Home / Series / Horizon / Aired Order / Season 2009 / Episode 17

How Long is a Piece of String?

Alan Davies attempts to answer the proverbial question: how long is a piece of string? But what appears to be a simple task soon turns into a mind-bending voyage of discovery where nothing is as it seems. An encounter with leading mathematician Marcus du Sautoy reveals that Alan's short length of string may in fact be infinitely long. When Alan attempts to measure his string at the atomic scale, events take an even stranger turn. Not only do objects appear in many places at once, but reality itself seems to be an illusion. Ultimately, Alan finds that measuring his piece of string could - in theory at least - create a black hole, bringing about the end of the world.

English
  • Originally Aired November 17, 2009
  • Runtime 60 minutes
  • Content Rating United States of America TV-PG
  • Network BBC Two
  • Created December 22, 2009 by
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  • Modified December 22, 2009 by
    Administrator admin