Connections (1978) User Reviews

An absolute masterpiece

[ridsouto · 10/10 · 8 March 2011]

For all of us fans of high quality, educational TV, the late 70s brought us 2 of the absolute best documentary series of all times: Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" and James Burke's "Connections".

To call "Connections" enjoyable would be a huge understatement. It's just a fantastic mind-opener: it will change your view of your own world and of the way progress happens, all the while making you laugh. Burke's skill in presenting these subjects is unparalleled.

I watched this series back in the 80s, and watching it again today you realize that it could not be more relevant today. Burke's observations are as valid and compelling now as they were more than 3 decades ago, with the addition that now you can also appreciate his foresight.

It's not often that you can say that 10 hours spent in front of a TV screen were an excellent investment. This is one of those cases.

Connections is brilliant!

[JamisonC · 10/10 · 11 May 2006]

Please borrow this series of BBC episodes, written and hosted by James Burke, from your local library. If they don't have it, ask them to order it.

This is the most eloquent presentation of the history of civilization that has ever aired on television or appeared in cinema. It should be required viewing for any English-speaking student. This series will powerfully enhance your perspective of history and your place in it, because you will understand why things are the way they are today.

Each episode is expertly crafted to a high standard that invites repeated viewing. You will be amazed.

A Brilliant Alternative Presentation of Historical Change That Puts Most History Text Books to Shame

[classicalsteve · 10/10 · 9 January 2010]

Did you know that the invention of nautical devices in the 16th and 17th century by European seafarers is a link in an historical chain that will directly lead to the Nuclear Age of the 20th century? That the invention of move-able type printing in the mid-15th century was in part due to the devastating plague of the 14th century? That Henry VIII's breaking from the Roman Catholic Church to form England's own church is a distant link that will eventually lead to the invention of limelight used to light theatre stages in the 19th century? That the need for tar for cargo ships in the 17th century will eventually lead to the invention of a new kind of fertilizer in the late 19th century? Or how innovations in the textile industries of the 18th and 19th century were an essential component for the beginning of Information Technology in the 20th century? Or, my favorite, how some exploding billiard balls of the late 19th century will become part of a puzzle that leads to mass media entertainment. These are just a handful of the strange seemingly unrelated "connections" between people, inventions, motivations, places and eras that have led to some of the most extraordinary innovations of the modern age. And yet, every link, every "connection", is not only essential but often had nothing to do with the original intent of the inventors and/or innovators at the time.

It is almost a cliché that most of the greatest inventions and innovations of the modern age were found by accident as a result of the inventor or innovator trying to solve an entirely different problem. History textbooks often present this material as a survey of end-products whose result was preordained: light bulbs, televisions, mass transit, and the like are often made to seem as inevitable outgrowths of linear progress. James Burke's "Connections" takes an entirely different route of explanation that is anything but linear. His hypothesis which is based on a vast assortment of historical record is that significant technological change is the result of a myriad of strange circumstances and unforeseen consequences throughout history in which, at the time, no one could have guessed the end result.

In the first episode, Burke outlines the form in which each of these "stories" will take place. The viewer will be a kind of detective along with Burke to discover the many twists and turns that will eventually lead to nine major scientific inventions of the 20th century. But the viewer will not know the invention with which the story will lead until the very end. And the beginning of the trail will seem very far from the end result. For example, the second episode begins with how people 3000 years ago began adapting metal for coinage as a better means to stimulate trade and commerce will eventually lead to an invention that Burke says "affects every man, woman and child on the planet." Another episode begins with seafaring in the ancient world. Yet another begins with medieval cannon balls.

Throughout his series, historian-commentator Burke takes us behind-the-histories of these greatest of innovations of the modern world. He often begins in the Middle Ages, sometimes earlier, in which people were simply trying to solve a particular problem at a particular moment. In one episode for example, Burke describes the European Ice Age of the Middle Ages which meant that castles and chateaus needed to be redesigned as an answer to the cold weather. Instead of large drafty high-ceilinged rooms, smaller rooms came into being along with central heating systems in which a fireplace could heat several rooms. And this also had an impact on culture. Indoor games like chess and backgammon, indoor art such as tapestries, and reading books came into vogue along with the physical stratification of the classes. Upper class people resided in the rooms upstairs while the working class occupied the lower rooms.

Burke takes the conventional wisdom of "history" which is too often presented as linear and inevitable and turns it on its head. This is possibly one of the most fascinating series of the late 20th century. And he also makes a "story" out of history. Only school textbooks could make a subject as fascinating as history so boring, and Burke shows us that this is not the case at all.

