James Burke : The Day The Universe Changed: "The Way We Are", 1 of 5 (CC)

[ion010101]

This was far and away better than Cosmos.

[AndyHocvs]

He takes that damn corduroy suit around the world, to just about every country in Europe and North America, parts of Asia. Jesus, his closet's probably full of them.

[spencnaz]

I watched the first series Connections in the 70's with my dad when it came out on PBS when I was 6 years old. Even then, I learned so much about creative problem solving. These series have influence my methodologies in my career as a designer and engineer. Thank you Professor Burke.

[stoltobot]

James Burke fucking rules!

[SamoanSoilder]

I didn't get the punchline of the joke he was telling at the start...

[wanderliscious]

@SamoanSoilder whether the sun is going around the earth, or the earth is going around the sun, here on earth it looks the same. only your knowledge that the sun is at the center of our solar system tells you that the earth is in fact revolving around the sun. Watching a sunrise or sunset, without the knowledge I have, I would absolutely think that the sun is going around the earth. and ultimately it doesn't matter what anyone believes, everything continues to go around regardless ;)

[mcatest]

Great series!



[Taraterm2]

And I love his trenchent, mordent wit......

[AlexMcPwnr]

Recon sent my ass here

[Souplesse000]

What a great man. The things I've learned from watching these programs of his. Fantastic.

[565fan]

How I love this show! :) even 20 years later, he explains it all!

[TheLastBrainLeft]

He had me at Wittgenstein ....

[MarkMuses]

James Burke = unbridled clarity

[rockoqatsi]

@MarkMuses Too bad that doesn't make a suitable anagram.

[mercer240]

lol/sigh, James Burke perfectly articulated why you can't "defeat" religious fundamentalism (regardless of which religion).

if my truth guarantees me a place in heaven, of course i don't mind dying/killing for it. :(

[plutoisacomet]

Started with the Greeks huh? FAIL

[stevecast65]

You just can't get good education like this anymore.

[luvsronpaul]

Ron Paul 2012!

[Auggie56]

"We are who we are, because of who we were when."

Unknown

[Primalxbeast]

No stargate? :-( ;-)

[Topkickcat]

I'm trying to show me kid's in the flow presented . But its hard on youtube . cant get the next 1 to play ,Well he is having fun looking just to yell ;heh dad i found it ..Good job ..we try together

[tmzilla]

The "unknown instrument" mentioned at 8:25 in the captions is called a "Hurdy Gurdy"

[umpire63]

@dooberry20

This is the stuff they USED to show on TLC. I loved this and Burkes "Connections." Alas, our feeble-minded, voyeuristic masses want to see people humiliated and stuff destroyed.

[bdash1990]

does ANYONE know the opening theme from this series?

i can't find it for the life of me.

thanks

[dooberry20]

@bdash1990 idk but i love it

[Bass5el]

I believe it was written by Carl Davis specifically for the series. It is beautiful, thought.

[dooberry20]

this is the kind of stuff they should be showing on the science channel or discovery channel...but no they show stupid shit like Cash Cab or Smash lab?! i mean wtf. thats not science or history of discoveries or anything...ugh

[ICContempEnsemble]

The closed captions go by so fast they are impossible to read! What a waste.

[UppruniTegundanna]

I've heard that opening remark told differently, and in my opinion better:

"What would it have looked like, if it looked like the earth was going around the sun?"

It keeps the anthropocentric element of the question, which is what's important about it.

Having said that, if this is all I can find wrong with James Burke's series, then that's a sign of a very good series!

[vyxanis]

Connections is my favourite show. James Burke is the kind of man that i WISH i had as a teacher in school. I have learned so much more through watching his shows than I did in school.

Great man, great info.. love it love it love it

[JamesBurkeWeb]

Me too! Something that needs to be shared with the whole world. Especially young people who would otherwise never get to see this brilliant show... or see what education *could be* with the right people doing the teaching!

- JBW

[vikzen]

I just LOVE this man and this series! I remember taping the series when it was aired back in the 80s. It's great to find this series -- and his others -- here. Yay JamesBurkeWeb!! Thank you!

[philonous09]

@JamesBurkeWeb I saw this video during my high school year, but I didn't really learned to appreciate it until I became a freshman in college. It's really a stimulating documentary.

