I saw this film when I was a kid (and probably so did you). It’s called “Powers of Ten“. It starts with a picnic scene, and zooms out by an order of magnitude every ten seconds. You see the galaxy and a good swath of the universe. Then it’s time to zoom in and see the atoms and quarks that make up cells and skin and picnickers.
When I heard an estimate that the universe contains 10^100 atoms, I thought, “Gee, only ten to the hundredth?” Now I can see how that’s actually quite a lot.
22 October 2006 at 11:22 pm
Another great find!! I saw this when I was about 24 (given our age difference that makes sense!) and I have described it inadequately ever since. It’s great to have access to it at last. Thanks
24 October 2006 at 11:05 pm
I beleive we may have been sitting right next to each other for this one.
25 October 2006 at 1:38 am
Mr Wardian’s class, 5th period!
One time in Jr Hi it worked out so Jeff and I had every class together.
Now I should say here that I found this film because I was looking for a similar film: “Times Ten” which focused on a boy in a boat with a mosquito on his arm. Identical in content and presentation.
2 November 2006 at 7:49 am
I was watching Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy today and they do a similar thing just when the Vogon fleet arrives. I don’t know about the powers of ten though…possibly something smaller in this case.