One of the best there is

[markcarlson2222 · 8 July 2002]

I've watched every episode of the original series so many times I've worn out the tapes. I don't care. I still watch them and learn more every time. I love history and James Burke makes it even more fun and interesting to me. I am particularly enamored of the sequences that deal with military history and the advancements of weaponry. 'The Long Chain' and 'Thunder in the Skies' ranks as superb in my book I wish I knew more people that love this series as I do, to chat with them about it. The other series that ranks as a winner is 'The Day the Universe Changed' which carries on in the same genre but deals with social concepts and their origins. Watch them all, and have fun learning.

Greatest Historical Documentary I have ever seen about our world

[pmajmudar · 10/10 · 5 August 2006]

I am a curious character who just loves how things and world and people came to be the way we are today.... I just want things to make sense and go behind the scenes to find out about things.. If you like that, and if you are a history fanatic, this is the BEST documentary, with that so delicious British tongue-in-cheek humor that is served so well by Burke. Comedy and (real) History and Technology and Detective story (connecting seemingly so unconnected things) .. I love all four genre... But to find all of them, in ONE movie, all rolled together... and also done so... so well.... how can heaver be far away? p.s. is there ANY way I can get a copy of this rented or even purchased? Please please email me if you know...

Sometimes Shaky but Often Fun

[aramis-112-804880 · 9/10 · 7 August 2013]

James Burke's "Connections" is stated as "an alternative history of change." Throughout the episodes, BBC science correspondent James Burke presents how inventions and discoveries reverberate through time. Sometimes these are presented in chains, linking all the inventions. At other times, he presents several scientific discoveries that seem unrelated until he finds a great mind who puts them together.

Admittedly, some of his connections are neither as profound, nor as clear-cut, as he presents them. If you look carefully at the series (and I've seen it several times) you begin to see weak joins.

And Burke sometimes hides aces up his sleeve from the audience. For instance, from his own philosophical prejudices he presents the disappearance of the so-called "Library of Alexandria" as one thing or another; when in fact there were more than one library at Alexandria and the books were probably stolen by the Romans (or perhaps one of a half-dozen other explanations -- in fact, no one really knows what happened to the books, but he would rather get in a dig at religion, which is his particular bugaboo, like the head of Charles I in the writings of Mister Dick). As with that example, sometimes Burke is not always as forthcoming as he presents himself; but he makes no bones about this being his personal view. Nevertheless, if you are interested in anything he says, go to your nearest college library and do supplementary reading. Don't let Burke be your sole guru.

As a whole, the series is informative; and, even more so, immensely entertaining. This is television, after all, not a series of lectures for college graduates. Enjoy the show, but take it with a grain of salt.

The first couple of episodes take a grimmer approach to life. As the series progresses, Burke lightens and loosens up and grows more entertaining, and funny. The sight of Mister Burke steering a combine harvester through a wheatfield and his subsequent explanation of the Junkers is one highlight of a series that contains many. But toward the end he gets to his grim state again and gives the stings in the tails.

And instead of having music performed directly for this, as he did in his later "Day the Universe Changed," Burke (or whomever is responsible) uses public domain classical music. The music is not always appropriate and occasionally the decibel level is set a bit high. But as a classical music lover (as well as a history lover) I enjoy a reacquaintance with old favorites.

By the way, this is a 1970s BBC documentary, and its technical level, while fine for the time, is low by twenty-first century standards. Don't let that put you off. Enjoy.

What planet did this guy Burke come from, and how come he knows more about ours than we do?

[dimplet · 10/10 · 25 June 2011]

Before Wikipedia, before the Internet, before the PC, there was James Burke, the original hypertext-liked encyclopedic brain.

Remember when you first surfed the Web, how much fun it was to go from link to link exploring connections around the world, staying up till 4 in the morning? That's what Connections does, but better, with James Burke as your guide, bouncing around 150 location shoots in 20 different countries in just 10 episodes. Fasten your seat belt! This series really should be shown on MTV, it moves so fast!

James Burke accomplishes in Connections what Jared Diamond promises in Guns, Germs and Steel, not only explaining the rise of the West's industrial, technological machine, but producing a work of true scholarly originality without being part of the academic establishment.

If you haven't seen Connections, you must give it a chance by watching just the first 10 minutes. Or just look at the astronomical IMDb rating. Connections was the most watched program on America's PBS up to that time, and it is just as important today. If you want to understand how the world you live in came to be, you need to watch Connections.

If still not convinced, read author: classicalsteve's review below; he nails it.

As to what universe James Burke dropped in from, see the one critic's review from tvcream for some background.

Loved these shows

[Texaswondergirl · 10/10 · 14 February 2019]

When I was in a gifted and talented 7th/8th grade class, I had an incredible teacher named Mr Barnette (who I miss!) who showed us a lot of these episodes. They were fascinating then and they still fascinate me now. Its amazing how he ties things together with past and present. Much better than reading a history book. James Burke made history come alive.

