James Burke Legend Connections 4 Faith In Numbers

This guy is an absolute legend. Do yourself a favor and watch these masterpieces of documentaries.

[@Bach6032]

After nearly 70 years of watching countless programs, "Connections" is #1 on my list.

[@davidsandy5917]

This is how history should be taught. Everything is connected to everything else.

[@frankdoss6313]

There is an accuracy issue, but ... yes.

[@jthemagicrobot3960]

Yes

[@Jammy_dodger-1]

I can remember watching this as a child. This series should be part of the national curriculum. Although dated as it is now (2022) it is still relevant & great that’s available to watch the series still today. Thank you.

[@qashqai124]

I'm 76 years old. In my grade school years, there was a series of films that were put out by Bell Labs, a division of AT & T. I believe there were half a dozen although I can recall only 2 titles, "Our Mr. Sun," and Hemo, the Magnificent."The first was an explanation of how the Sun provides light . The second explained how the human blood brings food to the cells. Both were done in Disney style animation.

[@logandarklighter]

@@qashqai124 I REMEMBER the second one! I'm 56. But they used that in very early elementary school if I recall correctly! This was back in the early to mid 70s. Let me think... somewhere between 1973-1977 it had to be. I forget which year precisely. But it was in that range. I don't THINK they had Mr. Sun. But Hemo The Magnificent - well - you're not going to forget THAT name! HA!

[@jvcyt298]

That wouldn't fly Today, these days teaching critical thinking skills are frowned upon.

[@eurogael]

I was going to put a comment very similar to yours, absolute legend.

[@TK199999]

Its not actually that dated, the technology he highlights is still in use and are the bases of later things. So the 'Connections' are still valid and interesting. The only minor change is we now more details of some past events not known when the show took place. But again that is very limited change.

[@MrJb1963]

I remember this series the first time around, just as relevant now as it was then. It has not dated, should be part of school curriculums. James Burke was, is, a genius.

[@paulashe61]

Forgotten about the simplicity of factual documentary without the drama sequences

[@richcarreiro9594]

PAY ATTENTION, NOVA! (Which is almost unwatchable at times these days.)

[@jvcyt298]

This has hokey reenactment scenes that help the story move along.

[@ignotumperignotius630]

@@jvcyt298 hey, they're quite good in comparison to hollywood films in terms of costuming, casting, location.

[@Muonium1]

@@richcarreiro9594 I haven't watched a new episode of Nova / Horizon in years. It's all been totally ruined by female producers and nonstop garbage CGI with incessant overwrought melodramatic scoring. It's awful how they've destroyed such an august institution. Same thing's happened with things like Scientific American and Popular Science - thoroughly vitiated by feminized woke editorializing and lowest common denominator pandering.

[@lanceash]

@@Muonium1 I happen to like women.

[@Redmenace96]

I have this series on DVD. Watched it 10 times in 20 years. Upon re-watching you absorb more of the quality script. Perfect turns of phrase. "withering crossfire" stands out. The ideas contained are powerful. This, to me, is the best science/humanities/history series of all time.

[@neilreading3552]

Best educational series ever made.

[@brigidsingleton1596]

😮 I am torn between agreeing with you - and disagreeing as I love these series by James Burke but I also love "Cosmos, A Personal Voyage" by Carl Sagan.❤R.I.P.

[@elirien4264]

This and Cosmos.

[@leedswiggy]

I loved this programme and no wishy washy message at the end. BBC this is how you used to do it.

[@minirock000]

"Most of the ancestors of the computer brought people pleasure, what will "it" bring us?" Pretty "wishy washy" it seems at the end to me.

[@mardinoetling7871]

I remember when these were first aired. The left me in awe and 45 years later they are stil as awesome.

[@charlie-obrien]

It's eerie when, at the end, James is talking about tabulators and and the census, while holding up a punch card and mentions that without such devices and technology the modern world would "fall down"... He then lowers the card from view and reveals the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. Contrast that with the beginning of the episode when he is standing by an ancient aqueduct and discussing the fall of Rome. I don't believe that anyone could watch these series and not only learn about the advancements made possible by our inventions, over the centuries, but also know more about the true nature of the human race and our apparent inability to learn from the catastrophic lessons of the past.

