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Powers of Ten (film)

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Correction: April 28, 2005, Thursday: An obituary on Tuesday about Dr. Philip Morrison, a Manhattan Project scientist who helped assemble the first atomic bomb and later campaigned against it, misstated the release date of "Powers of Ten," a film narrated and partly written by Dr. Morrison that takes
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He helped write the script and narrated the 1977 film "Powers of Ten," also by Charles and Ray Eames, in which a camera zooms from a couple having a picnic in Chicago out to the limits of the cosmos and then back down through the woman's hand to the level of atoms and quarks. In 1992, he and his
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This version of the film has two clocks in the corner showing the comparison between the viewer's time and that of Earth time. As the viewer's speed increases, Earth time, relative to the viewer, also increases. It was installed in the Smithsonian Institution's
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across. The camera then zooms back in at a rate of a power of ten per 2 seconds to the picnic, and then slows back down to its original rate into the man's hand, to views of negative powers of ten: 10
29: 235:. Both films, and a book based on the second film, follow the form of the Boeke original, adding color and photography to the black and white drawings employed by Boeke in his seminal work. 301:. The man (played by Swiss designer Paul Bruhwiler) then sleeps, while the woman (played by Eames staffer Etsu Garfias) starts to read one of the books. The viewpoint, accompanied by 622: 328:, then 1 kilometer (3,300 ft) (where we see the entirety of Chicago), and so on, increasing the perspective and continuing to zoom out to a field of view of 846: 1722: 246:, removing the relativistic (time) dimension, introducing an additional two powers of ten at each extreme, a change in narrator from Judith Bronowski to 293:
lakefront — a 1-meter (3.3 ft) overhead image of the figures on a blanket surrounded by food and books they brought with them, one of them being
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The 1977 film has a number of changes from the prototype, including being entirely in color, moving the starting location from
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noted: "It is a brilliant short documentary . If I wanted to show an alien how we view the world, I would show this movie".
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which covers the same subject using animation. It is wordless, using sped-up music during the return trips to normal size.
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Powers of Ten: A Film Dealing with the Relative Size of Things in the Universe and the Effect of Adding Another Zero
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A Rough Sketch for a Proposed Film Dealing with the Powers of Ten and the Relative Size of Things in the Universe
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Powers of Ten: A Book About the Relative Size of Things in the Universe and the Effect of Adding another Zero
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America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry
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viewers to the outer edge of the cosmos. It was released in 1968. (It was rereleased in 1977.)
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The film begins with an overhead view of a man and woman picnicking in a park at the
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films are two short American documentary films written and directed by
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as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
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Powers of Ten: About the Relative Size of Things in the Universe
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wife, Phyllis, with the Eameses, turned it into a book.
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Films Selected to The National Film Registry, 1989-2010
