The Inexplicable Universe: Unsolved Mysteries Episode Rating Graph

Neil deGrasse Tyson discusses the history of the scientific method. He looks at the Michelson-Morley experiment and he helped disprove the existence of the luminiferous aether. He examines how mathematics and physics were used to predict the location of the planet Neptune before it was discovered. He also examines how irregularities in the orbit of Mercury helped to establish Einstein's theory of relativity. Finally, he looks at historic models of the know universe by Ptolemy and Copernicus and discusses some of the theological ramifications of science.

Neil deGrasse Tyson discusses the fundamentals of matter. He begins by looking at the discovery of the electron, proton, neutron, quark, and neutrino. He then discusses Einstein's theories of relativity and its implication for traveling near the speed of light. He also looks at the unusual implications of quantum mechanics and talks about how quantum tunneling is crucial to producing fusion in the sun. He also discusses the properties of light and the equivalence of mass and energy.

Neil deGrasse Tyson examines the origin of life in the universe. He begins by considering some reflections by the astronomer Christiaan Huygens before discussing why life's origin is such a difficult scientific topic. He then looks at the early planet Earth and discusses why there is only one tree of life. He considers extremophiles that have the ability to live in environments that appear hostile to life and examines the theory that microscopic life may have originally come to Earth from outer space. He talks about chirality in organic molecules before discussing the question of intelligence