[Bass5el]

You may not have had Burke as a teacher in school, but you have him as a teacher NOW... when you can appreciate his work!

[FastFoodies]

I would stay up every night and watch MST3K and then turn to TLC for Connections and Day the Universe Changed. Im so lucky to have found about this great man and his work. It took many years and the advent of youtube/netflix to recaptue the greatness. Gawd ! remember when TLC really was The Learning Channel, now its the have babies and redecorate network. Hail James !

[JamesBurkeWeb]

It's kinda sad, the state of "educational television" today. If you can even call it that.

Even a detective show can make for some great science education (Colombo for instance - *that* was a great science show, no question about it!). And you don't even find that anymore (which is also entertainment and sells toothpaste).

I dunno, maybe people just aren't up to following a story more complex than light romance and action-packed fight sequences. Not sure...

[ipbalkenende]

Columbo was science? Don't get me wrong I love Columbo but I always felt it a bit of a guilty pleasue. A cliche ridden detective (that I love unlike any other detective series but still).

[JamesBurkeWeb]

That's what you'd think. That's what's so clever about it. Many episodes were pretty "unscientific" (that is, the methods used and so on) but science is also very much like that. You start with a theory and then you do *everything you can* to attempt to disprove it.

Columbo was constantly testing various theories presented against reality and seeing if it fit and was content when things did fit. But he had a keen eye for those tiny bits that didn't and that's where he focused his attention.

[MrBunnerabb]

@JamesBurkeWeb American Chopper BBQ Pitmasters Cake Boss LA Ink Toddlers & Tiaras Say Yes to the Dress What Not to Wear Yeah, that's educational. I've learned a lot from those shows. What I have learned is you take any mundane activity, turn it into a competition fraught with ersatz drama, slap up a camera and bring the whole show in for about 300.00 including doughnuts for the crew and toss it up for the rubes to get all hand wringy about. Pathetic. It's like the Idiocracy is the point.

[ion010101]

@JamesBurkeWeb The increase in the number of channels available, pay tv (cable tv) and the internet have lowered standards.

[godrodemyscooter]

yessss i was raised on the teachings of james burke. he has a shrine in my closet now.

[BDSGetlow]

Thanks bro for posting this. An absolute gem!

[JamesBurkeWeb]

You're very welcome. Enjoy!

[ChuckBleedinNorris]

On what basis are you applying this? Why would this be an error? or do you mean you cannot find a link that joins the two?

They used to say applying an orbit of the earth around the sun is a big ERROR.

[JamesBurkeWeb]

Forget it. User banned.

[vyxanis]

I love James Burke! i've watched Connections over and over, his views on change are such a nice change from what we learned in school. if they played this series in our classes we would have learned so much more!

Awesome man, awesome knowledge, awesome work

[JamesBurkeWeb]

Yes, agreed. His Connections series are nothing short of astounding.

- JBW

[jebstuartlee]

not complete?! geez, how could a channel like discovery have the gall to edit such a wonderful series. i remember looking forward to sunday evening when the local pbs station aired this series.

[JamesBurkeWeb]

Because it's a commercial channel and the episodes are about 55 mins each but they have to schedule-in about 15 mins worth of commercials for each single-hour program slot. So they have to cut about 10 minutes off of each episode.

You'll notice that episode 3 ("Point of View") is not cut and required ~5.3 segments instead of the usual ~4.3. Maybe it was a holiday or something when they aired that one and couldn't manage to schedule-in 15 mins worth of commercials that day. Not sure.

- JBW

[KeithIsPissedOffabiX]

I love this show, its great stuff for the mind.

[JamesBurkeWeb]

Absolutely. Enjoy!

[unamacarana]

I've been looking for this for a long time. Thank you for posting!!!

[JamesBurkeWeb]

My pleasure. Everyone deserves to see these shows even though they're not 100% complete... I mean, these Discovery Channel versions.

I can't seem to find the full-length versions anywhere.

- JBW

[rampantandroid]

Ambrose video has them out in full form...same company the Connections 1 DVDs are from. Just got them recently... real pleasure having them. :-)

[nicanicabad]

you rock for posting these vids!

