CONNECTIONS!
These documentaries by James Burke are among the best series of programs that have ever been produced. (Equal to the "Cosmos" series by Carl Sagan!)
Although they were made over twenty years ago the subject matter of these works is timeless and it's presentation is flawless.
The first in the series; "The day the Universe changed," was a ten part series presented here in full and it dealt with the impact certain inventions had in changing history.
The next few; "Connections," Connections II," Connections III," and "Re-Connections," all look at how our modern world is interconnected and when one event occures, how it can have far reaching implications and be connected to other events in ways that we did not, and could not, know!
I am going to present a short clip from this series every day, Monday to Friday, and I promise you that following them will be well worth it! Enjoy!
Episode 1-1
James Burke, the creator and host of 'Connections', explains the Haber-Bosch Process Connections was a ten-episode documentary television series created and narrated by science historian James Burke.
The series was produced and directed by Mick Jackson of the BBC Science & Features Department and first aired in 1978.
It took an interdisciplinary approach to the history of science and invention and demonstrates how various discoveries, scientific achievements, and historical world events built off one another in an interconnected way to bring about particular aspects of modern technology.
The series is well-known for Burke's impeccable narration (especially its dry humour), historical reenactments, intricate working models, skillful use of classical music (most notably Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi, or "O Fortuna" from Carmina Burana), and shots on location as far afield as Penang (Malaysia).
The popular success of the series led to two sequels, Connections² in 1994, and Connections³ in 1997, both produced for TLC.
Modern soldiers demonstrate the use of steel-tipped pikes by the Swiss against Charles the Bold in one of the many reenactments used in Connections.Connections explores an "Alternative View of Change" (the subtitle of the series) that rejects the conventional linear and teleological view of historical progress.
Burke contends that one cannot consider the development of any particular piece of the modern world in isolation. Rather, the entire gestalt of the modern world is the result of a web of interconnected events, each one consisting of a person or group acting in rational self-interest with no concept of the final, modern result of what either their or their contemporaries' actions finally lead to.
The interplay of the results of these isolated events is what drives history and innovation, and is also the main focus of the series and its sequels.
To demonstrate this view, Burke begins each episode with a particular event or innovation in the past (usually Ancient or Medieval times) and traces the path from that event through a series of seemingly unrelated connections to a fundamental and essential aspect of the modern world.
For example, the program traces the invention of plastics from the development of the fluyt, a type of Dutch cargo ship.
Burke also explores three corollaries to his initial thesis.
The first is that, if history is driven by individuals who act only on what they know at the time and not because of any idea as to where their actions will eventually lead, then predicting the future course of technological progress is futile conjecture.
If we are astonished by the connections Burke is able to weave among past events, then we will be equally surprised by what the events of today eventually lead to, especially events we weren't even aware of at the time.
The second and third corollaries are explored most in the introductory and concluding episodes, and they represent the downside of an interconnected history.
If history progresses because of the synergistic interaction of past events and innovations, then as history does progress, the number of these events and innovations increases.
This increase in possible connections causes the process of innovation to not only continue, but to accelerate. Burke poses the question of what happens when this rate of innovation, or more importantly change itself, becomes too much for the average person to handle and what this means for individual power, liberty, and privacy.
Lastly, if the entire modern world is built from these interconnected innovations, all increasingly maintained and improved by specialists who required years of training to gain their expertise, what chance does the average citizen without this extensive training have in making an informed decision on practical technological issues, such as the building of nuclear power plants or the funding of controversial projects such as stem cell research?
Furthermore, if the modern world is increasingly interconnected, what happens when one of those nodes collapses? Does the entire system follow suit?
Connections (1978)
The Trigger Effect
Death in the Morning
Distant Voices
Faith in Numbers
The Wheel of Fortune
Thunder in the Skies
The Long Chain
Eat, Drink and Be Merry
Countdown
Yesterday, Tomorrow and You
Connections2 (1992)
Revolutions
Sentimental Journeys
Getting It Together
Whodunit?
Something for Nothing
Echoes of the Past
Photo Finish
Separate Ways
High Times
Déjà Vu
New Harmony
Hot Pickle
The Big Spin
Bright Ideas
Making Waves
Routes
One Word
Sign Here
Better Than the Real Thing
Flexible Response
Connections3 (1997)
Feedback
What's in a Name?
Drop The Apple
Invisible Object
Life is No Picnic
Elementary Stuff
A Special Place
Fire from the Sky
Hit the Water
In Touch
Follow this series with James Burke daily, Monday thru Friday, here on "Perspective" at http://god-101.blogspot.com/
Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at http://www.god-101.com/
Although they were made over twenty years ago the subject matter of these works is timeless and it's presentation is flawless.
