I used to ask my parents 'why' a lot when I was a child then James Burke came along to solve that problem,but then I got the 'bug' and started reading everything! and challenging my teachers and to this day at 58 I'm still asking 'why' Thank You James Burke for setting me on a lifelong path of discovery.
I agree with you all, although being a teacher rapidly heading into the sixties, my questions tend to be of three types: 1) Why haven’t you done your homework (again)? 2) Why did I come into the kitchen? 3) Why are the Kardashians famous? Of course, we must also remember the other important question words, such as what (What are you eating now?) and how (How did you get the pen in _there_?).
59 today and with you 100% Sky at Night, Connections, Cosmos the Royal Institute Xmas Lectures there were some great educational science programs back then Natural History with David Attenborough. combined with my mother been a local librarian and could get me any book i wanted .. set me up for life. Still reading a book or 2 per week. Its not enough knowing something for me its ''' yes but why is it that?"
I'm so glad that you're rerunning CONNECTIONS, and I'm so glad I'm not the only person who remembers this excellent series. It is a television classic. It says--in effect--that things didn't necessarily happen like we thought they did; in fact the world may be weirder than we thought. As an historians, i can truthfully say that this is a very healthy exercise, and it ought to be indulged in more often.
So I get it now! The square sails, with the innovation of the triangle ssils and tacking, eventually led to the discovery of the Americas, which then eventually led to the atomic bomb 🤣
I was studying at The University of Minnesota Institute of Technology when this aired. The next day I talked about it in Topology class, and for the next 10 weeks, myself and 6 of my mates hunkered down at my flat to catch every episode. I recall fondly how well Mr. Burke wove humor so seamlessly into the show. Just magical.
loved it as a kid. One minute talking about sails, then somehow 20 minutes later you;re on static electricity and radar. Cannot understand how people don;t find science fascinating.
when asked if i could meet anyone from the past, this man would have been a definite yes. i have watched him since i can remember and was absolutely mesmerized, he was to science what morgan freeman is to movies. if i find a show i havent seen or cant recall my world stops for some 48 minutes. thanks to everyone who puts an episode online.
Peak BBC. Two channels gave us this, and numerous other groundbreaking classics of equal quality. The proliferation of channels starting in the 1980s gave us Big Brother and endless cheap dross. Ever wonder why you're dissatisfied with life and angry at everything? Because there are no longer programs like this that treat us as intelligent people, and the world around us with interest and respect. Today instead of presenting well-researched information in an engaging way so that we can form our own opinions, we are presented with opinions and the most that is expected from us is to decide if we agree or disagree. This reductive binary is everything that this program and the ethos behind it are not.
Well, I believe, in many ways, that modern programs aren't as informative and thoughtful, and with a malicious purpose. An informed and thoughtful populace is not as easy to manipulate. What we observe today is deliberate. What we observe today are only snippets of narrow information, and troves of emotionally believable baggage as "support" for whatever narrative is being spewed. . . . It is an ideal cocktail for creating fat, weak and obedient sheeple populace, but not for facilitating the growth of a healthy highly advanced civilization.
Completely agree. Why can't the BBC work out what good programming is? If they stopped competing with commercial channels, and instead went back to their intended remit as a PSB, their output would be so much better.
Clearly the best documentary series ever, the fancy production is down played to enhance the content, which is presented in a neutral and informative manner. But DAMN! A lot of work must have went into these episodes!
I’m so glad to have found these reruns. James Burke showed me that the world was indeed connected in ways I’d never realized. He made me, a young, divorced mother with NOTHING into a lifelong learner. Thank you, James! And thank you Tim for putting these on RUclips!
James Burke was the keynote speaker at a conference I attended many years ago (in the 90's if I remember correctly). I was a big fan of his Connections series and seeing him speak live was a blast.
I discovered this series when I was probably 14 years old (in about 1980. Edit: I just Googled it and the first Connections series came out in 1978) and I was absolutely transfixed that history could be so interesting and interconnected. My mom bought be a book based on the series and I have been fascinated ever since. I still have the book.
I remember watching this as a teenager and this episode totally blowing my mind. I have admired the man and his work ever since, thanks for the revisit
James Burke has such a nice voice, so pleasant to listen to. It's dreadful that the Corporation taped over the recordings of his Apollo programmes. He spoke last year, live on TV, and he still had the voice and delivery.