[@alexroselle]

The other spooky historical parallel is unspoken in this program, because the whole story wasn’t as widely known until more recently. Hollerith machines and IBM punchcards were sold under license in Germany, and were used by the Nazi regime to organize the Holocaust and other war crimes.

[@JackTorrance-qd9up]

Incredible it is Sir . Great observation.

[@paullanoue5228]

Burke made one of the most brilliant science shows ever. It was a detective story that illuminated the history of science and somehow kept the viewer laughing with dry humor.

[@dizwell]

Loved the way he dropped the map and his finger is left pointing at the aqueduct. Just beautifully done: like his perfectly timed walk and talk as a rocket takes off. Dramatic, but understated and not attention-seeking, just clever. His choice of music was also always perfect 😊

[@briansimon4363]

James Burke made geeks of us all. He was one of the best science presenters on TV and I never missed any of his programmes. Eminently watchable, always educational, fascinating and faultless.👍🏻

[@charlesmaurer6214]

I got a BA in history and have to say Burke taught me as much History of Technology as the College class on the subject. One complaint I had with the class was ignoring pre mass produced industrial steel. Both damascus and middle age steel was treated as wrougt iron.

[@KarlWitsman]

The first minutes of the show, where the satellite determines his latitude and longitude... and now it's all in our hand via the cell phone. Amazing how tech has developed.

[@nycgweed]

What about how after he said it might become a problem

[@frankdoss6313]

Because of this episode I watched decades ago with my father, I have wanted to try using laundry lint to make linen.

[@cruisepaige]

I loved watching this on PBS in the 90s. It was such a nice break when I was studying for the bar. He did the thinking for us!

[@Austin8thGenTexan]

Remember A & E "Biography" with Peter Burns? 😲

[@welshpete12]

The best thing that ever went out on British TV !

[@billwilson-es5yn]

Along with Black Adder and Bertie Wooster.

[@billschlafly4107]

Red Dwarf

[@tomobedlam297]

Sadly, portentously, all brains in 2023 have turned to soup. Get it while it's hot!

[@eleazarrobiso6797]

I watched this series when it originally aired. I forgot all about this.

[@stevebailey325]

I remember cutting college classes in the late 70s to go to the library and "check out" 16nn film reels of Connections to go to a small room with a projector to view. Seems very quaint now. But at the time it was the only way i could selectivly watch James. 😊

[@PhilipReeder]

48:10 That's some seriously unfortunate forshadowing 😳

[@stevenlagoe7808]

It certainly is... Almost uncanny.

[@walrtbstudios5430]

Intelligent TV. How 20th century…

[@907asbury]

No man, this is just what every youtube content creator is after, burke was just ahead of his time. If it weren't for connections we wouldn't have veritasium, etc.

[@ernestcline2868]

It's ironic to be watching the opening on my smart phone.

[@emmanuelpiscicelli6232]

Not ironic, but appropriate.

[@lenajohnson6179]

Damn you know... that opening analogy hits even harder today I think. The phones are different, they do a lot of other things... but if anything, they dominate life even MORE.

[@charlie-obrien]

The old telephones that were shown in the beginning were used to talk to people you knew or businesses that you dealt with directly. With the advanced computer/communication devices we all carry now, we spend most of our time receiving information and data mostly from programs and bots.

[@cageordie]

It's lovely watching this and seeing the technology of the day. This pre-dates GPS by a decade. It was first shown in 1978, the same year that the first test satellite was launched, but the system didn't become operational until 1993. Commercial ISPs didn't show up until 1989, though at this time ARPAnet did exist.

[@chrisegnatz3668]

If you haven't read "the day the universe changed" by James Burke is excellent.

[@elquemando]

We were so young.

[@weavethehawk]

I remember as if yesterday. Along with Raymond Baxter, this was a not to be missed series. Still sounds educational and very relevant.

[@FranssensM]

Fantastic, simple documentary. Doesn’t tell me how to think or push an agenda just facts.

