The Mystery of Matter

DVD cover

Genre| Documentary film
Created by| Stephen Lyons
Written by| Stephen Lyons
Directed by| Stephen Lyons; Muffie Meyer
Narrated by| Michael Emerson
Theme music composer| Tom Phillips
Country of origin| United States
Original language(s)| English
No. of episodes| Three one-hour episodes
Production
Producer(s)| Stephen Lyons; Moreno/Lyons Productions LLC; Oregon Public Broadcasting
Cinematography| Gary Henoch
Editor(s)| Raoul Rosenberg
Running time| 3 h (180 min)
Release
Original network| PBS
Original release| October 20, 2014 (2014-10-20)

The Mystery of Matter: Search for the Elements is a 2014 American documentary miniseries,[1][2][3] which premiered nationwide on August 19, 2015.[4][5][6] The PBS documentary, in three-episodes of one hour each, was directed by Stephen Lyons and Muffie Meyer.

The series, which took ten years to make,[7] describes the search for the basic chemical elements that form matter by focusing on the lives and times of seven scientific visionaries.[4][5] Hosted by actor Michael Emerson, the series depicts the creative process of the scientists, with actors describing the process of discovery in the scientists' own words and reenacting their major discoveries using replicas of their original laboratory equipment.[4]

## Contents

* 1 Episodes
* 2 Participants
* 3 Gallery
* 3.1 The seven featured scientists
* 3.2 Cast and advisors
* 4 Reviews and criticism
* 5 See also
* 6 References
* 7 External links

## Episodes

No.  | Episode[4] | Original air date (nationwide)

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## Participants

The documentary is narrated by Michael Emerson and includes the following participants (alphabetized by last name):

* Matthew Amendt (actor)
* Michael Aronov (actor)
* Hugo Becker (actor)[7]
* Ava Deluca-Verley (actress)[7]
* Michael Emerson (narrator)
* Russell Egdell (chemist)
* Nick Gehlfuss (actor)
* John L. Heilbron (biographer)
* Roald Hoffmann (chemist)
* David Kaiser (physicist/historian)
* Paul Lyons (actor)
* Anthony Marble (actor)
* Seymour Mauskopf (historian)
* Patrick Page (actor)[7]
* Gregory Petsko (chemist)
* Lawrence M. Principe (chemist/historian)
* Sebastian Roché (actor)[5]
* Alan Rocke (historian)[7]
* Juliet Rylance (actress)[5]
* Eric Scerri (chemist)[8]
* Neil Todd (Manchester University)

## Gallery

### The seven featured scientists

* Marie Curie

* Humphry Davy

* Antoine Lavoisier

* Dmitri Mendeleev

* Henry Moseley

* Joseph Priestley

* Glenn Seaborg

### Cast and advisors

* Hugo Becker

* Michael Emerson

* Lawrence M. Principe

* Sebastian Roché

## Reviews and criticism

According to Carman Drahl of Forbes magazine, "Chemists will quickly recognize the life stories of giants in their field. This show wasn’t designed just for chemists, however. The target audience includes teachers, students, and curious TV viewers."[5] The series, based on a National Science Foundation project description, tells "a 'detective story' of chemistry, stretching from the ancient alchemists to today's efforts to find stable new forms of matter".[9] Mark Dawidziak, of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, quotes the historical advisor, Alan Rocke: "[The series] portrays science as [a] very human process. People see it is a very mechanical process. A great humanity is revealed by these stories, but also the unfolding process of how science actually comes to these understandings of nature."[7] Erica K. Jacobsen, of the Chemical Education Division of the American Chemical Society, found the series to be "an excellent tool for bringing students a different view of the periodic table and those involved in its history".[3]

## See also

* Atom
* Chemical element
* Electron
* History of chemistry
* History of the periodic table
* Neutron
* Proton
* Search for the Super Battery (2017 PBS film)

## References

1. ↑ Staff (October 13, 2014). "OPB to Premiere New PBS Chemistry Series". Oregon Public Broadcasting. http://www.opb.org/pressroom/pressrelease/new-pbs-chemistry-series-premieres-on-opb/. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
2. ↑ Staff (June 16, 2014). "The Mystery of Matter: Search for the Elements". Oregon Public Broadcasting. http://www.opb.org/pressroom/pressrelease/the-mystery-of-matter/. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Jacobsen, Erica K. (November 23, 2014). "The Mystery of Matter: Search for the Elements". ChemEd X (American Chemical Society). http://www.jce.divched.org/blog/mystery-matter-search-elements. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Staff (2015). "The Mystery of Matter - Episode Guide". PBS. https://www.pbs.org/program/mystery-matter/. Retrieved August 26, 2015.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Drahl, Carmen (August 20, 2015). "PBS's The Mystery Of Matter And Its Message For Chemistry". Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/carmendrahl/2015/08/20/pbs-the-mystery-of-matter-chemistry/. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
6. ↑ Halford, Bethany (August 16, 2015). "PBS Docudrama Brings Discovery Of The Chemical Elements To Life". Chemical & Engineering News. http://cen.acs.org/articles/93/i32/PBS-Docudrama-Brings-Discovery-Chemical.html. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Dawidziak, Mark (August 22, 2015). "CWRU professor Alan Rocke featured in PBS series 'The Mystery of Matter'". Cleveland Plain Dealer. http://www.cleveland.com/tv-blog/index.ssf/2015/08/case_western_professor_alan_rocke_featured_in_pbs_series_mystery_of_matter.html. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
8. ↑ Staff (August 19, 2015). "Periodic table authority Eric Scerri is featured in PBS documentary". UCLA Newsroom. http://newsroom.ucla.edu/dept/faculty/periodic-table-expert-eric-scerry-is-featured-in-pbs-documentary. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
9. ↑ Staff (2010). "Project Details - The Mystery of Matter: Search for the Elements (Full-Scale Development)". National Science Foundation. http://informalscience.org/projects/ic-000-000-001-776/The_Mystery_of_Matter:_Search_for_the_Elements_(Full-Scale_Development). Retrieved August 28, 2015.

## External links

* The Mystery of Matter at the PBS WebSite/1.
* The Mystery of Matter (videos) at the PBS WebSite/2.
* The Mystery of Matter official website
* The Mystery of Matter official blog on Blogger
* The Mystery of Matter on IMDb
* The Mystery of Matter at Amazon.com
* The Mystery of Matter \- Trailer (05:18) on YouTube
* The Mystery of Matter – video search on YouTube
* The Mystery of Matter – video search on Dailymotion

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