@@chrisst8922 Excellent news - I used to watch his programmes and some of David Attenboroughs stuff, but the latter individual has become a sell out, a legend in his own mind, a caricature of the person he once was. Should have been retired a long long time ago. James Burke is the man ! Still !
Mr. Burke is a nice guy. He has been everywhere, maybe 20yrs ago everyone was 'tagging' their cable stuff and he was asked about his content being unprotected and available on the internet for free reuse and his answer was basically, GOOD!
I always loved that carbon arc lamp used in the beginning of each show. As a teenager in the early seventies I used those in shop class to make brown prints. It's part of the printing industry. You couldn't look at those because it could damage your eyesight.
Oh wow I can't believe this just happened to pop up on my feed. I remember watching every one of these when the series first aired when I was maybe 12 or 13. I'd about go nuts waiting for the next episode to come on once a week. I was absolutely spellbound by James Burke explaining to me how every single thing from religion to agriculture to manufacturing to astronomy to industrialization is intrinsically connected. How awesome is that?
James Burke’s - Connections, Karl Sagan’s - Cosmos, Jacob Bronowski’s - The Ascent of Man and Kenneth Clarke’s - Civilisation were fantastic and deeply influential documentaries televised on BBC 2 during the late 60’s & 70’s. These programs stimulated an interest I had in the History of Science and resulted in me deciding to leave work and get a place as a mature student at University at the age of 30 to discover more. A great series and thanks for posting.
Teachers could learn so much from JB’s style/presentation. Nearly 50 years on and this still seems so fresh even though the world has advanced still further. Very engaging guy and production values keep it about the subject matter rather than making the celebrity/presenter’s name the reason for watching as seems to be the case currently. Thanks for posting this series, top, top viewing!
while i agree that education could be aided by an infusion of his aesthetic, the fact that he makes it look easy does not mean it is easy. these shows are the result of years of research, months of filming, and weeks of editing, very little of which time is available to teachers. teachers, or at least teachers in the united states, are expected to adhere to a standardized curriculum. in addition, teachers in the states have to worry about being accused of teaching "critical race theory", of grooming their students for sexual exploitation, all while maintaining all of the proper paperwork and, in the case of an active shooter, to give their lives in order to protect their students to the best of their ability. as a retired texas teacher, i miss my interaction with the students but i am delighted to be done with the rest of it .
@@mathmanmrt Good points raised! I can only agree. It wasn’t so much a criticism of teachers per se, more the way this guy can just make things more interesting. He could probably read the phone book and make it into something where you wanted to hear the next entry! I wish I had that skill and I think what I meant to say was how much more we’d all learn if we could only be taught in this way! Thanks for your comment though! :)
how much of this do you remember 6months or year or 2 after watching this? I'm asking because i watched it all some time ago. remember this question in a year or two.
James Burke WAS a teacher- before he started with the BBC he was head of the English School in Rome. Also, US viewers may not be aware that he was the face of, and the chief educator on, the BBC’s coverage of the Apollo programme from ‘68 to ‘72.
Fifty years ago he predicted how invasive computers would be in all areas of business and social media! Burke posed at least one of his predictions as a question. In Connections, he notes that the increase in connections over time causes the rate of innovation to accelerate, and asks what happens when this rate, or more importantly "change" itself, becomes too much for the average person to handle. He also questions what this would mean for individual power, liberty, and privacy
A little side note about that information acceleration effect. When researchers were beginning to map the human genome - I mean really early stages. They were starting to enter data into computers. I think I owned an Intel '286' processor PC at the time. David Suzuki was a guest on a show geared to getting this information out to the general public and was asked his views on it. He graduated as a geneticist. I was almost swearing at the TV when he said it wasn't worth doing. He said it was so big a task it would take too long. You don't forget hearing and watching a thing like that. Did he not contemplate that computers would improve over time like every other technology we've ever had?
@@charlieross-BRM Well Dave is an idiot when it comes to computers. I used to play cards with some of his students at UBC, he knew his stuff but was an awful condescending professor. Thank goodness I was in Economics.
@@charlieross-BRMWell maybe, but didn't Bill Gates once say 600k of hard disk space (or maybe ram) was enough for anybody? He certainly knew computers!
I always was captivated by James Burke, as back in the day we had real programmes on TV not utter trash as we do now, i seem to remember he was on tomorrows world( i could be wrong) another terrific programme from yesteryear
I've only learned of this man through a puzzle video game which included a clip of this man. So far these old documentaries have proven to be really well made!