The first in the series; "The day the Universe changed," was a ten part series presented here in full and it dealt with the impact certain inventions had in changing history.
The next few; "Connections," Connections II," Connections III," and "Re-Connections," all look at how our modern world is interconnected and when one event occures, how it can have far reaching implications and be connected to other events in ways that we did not, and could not, know!
I am going to present a short clip from this series every day, Monday to Friday, and I promise you that following them will be well worth it! Enjoy!
Episode 1-1
James Burke, the creator and host of 'Connections', explains the Haber-Bosch Process Connections was a ten-episode documentary television series created and narrated by science historian James Burke.
The series was produced and directed by Mick Jackson of the BBC Science & Features Department and first aired in 1978.
It took an interdisciplinary approach to the history of science and invention and demonstrates how various discoveries, scientific achievements, and historical world events built off one another in an interconnected way to bring about particular aspects of modern technology.
The series is well-known for Burke's impeccable narration (especially its dry humour), historical reenactments, intricate working models, skillful use of classical music (most notably Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi, or "O Fortuna" from Carmina Burana), and shots on location as far afield as Penang (Malaysia).
The popular success of the series led to two sequels, Connections² in 1994, and Connections³ in 1997, both produced for TLC.
Modern soldiers demonstrate the use of steel-tipped pikes by the Swiss against Charles the Bold in one of the many reenactments used in Connections.Connections explores an "Alternative View of Change" (the subtitle of the series) that rejects the conventional linear and teleological view of historical progress.
Burke contends that one cannot consider the development of any particular piece of the modern world in isolation. Rather, the entire gestalt of the modern world is the result of a web of interconnected events, each one consisting of a person or group acting in rational self-interest with no concept of the final, modern result of what either their or their contemporaries' actions finally lead to.
The interplay of the results of these isolated events is what drives history and innovation, and is also the main focus of the series and its sequels.
To demonstrate this view, Burke begins each episode with a particular event or innovation in the past (usually Ancient or Medieval times) and traces the path from that event through a series of seemingly unrelated connections to a fundamental and essential aspect of the modern world.
For example, the program traces the invention of plastics from the development of the fluyt, a type of Dutch cargo ship.
Burke also explores three corollaries to his initial thesis.
The first is that, if history is driven by individuals who act only on what they know at the time and not because of any idea as to where their actions will eventually lead, then predicting the future course of technological progress is futile conjecture.
If we are astonished by the connections Burke is able to weave among past events, then we will be equally surprised by what the events of today eventually lead to, especially events we weren't even aware of at the time.
The second and third corollaries are explored most in the introductory and concluding episodes, and they represent the downside of an interconnected history.
If history progresses because of the synergistic interaction of past events and innovations, then as history does progress, the number of these events and innovations increases.
This increase in possible connections causes the process of innovation to not only continue, but to accelerate. Burke poses the question of what happens when this rate of innovation, or more importantly change itself, becomes too much for the average person to handle and what this means for individual power, liberty, and privacy.
Lastly, if the entire modern world is built from these interconnected innovations, all increasingly maintained and improved by specialists who required years of training to gain their expertise, what chance does the average citizen without this extensive training have in making an informed decision on practical technological issues, such as the building of nuclear power plants or the funding of controversial projects such as stem cell research?
Furthermore, if the modern world is increasingly interconnected, what happens when one of those nodes collapses? Does the entire system follow suit?
Connections (1978)
The Trigger Effect
Death in the Morning
Distant Voices
Faith in Numbers
The Wheel of Fortune
Thunder in the Skies
The Long Chain
Eat, Drink and Be Merry
Countdown
Yesterday, Tomorrow and You
Connections2 (1992)
Revolutions
Sentimental Journeys
Getting It Together
Whodunit?
Something for Nothing
Echoes of the Past
Photo Finish
Separate Ways
High Times
Déjà Vu
New Harmony
Hot Pickle
The Big Spin
Bright Ideas
Making Waves
Routes
One Word
Sign Here
Better Than the Real Thing
Flexible Response
Connections3 (1997)
Feedback
What's in a Name?
Drop The Apple
Invisible Object
Life is No Picnic
Elementary Stuff
A Special Place
Fire from the Sky
Hit the Water
In Touch
Follow this series with James Burke daily, Monday thru Friday, here on "Perspective" at http://god-101.blogspot.com/
Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at http://www.god-101.com/
Labels: connections, history, james burke, science, technology
posted by Allan W Janssen | 8:57 a.m.
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