Mark Oliver Everett, better known as E, is the lead singer of US cult band the EELS. What most of his fans don’t know is that Mark’s father, Hugh Everett III, was one of America’s top quantum physicists. The film follows Mark as he travels across America to learn about the father he never knew — iconoclastic quantum physicist Hugh Everett III.
Scientific American described Hugh Everett as “one of the most important scientists of the 20th century.” In 1957, he proposed the controversial Many Worlds Theory, a startling interpretation of quantum mechanics, which makes the astounding prediction that every time we make a decision, a parallel universe splits off from our everyday reality. For many years, Hugh Everett’s mind-boggling theory was overlooked. Today, the concept of parallel universes is not only explored by many top physicists, but it also inspired many films, television series and books, including The Golden Compass, Star Trek and The Subtle Knife.
In this intelligent and imaginative film, the wry and charismatic Mark takes an emotional journey into his father’s life, meeting Hugh’s old college friends, colleagues and admirers, including MIT physicist Max Tegmark, a vocal proponent of Hugh’s ideas. It is only by entering the esoteric world of quantum physics that Mark can hope to gain an understanding of, and more important, a connection to the father who was a stranger to him.
See previews and find out more at pbs.org
Watch it Tuesday, May 19th, 8 pm on KUAT6 & HD - your PBS source in Southern Arizona
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