RUclips, should get hold of all, James Burke's Connections Video's. This guy is a true British Legend and his Connections series is his masterpiece and a great contribution to the world.
Imagine being at a dinner party with James Burke back in the day and he starts on a lengthy monologue connecting the prehistoric invention of a fly swatter to some obscurely related modern invention being used at the dinner party.
Before the internet, before email, before Google, there was James Burke on PBS telling us how we got to nuclear bombs and airplanes and many other things in our modern world. (Or at least the modern world as of the 70's.)
this guy was like the Ronnie Corbett of science stories. LOL. he starts going in one direction, and tangent after tangent, finally comes back to the main story. love it.
I didn't realize until just looking it up that this series began a decade before I thought. Excellent. I still remember several individual connections and discoveries within episodes. It's the style of delivery that kept me going back for more. Another series presented in the same calm, on location method to connect the dots was 'Testament' with John Romer 1988. Fortunately in timing I was on a trip in 1989 staying in a hotel in London, and that was on one of the few shows available in my room. I searched them out and watched the rest back in Canada.
Just for the record. CONNECTIONS wasn't a documentary series it was a James Burke 'isn't this interesting' entertainment programme. I know, I watched them the first time.... he wasn't making Tomorrow's World or Horizon, they were science-ish entertainement, not documentaries or even hardcore science journalism.
The music at 48:00 is also the intro to AJP Taylor's brilliant How Wars Begin series. The BBC had such a golden age back then they were able to reference themselves...
The music is taken from the first movement of Benjamin Britten’s Sinfonia da Requiem, opus 20, written in 1940 to a commission, ironically enough, from the Japanese government. It was rejected by the powers that be but it seems Britten got to keep the commissioning fee. It comes as no surprise that this was chosen. The music used is sometimes but not always random just to match the image.
Like other comments, I too delighted in Burke's Connections series. I went on to get a BSc in Mathematics and had a long career in IT. Now retired, it gave me a real kick to find this again - It ran just at the time when I delights in all STEM topics and changed my destiny from art to science.
When one day there is nothing left from our present-day civilisations, we Germans will probably be remembered for two things: WW2 and Beer parties. But seriously: This series is one new 'favourite YT thing' on my list. Astonishing!
James Burke’s programmes were always looked forward to with anticipation in my younger day. One version of the burning of The Library of Alexandria attributes it to the Roman’s during their intervention in Egypt.
His introductory remarks are outstanding. It's the entire premise of the series in a nutshell. I remember watching this series on PBS. It was a refreshing change from the "Great Man" approach that went before.
This episode aired Oct 24, 1978 and it not the second series, Connections 2. It's the first one simply called connections. It's interesting to note that magnetic north didn't move much between 1900 and 1980, but in the past 40 years, it has moved more than 1000 km towards Siberia.
@@robkeeleycomposer Indeed. When the nose of the bomber was revealed it felt very ominous. When I was young, I was proud that America had invented the bomb. Now I can never think of anything regarding it except the many thousands of deaths at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
jeezus, i cant thumb this up enough. i learned sooooo much from this guy when i was young. i now have a YT rabbit hole, for the next couple of weeks, to go down.
During the Apollo missions, he worked for the BBC. He actually got to wear a full Apollo suit and even slide down the emergency escape chute under the launch tower. How cool is that! Those videos are also on RUclips.
Brilliant as i watched the first time. Update the suit, hair and specs and it would be very contemporary. James Burke, I thank you. You invented the modern way of presenting, you informed us of history, you gave us SCIENCE and You Entertained us then and now. 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
So glad to know he’s still with us at 87! As a young lad watching programs like Tomorrow’s World back in the sixties and seventies he made science and technology sound so exciting and interesting, too much though, because I was convinced we’d have flying cars by the 2000’s! 😂
I will love to see this one of these days. The first 8 minutes were captivating. I remember James Burke from old days on TV, and from this extremely well timed footage: _WL - "James Burke - perfectly-timed rocket launch 8/20/1977"_
Superb. A universe away from the patronising know-all rubbish we get today from the Alices and the Hannahs and Lucys. And fantastic use of mainly 20th century classical music.
As a secondary education student, I had science teachers who would show episodes of this PBS series. It helped foster my lifelong love of information, all kinds, both necessary and random facts, knowledge in a variety of subjects. My lovely bride of 27 years teasingly refer to some of this knowledge as “useless facts”, however I find no pieces of information are ever useless, perhaps just not as often used. This could be, hopefully, the beginning of wisdom. Perhaps…?
