Me & Isaac Newton (1999)
Film:
DVD:

Directed by Michael Apted
Starring Gertrude Elion, Ashok Gadgil, Michio Kaku, Maja Mataric, Steven Pinker, Karol Sikora, Patricia Wright

Anamorphic: No.

My Advice: Rent It.

We are in a world that cannot get away from science. You'd have to live under a rock--and a large one at that--to escape the news stories that come at us on a daily basis heralding the latest and greatest breakthroughs in technology. Michael Apted's documentary gives us a look at seven pioneers in their respective fields and doesn't just give us the usual rigamarole about where they think their particular flavor of science is going. Instead, we get to see them as human beings, who had to find their calling and then stay inspired to keep operating once there.

Hard to believe this is the same Apted who gave us the extremely pedestrian Bond flick, The World is Not Enough, the same year as this film. At first, it seems like some kind of expanded version of Morris' Fast, Cheap and Out of Control, but it's going at these people from a different angle. With Fast, Cheap Morris was using his whacked out style to present four completely different individuals from diverse fields and show their commonality through interspersing of images and audio. Apted instead lets the seven scientists stand on their own. If they have anything in common, it's their passion for their work.

You get everything from theoretical physicist Michio Kaku's stories about his garage-built atom smasher, not to mention his damn fine prowess at ice skating--to Ashok Gadgil's inspiration to enter the field of science based on the simple experience of figuring out how to make a top spin. Then there's Gertrude Elion, who suffered two tragic personal losses to incurable diseases and thus became a chemist. Steven Pinker, cognitive scientist, discusses and dissects the moment that some have referred to as "eureka," explaining that it's pretty much a facade. Maja Mataric pushes her newborn in a baby stroller followed by her own robotic creations. Patricia Wright relates how getting a monkey as a pet eventually led her to create a national park in Madagascar. Karol Sikora, cancer specialist, relates the pain of having to deal with patients that you know are simply not going to make it.

For the most part, to Joe Schmoe, the stereotypical scientist in the mind's eye is the introverted, hermitic whackjob who works in an environment that's one part Young Frankenstein, one part paper mound from hell that used to be a desk. However, the strength of this film lies in the fact that it deals with the seven as flesh and blood people--with hopes, fears and dreams. And those of us who wouldn't know a double helix from a hole in the ground can relate to them and to their goals.

It's worth viewing for anyone with even just a passing interest in the broad field of science. It would also make for a good film for viewing by a science class, along with teacher-led discussions regarding the stories unfolding on the screen. The DVD is strictly bare bones action, with scene selection being the extent of its features. Around here we're hardly ever satisfied, so perhaps some extra bits of interviews would have been nice--or more specific pieces of the scientists demonstrating something from their own particular fields--but the film is strong enough to carry the disc.