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 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?"
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.
It's certainly a wonderful tour of James Burke's brilliant mind. Though, I must confess, I preferred both Civilisation and the Ascent of Man. They are both, in their own way, difficult. Especially the latter. My God, they are both worth it. Knowledge or Certainty, the last show in the Ascent of Man is devastating. Loved Connections. But, if you can, watch Ascent.
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.
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.
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 RU-vid!
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!
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.
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 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.
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.
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'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!
James Burke and CONNECTIONS haven't seen this wonderful series in decades. They were the catalysts which placed me on a path of performing my own research. Soon discovering that there are the myriad of pathways by which to verify and fact check information and make the "CONNECTIONS".
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!
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
Shows like this change history ftom boring recitations of dates and battles to fascinating understanding of exactly how we got here, and feeling a part of it all.
Just superb. I don't know quite how to express it...maybe not being spoken to like a 5 year old. What the hell happened. God bless you Mr B, this is priceless 👏👏👏
RU-vid, 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.
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.
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!
Thank you - what a joy to find ''Connections'' on here. This was part of my youth and it is such a shame that we stopped encouraging people to learn this way of thinking.
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.
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.
How refreshing to see proper documentary making. A 30 sec intro (rather than the current pained 1min 40) and a guy who can explain things so well. I actually understand what he's getting at and can follow his line of reasoning. A real gift. So pleased to have stumbled across your copies. I used to love JB when this stuff was current. Still have a copy of him covering the first shuttle launch on Betamax!
I love James Burke's works. He is most professional, yet enjoyable. Not too much in either direction; just the right balance. As a U.S. resident who grew up passionately following our space program, I found out decades later that back in the late '60s and early '70s, the best and most insightful coverage of the American Apollo program was by a BBC reporter. Thank you, James.
This man set the norms for television presenters all over the world. He was literally the best at presenting. I can't STAND history, and I'm sitting here hanging on his every word finding the entire presentation amazing. Also, he spoke during a time when people didn't doubt every single thing that other people say.
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.
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.)
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.
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. 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
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"_
I loved this series and was so glad you have brought it back. A new one needs to be done again for a wide audience. Physicist Jim Al-Khalili does several excellent programmes that are well worth watching that follow similar threads.
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 RU-vid.
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…?
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.
A real delight to have stumbled across this series. James Burke is one of the best TV presenters of any genre and this series was one of the best vehicles for him - the combination of a timeless, rich, engaging speaking voice, an adult who talked to other adults and a script second to none in its intelligence and scope. Thank you for posting.
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.
