Absolute Zero

Absolute Zero is a documentary based on the book Absolute Zero and the Conquest for Cold by Tom Shachtman. The series consists of two episodes: “The Conquest of Cold” and “The Race for Absolute Zero”. Through the episodes, the series follows the quest for cold from the unlikely father of air-conditioning, the court magician of King James I of England in the 17th century, to today's scientists pioneering superfast computing in the quantum chill near absolute zero - the ultimate extreme of cold at minus 273.15 C (minus 460 F). And it tells interesting stories about the invention of thermometers, the origin of the ice business in 19th-century New England, Clarence Birdseye's fishing trip that led to the invention of frozen food, and a couple of cold-inspired scientific races towards absolute zero that ended in Nobel Prizes.

Part 1: The Conquest of Cold

Part 2: The Race for Absolute Zero

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