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Science historian James Burke’s ten part series Connections traces the progression of technology from ancient to modern times. According to Burke, every invention comes from putting the right pieces of already available technology together to build something new. By tracing the history of technology through a series of "triggers," each one of which sets off the next, Burke demonstrates how technology is an interconnected web and how one seemingly unrelated innovation leads to another.
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Fast Facts
- Written and presented by James Burke
- Directed by Mick Jackson
- Episode length: 50 minutes
- First aired in 1978
- Network: BBC
- Shot at over 150 locations in 19 countriesPalmers Guide: Connections DVD Information
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Episode Overview
In the introductory episode of James Burke's connections, Burke demonstrates how dependent modern society is on technology. He further posits that electrically driven technology has become such a staple of our daily life that we take it for granted and would be literally helpless without electricity. Using the invention of the plow as an example, Burke shows how one invention leads to another and that it is the connected series of these small innovations that has led to the intricate technological systems we now take for granted. -
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Managed Since: 06/13/2009
Views: 1,176
Money Earned: M$0.28
Page revenue is subject to change as we obtain data from our partners
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Trigger Effect Part One
@ 0:37: The Trigger Effect is the title of the first episode of Connections.
@ 1:13: James Burke asks you to look around your room at the man made objects such as your telephone and television and ask yourself "what those objects do to your life, just because they're there?"
@ 1:29: This series is going to explain exactly why those objects are there and how they shape our lives.
@ 3:25: Like everyone else, James Burke takes technological advances such as elevator rides for granted
@ 4:55: New York City is a technology island.
@ 5:30: A great blackout affected New York City on November 9, 1965.
@ 6:00: Burke explains the normality of the New York day moments before the blackout
@ 9:43: People used to smoke on airplanes -
Trigger Effect Part Two
@ 2:05: The blackout occurred when a relay switch at the Niagara Falls power plant failed.
@ 2:30: When one power line was overloaded, the power drain was transferred to the next power line, which was then overloaded, triggering a domino effect that caused a blackout across the northeastern United States
@ 4:00 The United Nations especially had trouble as the translators could no longer communicate with the delegates. -
Trigger Effect Part Three
@ 0:57: After about 90 minutes stuck on a dark subway panic begun.
@ 2:35: The next day, the power was back on, and everything went back to normal.
@ 4:00: James Burke describes a hypothetical scenario of what happens when technology fails and society erupts into mayhem.
@ 4:30: So you left the city to escape the mayhem, now what?
* Do you know where to go in order to survive?
* Do you have a map?
* How do you get out? Walk? Drive until you run out of fuel?
* Have you considered the millions of people behind you, also trying to survive?
* Can you protect yourself?
* Did you bring enough food and water?
* Where will you get it? steal it?
@ 5:49: The best place to find in this situation would be a farm.
@ 7:24: Yet everything on the modern farm needs electricity.
@ 9:10: If you're lucky, you may find a basic plow, but once challenged to use it, the average person may realize how much they depend on technology.
@ 9:35: It was the plow that triggered the modern technological revolution. -
Trigger Effect Part Four
@ 0:12: Around the 10th millennium BC people in Northern India, Syria,Egypt and Central America moved towards the rivers after the climate warmed up and grasslands begun to dry out.
@ 1:08: In Egypt that turned out to be the Nile River ,where the land was fertile and rich because it flooded every year.
@ 1:30: However, this caused the population to outgrow the available resources. This problem however led to the creation of the plow
@ 2:00: The plow made it possible to grow harvests and that changed the world as we know it, since food surpluses allowed people to plan for the future for the first time in history.
@ 2:55: With the surplus of food:
* You can domesticate animals because you no longer need to hunt
* You can use their milk, meat and skin
* With the excess grain, bread can be baked, leading to ovens and pottery
* A greater demand for pots leads to the pottery wheel.
* The need to declare ownership led to writing
* The next thing you know, you have the Ancient Egyptians Great Pyramid
@ 4:19: The oldest stone building in the world, the Step Pyramid of Djoser near Cairo[, Egypt was built around 27th century BCE.
@ 4:29: The Ancient Egyptians began the process of Irrigation, but in order to do that they needed to use geometry and work with stone. Those are the skills needed to build Pyramids.
@ 6:30: James Burke is showing the hieroglyphs from the inside of a tomb and how they depict how Ancient Egyptians lived.
@ 7:03: The hieroglyphs show that the Ancient Egyptians had a Bureaucracy with a police force and a Tax system.
@ 8:00: James Burke is at the Tomb of Mereruka
@ 8:15: In 32nd century BCE, the Nile River was divided into water provinces. Mereruka was an official who governed one of these provinces.
@ 8:43: The King ,with the help from his Astronomers, knew that one particular star (Sirius) rises on the same day, (July 17), roughly every 365 days and 1 day before the flood begins. These observations marked the beginning of the calendars -
Trigger Effect Part Five
@ 0:08: James Burke is now at the ancient Temple of Karnak in the old imperial city of Thebes, which was the religious center for the Ancient Egyptians
@ 0:45: James Burke describes Thebes as the New York City of it's time.
@ 4:15: The plow and the annual flooding of the Nile River made the middle east rich just as its Oil does today
@ 5:58: Never have so many people, known so little, about so much.
@ 6:25: An invention acts as a trigger that sets off new inventions which inevitably sets off a chain of more inventions.
@ 7:15: Inventions have always come from putting the right pieces of already available technology together to build something new. -
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James Burke Connections Episode 1 on Amazon | View All
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James Burke Connections Episode 1 on Twitter Powered by Twitter
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just found the James Burke series Connections on YouTube. I'm thrilled. It's terrific so far, and I'm not all the way through episode 1.
@TheCosmicJester | November 09, 2009 10:16 AM -
I am such a James Burke groupie. Connections, Episode 1, "The Trigger Effect", 1 of 5 (CC) http://bit.ly/rczoi
@divadoll123 | November 01, 2009 03:38 PM -
James Burke : Connections, Episode 1, "The Trigger Effect", 5 of 5 ... http://cli.gs/NX8Yu
@Tesszq31b | October 31, 2009 08:39 PM
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Questions and Answers About James Burke Connections Episode 1 | View All | Ask a Question
View All James Burke Connections Episode 1 Questions (5001) | Ask a QuestionHave you watched any of James Burkes documentaries? (2 Answers)Absolutely! I loved both Connections and The Day the Universe Changed. The episodes that stand out were one where he took a whack at a cow carcass with a claymore ... read moreWhat is your favourite James Burke clip? (1 Answer)I like The Day the Universe Changed more than the Connections, because I am interested more in the Science field than history. In my point of view, the main highlight ... read moreWho is James Burke? (2 Answers)James Burke (born 22 December 1936) is a Northern Irish science historian, author and television producer best known for his documentary television series called Connections, focusing on the history of ... read moreDoes anyone remember the PBS/ITV series "Connections" with James Burke? (1 Answer)yes, I just took smt 310 at Cal State Dominguez hills and the Instructors use his series throughout the course, these videos are also available at youtube. read more
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