One of the best things I ever saw

[prashantsharma-70242 · 10/10 · 28 May 2018]

In this amazing series, James Burke, discusses the amazing world of scientific inventions and discoveries and how they all relate to one another. It explores the historical and cultural implications on the things that we take for granted today. It might be old, but all of it is still relevant and damn interesting. James Burke is an excellent narrator and grips your attention throughout the series with his amazing findings about the man made world and how and why are things the way they are. I was always intrigued by the things all around us, and how we got from hunter gatherers to a space faring civilisation. This series beautifully answers that question while presenting you with extraordinary complex world which stan on seemingly simple incremental changes that got us where we are today.

Why I did what I did

[hansbedlam · 10/10 · 30 September 2015]

I watched this show over and over when it first came out. And the recorded it on Beta. It is one of the single greatest reason that I was able to retire at the age of 50. It showed me how to look at the world and everything around me in ways that no teacher every could. Even now when I look at a computer I think about looms. It gave me the ability to work out problems in days that would take my co-workers weeks or months to do. Just knowing the basic beginning point of any object is the fastest way to make it better. I fear without his show I would have (A) been killed doing something stupid as a kid and (B) Struggled in my chosen profession as a problem solver/ reverse engineer. And now that I no longer have to work. I use what I learned from him and his show to make things around the property. From wind powered generators to metal stamping machines run by a water wheel. To me he is the Grand Father of the Reuse, Recycle, Re-purpose movement.

Supah.

[rmax304823 · 9/10 · 9 October 2012]

It doesn't get much better than this. James Burke is smart and inventive as he whisks us from one invention to another by means of the most obscure dendritic paths you can imagine. I'll bet you never realized that the black plague wiped out so many Europeans that the ones who were left became rich because they had access to the resources left behind by the dear departed.

You say you knew that? I hope you don't mind if I remain a little skeptical but, okay. I still don't think that many historians of science could lay out the connections between that fact and the improved methods of counting immigrants to Ellis Island in 1890.

This was Burke's first series, 1978, and he went on to "Connections 2" and "The Day the Universe Changed." The last series was a little more philosophical than "Connections" but no matter. The format remained the same.

I prefer this series, the earliest, because Burke is notably younger and because he's so obviously a product of the 70s here. He has his signature dark-rimmed glasses and he's already balding, but his hair is dark, he sports polyester leisure suits with bell bottoms, and he occasionally throws in some contemporary slang. Also, I enjoy his younger self because he's something of an age mate. That gives us something in common. No, I didn't earn a Master's at Oxford like Burke and I'm not as smart, but I look as youthful as ever.

It's quite a series, with high production values. The BBC was great at this sort of thing. Burke makes his point with a nod of his head, and we're whisked from Bruges in Belgium to Champagne in France. The musical score, which appears only intermittently, uses a full orchestra. Hundreds of extras enact Medieval celebrations or read religious texts in obscure languages. (One of Burke's academic specialties was Middle English, I think, and he's written a dictionary of Italian.) But it's that instantaneous change from continent to continent that stands out.

I hope no one will expect a dry analysis of the evolution of technology. Burke speaks rather quickly at times and zips through some complicated mechanisms that left me in the dust. It was especially frustrating not to be able to follow his detailed explanation of the invention of the automatic loom for silk, because one of the questions on my comprehensive exams in graduate school was, "Describe the evolution of the loom." I have, incidentally, used two or three episodes from this series in classes on subjects like Social Change and Introduction to Anthropology. I'm not sure the students were able to follow all of it, but I was reasonably sure that they got the general idea, which is that one thing depends on things that came before. (That's why nobody invented the automobile in Ancient Greece.) The ancillary idea was maybe less obvious but was easy enough to grasp; institutions like politics, religion, environment, technology, science, philosophy all influence one another.

The entire series of episodes is available free on the internet and every once in a while I'll run through a 44-minute presentation. Since I've already seen them all, I always expect to be bored but it hasn't happened yet.

35+ Years Later And It's STILL One Of The Best Documetaries Ever Made

[smegheadseason · 10/10 · 5 July 2016]

Almost no series or movie seems to withstand the test of time flawlessly and documentaries always seem to be the hardest hit by the passage of years but this show is still absolutely fascinating, timely and well- presented.

One of the other reviewers likened it to the original "Cosmos" by Carl Sagean for it's timeless appeal and they're right- it IS just as timeless.

Granted, the "high tech" items that you see in the show are laughably old now and Burke's outfits are a bit dated but none of that matters because if you lifted the script and redid it word-for-word with new outfits and tech, it would still be interesting and applicable today.

In fact, actually, if anything it would be worse off for lacking Burke's approachable presentation style filled with infectious enthusiasm and humor.