[@davidsigalow7349]

This may have been the most informative series ever. I was amazed by it in 1980, and the manner in which it explains How We Got Here is still striking.

[@52daa]

Just happened to be offered to watch your videos of Connections, watched them years ago on PBS, can’t thank you enough to bringing them back! Wonderful series!

[@BigMacProDaddy]

Connections, from the first, to where we are now, are as profound as ever

[@steverobsondiecast]

It is funny that in the intro, add the into the present day (2024 as of this writing this comment) and the elements showcased in the intro, you have elements of the modern cell phone that you are likely watching this show on now. This is why this show is so great. It showcased all of the small little details that make this world the way it is. Then start looking at our world today to see how depending on what is going on, it can advance or by taking away the supports needed to this level of tech alive, we fall back into an age where this has to start all over again.

[@RobMarchione]

Best history show ever made.

[@shawn6669]

Connections, Cosmos, Eugen Webers "The Western Tradition" and Michael Woods "In Search of" (Boudica etc/Troy) programs shaped me from an early age. Would that all kids had access to shows by such amazing teachers.

[@j.dunlop8295]

History isn't just for school and intellectual elitist, but understanding factual evolution of ideas and creativity, innovation! Excellent 😅

[@lanceash]

Everyone assumed that the TV would become the dominating technology, but it has proven to be the telephone (with a built-in TV, of course.)

[@Spetet]

I’ve still got that phone.

[@billc.4584]

Love to Mr. Callinan for reposting these. Something like my sixth time through on these. Great, great series. "Connections II" not so much. Felt rushed and forced.

[@kevinharris2805]

Comparable to the ascent of man. As higher praise one can give

[@paulrugg1629]

He stimulates us to think and entertain possibilities.

[@jamesmoore5630]

James Burke,,, Your still alive??? I have watched everything you did, until 1990, and I have tried to find the old connections, series, when there was no internet!!! I am 60, and am a Monk Now, and I remember showing your predictions for the 2000's on a documentary you did, that I had on tape. The time table for incidents that you predicted is still right on time, and I am just glad I had a good memory, because you would move at breakneck speed!!! Brother James OSB (For those who read this, if you watch his stuff, you will know what is coming!!! B.J.OSB.)

[@brillcareer]

James - I've just finished watching the DVD set. You can have it for nothing - I'd rather pass it on than give it charity, which from my brief volunteering experience, they longer want (CDs as well)

[@FIREBRAND38]

You can find all the episodes at the Internet Archive online.

[@Parknest]

James Burke is still alive as at 30th November 2023 There is a 4th Connections series which is available on Curiosity Stream.

[@kennethhymes9734]

I would say that it is important to know that Burke's views on certain aspects of these ideas evolved after this series. Some of that can be seen in After the Warming, and even across the different Connections series he shifts subtly. In this video there are hints of rank positivism in among the useful insights and data - "it was as if the world was now ready for such and such" - as well as some dubious reactionary economic theory - those lucky lower class Florentines who got to invest their little all in cloth ships and be part of their own class immiseration. Burke is awesome, and After the Warming is critical viewing, and Connections is amazing, just bearing in mind that he has himself critiqued it.

[@rayhill5767]

History is not just facts. It doesn’t exist. It’s a story we tell ourselves to make sense of chaos. Any decent historian or history buff changes their perspective over time.

[@peterbaisley1714]

Ok. The very last statement about the very structure of the US falling down, with the twin towers in the background was absolutely chilling.

[@theoutsiderartists1231]

All our teachers can teach us to how to hook up a team of mules and buggy or crank start a t model. They were stuck in the 1800s and couldn't teach us anything. James Burke has taught me more that all my teachers put together.

[@zedwms]

"Hard work is good for the soul"...until you get old, then it just hurts.

[@terrycurzon1318]

Describing how a sat nav works back then, amazing

[@TesterAnimal1]

A precursor to satnav. GPS works in a different way to that.

[@jodywho6696]

I remember this show. I loved it and stll do✨😊

[@anglosaxonbreed]

We forgotten about plague. Until covid .Then fear and headless chicken effect .