Thank you for running these. When I was in my early 20s, I moved back home from college and I briefly lived with a guy whom I had attended high school with. He had a hacked satellite TV card and got a bazillion channels, one of which ran episodes of Connections. We eventually grew apart and moved into different aspects of life. I never thought I would see these episodes again. Fabulous TV and good memories of years long gone. TY!
![Eminem - Tobey (feat. Big Sean & Babytron) [Official Audio]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/9xn0OHEZZ8Q/mqdefault.jpg)
My husband and I watched this entire series on PBS in the 1980's. We never tire of it. Thanks for sharing.
I used to ask my parents 'why' a lot when I was a child then James Burke came along to solve that problem,but then I got the 'bug' and started reading everything! and challenging my teachers and to this day at 58 I'm still asking 'why' Thank You James Burke for setting me on a lifelong path of discovery.
I am 74 and ask why more than ever about everything.
Same here
I agree with you all, although being a teacher rapidly heading into the sixties, my questions tend to be of three types:
1) Why haven’t you done your homework (again)?
2) Why did I come into the kitchen?
3) Why are the Kardashians famous?
Of course, we must also remember the other important question words, such as what (What are you eating now?) and how (How did you get the pen in _there_?).
59 today and with you 100% Sky at Night, Connections, Cosmos the Royal Institute Xmas Lectures there were some great educational science programs back then Natural History with David Attenborough. combined with my mother been a local librarian and could get me any book i wanted .. set me up for life. Still reading a book or 2 per week. Its not enough knowing something for me its ''' yes but why is it that?"
I bet we're of the same generation. Brought up by Carl Sagan, James Burke, Jonny Ball & David Attenborough.
I'm so glad that you're rerunning CONNECTIONS, and I'm so glad I'm not the only person who remembers this excellent series. It is a television classic. It says--in effect--that things didn't necessarily happen like we thought they did; in fact the world may be weirder than we thought. As an historians, i can truthfully say that this is a very healthy exercise, and it ought to be indulged in more often.
I remember this show also - glad to see it again.
I loved this show when imwas younger. So pleased to be able to see it again. James Burke got me interested in so many things just because of his show.
So I get it now! The square sails, with the innovation of the triangle ssils and tacking, eventually led to the discovery of the Americas, which then eventually led to the atomic bomb 🤣
I've watched some of the poor copies on RUclips and just wished for this!!
I was studying at The University of Minnesota Institute of Technology when this aired. The next day I talked about it in Topology class, and for the next 10 weeks, myself and 6 of my mates hunkered down at my flat to catch every episode. I recall fondly how well Mr. Burke wove humor so seamlessly into the show. Just magical.
I agree. I’m astonished by the ingenuity of those who have gone before use. We really do stand on the shoulders of giants.
Not buyin' it, they don't have flats in Minnesota ;-)
I attended the U of M....we do attract international students and it looks like the commenter was obviously one of them
@@joemcgulligut7874or mates
Connections was one of if not the best docu-series ever made.
loved it as a kid. One minute talking about sails, then somehow 20 minutes later you;re on static electricity and radar.
Cannot understand how people don;t find science fascinating.
when asked if i could meet anyone from the past, this man would have been a definite yes. i have watched him since i can remember and was absolutely mesmerized, he was to science what morgan freeman is to movies. if i find a show i havent seen or cant recall my world stops for some 48 minutes. thanks to everyone who puts an episode online.
James Burke is still alive and well.
Yes, dude! I think it's actually possible to book a Skype meeting with the man.
Gotta love English doc series. James Burke, David Attenborough and Sir Patrick Moore. Many others that will come to mind later.
He just made and released (09NOV2023) the 4th season of “Connections”.
@@frugalbirders7416 thanks for this. I’ll sign up and watch this.
Peak BBC. Two channels gave us this, and numerous other groundbreaking classics of equal quality. The proliferation of channels starting in the 1980s gave us Big Brother and endless cheap dross. Ever wonder why you're dissatisfied with life and angry at everything? Because there are no longer programs like this that treat us as intelligent people, and the world around us with interest and respect. Today instead of presenting well-researched information in an engaging way so that we can form our own opinions, we are presented with opinions and the most that is expected from us is to decide if we agree or disagree. This reductive binary is everything that this program and the ethos behind it are not.
Modern television in a nutshell buddy, no longer educated and entertained at the same time, great shame we have come to this.
