James Burke

James Burke (born November 22, 1936) is a British science historian, author and television producer best known for his documentary television series called Connections, focusing on the history of science and technology leavened with a sense of humour. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1032x1437, 100 KB) This work is a copyrighted publicity photograph of a person, product, or event that is known to have come from a press kit or similar source, for the purpose of reuse by the media. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1032x1437, 100 KB) This work is a copyrighted publicity photograph of a person, product, or event that is known to have come from a press kit or similar source, for the purpose of reuse by the media. ... November 22 is the 326th day (327th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Part of a scientific laboratory at the University of Cologne. ... A historian is someone who writes history, and history is a written accounting of the past. ... An author is the person who creates a written work, such as a book, story, article or the like. ... A Television producer oversees the making of television penis programs. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A television program is the content of television broadcasting. ... Connections was a ten-episode documentary television series created by science historian James Burke in 1978. ... The history of science and technology (HST) is a field of history which examines how humanitys understanding of science and technology has changed over the millennia. ...

Born in Derry, Northern Ireland and educated at Oxford, he received his MA from Jesus College. Later he moved to Italy where he lectured at universities in Bologna and Urbino as well as at English schools in that country. WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ... Motto: [citation needed] (French for God and my right)2 Anthem: UK: God Save the Queen Regional: (de facto) Londonderry Air Capital Belfast Largest city Belfast Official language(s) English (de facto), Irish, Ulster Scots 3, NI Sign Language Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister Tony Blair... Oxford is a city and local government district in Oxfordshire, England, with a population of 134,248 (2001 census). ... College name Jesus College Collegium Jesu Named after Jesus of Nazareth Established 1571 Sister College Jesus College, Cambridge Principal Sir John Krebs JCR President John-Michael Arnold Undergraduates 344 MCR President Claire Brunel Graduates 134 Homepage Boatclub Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Panorama of Urbino with the cathedral and the palazzo ducale Urbino is a city in the Marche in Italy, southwest of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site with a great cultural history during the Renaissance as the seat of Federico da Montefeltro. ...

During that time he was engaged in the creation of an English–Italian dictionary and the publication of an art encyclopedia. After a period of broadcasting work in 1966, he moved to London to join the BBC's Science & Features Dept. where he hosted and co-hosted a number of programmes. He was fascinated by the possibilities of television and the potential to educate and entertain by making programmes about science and technology. He also worked for a while as a teacher of English as a Foreign Language at the Regency Language School in Ramsgate. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... London (pronounced ) is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, invariably known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world, employing 26,000 staff in the UK alone and with a budget of £4 billion. ...

Burke first made his name as a reporter on the popular and very long-running BBC science series, Tomorrow's World. He was BBC television's science anchor and chief reporter on the Project Apollo missions, including the first moon landings in 1969. However, the prestige output of the BBC Features Department in the 1970s was the "epic 13-parter" dominated by one charismatic and scholarly figure, epitomised by Sir Kenneth Clark's Civilisation and Jacob Bronowski's The Ascent of Man. Burke pushed hard to follow in their footsteps — and he succeeded brilliantly, producing his most important work: a highly-acclaimed 10-part documentary series Connections (1979) that was first aired on the BBC, and subsequently on PBS channels in the US. The series was a great success for Burke. Later, it was shown in more than 50 countries and appeared in about 350 university and college curricula. Additionally, the book that followed the series was also a best-seller on both sides of the Atlantic. Burke has also been a regular contributor for Scientific American and Time magazines and served as a consultant to the SETI project. A reporter is a type of journalist who researches and presents information in certain types of mass media. ... Tomorrows World was a long-running BBC television series, showcasing new (and often wacky) developments in the world of science and technology. ... Project Apollo was a series of human spaceflight missions undertaken by the United States of America (NASA) using the Apollo spacecraft and Saturn launch vehicle, conducted during the years 1961–1975. ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... Sir Kenneth McKenzie Clark, Baron Clark, OM CH KCB, (July 13, 1903 – May 21, 1983) was a British author, museum director, broadcaster, and the most famous art historian of his generation. ... Front cover Civilisation (full title, Civilisation: A Personal View) was a popular TV series outlining the history of Western society produced by the BBC and aired in 1969 on BBC Two. ... Jacob Bronowski (January 18, 1908, Łódź, Poland - August 22, 1974, East Hampton, New York, USA) was the presenter of the BBC television documentary series, The Ascent of Man which inspired Carl Sagans Cosmos series. ... The Ascent of Man (1973) was a groundbreaking BBC documentary series, produced in association with Time-Life Films, written and presented by Jacob Bronowski. ... Connections was a ten-episode documentary television series created by science historian James Burke in 1978. ... This page refers to the year 1979. ... PBS re-directs here; for alternate uses see PBS (disambiguation) PBS logo The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is a non-profit public broadcasting television service with 349 member TV stations in the United States. ... United States is the current Good Article Collaboration of the week! Please help to improve this article to the highest of standards. ... Look up Atlantic Ocean in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Scientific American is a popular-science magazine, published monthly since August 28, 1845, making it the oldest continuously published magazine in the United States. ... (Clockwise from upper left) Time magazine covers from May 7, 1945; July 25, 1969; December 31, 1999; September 14, 2001; and April 21, 2003. ... Some SETI observations have been conducted using the 305m radio telescope at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. ...