[@roberthigbee3260]

If you liked this, then check out "The Ascent if Man" by Jacob Bronowski (1973, 13 part BBC documentary). It too will blow your mind!

[@HuntingCatIsBack]

You may want to spell check and edit your comment, but I agree its a splendid series.

[@roberthigbee3260]

@@HuntingCatIsBack well spotted, its the Ascent of Man, although, the way things are going in the world today, if not for man....

[@rogermoore7140]

Watching it in 2024, his prescience is still to be lauded. His visit to Ellis Island was one of the last times it looked like the ruin it is here. Facts about "oldest building" and "first printed book" etc have changed as science advances, and less Anglocentric research and researchers weigh in. But it's still a world-upending concept as a series, brilliantly done.

[@bonniea8189]

He omitted Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace between the Jacquard loom and the tabulator at Ellis Island! Babbage's Analytical Engine (1837) was clearly inspired by the Jacquard loom

[@markdownsouth1500]

puchcards, those were still in use when I first got into computers in 1979.

[@ReadTheShrill]

Same here. When I was in grammar school, they had a program for gifted children that introduced us to computers, by letting us use an obsolete mainframe at the local college. We encoded our names into punched cards, and the computer would print out our names in giant letters, one to a page, each consisting of hundreds of normal letters. I was hooked. The trajectory of my life was set. My parents bought me my first computer at 12, and that led to a lucrative career in programming.

[@ronaldlegree285]

My grandparents used horse and buggy. I use a smart phone.

[@jasWerner-qt5wj]

@17.47 Beginning of check writing..lines of credit...contracts...this was an INCREDIBLE series.fantastic research 👏 🎉

[@jonhall3151]

Pain and money are excellent motivators...as we can see.

[@ReadTheShrill]

I got a kick out of the first scene with the "giant" GPS receiver. Now that same system is in your phone, and is about the size of a dime.

[@markrowland1366]

That book shop remained stationery.

[@davidlloyd3116]

As a microbiologist, I only ever worked with Yersinia pestis once (the bacteria that cause Black Death). Still made the heckles rise, though!

[@paxwallace8324]

The most entertaining educational historian ever.

[@Austin8thGenTexan]

Wow - wearing a leisure suit with the Twin Towers in the background! Knowledge which is still interesting to this very day... ✍️ 👨‍🎓

[@nickthelick]

For me it's THIS and "The Ascent Of Man" ...

[@quivalla]

Dont watch these episodes in bed because you wont go to sleep.

[@jr5389]

😂👍 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿😎

[@zenfrodo]

3:59 *waves at the Eighties from 2024* "What will that communications network do to us next?" ...oh my dear sweet summer child... 47:33 and the ending 60 seconds just managed to knock the breath out of me -- mid1980s, and Burke's statement and the background picture....ohhhhh shite. Talk about an inadvertant scientific psychic....

[@jamesbarton1969]

Mr. Burke of half a century ago, what will the computer bring us? You could not have imagined but I don't think you would be surprised.

[@derelict8715]

The last 20 seconds are pretty creepy.

[@hurdygurdyguy1]

27:30 ... "...letters made...without the use of pens..." 😄 reminds me of the first number of Queen albums with the statement on the back down in a corner, "and no synthesizers were used!"

[@CCoburn3]

Another big reason the Roman Empire fell was climate change. The Roman Warm Period ended, and it got cold. Colder weather meant lower crop yields. And when you live in an agricultural economy, lower crop yields mean less to pay your taxes with. So Rome could no longer afford the armies that kept the barbarians at bay. Cold weather is the real climate disaster -- it always has been.

[@kiwitrainguy]

Also it caused the barbarians to move South (towards the Mediterranean) looking for warmer climes.

[@19fetzohr90]

The eruption of Krakatoa in 535-6 AD was a much worse catastrophe than the 1883 eruption and even the 1815-16 "Year without a summer" caused by Tambora's eruption. The consequences included the end of the Roman empire, the beginning of the dark ages, the arrival of the first plague, and the years-long cold dark period of famine. Several KZbin videos address the calamity of the mid-6th century.

