Science on Video

By Stuart Bayens, Stanley A. Milner Library

Mankind’s pursuits in the name of science are actually a quest for understanding who we are. The byproduct of this pursuit is the technological advancement of our civilization, and it is through technology that we can share in the search for who we are as a species. The Edmonton Public Library's collection of non-fiction video titles houses a treasure trove of opportunity to peer into the world of great thinkers and great tinkerers.

As an introduction to the multi-faceted world of science, the Library has three terrific video series that examine how mankind has gotten to where we are today. The Ascent of Man is a 13-part BBC production, based on the works of Jacob Bronowski, that follows man ’s rise to the status of dominant species. We see how humans took advantage of the knowledge of nature and how to harness its power. Re-creations of significant events are interwoven with speculation as to why humanity has evolved as it has.

For understanding how it is that one thing has led to another, the entertaining James Burke provides two fascinating and often whimsical video series: The Day the Universe Changed and Connections . Burke draws almost impossible lines between random events to illustrate how progress is as much a product of chance as it is of design. Burke takes us on improbable paths, such as the direct connection between one of King Henry VIII ’s divorces and the invention of television (a voyage that highlights how modern land surveying, the light bulb, time zones and exploding billiard balls also came to be).

For those of us who look up at night and wonder where we are, there is no better guide than the granddaddy of all astronomy videos, Carl Sagan’s Cosmos . Sagan takes us inside the workings of the universe to the place where star stuff is made, and he vividly describes how we as a species are made up of the same fabric as the lights in the night sky. Even though Cosmos was filmed 20 years ago, the material covered is still first-rate, a testimony to the late Dr. Sagan’s far-reaching vision of science.

In the two decades since Cosmos the study of the universe has advanced and the Library’s collection of videos has kept pace. There is the excellent five-part series The Astronomers , that traces the contributions of many centuries of astronomers from Galileo to Hubble. One episode, titled Where is the Rest of the Universe? demonstrates how the answer to one question simply creates more questions. Countdown To The Invisible Universe chronicles the search for what can’t be seen, and how the use of infrared astronomy is aiding our understanding of how the universe is built. The PBS Nova program The Runaway Universe examines the theory that the universe hasn’t finished building itself yet. But the most basic question of all -are we alone? is one that has driven almost all of the science of cosmology. Carl Sagan himself addressed this question in his fictional book Contact the basis for the movie of the same name . The real-life everyday work being done in this area is documented in the fascinating video The Quest for Contact; NASA’s Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence

There is a beauty to science that is often overlooked. Originally presented in Imax, The Blue Planet is a spectacular visit to the planet Earth. Earth’s natural beauty and man’s impact on it is described in detail with memorable images. At the other end of the spectrum, there is The Shape of Things a microscopic examination of how nature loves symmetry and uniformity, and endless examples of the beauty of her design are provided. Extreme close- up photography allows us to float with the butterflies and zing along like a bee in Microcosmos the result of three years of work developing miniature cameras that take us inside anthills and ringside to a fight to the death between two beetles of Jurassic Park proportions.

The Library’s collection also contains titles that explore the gee-whiz aspect of science. The Truth About Science Fiction takes a fond look at the movies and how technology is both behind and ahead of the ideas on the silver screen. The X-Files..... Gillian Anderson hosts a series entitled Future Fantastic a video-best-guess about where we are headed.

It is said that the average North American is affected by or affects 37 computers every single day. From turning the ignition key of the car in the morning to setting the clock radio at night, our world functions on the shoulders of microchips. To find out how we got into this sometimes chilling relationship, The Triumph of the Nerds traces the evolution of computers. The series is hosted by Robert Cringely, one of the first dozen employees of Apple, and his garage is a museum of propeller-headed delights. Cringely maps the development of modern computing and, in his interviews with the people who made it happen, we see the genius of ideas and the treachery of competition. For better or worse, the geeks have inherited the earth, and Nerds is a fascinating exploration of how this came to be. In the wake of “a computer on every desk” is the arrival of the Internet. Cringely again takes us on a tour of what some have hailed as the greatest triumph in communication since Gutenberg’s press in the series Nerds 2.0.1. A Brief History of the Internet .

Science has also had a great impact on the arts. No better example can be found than in Theremin, Electronic Odyssey . Leon Theremin, a disillusioned Soviet radio engineer who emigrated to the United States in the 1920s, invented a device that produced musical sound simply by waving a hand over a metal rod. Theremin ’s invention that bore his name is the grandfather of all electronic musical instruments, and the importance of his work is acknowledged by such key figures as Robert Moog (himself the inventor of an instrument that bears his own name, the Moog Synthesizer), and the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson. The Theremin story is made even more bizarre by the fact he was kidnapped by Soviet forces to work for Stalin, and he was awarded the highest recognition for a Russian civilian for work he could never discuss.

Science could not be what it is or where it is today without the dedication and determination of individual human beings. A prime example is Dr. Stephen Hawking. Despite his physical confinement, Hawking engages in science at a level of pure thought. His book Brief History of Time was a best seller (and probably one of the most popular unread books ever to make that grade). The video of the same name helps unravel the concepts Hawking describes, providing glimpses into dimensions of existence we can only barely imagine. The Library also has the companion series Stephen Hawking’s Universe that revisits and refreshes territory covered by Carl Sagan earlier.

For a heart-warming and inspirational look at humans involved at the edge of creative thinking, Me & Isaac Newton visits the lives of a half dozen scientists who work every day on the fringes of human understanding. We see them at home and at work, and we hear them describe their passion for the field of expertise that consumes them. The title of the video comes from a remark made by Michio Kaku, founder of the “unified string theory.” So complete is his understanding and comfort with the knowledge of how the universe works, that when he is out ice skating “It’s just me and Isaac Newton. ”

But, to borrow a phrase from science’s ugly half-sister, science fiction, there is a dark side to the force. As much as science has created a bright modern world, it has spawned evils that must be endured. The Day After Trinity chronicles man’s control of atomic reaction, profiling Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer who will be remembered, despite his many efforts to embrace peace, as the father of the atomic bomb. There is the case made about the dangers and rewards of obsession in the video Fast, Cheap and Out of Control – a bizarre and compelling look at four individuals (a lion tamer, a mole rat researcher, a topiary gardener and a robot scientist) who basically don’t have a life outside of their own fixation. And then there is Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter Jr. a frightening look at how an ordinary man with only a rudimentary education has become the leading American authority in the field of human execution. From building electric chairs like how his daddy showed him to providing testimony at the Ernst Zundel trial about Nazi extermination practices, Mr. Death is a chilling look at the strange places that science visits.

The full range of the experience of science is available at all Edmonton Public Libraries. A copy of this article is available on our Web site, with links to all the video titles mentioned. These titles may also be requested by contacting any of the 16 Library branches, or by visiting www.epl.ca.