545:"Philip Morrison, 89, Builder of First Atom Bomb, Dies" 1694: 403: 348:and zooming in on it—until the camera comes to 1447: 1065: 948:Mathematica: A World of Numbers... and Beyond 891: 808:Exhibit at the California Academy of Sciences 445:(1996), the Oscar-nominated loose remake of 614: 1723:United States National Film Registry films 1454: 1440: 1072: 1058: 898: 884: 27: 905: 826:"Powers of Ten" essay by Daniel Eagan in 646: 462:Our Universe is SO big, it's mindblowing! 197: 1788:English-language short documentary films 16:1968 and 1977 American documentary films 1758:Films directed by Charles and Ray Eames 1578:) may be read as "within" or "part of". 1079: 542: 370: 1695: 620: 511: 509: 507: 1640:History of the center of the Universe 1461: 1435: 1053: 879: 647:Calmthout, Martijn van (2017-05-06). 596:Cosmic View: The Universe in 40 Jumps 407:; Morrison, Phylis Morrison (1994) . 1023:Eames: The Architect and the Painter 694:. Eames Office. 2010. Archived from 515: 1733:Documentary films about mathematics 504: 221:films were adaptations of the book 13: 929: 621:Hughes, James (December 4, 2012). 611:. Scientific American Books, 1990. 543:Overbye, Dennis (April 26, 2005). 14: 1799: 1650:Pisces–Cetus Supercluster Complex 776: 332:, or a field of view 100 million 174:. Both works depict the relative 1738:American short documentary films 1675: 1663: 1416: 1415: 1347:Earth's location in the Universe 1275:Back-of-the-envelope calculation 492:Earth's location in the universe 426: 397: 1763:Films scored by Elmer Bernstein 1728:Documentary films about science 1280:Best-selling electronic devices 735: 411:. Scientific American Library. 284: 258: 33:Title card for the 1977 version 710: 680: 668: 640: 601: 588: 536: 250:, and much-improved graphics. 1: 762:National Air and Space Museum 729:National Film Board of Canada 497: 455:National Air and Space Museum 344:), and so forth, revealing a 273:National Film Board of Canada 266:National Air and Space Museum 1773:1960s English-language films 1768:1970s English-language films 1342:Astronomical system of units 623:"The Power of Powers of Ten" 7: 516:Repp, Philip (April 2001). 469: 253: 122:September 4, 1977 10: 1804: 1658: 1584: 1469: 1411: 1393:The Scale of the Universe 1334: 1267: 1087: 1014: 1001:Eames Fiberglass Armchair 983: 956: 940: 927: 913: 862:41.8649806°N 87.6133917°W 607:Morrison, Philip, et al. 214:, was completed in 1977. 154: 146: 136: 113: 94: 84: 64: 48: 38: 26: 21: 1489:Local Interstellar Cloud 991:Eames Lounge Chair Wood 867:41.8649806; -87.6133917 766:Smithsonian Institution 71:Judith Bronowski (1968) 1601:To the Moon and Beyond 1361:To the Moon and Beyond 1229:Specific heat capacity 965:Toccata for Toy Trains 934: 830:, A&C Black, 2010 388:National Film Registry 198:History and background 1619:(1968 and 1977 films) 1549:Laniakea Supercluster 1379:(1968 and 1977 films) 933: 907:Charles and Ray Eames 688:"About Powers of Ten" 598:. John Day Co., 1957. 553:(New York ed.). 271:There is also a 1968 172:Charles and Ray Eames 43:Charles and Ray Eames 1783:1970s American films 1778:1960s American films 1748:Films set in Chicago 1006:Eames Aluminum Group 371:Reception and legacy 1743:Orders of magnitude 1563:Observable universe 1081:Orders of magnitude 858: /  742:Bayley Silleck and 487:Orders of magnitude 392:Library of Congress 318:scientific notation 1645:Order of magnitude 1627:(1996 documentary) 1543:Virgo Supercluster 1524:Milky Way subgroup 1387:(1996 documentary) 1316:Metric (SI) prefix 1029:Good Design Awards 996:Eames Lounge Chair 935: 782:Official website: 717:Eva Szasz (1968). 550:The New York Times 480:(2012), remake of 295:The Voices of Time 184:order of magnitude 1690: 1689: 1463:Location of Earth 1429: 1428: 1326:Microscopic scale 1321:Macroscopic scale 1047: 1046: 418:978-0-7167-6008-5 377:Robbert Dijkgraaf 188:logarithmic scale 162: 161: 1795: 1718:1977 short films 1713:1968 short films 1679: 1669:Astronomy portal 1667: 1579: 1577: 1568: 1561: 1554: 1547: 1541: 1535: 1529: 1522: 1515: 1508: 1501: 1494: 1487: 1480: 1456: 1449: 1442: 1433: 1432: 1419: 1418: 1100:Angular momentum 1074: 1067: 1060: 1051: 1050: 1034:The India Report 900: 893: 886: 877: 876: 873: 872: 870: 869: 868: 863: 859: 856: 855: 854: 851: 838:, pages 752-753 818: 804: 802: 800: 795:on June 18, 2014 791:. 