LAW, THE HUMANITIES AND THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES
| BIBLIOGRAPHY | FILMOGRAPHY:
MOVIES AND TV ABOUT PHYSICS AND PHYSICISTS |
Cavelos, Jeanne, The Science of Star Wars (St. Martin’s Press, 1999).
Cavelos, Jeanne, The Science of the X-Files (Berkley Boulevard Books, 1998).
Gresh, Lois H. and Robert Weinberg, The Science of Superheroes (Wiley, 2002).
Highfield, Roger, The Science of Harry Potter: How Magic Really Works (Viking, 2002).
Krauss, Lawrence, Beyond Star Trek: Physics From Alien Invasions to the End of Time (Basic Books, 1997).
Krauss, Lawrence, The Physics of Star Trek (Basic Books, 1995).
Stern, Anne Elizabeth, The Real Science Behind the X-Files (Simon and Schuster, 1999).
Wolverton, Mark, et al, The Science of Superman (ibooks, 2002).
MOVIES ABOUT PHYSICS AND PHYSICISTS
Frequent themes include the development and theft of a new invention that promises to change the world, and contact by alien beings. Another perenially popular theme involves spies and espionage.
The Arrival (1996). After being fired from his job (labor law specialists take note!) a physicist tries to track down the origins of a mysterious signal from space.
Chain Reaction (1996). Two innocent people are framed for the theft of a low-cost alternative energy source and the murder of its inventor.
Cloak and Dagger (1946). Spy yarn about a physicist recruited by the US government to spy on the Russians.
Day One (TV miniseries 1989). Docudrama about Hungarian Leo Szilard and his work on the atomic bomb.
Deadly Games (1995). An astrophysicist invents a computer game that becomes all too real.
Deadly Rivals (1992). A physicist is recruited by the FBI to help uncover a spy ring.
The Manhattan Project (`986). A teenager investigates his mother's new friend, a nuclear physicist.
Oppenheimer (television miniseries, 1980). This biography/drama about J. Robert Oppenheimer, the scientist who led the U.S. search for the atomic bomb, features Sam Waterston (I'll Fly Away) as Oppenheimer. The film examines Oppenheimer's flirtation with the Communist Party and allegations that he was disloyal to the government of the United States.
Sakharov (TV miniseries, 1984). Jason Robards plays the Soviet dissident and human rights activist.
The Thief (1952). Another spy thriller with a familiar plot. This film's claim to fame is that it has no dialogue.
Das Versprechen (1984). Film about a family divided by the Berlin Wall, focusing on the attempts of one man, an astrophysicist, to join his wife in the West.
War Games (1983). Teenagers accidentally log in to a NORAD computer and inadvertently invoke a war games program.
TELEVISION SERIES FEATURING PHYSICS AND PHYSICISTS
Doom Watch (1970). An agency monitors government and private activities and tries to head off environmental and other disasters.
The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. (1966-1967). Physicists are some of the characters in this spinoff series based on the classic series The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (1964-1968). Physicists are often major characters in this classic tv series from the mid 1960s.
My Favorite Martian (1963-1966). A Martian anthropologist crashlands on Earth. During his stay he runs into various people, including several physicists, who become suspicious of him.
Star Trek; Star Trek: The Next Generation; Deep Space Nine; Star Trek: Voyager (TV series).
3d Rock from the Sun (1996-2001). Aliens visit Earth; their leader (played by John Lithgow) gets a job teaching physics at a small Ohio college.
The X-Files (TV series).