James Burke's The Day The Universe Changed (1985)
10 videos
Updated 6 months ago
The Day the Universe Changed is James Burke's personal view on the great ebb and flow of ideas that have gone into the development of Western thought. Host James Burke gives a stunning overview of this evolution of thought since the
days of the Greeks in this ten-part series co-produced by BBC-TV and RKO
Pictures.
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The Day The Universe Changed | E01 The Way We Are | 1985
The Backup CopyEpisode 1 - The Way We Are Written and presented by James Burke, this 10-part series traces the development of Western thought through its major transformations since the days of ancient Greece. Program one is an overview of the series, showing how a culture's view of the world around it determines how it sees itself, and is reflected even in the smallest details of its customs and habits.13 views -
The Day The Universe Changed | E02 In the Light of the Above | 1985
The Backup CopyEpisode 2 - In the Light of the Above Relates that in the course of overrunning Moorish Spain, Christian Europe discovered libraries, universities, optics, mechanics, and natural philosophy. This rediscovery of classical knowledge led to the founding of universities and the replacement of Augustinian philosophies by Aristotelian theories.18 views 1 comment -
The Day The Universe Changed | E03 Point of View | 1985
The Backup CopyEpisode 3 - Point of View Shows that Western EuropeG??s rediscovery of perspective through the study of Arab optics led to revolutions in art and architecture. The WestG??s new-found ability to control things at a distance resulted in new methods of warfare and the confidence to make long voyages of exploration.11 views -
The Day The Universe Changed | E04 A Matter of Fact | 1985
The Backup CopyEpisode 4 - A Matter of Fact Observes that the invention of printing and the advent of cheap paper forever transformed the nature of knowledge from the local and traditional to the systematic and testable. Nationalism, public relations, and propaganda are among the results.16 views 1 comment -
The Day The Universe Changed | E05 Infinitely Reasonable | 1985
The Backup CopyEpisode 5 - Infinitely Reasonable Notes that investigators such as Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton evolved better explanations of natural phenomena than those of Aristotle. Highlights the theories that led to a new conception of how the universe works and of man's place in it.23 views -
The Day The Universe Changed | E06 Credit Where It's Due | 1985
The Backup CopyEpisode 6 - Credit Where It's Due Locates the origins of contemporary consumerism in the English industrial Revolution, powered by religious dissenters barred from all activities except trade. The invention of the steam engine, new forms of credit, surplus wealth and opening markets laid the foundation for industrial society.19 views -
The Day The Universe Changed | E07 What the Doctor Ordered | 1985
The Backup CopyEpisode 7 - What the Doctor Ordered Traces modern society's recognition of the value of statistics to medical advances stemming from responses to the French Revolution and an English cholera epidemic. Identifies the origins of medicine as a science with the discovery of anesthesia, antiseptics, and bacteriology.19 views -
The Day The Universe Changed | E08 Fit to Rule | 1985
The Backup CopyEpisode 8 - Fit to Rule Tracks the expectation of change, fundamental to contemporary society, through the developing sciences of botany, geology, and biology to Darwin’s theory of evolution. Darwin's theory, in turn, has been used as a justification for Nazism, communism, and cut-throat capitalism.17 views -
The Day The Universe Changed | E09 Making Waves | 1985
The Backup CopyEpisode 9 - Making Waves Points out that studies of the properties of magnetism, electricity, and light have led scientists to the realization that Newtonian physics is inadequate to explain all that they observe. The public, meanwhile, has continued to concentrate on the technological by-products of science.17 views -
The Day The Universe Changed | E10 Worlds Without End | 1985
The Backup CopyEpisode 10 - Worlds Without End Observes that over the centuries Western civilization has regularly shifted its conception of the nature of truth. Citing the example of Nepalese Buddhism, a system as complete and satisfactory of Nepal as science is for the West, the series ends with a plea for tolerance.13 views