Major TV credits

Television series and major single documentaries made by James Burke:

• The Burke Special (1972-1976)
• The Real Thing on various aspects of perception
• The End of the Beginning marking the end of Project Apollo
• The Men who Walked on the Moon 10th anniversary of Apollo 11
• The Other Side of the Moon A more critical look at Apollo
• The Neuron Suite on the human brain
• Connections
• The Day the Universe Changed
• Masters of Illusion on Renaissance painting
• After the Warming on the greenhouse effect
• Connections 2 (sometimes written Connections²)
• Connections 3 (or Connections³)
• Stump the Scientist, in which an audience of children were invited to put questions to a resident panel of scientists in the hope of "stumping" them

Project Apollo was a series of human spaceflight missions undertaken by the United States of America (NASA) using the Apollo spacecraft and Saturn launch vehicle, conducted during the years 1961–1975. ... Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to land on the Moon. ... Lycian Apollo, early Imperial Roman copy of a fourth century Greek original (Louvre Museum) In Greek and Roman mythology, Apollo (Ancient Greek , Apóllōn; or Ἀπέλλων, Apellōn), the ideal of the kouros, was the archer-god of medicine and healing and also a bringer of death-dealing plague; as... A sketch of the human brain by artist Priyan Weerappuli, imposed upon the profile of Michaelangelos David. ... Connections was a ten-episode documentary television series created by science historian James Burke in 1978. ... The Day the Universe Changed is a name of a British documentary television series produced by and starring science historian James Burke, originally broadcast in 1985. ... Raphael was famous for depicting illustrious figures of the Classical past with the features of his Renaissance contemporaries. ... A schematic representation of the exchanges of energy between outer space, the Earths atmosphere, and the Earth surface. ... Connections was a ten-episode documentary television series created by science historian James Burke in 1978. ... Connections was a ten-episode documentary television series created by science historian James Burke in 1978. ...

Books

• Tomorrow's World I
• Tomorrow's World II
• Connections
• The Day the Universe Changed
• Chances
• The Axemaker's Gift (with Robert Ornstein)
• The Pinball Effect
• The Knowledge Web
• Circles
• Twin Tracks
• American Connections (scheduled for publication July 4th, 2007)

KnowledgeWeb

James Burke is the leading figure of the KnowledgeWeb Project. This is the digital incarnation of his books and television programmes, which allows the user to fly through history and create their own connective paths. It will eventually have immersive, inhabited virtual reality recreations of historical people and places. The KnowledgeWeb Project is a learning web site about knowledge envisioned and supervised by James Burke and the James Burke Institute for Innovation in Education. ...

In the closing scenes of The Day the Universe Changed, Burke suggested that a forthcoming revolution in communication and computer technology would allow people all over the world to exchange ideas and opinions instantaneously. Subsequent events seem to have proven him right. His views of the connected nature of history have also been substantiated by recent research in chaos/complexity/network theory. See for example complex systems and six degrees of separation. Complex systems have a number of properties, some of which are listed below. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

In the closing episode of Connections 1 (1979) he offers multiple choices for future development of humanity and paints some grim consequences for the path we seem to have taken, namely to carry on what we always did. This page refers to the year 1979. ...

Trivia

James Burke appears in the lyrics of the Human League song "The Black Hit of Space," a 1980 sci-fi-tinged single about a hit song "sucking up the human race." The lyrics urge, "get James Burke on the case." The Human League are an English synthpop band formed in 1977, who, after several changes in line up, achieved great popularity in the 1980s and a limited comeback in the mid-1990s. ...

Burke is an accomplished bridge player. Contract bridge, usually known simply as bridge, is a trick-taking card game of skill and chance (the relative proportions depend on the variant played). ...

In 2005, Freephorm Productions created a flash animation entitled "Damn it Feels Good to be James Burke" as a tribute to the historian. Based on the popular song Damn it Feels Good to be a Gangster, the animation features a humorous rap about Burke's writings, as well as his legendary hair.

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

James Burke (science historian)

• Burke's KnowledgeWeb Project
• James Burke Fan Companion a semi-official site regarding James Burke's career, television programs and books. Includes a speaking schedule.
• JamesBurkeMap; a visual representation of his latest book, K-Web project, speaking engagements, and previous work.
• James Burke at the Internet Movie Database
• James Burke: The Knowledge Web; Voices From The Smithsonian Associates - 1 hour audio lecture
• Burke's fans newsgroup
• Yahoo group for Burke's fans
• Documentary-Video where Connections 1, 2 and 3 are available for sale
• Re-Connections on Burke's corpus of work, as well as an introduction to his Knowledge Web project.
• The Connections series in medium-quality streaming video.