Christopher Nolan stands as one of the most acclaimed directors of modern times, with one of his most revered sci-fi movies even being recommended for use in school science classes. As the filmmaker behind thriller classics like Memento and fan favorites such as The Dark Knight trilogy, Nolan has been at the forefront of modern Hollywood throughout the 21st century. While Nolan’s releases like The Prestige, Inception, Dunkirk, and Oppenheimer were widely acclaimed examples of his cinematic brilliance, only one of his movies led to experts urging its use in education.
It’s not surprising that Nolan’s work has been recommended for school science lessons, as he’s always placed great importance not just on awe-inspiring visuals but on ensuring that his movies actually make sense. While Tenet received criticism for being overly convoluted in its confusing exploration of time travel, this was the exception that proves the rule and a rare instance where Nolan divided his audience. A prime example of Nolan’s pᴀssion for accuracy came in 2014, when he depicted quantum physics and wormholes with a level of scientific rigor rarely seen in Hollywood moviemaking.
Why Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar Was Deemed Accurate Enough For School Science Classes
Experts Have Encouraged Physics Teachers To Show Their Students Interstellar
Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar was so accurate in its exploration of wormholes that a scientific journal urged (via BBC) that it be shown in school science classes. As a dystopian story about a drought-stricken Earth and a group of astronauts on a mission to find a new home for mankind, Interstellar tackled deeply complex scientific themes when the team traveled through a black hole near Saturn. However, what set Interstellar apart from most other sci-fi movies was that it dealt with the ramifications of this using real-world science that actually held up to intense scrutiny.
Dr. David Jackson, who published the paper in the American Journal of Physics and in Classical and Quantum Gravity, said that Interstellar had been carefully reviewed by experts and was found to be accurate. As a way of teaching science students about deeply complex topics in a way that remained entertaining, Dr. Jackson said physics teachers should screen the film to help get across ideas around general relativity.
Interstellar provides young students with realistic scientific case studies that can help inspire the astronauts, astrophysicists, and intellectuals of the future.
From the visual representation of a wormhole to the exploration of time dilation, where one hour on Miller’s planet equals seven years on Earth due to the gravitational pull of the black hole Gargantua, Interstellar embraced science and allowed its complexities to actually elevate the narrative. By not shying away from the daunting realities of physics, Interstellar provides young students with realistic scientific case studies that can help inspire the astronauts, astrophysicists, and intellectuals of the future.
How Interstellar’s Dedication To Scientific Accuracy Improves The Movie
The Science Of Interstellar Encourages Active Viewing
It would have been easy for Christopher Nolan to simply dismiss the real-world science behind Interstellar and tell whatever kind of fictional sci-fi story his heart desired, yet it was the movie’s complexities that made it so effective. Nolan worked closely with the theoretical physicist Kip Thorne on Interstellar, and the movie carried on the traditions of films like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Contact to embrace scientific accuracy. As a scientific consultant for the film, Thorne made sure everything related to the black hole and wormhole was informed by Einstein’s general relativity equations.
Kip Thorne also advised Nolan on the physics of his movie Tenet and helped inform Cillian Murphy on the portrayal of J. Robert Oppenheimer in Oppenheimer.
The fact that Interstellar was based on real science raised the intellectual stakes of the film, as it made such an outlandish narrative feel like a genuinely plausible situation. Trying to unpack the mysteries of Interstellar and understand its complex themes was also part of the fun of watching the movie, as Interstellar actively encourages us to turn on our brains and be swept away by a grand, galaxy-traversing epic. Interstellar was so accurate that Thorne even published the book The Science of Interstellar to give curious budding scientists more information about the scientific concepts behind the film’s cosmological ideas.
Source: BBC
