# Inspiring movies about other sciences? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 13, 2019, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspiring-movies-about-other-sciences/833925 "2019-05-13T21:45:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2019, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspiring-movies-about-other-sciences/833925/1 "2019-05-13T21:45:29Z")
I’m a substitute teacher. Today, I was teaching science, and the plans called for me to show the class _Apollo 13_. OK, that’s not a bad movie for a science class, since it’s an inspiring true story about sciency stuff… but it was a biology class. And thinking about it, rocket science has a lot of movies like that: Off the top of my head, in addition to _Apollo 13_, you’ve also got _October Sky_ and _Hidden Figures_, among others. And there are plenty of fictional movies that work, too. But where are the inspiring true stories of biologists? There are probably some good stories to tell from the front lines of the fight against smallpox, for instance. Or chemistry? Any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![cormac262](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@cormac262](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cormac262)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2019, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspiring-movies-about-other-sciences/833925/2 "2019-05-13T21:51:26Z")
I think “The Martian” covers a lot of different science areas: chemistry, botany, as well as astro-physics. “The Andromeda Strain” comes to mind as a good biology example. Maybe even “World War Z” as well. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2019, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspiring-movies-about-other-sciences/833925/3 "2019-05-13T22:09:22Z")
It’d be nice if this were a real documentary. These might be decent. I believe they're both on youtube. > **[Hilleman: A Perilous Quest to Save the World's Children (2016) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6256972/)** > > Hilleman: A Perilous Quest to Save the World's Children: Directed by Donald Rayne Mitchell. The greatest scientist of the 20th century, and no one knows his name. This documentary tells the inspiring story of Dr. Maurice Hilleman, a man with a... > **[Freedom from Famine: The Norman Borlaug Story (2009) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1950178/)** > > Freedom from Famine: The Norman Borlaug Story: Directed by Philip Courter. With Eric Stephen Listman Sanches, Therese Bogdan-Duvieller, Norman Borlaug. Documents the life story of Norman Borlaug, Minnesota farm boy, student of plant biology, hired by... ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2019, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspiring-movies-about-other-sciences/833925/4 "2019-05-13T22:51:15Z")
“Gorillas in the Mist” is kind of biology related. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2019, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspiring-movies-about-other-sciences/833925/5 "2019-05-13T22:58:07Z")
[Marie Curie: The Courage of Knowledge](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5705058/) and the 1943 biopic, [Madame Curie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madame_Curie_(film)). Fortunately, the timelines of both films end a good deal earlier than Madame Curie’s actual timeline. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2019, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspiring-movies-about-other-sciences/833925/6 "2019-05-13T23:02:39Z")
[Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4383082) may be bit longer than you’re looking for, but this three-part 6-hour series is excellent. Or you could go with the 2 hour _Nova_ episode [What Darwin Never Knew](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1540263) (1st aired in 2009) which discusses Darwin and places his work in context with what we now know about DNA. Sticking with a bio-med theme, 2014’s fantastic [Alive Inside](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2593392) discusses aging, Alzheimer’s Disease, cognitive decline, the nature of memory, etc. The BBC did a really good series called [Chemistry - A Volatile History](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1588194) [del]a few[/del]ten (:eek:) years back. It occurs to me tho: perhaps the OP is asking about dramatized events, like _Apollo 13_ rather than well-made documentaries? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2019, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspiring-movies-about-other-sciences/833925/7 "2019-05-13T23:14:05Z")
**Doctor Ehrlich’s Magic Bullet** A movie about a mostly-forgotten doctor who discovered a treatment for syphilis. It was controversial when it came out in 1940, because it dealt with venereal disease. Somehow, it got made. Starring Edward G. Robinson as Dr. Paul Ehrlich! There’s also **The Story of Louis Pasteur** (1936), starring Paul Muni as Pasteur. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2019, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspiring-movies-about-other-sciences/833925/8 "2019-05-13T23:26:39Z")
Maybe [_Awakenings_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awakenings)? Not likely to be many examples–it isn’t easy to sexy/action up a story about years of standing in a lab watching test tubes and petri dishes. _Maybe_ they could pull off Hugh Jackman as Alexander Flemming, but no way would they get Jennifer Lawrence as bread mold. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2019, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspiring-movies-about-other-sciences/833925/9 "2019-05-13T23:26:52Z")