[EriktheNog]

Here I am stuck here in the Philippines where the tv is truly dreadful - it made me think about all the wonderful tv we have in the UK and that made me think about James Burke and Connections etc. I was pleased to find the series and moore here on youtube and surprised how little they have dated - thank you James - you are a star!

[JamesBurkeWeb]

Just to let you know, I am not James Burke! I think I named this channel badly... it used to be called JamesBurkeFan but I deleted it in protest (long story) and couldn't find another video hosting site where I could set things up the way I wanted to. So I came back here. Now I don't know what to do... (I won't delete the channel though. I just won't adding to it or putting in the long hours to improve it since, at any moment, all that work could be destroyed)

- JBW

[benrw]

I've bought this DVD. One of the best in my collection.

James Burke is one of my heroes.

[JamesBurkeWeb]

Thank you! In a subtle way that supports this channel. I urge anyone else (with the means to do it) to do likewise.

Also the DVD versions are not cut up like these (many segments taken out to make way for commercials) and have much higher quality.

- JBW

[petrospills11]

This is the most significant tv series

ever and i can't thank you enough for taking the time to tube it

I loved it 20 years ago and now i can see it again

Just excellent

thanks again!!!

[JamesBurkeWeb]

You're very welcome.

And just in case you didn't know: Now, for the very first time, you can actually *buy* this series on DVD!

The copyright was bought up by another company and the price reduced by nearly a factor of 10. Digitally remastered and, as you might guess, including the missing clips from these versions.

See the main channel page for details in case you're interested.

- JBW

[JamesBurkeWeb]

Testing some captions here... don't expect the rest to be coming soon!

[vunak2000]

Thanks for putting this up...loved this show one of my top 10 television shows of all time...

[JamesBurkeWeb]

You're very welcome. Unfortunately these versions are clipped (to make way for commercials) and some very exceptional scenes were taken out :(

But, it's still better than anything else out there on TV IMHO.

- JBW

[YoPaulie21]

Absolutely love this series and the Connections series - thank you for uploading! I will be re-watching it all.

[JamesBurkeWeb]

You're very welcome. Enjoy the programs!

- JBW

[MajClanger]

I watched repeats of this about 12 years ago on daytime TV when my first child was a baby and I had "enforced" periods of sitting down feeding her.

Sorely disappointed that it's not on DVD, I'm currently reading the book and then I found this.

Brilliant! Thank you. And thank you for waking me from some of the lethargy I've had recently - my passion to know everything is reawakened!

[JamesBurkeWeb]

But of course, now it *is* on DVD (thanks to, Vishnu [or whatever] bless 'em "Ambrose Video").

See the main channel page for a link to their purchase page.

- JBW

[fuferito]

Awesome. I'm in my thirties now and was in my early teens when I first watched this series. Thanks for posting this.

[JamesBurkeWeb]

You're very welcome.

- JBW

P.S. About the comment above, those captions are on the "Connections" series, haven't started on this series yet.

[boxant]

man, this takes me back, thanks for uploading!

[JamesBurkeWeb]

You're very welcome. Doing this is not is no chore for me... so no thanks is really necessary. But I'll take it anyway ;)

- JBW

P.S. Note that this episode, and several others (currently up to episode 5) have closed captions available now. These captions are not only useful for those who can't hear, but also in general I think... for references (names, dates etc) and also because Mr. Burke packs so much into each sentence that you tend to miss a lot in the monologue just watching!

[HerrFOAD]

on apar with carl sagans cosmos series both timeless

[pyroghy]

This is a timeless series, and should be must-view by every child in every school in the country.

[JamesBurkeWeb]

Agreed. And that's what this channel is for. Teachers are encouraged to use this material in their classrooms. Students can review the material at home, or anywhere else where they have access to the net.

- JBW

[JamesBurkeWeb]

You're all very welcome. These shows are still far and away ahead of their time. And I'm not talking about 1985, I mean now: 2009.

[jba1995]

FairCogent, you speak the truth. These two specials were so informative and eye-opening, and entertaining.

[FairCogent]

This series (as well as the Connections series) had a serious impact on me in my youth. I'm eternally grateful to everyone involved in their production.

[646879]

splendid series of thought provoking history and science overview.....kudos to Mr Burke

[terriblebrett]

One of the best series ever. Thanks James Burke!