| The Day the Universe Changed | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Documentary |
| Written by | James Burke |
| Directed by | Richard Reistz |
| Presented by | James Burke |
| Theme music composer | Carl Davis |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 10 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Richard Reistz |
| Running time | 55 minutes |
| Production company(s) | BBC Productions in association with RKO Pictures, Canale 5, FR3 and YLE |
| Distributor | BBC |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Connections |
| Followed by | Connections 2 |
The Day the Universe Changed (subtitled "A Personal View by James Burke") is a British documentary television series written and presented by science historian James Burke, originally broadcast in 1985 by the BBC. The series' primary focus is on the effect of advances in science and technology on western society in its philosophical aspects.
In the United States the 10-week hour-long series was broadcast October 13–December 15, 1986, on PBS and was rebroadcast on The Learning Channel in 1993.[1]
Contents |
The title comes from the philosophical idea that the universe essentially only exists as you perceive it through what you know; therefore, if you change your perception of the universe with new knowledge, you have essentially changed the universe itself.
To illustrate this concept, James Burke tells the various stories of important scientific discoveries and technological advances and how they fundamentally altered how western civilization perceives the world. The series runs in roughly chronological order, from around the beginning of the Middle Ages to the present.
A companion book of the same title, also written by Burke, was published in 1985 (ISBN 0316117064; revised edition 1995), presenting the same general premise of the television series in expanded detail. Burke read from the book for an abridged audiocassette and compact disc set available from Macmillan Audio.[2]
Licensed by the BBC, The Day the Universe Changed was released on DVD in January 2009 by Documentary-Video (ISBN 3981500437). The five-disc set is closed captioned for the hearing impaired and approximately 550 minutes in length.[3]