Strong Connections

I know this will come as welcome news to at least a couple of readers. James Burke's original PBS series Connections has finally been released on DVD. His later efforts have been available on DVD format for a few years now, but the original show (now called Connections 1) was only released on VHS in the late 80s and then went out of print.

For those that don't know, James Burke was brilliant at weaving together history and science in an informative and exciting tale. From the Amazon review: "James Burke begins his tracking of 12,000 years of science history in this ten part series. Winner of the Red Ribbon in the American Film Festival, the scope of the series covers 19 countries and 150 locations, requiring over 14 months of filming. As the Sherlock Holmes of science, Burke tracks the clues that lead us to eight great life changing inventions. Burke postulates that such changes occur in response to factor he calls 'trigger,' some of them seemingly unrelated."

Curious? Got 10 minutes to spare? Click below to watch the first 10 minutes of the first episode that sets up the series. His tale of our increased technological dependence and how easy it would be for everything to come unraveled is somehow made all the more chilling because it was filmed on and around the World Trade Center towers.