For example, the episode "The Long Chain" traces the invention of plastics from the development of the fluyt, a type of Dutch cargo ship.īurke also explores three corollaries to his initial thesis. To demonstrate this view, Burke begins each episode with a particular event or innovation in the past (usually ancient or medieval times) and traces the path from that event through a series of seemingly unrelated connections to a fundamental and essential aspect of the modern world. The interplay of the results of these isolated events is what drives history and innovation, and is also the main focus of the series and its sequels. Rather, the entire gestalt of the modern world is the result of a web of interconnected events, each one consisting of a person or group acting for reasons of their own motivations (e.g., profit, curiosity, religion) with no concept of the final, modern result to which the actions of either them or their contemporaries would lead. Burke contends that one cannot consider the development of any particular piece of the modern world in isolation. Modern soldiers demonstrated the use of steel-tipped pikes by the Swiss against Charles the Bold in one of the many re-enactments used in Connections.Ĭonnections explores an "Alternative View of Change" (the subtitle of the series) that rejects the conventional linear and teleological view of historical progress. In 2004, KCSM-TV produced a program called Re-Connections, consisting of an interview of Burke and highlights of the original series, for the 25th anniversary of the first broadcast in the US on PBS. Years later, the success in syndication led to two sequels, Connections 2 (1994) and Connections 3 (1997), both for TLC. The popular success of the series led to the production of The Day the Universe Changed (1985), a similar program, but showing a more linear history of several important scientific developments. The series was noted for Burke's crisp and enthusiastic presentation (and dry humour), historical re-enactments, and intricate working models. It took an interdisciplinary approach to the history of science and invention, and demonstrated how various discoveries, scientific achievements, and historical world events were built from one another successively in an interconnected way to bring about particular aspects of modern technology.
The series was produced and directed by Mick Jackson of the BBC Science and Features Department and first aired in 1978 (UK) and 1979 (US). James Burke, the creator and host of Connections, explains the Haber-Bosch ProcessĬonnections is a science education television series created, written, and presented by British science historian James Burke.
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