TL;DR- Yes, it's old! But it's one of those you HAVE to watch at least once.

An excellent series.

[Blueghost · 15 September 2011]

When I first saw this series on PBS it was mesmerizing. James Burke was (and still is) a dynamo of enthusiasm for forward thinking science and progress. In his series he does away with epochs and eras of revolutions, and shows us various butterfly effects and inspirations for a plethora of things that helped improve human society.

I have to admit that I was then, and am still now, awed and perplexed as to how one can make such linear connections without the human artifice of defining periods of when certain technological and social explosions and convulsions took place. I'm a throw back to the "it happened in this period" mindset. Burke says "No, it happened like this..." and shows us what invention or discovery did what and for whom, and how that changed human society as a whole (in particular Europe and the US).

We're shown vignettes that describe breakthroughs, inspirations, discoveries, and applications thereof. We're told and shown the social climate of the time, and how times changed and were altered by new innovations.

In short, Burke shows us the connections. He shows us minds of the elite and not-so-privileged making contributions, and how their ideas resonated with one another to create even newer inventions and so on.

Production Values; shot on 16mm, the props, costumes and demonstrations of various apparatus (old and new alike) are top notch, as are the locations. James Burke himself is very energetic and easy to listen to as he explains his logic and paths of reason. The only critique is that the material is dated, but in a good way. Being a product of its age, "Connections" shows us a slice of time I was involved in, when computers were still largely business and university electronic mechanisms, and high technology meant a pocket calculator to do your math homework. It shows us a time when social ignorance of a different sort because of lack of communication was very much prevalent because of the political polarization on an international scope; the US and its allies were 1st world countries, the Soviets and their sphere of influence were the 2nd world, and every other nation not aligned was "the third world", and how this fueled inspiration and connections. So it is that we can go with James Burke to Dubai, London, New York, and Berlin, but not Beijing nor Moscow.

If you're interested in how things got going, and how we in the 70s looked at tomorrow, then definitely give this series a look. You won't be disappointed.

very good informational show

[bitemelansmi · 8/10 · 16 August 2012]

this show is very entertaining. it takes you on these wild tangents to see how we got the things we use and depend on. like how sealing wax leads to something big and magnificent or crazy things like that its been a long time ago that i watched them but i remember being hooked on the show and watching it every time i could i remember it was on tlc back in the '90s when it originally aired

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Still superb

[thedivinewoman · 10/10 · 9 June 2023]

There is a dearth of decent programming on UK TV so I have been working my way through my DVD collection. I found this series that I purchased from a charity shop along with accompanying book.

What can I say? It is a brilliant piece of TV and apart from James Burke's suit it is not dated at all.

It's entertaining, educational and riveting. Yes, they are still making documentaries today, but, the style of presenting has changed, some in particular, no names mentioned, make it more about them. Not Burke, like David Attenborough, he is like the old style school teacher, more about informing and educating than dressing up or being flashy or a personality.

The 70s were a golden age of documentary making and this is another example that stands the test of time.

amusing science for dummies

[bartholomew_john · 8/10 · 13 March 2016]

Entertaining pictorial of mankinds blundering it's way from one scientific discovery to the next.Excellently done but has spots that drag.Teacher wants ten lines per review or they wont post,but over extension of a concept results in blurring.What I wrote is really what I feel describes the series,and further material is separate from my opinion,my thought.Zieg heil comment Nazis.Forced speech isn't free speech.I protest.You wanted material.Plagiarism your intent?You get paid for each key stroke?With how much writing you expect,it must be to use it for other purposes.Cant even paragraph.And people who try to defeat the requirement are of no use and are banned their voice silenced.Really stinks when you thik\nk about it.

Waw. A+++

[hector-61488 · 10/10 · 29 February 2024]

Ok, next to 'The ascent of man', clearly one of the best documentaries on the evolution of mankind out there, if not the best actually. Haven't watched part 2 and 3 yet, but I will.

James Burke's way of presenting, with his bottomless dry British humor at display at full range, is just a joy to learn from. I love how his producer gave him free-play to make something of it, which is just.. fantastic. The vibe, the pace, the jabs at modern society, the questions he asks the individuals watching,... just a superb combination of everything historic, incredibly insightful, yea.. Ill most probably just watch it again when Im done with series 3.

Intriguing, entertaining, and accessible...

[Cari-8 · 24 June 1999]

The Connections series I, II and III are the most delightful and accessible approach to the history of the world and its' sciences since the Cosmos series. Compelling and Addictive... something on television that's truly worth watching. Companion books to the series are also available. The Connections series' blend of humor and Zen are incredibly entertaining--- Call it Life As We Know It 101.

Also recommended: The Day The Universe Changed series.