Day the Universe Changed Summaries James Burke seduced me into studying history by making me think I was learning about science. The series The Day the Universe Changed explores influences of discoveries and shared knowledge on the perception of the Universe and man's place in it. Burke continues in the slightly irreverant tradition as Connections, but he is more mature, a little less tongue in cheek.
Burke loves to be dramatic.
He tells about the development of the airplane as the camera pulls back to reveal he is standing on a Concorde. He travels to hundreds of locations in dozens of countries and uses a heap of BBC stock footage. Here follows a summary of the flow of each episode. Explains how the questioning, rational attitude of the ancient Greeks has continued through the centuries in the West and has led to constantly changing knowledge and discovery, thus creating conflict between these changes and inherently conservative institutions. Also discusses the thesis of the series that particularly important developments in the history of Western thought have produced corresponding changes in who we are.