Well, I believe, in many ways, that modern programs aren't as informative and thoughtful, and with a malicious purpose. An informed and thoughtful populace is not as easy to manipulate.
What we observe today is deliberate. What we observe today are only snippets of narrow information, and troves of emotionally believable baggage as "support" for whatever narrative is being spewed. . . . It is an ideal cocktail for creating fat, weak and obedient sheeple populace, but not for facilitating the growth of a healthy highly advanced civilization.
Completely agree. Why can't the BBC work out what good programming is? If they stopped competing with commercial channels, and instead went back to their intended remit as a PSB, their output would be so much better.
Well said.
...we are presented with opinions and....what??
Call up our school boards! Let’s inspire young minds- say, Grades 4 to 12. Bring this Connection series into the classrooms!
I still remember watching the original series back in the late 70s. Couldn't wait for each new episode.
Yep, and me! 👍
I wish we could have seen James Burke in the US when I was growing up. He's fantastic.
Clearly the best documentary series ever, the fancy production is down played to enhance the content, which is presented in a neutral and informative manner. But DAMN! A lot of work must have went into these episodes!
The precursor of things to come explaining science to the masses. I ate this up.
An absolute treasure.
yes I thought that especially experimenting with camera angles etc too, altogether brilliant in all aspects
I would rate this along side World at War.....The best documentaries.
@@bozhijak❤
Brilliant guy along with Cosmos PBS really made great informative TV shows that were fascinating to watch.
Thanks!😅😅
Ten lectures by James Burke could teach you more than 10 years in school.
Maybe not even 10.
One would gain more practical information through Connections than most college educations (also known as indoctrination).
Ignorant comment.
You fail to acknowledge what you learned in school, and highlight the fact that you actually didn't.
@@RandallvanOosten-ln5wfwe know. We seen Henry Kissenger
One of the best shows to ever appear on television. Mastering each episode of the series is probably the equivalent of earning a phd in history.
Was so glad to grow up watching James, first tomorrow’s world and then connections. Brilliant tv and so engaging. Miss him and his tv.
I’m so glad to have found these reruns. James Burke showed me that the world was indeed connected in ways I’d never realized. He made me, a young, divorced mother with NOTHING into a lifelong learner. Thank you, James! And thank you Tim for putting these on RUclips!
James Burke was the keynote speaker at a conference I attended many years ago (in the 90's if I remember correctly). I was a big fan of his Connections series and seeing him speak live was a blast.
I attended a lecture by him at UC San Diego and I was able to get him to autograph my copy of Connections.
I discovered this series when I was probably 14 years old (in about 1980. Edit: I just Googled it and the first Connections series came out in 1978) and I was absolutely transfixed that history could be so interesting and interconnected. My mom bought be a book based on the series and I have been fascinated ever since. I still have the book.
James Burke is possibly the best science history explainer ever. Loved his shows!
Loved this show. It, Burke's follow-up THE DAY THE UNIVERSE CHANGED, and Carl Sagan's COSMOS were formative experiences for me.
I remember watching this as a teenager and this episode totally blowing my mind. I have admired the man and his work ever since, thanks for the revisit
James Burke has such a nice voice, so pleasant to listen to. It's dreadful that the Corporation taped over the recordings of his Apollo programmes. He spoke last year, live on TV, and he still had the voice and delivery.
He's still alive ! ?
@@jamesbarbour8400 Yessiree 😀
@@chrisst8922 Excellent news - I used to watch his programmes and some of David Attenboroughs stuff, but the latter individual has become a sell out, a legend in his own mind, a caricature of the person he once was. Should have been retired a long long time ago.
James Burke is the man ! Still !
Mr. Burke is a nice guy. He has been everywhere, maybe 20yrs ago everyone was 'tagging' their cable stuff and he was asked about his content being unprotected and available on the internet for free reuse and his answer was basically, GOOD!
@@bender7565 That is the mindset of a true scientist. To explore, and tell the world what has been found.
I always loved that carbon arc lamp used in the beginning of each show. As a teenager in the early seventies I used those in shop class to make brown prints. It's part of the printing industry. You couldn't look at those because it could damage your eyesight.
Fresh as the day it was created!
Oh wow I can't believe this just happened to pop up on my feed. I remember watching every one of these when the series first aired when I was maybe 12 or 13. I'd about go nuts waiting for the next episode to come on once a week. I was absolutely spellbound by James Burke explaining to me how every single thing from religion to agriculture to manufacturing to astronomy to industrialization is intrinsically connected. How awesome is that?
