by NIGEL CALDER
Today is the 100th anniversary of Einstein's birth, and BBCtv honours the memory of an extraordinary man in the way he would have wished: by explaining his extraordinary ideas.
Astronomers and physicists have confirmed that we do indeed live in Einstein's Universe: time does run faster at 30,000 feet; there is enough energy in a matchstick to lift a mountain; the universe is expanding in the way the equations of relativity predict. In our era of laser beams, atomic clocks, spaceflight and black holes, the principles of relativity can at last be made clear and vivid.
Peter Ustinov speaks Einstein's words and imagines he is a relativistic time-traveller. He also appears as himself, the layman, setting out to understand the bizarre concepts of relativity.
Einstein's Universe is set in the lonely ranchlands of Texas, where motorcycles can apparently travel close to the speed of light, changing shape and colour as they illustrate the relativity of motion. Introduced and narrated by PETER USTINOV
Film cameraman HENRY FARRAR
Film editor CHRIS WOOLLEY
Producer MARTIN FREETH