**Something the Lord Made** , about the pioneering African-American heart surgeon Vivien Thomas. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2019, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspiring-movies-about-other-sciences/833925/10 "2019-05-13T23:36:22Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > **Doctor Ehrlich’s Magic Bullet** > > A movie about a mostly-forgotten doctor who discovered a treatment for syphilis. It was controversial when it came out in 1940, because it dealt with venereal disease. Somehow, it got made. Mostly because they never explained was syphilis was. If you’re looking for books, I’d highly recommend _[Microbe Hunters](https://www.amazon.com/Microbe-Hunters-Paul-Kruif/dp/0156027771)_ by Paul de Kruif. It’s absolutely riveting reading. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2019, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspiring-movies-about-other-sciences/833925/11 "2019-05-13T23:42:47Z")
What about _Lorenzo’s Oil_? ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspiring-movies-about-other-sciences/833925/12 "2019-05-14T01:52:38Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > **Something the Lord Made** , about the pioneering African-American heart surgeon Vivien Thomas. My first thought. CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspiring-movies-about-other-sciences/833925/13 "2019-05-14T01:52:58Z")
**Wesley Clark** , “A World Without Zinc” might not be real, but the flick it’s a parody of, “A World Without Springs”, is. And is even cheesier than the Simpsons version. And to be clear, I’m not looking for documentaries, per se: There are plenty of those. I’m looking for Hollywood-style movies that would appeal to people who weren’t even trying to learn something. _Gorillas in the Mist_ would probably qualify, though. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspiring-movies-about-other-sciences/833925/14 "2019-05-14T02:58:34Z")
_Les Joyeux Microbes_ - 1909 My personal favorite Emile Cohl short. \*O Plankton\* – 1940 > **[O Plankton (Short 1940) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8748658/?ref_=kw_li_tt)** > > O Plankton: Directed by Humberto Mauro. Haven’t seen this one, but it has a great poetic title and sounds terribly exciting. _The Atom and Biological Science_ - 1952 > **[The Atom and Biological Science (Short 1952) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1965153/?ref_=kw_li_tt)** > > The Atom and Biological Science: As a demonstration of the effects of radioactivity, a rat is fed radioactive table sugar. From IMDB: “As a demonstration of the effects of radioactivity, a rat is fed radioactive table sugar.” Important scientific experiments like this should be shared with all school children. _Fantastic Voyage_ - 1968 > **[Fantastic Voyage (1966) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060397/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1)** > > Fantastic Voyage: Directed by Richard Fleischer. With Stephen Boyd, Raquel Welch, Edmond O'Brien, Donald Pleasence. A scientist is nearly assassinated. In order to save him, a submarine is shrunken to microscopic size and injected into his... Would seem to have sure-fire “appeal to people who weren’t even trying to learn something.” And don’t forget the TV animated series! I never even knew it existed until this very day. > **[Fantastic Voyage (TV Series 1968–1969) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062559/?ref_=kw_li_tt)** > > Fantastic Voyage: With Marvin Miller, Ted Knight, Jane Webb. The government confronts mysterious incidents that threaten international safety and determines it must employ a team of experts who are shrunken to microscopic size to infiltrate and... _This Was the Beginning - Part 1: The Invertebrates_ - 1980 > **[This Was the Beginning - Part 1: The Invertebrates (Short 1980) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0344451/?ref_=kw_li_tt)** > > This Was the Beginning - Part 1: The Invertebrates: Directed by Marie-Paule Dessaint-Hénot, Dennis Sawyer. ‘Cause…it’s the invertebrates. This will help students prepare themselves for the inevitable day when our true cephalopoidal masters return from their extended vacation to reclaim their rightful dominion over this cursed dimensional plane. _Angels and Insects_ - 1995 > **[Angels and Insects (1995) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112365/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1)** > > Angels and Insects: Directed by Philip Haas. With Mark Rylance, Kristin Scott Thomas, Patsy Kensit, Jeremy Kemp. In the 1800s a naturalist marries into a family of British country gentry. From IMDB: “In the 1800s a naturalist marries into a family of British country gentry.” The sex scenes might be a little strong for the kiddies. _Death by Design: Where Parallel Worlds Meet_ - 1997 > **[Death by Design: Where Parallel Worlds Meet (1997) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118947/?ref_=kw_li_tt)** > > Death by Design: Where Parallel Worlds Meet: Directed by Jean-François Brunet, Peter Friedman. With Klaus-Michael Debatin, Pierre Golstein, Robert Horvitz, Rita Levi-Montalcini. A guided tour into the invisible world of cells, told through a collage... Haven’t seen this, don’t know anything about it; sounded interesting. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspiring-movies-about-other-sciences/833925/15 "2019-05-14T03:04:32Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And to be clear, I’m not looking for documentaries, per se: There are plenty of those. I’m looking for Hollywood-style movies that would appeal to people who weren’t even trying to learn something. You are right that there aren’t very many movies that give a flavor of biological science. Most medical/biological centered movies seem to fall into the following categories: [ol][li]_They seize on one scientific breakthrough and spin a tale around the reactions of everyone (scientists, laypeople, an amazingly cute child) to the application, but not so much about the science, the road to the breakthrough and what is involved._[/li][li]_They take something very speculative (or simply riff on the name of a scientific effect) and spin a tale of (corporate) greed and worldwide catastrophe._[/li][li]_Man should not play god! Hilarity ensues. OK, not hilarity. What’s the term I’m looking for? Oh yeah…body horror and murderous rampages_[/li][/ol] Some of the non-documentaries above are pretty good, but most aren’t biological/life sciences oriented, or if they are, they fit into one of the three categories above. Doing a little searching I think I’ve found a couple of movies that might be worthwhile and haven’t been mentioned: [Creation](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0974014/?ref_=nv_sr_2?ref_=nv_sr_2) (2009), the story of Charles Darwin and the writing of Origin of the Species. [Experimenter](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3726704/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1) (2015), the story of Dr. Milgram and his (in)famous experiments into the psychology of obedience. Not recommended for younger students is a favorite of mine, and one of the best depictions of what grad school is really like I’ve seen, [Creator](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088960/?ref_=nv_sr_3?ref_=nv_sr_3) (1985). (OK, not the nonstop sex with Mariel Hemingway :o) Finally, outside of the biological sciences, but an excellent depiction of what is was like to be a female scientist in the early 20th century is [Marie Curie](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5705058/) (2016), though this one is also not for younger students, since Dr. Curie’s love life was a messy as her science was disciplined, and this film doesn’t leave any details out. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspiring-movies-about-other-sciences/833925/16 "2019-05-14T03:41:57Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > **Wesley Clark** , “A World Without Zinc” might not be real, but the flick it’s a parody of, “A World Without Springs”, is. And is even cheesier than the Simpsons version. Shame on you, not providing [a link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBTT28svZ1E). ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspiring-movies-about-other-sciences/833925/17 "2019-05-14T05:34:49Z")
This isn’t precisely what you’re looking for, but **The Name of the Rose** celebrates the scientific method of inquiry in a way that’s downright anachronistic. It’s also the closest we’ll ever get to seeing Sean Connery play Batman (and Christian Slater play Robin). ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspiring-movies-about-other-sciences/833925/18 "2019-05-14T07:08:40Z")
_ **Never Cry Wolf** _ is a great film about a biologist studying the effect of wolves on the caribou population in the Canadian arctic. There is some non-sexual nudity, though. _ **Temple Grandin** _, starring Claire Danes, was an HBO biographical film about a woman who changed how cattle are managed in ranches and slaughterhouses. Her contributions were especially notable because she was a woman working in a male-dominated industry, and she faced personal and professional challenges due to her autism. And I haven’t seen it, but a few years ago there was a movie made about Thor Heyerdahl’s Kon-Tiki expedition. I’ve read Heyerdahl’s book and I’ve seen parts of the original documentary film, but I’m not sure how the dramatization compares. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspiring-movies-about-other-sciences/833925/19 "2019-05-14T07:20:33Z")
I’m excited about upcoming [Mary Anning](https://trowelblazers.com/happy-birthday-mary-anning-2/)/[Charlotte Murchison](https://trowelblazers.com/charlotte-murchison/) biopic _[Ammonite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonite_(film))_, although a bit dissapointed that there’s a lesbian subplot basically pulled out of thin air. _Not_ so much the making Anning a lesbian, I’m OK with that, since we don’t know her sexuality (although IMO it doesn’t gel with her very religious nature). But Murchison was AFAIK quite devoted to her husband so it’s a bit of a stretch. There’s no correspondence or even rumour about her having affairs with _anyone_. Still, it’s a biopic about not one, but _two_ criminally overlooked pioneers of earth sciences, so I can overlook that cack-handed attempt to emulate some of that _The Favourite_ historic sapphic sparkle. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspiring-movies-about-other-sciences/833925/20 "2019-05-14T07:29:47Z")
Could you focus on the biology of the astronauts collapsing due to CO2 poisoning? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspiring-movies-about-other-sciences/833925.md?page=2)