Connections TV series by James Burke

Picture from Wiki

Summary

...made in 1978 by turning science into a detective story, James Burke creates a series that will fascinate students and adults alike. This interdisciplinary approach has never before been applied to history or science and it succeeds tremendously. Winner of the Red Ribbon in the American Film Festival, the scope of the series covers 19 countries and 150 locations, requiring over 14 months of filming.

As the Sherlock Holmes of science, Burke tracks through 12,000 years of history for the clues that lead us to eight great life changing inventions-the atom bomb, telecommunications, the computer, the production line, jet aircraft, plastics, rocketry and television. Burke postulates that such changes occur in response to factors he calls triggers, some of them seemingly unrelated. These have their own triggering effects, causing change in totally unrelated fields as well. And so the connections begin...

Where to get it?

Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk


Related Books and Magazines

Connections
American Connections
Circles: Fifty Round Trips Through History Technology Science Culture
The Knowledge Web From Electronic Agents to Stonehenge and Back And Other Journeys Through Knowledge


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Related Websites

Wiki site on Connections



My first time doing this for a video, so mods feel free to work your magic if I got anything wrong.

I give this film 9 out of 10 acorns

I've been borrowing these videos from the library and the more I watch, the more I think they can be useful to permaculture.

Looking back at history and seeing what problems arose and how people dealt with them can be very inspiring for us now. We have similar problems, but with all the technology of our modern lives, we forget that there were very simple solutions used in the past.

The episode I watched last night talked about how people in the Middle Ages dealt with the sudden and drastic climate change that happened at the beginning of the mini ice age. Even other medieval enthusiasts forget that England... you know England, it's that place with the reputation of being damp and cold but making great beer. This same island was the wine producing capital of Europe less than a thousand years ago. Within about three years it transformed from making the most amazing grapes and wine, to actually having snow in winter. This change in climate had a huge effect on technology, social values, and peoples lives in general. Perhaps by looking to the past, we can find ideas to help us prepare for the future.

Anyway, though I would put the idea out there. Anyone else remember this show?
Let's talk about the value of connections.

Love this show! It's been a while since I watched it, I think I have some of the later episodes left to see. Thanks for the reminder!

Really, what could be more permaculture than 'connections'?

A great show. One of my favorite documentaries of all time.  

Me too.  I'm going to have to watch them all again.  I hope I love them as much now as I did way back when I first watched them.

Edit:  Just checked, they are on Youtube:

I didn't want my kids watching "regular tv" because I felt the ads were too harmful to our ideals of living lighter on the planet. That meant shows like this one that we could get from the library, hubby's stash, or purchase, were what they were raised on. It's amazing how it encouraged them to look for 'connections' and see how the world developed and gave them an appreciation for history that I found difficult to get from the school system that seemed to totally ignore the "relevance" of events in favor of "dates and locations".