” combines time-lapse, montage, illustrations, animation (by Paul Fierlinger and emigre Pavel Vošický) and dramatized, documentary-style interviews to survey the evolving role of cannabis in U.S. society, with emphasis on the legal risks faced by young people. A unique score of experimental synthesizer music is provided by Tony Luisi on an EMS VCS 3 “Putney”

The Hunt for Dark Matter(en)

CERN and the University of California-Santa Barbara are collaborating in the search for the elusive substance that physicists and astronomers believe holds the universe together -- dark matter. Where is this search now in the realm of particle physics and what comes next?

Under The Shoreline(en)

With rising sea levels, land reclamation runs rampant in Singapore. Labrador Park is one such waterfront facing this change, and both the ecosystem and frequent fishermen have often been overlooked. This documentary seeks to explore the park's development from a scientific, economic and sociological perspective, produced in collaboration with SOTA and NUS.

Le mystère des reines guerrières d'assyrie(fr)

Exploring the Spectrum(en)

An exciting video journey through the world of time-lapse photography by one of the founders of the science of photobiology, Dr. John Nash Ott. Do fluorescent lights cause cancer and childhood learning and behavior disorders? Can long-term exposure to low-level radiation as from TV sets, computers, fluorescent lights, and similar devices harm you? Does living behind window glass and with glasses covering our eyes over years affect our health? Is natural sunlight and trace ultra-violet radiation really harmful? Or is it necessary and beneficial? How do cells, plants, and animals respond to constant exposure to different light color frequencies? These and similar questions were the subjects of Dr. Ott's pioneering investigations in the field of photobiology, using the methods of time-lapse photography.

Luz de América(es)

From the light that falls on the backyard of his house on the day of the equinox without shadow in Quito, and inspired by the "Theory of colors" of Goethe, the director takes us to several cities in America to reflect on the influence that the light has in the understanding of our surroundings.