The very best thing that ever went out on television over here !
Like a Simpsons episode. You watch the first five minutes, follow the plot, and, at the end, wonder how the hell the story lead you to where you are.
Aa a amateur historian, The connections program & James Burke changed my whole way of studying history. I am exceedingly grateful for him!!
James Burke’s - Connections, Karl Sagan’s - Cosmos, Jacob Bronowski’s - The Ascent of Man and Kenneth Clarke’s - Civilisation were fantastic and deeply influential documentaries televised on BBC 2 during the late 60’s & 70’s. These programs stimulated an interest I had in the History of Science and resulted in me deciding to leave work and get a place as a mature student at University at the age of 30 to discover more. A great series and thanks for posting.
And now look at what you get on TV …
Teachers could learn so much from JB’s style/presentation.
Nearly 50 years on and this still seems so fresh even though the world has advanced still further. Very engaging guy and production values keep it about the subject matter rather than making the celebrity/presenter’s name the reason for watching as seems to be the case currently.
Thanks for posting this series, top, top viewing!
while i agree that education could be aided by an infusion of his aesthetic, the fact that he makes it look easy does not mean it is easy. these shows are the result of years of research, months of filming, and weeks of editing, very little of which time is available to teachers. teachers, or at least teachers in the united states, are expected to adhere to a standardized curriculum. in addition, teachers in the states have to worry about being accused of teaching "critical race theory", of grooming their students for sexual exploitation, all while maintaining all of the proper paperwork and, in the case of an active shooter, to give their lives in order to protect their students to the best of their ability.
as a retired texas teacher, i miss my interaction with the students but i am delighted to be done with the rest of it .
@@mathmanmrt Good points raised! I can only agree. It wasn’t so much a criticism of teachers per se, more the way this guy can just make things more interesting. He could probably read the phone book and make it into something where you wanted to hear the next entry!
I wish I had that skill and I think what I meant to say was how much more we’d all learn if we could only be taught in this way!
Thanks for your comment though! :)
how much of this do you remember 6months or year or 2 after watching this?
I'm asking because i watched it all some time ago.
remember this question in a year or two.
James Burke WAS a teacher- before he started with the BBC he was head of the English School in Rome. Also, US viewers may not be aware that he was the face of, and the chief educator on, the BBC’s coverage of the Apollo programme from ‘68 to ‘72.
@@mathmanmrt thank you for your service and best wishes from Austin.
James Burke was great. Used to watch the Day the Universe changed as a kid.
Is great. He's still going.
Fifty years ago he predicted how invasive computers would be in all areas of business and social media! Burke posed at least one of his predictions as a question. In Connections, he notes that the increase in connections over time causes the rate of innovation to accelerate, and asks what happens when this rate, or more importantly "change" itself, becomes too much for the average person to handle. He also questions what this would mean for individual power, liberty, and privacy
If I recall correctly, that scene is in the concluding episode "Yesterday, Tomorrow and You," if anybody out there wants to look it up.
A little side note about that information acceleration effect. When researchers were beginning to map the human genome - I mean really early stages. They were starting to enter data into computers. I think I owned an Intel '286' processor PC at the time. David Suzuki was a guest on a show geared to getting this information out to the general public and was asked his views on it. He graduated as a geneticist. I was almost swearing at the TV when he said it wasn't worth doing. He said it was so big a task it would take too long. You don't forget hearing and watching a thing like that. Did he not contemplate that computers would improve over time like every other technology we've ever had?
@@charlieross-BRM
Well Dave is an idiot when it comes to computers. I used to play cards with some of his students at UBC, he knew his stuff but was an awful condescending professor. Thank goodness I was in Economics.
@@charlieross-BRMWell maybe, but didn't Bill Gates once say 600k of hard disk space (or maybe ram) was enough for anybody?
He certainly knew computers!
'Open your wallet and repeat after me, help yourself', James is obviously a Goons fan. I remember this series on TV. Excellent series.
مستند های جیمز بورک رو وقتی نوجوان بودم میدیدم.
چقدر جذاب بود مثل کار های دیوید سوزوکی.....
با آرزوی بهترینها از ایران
This was a great series. Wish TV still made things like this.
The History Channel used to maybe 20 or 30 years ago but it devolved into Ancient Aliens bull$ht…
I always was captivated by James Burke, as back in the day we had real programmes on TV not utter trash as we do now, i seem to remember he was on tomorrows world( i could be wrong) another terrific programme from yesteryear
Yes he was on Tomorrows World, with another great Raymond Baxter; like James had a wonderful presenting style.