[@CCoburn3]

@@19fetzohr90 Global cooling is the killer -- not global warming. You are absolutely right.

[@ShakespeareCafe]

Wine and beer got us thru the Middle Ages

[@the_fifth_wheel]

Solid Gold

[@bobbystclaire]

I remember watching this when I was a teenager the only thing that I liked better was Cosmos by Carl Sagan both were on PBS and of course the newer version of Cosmos I love to😊

[@johnkrappweis7367]

Oh my god. White leisure suits, corded phones and that gigantic antique GPS. This show was made in 1978 and you can tell.

[@sarahlouise7163]

🙄

[@lohphat]

Pre Internet. Pre GPS. Pre home computer (Apple II, TRS-80, Commodore PET, were just appearing), Pre renovation of Ellis Island. Yet still relevant.

[@greendeane1]

Two of my grandparents went through Ellis Island.

[@andrewemery4272]

I miss the "March the Tailor Suits You Well".....

[@amievil3697]

I would love to watch James talk about the cell phone in the opening WOW! Where is the J.B protege?

[@donrobertson4940]

Love the beige leisure suit 🙂 This is the sort of rubbish we used to watch on tv. thank goodness for celebrity jungle offal eaters

[@shinypeter7]

James Burke is a Brirish Worthy. His work also shows up how inferior the present documentaries are

[@Antonowskyfly]

Is the opening Dali inspired? The Persistence Of Talk? The Persistence Of Connections.

[@williamkuhns2387]

"...bring out your dead!... bring out your dead!".... " Hey I'm not dead yet"..."Oh, sorry!"

[@davidsigalow7349]

"I don't want to go on the cart!"

[@swoondrones]

This is fascinating. Does he have something on the history of currency? When usury started? I can't find this anywhere.

[@rabokarabekian409]

1) Frege: in modern logic it is not possible to introduce the number one directly. It must be introduced indirectly, via existential quantification ("for at least one x ...") and universal quantification ("for all x ..."). 2) Look randomness in numbering or math. 3) Consider the "infinite coast of England" problem. 4) Relativity and quantum effects forbid absolute repetition. 5) Context is everything. You can count on all this, despite Patsy, "It's only a model."

[@NoahSpurrier]

Pre-GPS was interesting.

[@scottscottsdale7868]

We have gos on everything. in our pocket on our wrist. In our car. Strangely Covid has changed some things. Like work from home

[@rahuljoshi4534]

the jacqard press is amazeballs

[@JoseFernandez-qt8hm]

Ellis Island is restored, take a visit....

[@wdmm94]

Neat story about the 1890 Census. Too bad most of that one was destroyed by a fire.

[@charlie-obrien]

62 million people then. We are over five and a half times that size now and yet you can still travel across large swaths of this country and still be virtually alone for much of that journey.

[@shaunhall960]

Sounds like what is happening now.

[@Rod_Knee]

Exactly.

[@Inkulabi]

45:57 wow that's amazing, kinda like the Turing Machine nah?

[@sdm7372]

What is the music at around 4.40-4.50?

[@paxwallace8324]

The Benedictine monks Drained the swamps improved roads and all the things you saw

[@BrettLeMans]

Where is number 5...?!?!?!

[@elquemando]

Australia struggles with the

[@elquemando]

Factual sequences are a revelatory drama-mine.

[@quietdignityandgrace]

Forward this to Professor Simon, see if he can re-edit that last bit on the end.

[@mikep3226]

Burke holding up a computer card "...without which our world would fall down", lowers card to reveal the NYC skyline featuring the twin towers of WTC. Quite ironic flashback!

[@alro2434]

WHERE IS #3???

[@franciscodanconia4324]

40 years on that 100 lbs of equipment and antenna to get your position fits in a 8 ounce device in everyone’s pocket.

[@tyrannyterminator4179]

I thought there were only 3 seasons…

[@paulashe61]

Horizon on a Monday night was thrilling not the emotional theory maybes and would have done.