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Mathematics Goes to the Movies
by Burkard Polster and Marty Ross
45:00
We are shown a scene of the movie “Einstein on the Bounty”. Albert
Einstein (Robert Downey Jr.), as the sea captain of a sailing ship, is talking
to his crew, with an active volcano in the background.
EINSTEIN: Whoa! Look at those girls on the beaches. Especially the ones that
aren’t on fire. You know, there’s a lot to learn here. You know
one can contemplate the secrets of time, space, matter, energy, all that bullshit.
Molecules heating, gases expanding, atoms colliding, matter exploding. It’s
just fucking brilliant! Wait, wait, now let’s see. I was on to something
there. E … equals … m … a … no. The volcano erupts.
Jesus Christ! I got it! Time! Space! Matter! Energy! E equals m fucking c squared!
Yeah! At that moment, another ship becomes visible. Oh, shit! Look, it’s
the pirates from the Berlin academy of Physics. They roam the seas looking for
radical physicists with new ideas. Off with their heads! Cut to the fighting.
PIRATE 1: Fuck relativity!
PIRATE 2: Down with new theory!
Einstein is crossing swords with another pirate.
EINSTEIN: E … equals … m … c ... squared … you bad boy!