James Burke
Birthday: Born in 1936-12-22 in Derry, Northern Ireland, UK
Deathday: Alive
James Burke is a British broadcaster, science historian, author, and television producer, who is known, among other things, for his documentary television series Connections, and for its more philosophically oriented companion series, The Day the Universe Changed, which is about the history of science and technology. The Washington Post called him "one of the most intriguing minds in the Western world".
TV Credits
Connections
Character: Self - Presenter
Taking an interdisciplinary approach to the history of science and invention, Connections explores an "Alternative View of Change" that rejects the conventional linear and teleological view of historical progress. To demonstrate this view, Burke begins each episode with a particular event or innovation in the past (usually ancient or medieval) and traces a path from that event through a series of connections to a fundamental and essential aspect of the modern world....
Tomorrow's World
Character:
Tomorrow's World was a long-running BBC television series on new developments in science and technology. First transmitted on 7 July 1965 on BBC1, it ran for 38 years until it was cancelled at the beginning of 2003....
Connections 3
Character:
In the conclusion to his groundbreaking series, James Burke continues to make incredible connections to history's most important discoveries and inventions....
Connections
Character:
Taking an interdisciplinary approach to the history of science and invention, Connections explores an "Alternative View of Change" that rejects the conventional linear and teleological view of historical progress. To demonstrate this view, Burke begins each episode with a particular event or innovation in the past (usually ancient or medieval) and traces a path from that event through a series of connections to a fundamental and essential aspect of the modern world....
After the Warming
Character: Self - Presenter
Set in 2050, social journalist James Burke looks back at events of the world from the dawn of civilization and shows how climate change has affected human history. At the point of the Industrial Revolution, humans began to do things to the climate, rather than the other way round. When he brings us up to date (1989), that is when the predictions begin. From Kyoto to the two Gulf Wars, Burke accurately predicts many of the events that have taken place so far. His predictions have been sound, even...
Connections with James Burke
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A revival of the old series...
Connections 2
Character: Self - Host
Sequel series to the 1979 "Connections" where historian James Burke walks the viewer through the tenuous threads of history that link seemingly obscure scientific breakthroughs and the events and products that we have today....
The Real Thing
Character: Presenter
Asking how you tell what's real and what isn't sounds like an obvious question. But in this series of six programmes, James Burke shows that the more you think about it the harder it is to answer. After all, what have you got, apart from your five senses, to prove those senses are giving you the real thing?...
The Day the Universe Changed
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Documentary series about the effect of advances in science and technology on western society in its philosophical aspects....
Movie Credits
Masters of Illusion
Character: Himself
This exploration of visual illusions, explained by James Burke in the context of its discovery by the Renaissance masters, and now used by Hollywood special effects wizards is certainly of the most valuable and entertaining educational videos ever produced. If you teach art or film, or if you are a student of any age, your education is incomplete unless you have seen this film. Works of Brunelleschi, Michelangelo, da Vinci, Botticelli, Rapheal and others are used to illustrate the technical and ...
Speed
Character: Narrator (voice)
A documentary on the history on mankind's attempts to reach high speeds. Starting with the invention of the bicycle, going on to sports cars, cars with jet engines, rocket-powered cars, attempts to break the sound barrier, and rocket-engine airplanes. Each achievement is documented by title card indicating the speed reached in miles per hour....
Apollo 11: A Night to Remember
Character: James Burke
This is one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." Commemorating the 40th anniversary of NASA's 1969 moon landing, this documentary uses news coverage from the BBC archives to recount the excitement of the historic event. Led by science reporter James Burke and astronomer Sir Patrick Moore, the BBC team captures all the drama of the momentous occasion, from the exhilarating takeoff to Neil Armstrong's unforgettable first step....
Apollo: Missions to the Moon
Character: Self - BBC (archive footage) (archive sound)
National Geographic's riveting effort recounts all 12 crewed missions using only archival footage, photos and audio....
The Neuron Suite
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James Burke roams the Hotel del Coronado, using its services as a metaphor for the neuro-chemical activity of the human brain....