Continuing with the weekly posting of the British TV series "Connections". A documentary series by historian James Burke, "Connections" attempted to explain how various historical events and personalities led to discoveries that built off each other to bring about the modern world. Since the series originally ran in 1978 some of the material is a little dated but it is still one of the most interesting programs to have been aired on TV in my opinion. Fortunately James Burke has placed the entire series on YouTube (as well as the two follow on series).

Episode Two: "Death in the Morning" examines the standardization of precious metal with the touchstone in the ancient world. This innovation stimulated trade from Greece to Persia, ultimately causing the construction of a huge commercial center and library at Alexandria which included Ptolemy’s star tables. This wealth of astronomical knowledge aided navigators 14 centuries later after the development of lateen sails and sternpost rudders. Mariners discovered that the compass's magnetized needle did not actually point directly north. Investigations into the nature of magnetism by Gilbert led to the discovery of electricity by way of the sulphur ball of von Guericke. Further interest in atmospheric electricity at the Ben Nevisweather station led to Wilson’s cloud chamber which in turn allowed development of both Watson-Watt's radar and (by way of Rutherford's insights) nuclear weaponry.

I am only embedding the first portion of each episode the entire playlist for the episode is here.

The complete series is available from Amazon

Posted by: chad98036 at 08:23 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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