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448: 447:Powers of Ten 444: 443: 442:Cosmic Voyage 439: 436: 435: 431: 430: 427:Related films 420: 414: 410: 406: 402: 401: 398:Related books 395: 393: 389: 385: 384:Powers of Ten 380: 378: 368: 362: 359: 355: 351: 347: 339: 335: 327: 326:Soldier Field 323: 319: 311: 307: 304: 300: 296: 292: 282: 280: 279: 274: 269: 267: 251: 249: 245: 241: 236: 234: 230: 226: 225: 220: 219:Powers of Ten 215: 213: 212: 207: 206: 195: 193: 192:factor of ten 190:) based on a 189: 185: 181: 177: 173: 169: 168: 167:Powers of Ten 157: 153: 150:United States 149: 145: 141: 135: 121: 120: 118: 112: 106:Pyramid Films 105: 103: 100: 99: 97: 93: 90: 87: 83: 76: 73: 70: 69: 67: 63: 60: 56: 55: 51: 47: 44: 41: 37: 30: 25: 22:Powers of Ten 20: 1681:Space portal 1674: 1662: 1632: 1624: 1616: 1615: 1608: 1600: 1592: 1574:Each arrow ( 1496:Local Bubble 1482:Solar System 1399: 1391: 1384: 1376: 1375: 1367: 1359: 1351: 1290:Powers of 10 1142: / 1095:Acceleration 1021: 976:(1968, 1977) 972: 971: 963: 914:Architecture 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Fraser 294: 288: 285:1977 version 276: 270: 262: 259:1968 version 237: 222: 218: 216: 210: 209: 204: 203: 201: 166: 165: 163: 138:Running time 115:Release date 52: 1611:(1968 film) 1609:Cosmic Zoom 1603:(1964 film) 1595:(1957 book) 1593:Cosmic View 1537:Local Sheet 1531:Local Group 1372:(1968 film) 1369:Cosmic Zoom 1364:(1964 film) 1356:(1957 book) 1353:Cosmic View 1239:Temperature 1214:Probability 1164:Illuminance 941:Exhibitions 921:Eames House 865: / 720:Cosmic Zoom 434:Cosmic Zoom 338:centimeters 334:light years 278:Cosmic Zoom 224:Cosmic View 65:Narrated by 54:Cosmic View 39:Directed by 1708:1968 films 1703:1977 films 1697:Categories 1633:Cosmic Eye 1556:Local Hole 1503:Gould Belt 1401:Cosmic Eye 836:0826429777 661:2023-04-15 657:(in Dutch) 498:References 477:Cosmic Eye 375:Physicist 303:expository 233:Kees Boeke 227:(1957) by 126:1977-09-04 59:Kees Boeke 1517:Milky Way 1510:Orion Arm 1309:1000000th 1219:Radiation 1174:Luminance 1159:Frequency 1120:Computing 984:Furniture 760:, Italy: 572:March 25, 559:0362-4331 382:In 1998, 365:10 meters 342:10 meters 330:10 meters 314:10 meters 306:voiceover 231:educator 1570:Universe 1470:Included 1421:Category 1268:See also 1209:Pressure 1194:Molarity 1110:Bit rate 1088:Quantity 799:25 March 746:(1996). 723:(film). 702:25 March 528:7 August 470:See also 254:Synopsis 180:Universe 155:Language 85:Music by 49:Based on 1585:Related 1335:Related 1294:decades 1254:Voltage 1199:Numbers 1149:Entropy 1135:Density 1125:Current 822:YouTube 567:1645522 390:by the 324:, near 291:Chicago 244:Chicago 178:of the 158:English 147:Country 124: ( 1753:Holism 1635:(2012) 1565:  1558:  1551:  1526:  1519:  1512:  1505:  1498:  1491:  1484:  1477:  1404:(2012) 1396:(2010) 1259:Volume 1244:Torque 1169:Length 1140:Energy 1115:Charge 968:(1957) 834:  817:(1977) 758:Venice 565:  557:  464:(2021) 415:  358:carbon 354:proton 350:quarks 77:(1977) 1475:Earth 1304:100th 1234:Speed 1204:Power 1154:Force 1015:Other 957:Films 627:Slate 356:of a 352:in a 240:Miami 229:Dutch 176:scale 142:9 min 1299:10th 1292:and 1249:Time 1189:Mass 1130:Data 1105:Area 832:ISBN 801:2015 754:IMAX 704:2015 634:2022 574:2015 563:OCLC 555:ISSN 530:2012 451:IMAX 413:ISBN 361:atom 217:The 186:(or 164:The 820:on 756:). 449:in 363:at 316:in 308:by 297:by 242:to 102:IBM 57:by 1699:: 764:, 727:: 690:. 651:. 625:. 576:. 561:. 547:. 506:^ 367:. 1576:→ 1567:→ 1560:→ 1553:→ 1546:→ 1540:→ 1534:→ 1528:→ 1521:→ 1514:→ 1507:→ 1500:→ 1493:→ 1486:→ 1479:→ 1455:e 1448:t 1441:v 1073:e 1066:t 1059:v 899:e 892:t 885:v 803:. 789:" 785:" 768:. 752:( 731:. 706:. 677:. 664:. 636:. 532:. 457:. 421:. 340:( 128:)

Index


Charles and Ray Eames
Cosmic View
Kees Boeke
Philip Morrison
Elmer Bernstein
IBM
Charles and Ray Eames
scale
Universe
order of magnitude
logarithmic scale
factor of ten
Cosmic View
Dutch
Kees Boeke
Miami
Chicago
Philip Morrison
National Air and Space Museum
National Film Board of Canada
Cosmic Zoom
Chicago
J. T. Fraser
expository
voiceover
Philip Morrison
scientific notation
Burnham Park
Soldier Field

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