James Burke : The Day The Universe Changed: "Point Of View", 1 of 6 (CC)

[oker59]

I like to post this on my blog on Columbus day. Main thought?

To bad most Americans(really, most people worldwide) are not free thinkers!

[MST3KLives]

I would very much appreciate it if someone could reply to this: I would just like to know more about these documentaries. Are they like Carl Sagan's Cosmos, which I love, only about science and its history in general? It's just that I've never heard of this before and want to know if I should watch them.

[oker59]

@MST3KLives

Well, they're online here for free; so, I don't understand why you can't just watch them yourself and make up your own mind.

Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" has some history, but also gets into at least to some degree stars, the big bang theory. They both cover some history of science more than others. Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" covers Greek science a lot more than this series does.

[oker59]

@oker59

I'd like to say that I like to mix up Jacob Bronowski's "Ascent of Man"(the first two episodes), James Burke's "Connections" and this series, and Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" episode about Greek science. They all cover different aspects and times.  They blend in here and there and it's sometimes hard to put one episode in front of another.

[oker59]

@oker59

Do you want me to say whether it's a good series or not?

[oker59]

@oker59

Perhaps, mstskLives, youj'd like to see my reviews over at amazon? Links are not allowed here on youtube; so, all I can say is go to amazon and look up james burke anything! I've posted in both the book and dvd's of connections and "The Day the Universe Changed"; they should still be the most recent reviews!

[thisuserhas]

Allow me to preface this by saying I have thoroughly enjoyed this series; however I do take joy in the knowledge that advocating military technology is no longer practised. Wars have laid the premise for most modern day technology but thankfully making Notebooks, MP3 Players, Mobile Phones etc have taken over - we are far too good at killing each other as it is!

[Glenn1967ful]

Never saw James Burke again after this. Universe showed excellent promise, but viewers seemed to find it heavy going and the critics attacked the series, leaving the BBC with an expensive series that tanked in the ratings. A shame for JB as he was one of our foremost science presenters in the seventies.

[Maximara]

@Glenn1967ful DTUC was a 1985 production and was followed by After the Warming (1989), Masters of Illusion (1993), Connections 2 (1994), and Connections 3 (1997). As PBS is the main way you see James Burke in the US you are very dependent on what your local PBS thinks is important.

[PaulUmbarger]

Burke should really do a new version of this kind of thing covering the development of the modern computer and internet and all. Bill Gates once said that no one would ever have a use for any computers with more than 700Kb of power. Now, my digital video camera makes home movies that require more storage than that! It'd be interesting to see what his take on that would be. Since Burke is getting up in years, the soner the better! Before we lose him forever.

[JamesBurkeWeb]

Agreed. Maybe he's lost interest. I hope not.

We need him now more than ever before.

- JBW

[PaulUmbarger]

Yeah, these series' are from the 70's and 80's and are still pretty relevent, if somewhat dated. A series of this caliber should be able to hold up for another thirty odd years. It'd be a shame for the younger set to miss out on his insights simply because his first shows had become viewed as outdated.

[txvoltaire]

Sadly, most younger people I know refuse to watch certain tv/movies simply because they're in b&w.

[PaulUmbarger]

@txvoltaire I agree. It's a total shame that so many can't or won't learn some of civilizations more important lessons simply because it doesn't comes to the in full color and 3-D with monsters chasing them around in a cyber world. Even our libraries are starting to seem more like museums than societal archives.

[philosopheXprn]

Don't worry txvoltaire, there's still hope! I'm 19 and I voraciously prefer b&w to colour. I got my friends to start watching b&w media with me by showing them "It Happened One Night," to prove that old things are still entertaining.

[radiofreeaberdare]

@JamesBurkeWeb and @PaulUmbarger Guys, James Burke is hardly "getting on in years" - he was only born in 1936. Sir Patrick Moore is still going strong and he's nearly 90. And Mr Burke is still working away, on a project called The Knowledge Web. It's in its infancy, but imagine a whole virtual Connections website! Check it out. I'd love it if he did a new TV series, but I think we'd be lucky if anyone wanted to commission anything so broad and informative these days, alas.

[oker59]

@PaulUmbarger

He should do one on mathematics, nanotechnology, space exploration, quantum computers . . . ;

[roadrodent1952]

"Standards" on the rails!!