One of my favorite shows. It moves so quickly and you learn so much.
Absolutely love it..What a great series..1 or 2 years before Cosmos with the great Carl Sagan
Love Sagan
I remember so many many videos from this series. It's what solidified my love for history and science. Probably one of the greatest teachers ever.
I can remember watching this in School back in the middle to late 80’s. Then he did another series in the early 90’s , that I remember watching too
Great series. I saw them all years ago. Still relevant
I've only learned of this man through a puzzle video game which included a clip of this man. So far these old documentaries have proven to be really well made!
we envy you...
RUclips, should get hold of all, James Burke's Connections Video's. This guy is a true British Legend and his Connections series is his masterpiece and a great contribution to the world.
Imagine being at a dinner party with James Burke back in the day and he starts on a lengthy monologue connecting the prehistoric invention of a fly swatter to some obscurely related modern invention being used at the dinner party.
When I do that, the entire extended family rolls their eyes in unison. 🤣
@@tinkerstrade3553 But do you do it in a RP British accent? 😉
@@mumblesbadly7708 Got me there. Mine's a southern drawl.😁
@@tinkerstrade3553 Sorry bud. For science narration that's only one bump over "valley-girl". 😋
@@CraftAero And therein lies my problem; nerds think I'm faking it, and hillbillies think I'm being a snob.😁
The music chosen for this show is amazing! Bartok, Stravinsky, Ravel, Mahler…this show is as great to listen to as to watch!
He never misses a word. Just perfect for this.
Makes you wish there was a bloopers reel!
Before the internet, before email, before Google, there was James Burke on PBS telling us how we got to nuclear bombs and airplanes and many other things in our modern world. (Or at least the modern world as of the 70's.)
I loved this series then, and now!
The all time best history documentary I have ever watched. Bravo Sir!
this guy was like the Ronnie Corbett of science stories. LOL. he starts going in one direction, and tangent after tangent, finally comes back to the main story. love it.
I didn't realize until just looking it up that this series began a decade before I thought. Excellent. I still remember several individual connections and discoveries within episodes. It's the style of delivery that kept me going back for more. Another series presented in the same calm, on location method to connect the dots was 'Testament' with John Romer 1988. Fortunately in timing I was on a trip in 1989 staying in a hotel in London, and that was on one of the few shows available in my room. I searched them out and watched the rest back in Canada.
I always loved this show. What a way to teach history eh.
Preferred this to cosmos . When did I first watch this. Around 1980? Ah nostalgia ❤
My favorite series ever shown on PBS, Bravo!
That's one hell of a presenter!
I loved that series Connections! One of my all time favourite shows.
Just for the record. CONNECTIONS wasn't a documentary series it was a James Burke 'isn't this interesting' entertainment programme. I know, I watched them the first time.... he wasn't making Tomorrow's World or Horizon, they were science-ish entertainement, not documentaries or even hardcore science journalism.
The music at 48:00 is also the intro to AJP Taylor's brilliant How Wars Begin series. The BBC had such a golden age back then they were able to reference themselves...
The music is taken from the first movement of Benjamin Britten’s Sinfonia da Requiem, opus 20, written in 1940 to a commission, ironically enough, from the Japanese government. It was rejected by the powers that be but it seems Britten got to keep the commissioning fee. It comes as no surprise that this was chosen. The music used is sometimes but not always random just to match the image.
Connections changed the way I watched documentaries. James had a beautiful way of telling the story that kept you hanging on for the next twist.
Probably one of the BEST SHOW ever on TV anywhere.
Starting to realize I wasn’t a child genius, I had simply enjoyed watching these.
Like other comments, I too delighted in Burke's Connections series. I went on to get a BSc in Mathematics and had a long career in IT. Now retired, it gave me a real kick to find this again - It ran just at the time when I delights in all STEM topics and changed my destiny from art to science.
When one day there is nothing left from our present-day civilisations, we Germans will probably be remembered for two things: WW2 and Beer parties.
But seriously: This series is one new 'favourite YT thing' on my list. Astonishing!
The Volkswagen Käfer, Rammstein, Beethoven, Thomas Mann, and Jörg Immendorff.
James Burke’s programmes were always looked forward to with anticipation in my younger day.
One version of the burning of The Library of Alexandria attributes it to the Roman’s during their intervention in Egypt.
