Precision: The Measure of All Things
Professor Marcus du Sautoy explores why we are driven to measure and quantify the world around us and why we have reduced the universe to just a handful of fundamental units of measurement.
- 2013-2013
- 1 season
- Documentary
Professor Marcus du Sautoy explores why we are driven to measure and quantify the world around us and why we have reduced the universe to just a handful of fundamental units of measurement.
Season 1 Episode Guide
3 Episodes 2013
Episode 1
Time and Distance
59 mins
Professor Marcus du Sautoy explores measurement by looking at the metre and the second.
Episode 2
Mass and Moles
58 mins
Deep underground in a vault beneath Paris lives the most important lump of metal in the world - Le Grand K. Created in the 19th century, it's the world's master kilogram me, the weight on which every other weight is based. But there is a problem with Le Grand K - it is losing weight. Marcus explores the history of this strange object and the astonishing modern day race to replace it.
Episode 3
Light, Heat and Electricity
58 mins
From lightning bolts and watt engines to electromagnetic waves and single electrons, Professor Marcus du Sautoy continues his journey into the world of measurement as he reveals how we came to measure and harness the power of heat, light and electricity. It's a journey that has involved the greatest minds in science and, today, is getting down to the very building blocks of atoms.