Hello!

We are Wylie & Alex, the filmmakers behind To Scale. To Scale has existed as a series of short films made out of our love for science, but our ambition has always been to make a full documentary series featuring scale models of the universe across all its magnitudes, atomic to cosmic. After years of preparation, we are now ready to make that series. Scroll on to learn all about it.

That’s why this site exists: to inspire you to follow along, and support the project if you like—so keep scroll on to learn all about it. To Scale aims to reveal a perspective with the profound power to change the deepest notions of who we are. If you crave this view like we do, click here to get involved.

With gratitude, Wylie & Alex

Five models.
Five magnitudes.
The real universe, revealed.

To Scale:

THE ATOM

Atoms look nothing like we’re taught; with a nucleus the size of this O, an atom’s electrons would fill a stadium in amazing shapes like the one at left. In this episode, we reveal the true appearance of Nature’s building blocks: the beauty of atomic orbitals, the dance of forces, the menagerie of elements.

To Scale:

THE SOLAR SYSTEM

This episode is a redux of our first film, but far more complete and comprehensive. See the motions of planets, the orbits of moons. Meteor showers. Comets. And yes, Pluto. Shot with improved techniques and equipment, this model will be the best and most accurate view of our cosmic home ever filmed.

To Scale:

THE STARS

Discover the depth we cannot see in our night sky. This episode reveals the scale of our local stars, the depth to our constellations, and the physics within a star. This episode will use real data from the GAIA spacecraft to show how the stars are moving over the eons.

To Scale:

THE GALAXY

Our local star cluster is placed upon the massive spiral of our Milky Way, revealing the density of stars, the physics of nebulas and star formation, and the prevalence of life-bearing planets, using real data from the Kepler space telescope and more modern surveys.

To Scale:

THE COSMOS

This episode reveals the final, grandest scale of the cosmos, exploring cosmology, time, and the fate of our universe with models based on Hubble and James Webb Space Telescope photographs.

Why?

Roughly 600 people have gone to space, and all came home changed. They each recall the same experience upon seeing the earth as a tiny planet among the cosmos: a feeling of overwhelming awe, connection, and optimism:

“There was a startling recognition that the nature of the universe was not as I had been taught. I experienced an ecstasy of unity .... I realized that this was a biological response of my brain attempting to reorganize and give meaning to information about the wonderful and awesome processes I was privileged to view from this vantage.” - Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14

“The actual experience exceeds all expectations and is something that’s hard to put to words … It sort of reduces things to a size that you think everything is manageable … All these things that may seem big and impossible … We can do this. Peace on Earth — No problem. It gives people that type of energy … that type of power.” - Anousheh Ansari, Space Tourist

“No amount of prior study or training can fully prepare anybody for the awe and wonder this inspires.” - Kathryn Dullivan, STS-41

600 out of 8,000,000,000 people saw this. The goal of To Scale is to show the rest.