I just loved this series!
I first watched this at school. If you missed the time it was on, you missed it totally. Love it. I missed this one…45 years later, I’m catching up😂
I watched Connection I and loved it. I ended up buying the companion book.
His introductory remarks are outstanding. It's the entire premise of the series in a nutshell. I remember watching this series on PBS. It was a refreshing change from the "Great Man" approach that went before.
I loved James Burke and his Connections shows!!! Bought his book adaptations!!
I wish I could see the show he would make 100 years from now about AI, gene splicing, EVs, etc.
His coverage of the moon landing for anyone thrilling
Ask Buzz Aldrin about the moon landing. He's quite open about it.
I forgot how much I loved this series, until I watched this again. Thanks for sharing this video.
This episode aired Oct 24, 1978 and it not the second series, Connections 2. It's the first one simply called connections.
It's interesting to note that magnetic north didn't move much between 1900 and 1980, but in the past 40 years, it has moved more than 1000 km towards Siberia.
Yes and now we need someone to add the 30 plus years sequels to each strand. Amen to all the positive comments below
My own "connections", the prior owner of my house worked on the Manhattan project.
By God, how come I have never heard of this master documentarist?
I am impressed no end.
Look up his timing with the launch of Space Shuttle in the background :) Masterful.
My two favourite factual series' from my youth, Connections, and Carl Sagan's Cosmos.
As soon as a B29 came into the picture I guessed it would be Enola Gay. I figured we were heading for the A bomb. Brilliant show.
hence the title of the episode 'Death in the Morning'...very chilling.
@@robkeeleycomposer
Indeed. When the nose of the bomber was revealed it felt very ominous.
When I was young, I was proud that America had invented the bomb.
Now I can never think of anything regarding it except the many thousands of deaths at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
jeezus, i cant thumb this up enough. i learned sooooo much from this guy when i was young. i now have a YT rabbit hole, for the next couple of weeks, to go down.
During the Apollo missions, he worked for the BBC. He actually got to wear a full Apollo suit and even slide down the emergency escape chute under the launch tower. How cool is that! Those videos are also on RUclips.
James Burke is an absolute legend. I remember this back in the day. This is how history should be taught. It is just as relevant today.
Brilliant as i watched the first time. Update the suit, hair and specs and it would be very contemporary. James Burke, I thank you. You invented the modern way of presenting, you informed us of history, you gave us SCIENCE and You Entertained us then and now. 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
So glad to know he’s still with us at 87! As a young lad watching programs like Tomorrow’s World back in the sixties and seventies he made science and technology sound so exciting and interesting, too much though, because I was convinced we’d have flying cars by the 2000’s! 😂
I will love to see this one of these days. The first 8 minutes were captivating. I remember James Burke from old days on TV, and from this extremely well timed footage:
_WL - "James Burke - perfectly-timed rocket launch 8/20/1977"_
Man.. I was planning on sleeping to this, but damn when he pulled out that old scroll 🤯
I used to watch him back in the 80's and he was so interesting
Superb. A universe away from the patronising know-all rubbish we get today from the Alices and the Hannahs and Lucys. And fantastic use of mainly 20th century classical music.
Whenever I see this guy I think he looks like he should be he father of Winnie on “Wonder Years”. 👍🏻
This was a great series.
He has a new season out. Use to watch this in electronics class. Great show!
James Effing Burke - what a legend. The Day the Universe Changed is also boss.
I even have the book "Connections" written by James Burke.
Burke was brilliant and connections 2/3 was awesome.
"Connections" - a brave effect to realize the educational promise of television.
I remember this series years ago
This is a wonderful show. This and Cosmos.
As a secondary education student, I had science teachers who would show episodes of this PBS series. It helped foster my lifelong love of information, all kinds, both necessary and random facts, knowledge in a variety of subjects. My lovely bride of 27 years teasingly refer to some of this knowledge as “useless facts”, however I find no pieces of information are ever useless, perhaps just not as often used. This could be, hopefully, the beginning of wisdom. Perhaps…?
Thank you for running these. When I was in my early 20s, I moved back home from college and I briefly lived with a guy whom I had attended high school with. He had a hacked satellite TV card and got a bazillion channels, one of which ran episodes of Connections. We eventually grew apart and moved into different aspects of life. I never thought I would see these episodes again. Fabulous TV and good memories of years long gone. TY!
Loved this series when it was on PBS. So glad to be able to view it again. Thank you!