James Burke (born 22 December 1936) is a
BritishThe British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, one of the Channel Islands, or of one of the British overseas territories, and their descendants. In a historical context, the term refers to the ancient Britons, the indigenous inhabitants of Great Britain south of the...
broadcaster,
scienceScience is in its broadest sense to any systematic knowledge-base or prescriptive practice that is capable of resulting in a prediction or predictable type of outcome...
historianAn historian is an individual who studies and writes about history, and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all events in time...
,
authorAn author is defined both as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created...
and
television producerThe primary role of a television producer is to control all aspects of production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
well known amongst other things for his
documentaryDocumentary film is a broad category of visual expressions that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to "document" reality. Although "documentary film" originally referred to movies shot on film stock, it has subsequently expanded to include video and digital productions that can...
television series called
ConnectionsConnections was a ten-episode documentary television series created and narrated by science historian James Burke. The series was produced and directed by Mick Jackson of the BBC Science & Features Department and first aired in 1978...
, focusing on the
history of science and technologyThe history of science and technology is a field of history which examines how humanity's understanding of the natural world and ability to manipulate it have changed over the millennia...
leavened with a sense of humour.
Burke was born in
DerryDerry or Londonderry often called the Maiden City, is a city in Northern Ireland. It is the second largest city in Northern Ireland and fourth largest city in the island of Ireland...
,
Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and it is situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
,
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
. He was educated at
Maidstone Grammar SchoolMaidstone Grammar School is a grammar school located in Maidstone, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1549. The school takes boys at the age of 11 and over by examination and boys and girls at 16+ on their GCSE results. They can take boys into other years if they are suitably qualified and there...
. He received his first degree from Oxford University. He received his MA in
Middle EnglishMiddle English is the name given by historical linguists to the diverse forms of the English language in use between the late 11th century and about 1470, when the Chancery Standard, a form of London-based English, began to become widespread, a process aided by the introduction of the printing...
from
Jesus CollegeJesus College is one of the colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship Street, Cornmarket Street and Market Street...
.
Later, Burke moved to
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
, where he lectured at universities in
BolognaBologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of northern Italy...
and
UrbinoUrbino is a walled city in the Marche region in Italy, south-west of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially under the patronage of Federico da Montefeltro, duke of Urbino from 1444 to 1482...
as well as at English schools in that country.
Following the trail of events from some point in the past to a piece of modern technology is rather like a detective story, with you as the detective, knowing only as much as the people in the past do, and like them having to guess at what was likely to happen next.
Television tells us everyday that we live in a world we don't understand. And yet in the main it does little to explain that world. It tells us of new products that make the products we have either old-fashioned or obsolete. Above all, if today we are aware of how fast the world around us is changing, it's because television acts as a relentless reminder of that fact.
Does the cycle that goes, interest in something, involvement in it, tiring of it, and rejection of it, looking into something else, get shorter every decade?
Edison invented inventing.
James Burke (born 22 December 1936) is a
BritishThe British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, one of the Channel Islands, or of one of the British overseas territories, and their descendants. In a historical context, the term refers to the ancient Britons, the indigenous inhabitants of Great Britain south of the...
broadcaster,
scienceScience is in its broadest sense to any systematic knowledge-base or prescriptive practice that is capable of resulting in a prediction or predictable type of outcome...
historianAn historian is an individual who studies and writes about history, and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all events in time...
,
authorAn author is defined both as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created...
and
television producerThe primary role of a television producer is to control all aspects of production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
well known amongst other things for his
documentaryDocumentary film is a broad category of visual expressions that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to "document" reality. Although "documentary film" originally referred to movies shot on film stock, it has subsequently expanded to include video and digital productions that can...
television series called
ConnectionsConnections was a ten-episode documentary television series created and narrated by science historian James Burke. The series was produced and directed by Mick Jackson of the BBC Science & Features Department and first aired in 1978...
, focusing on the
history of science and technologyThe history of science and technology is a field of history which examines how humanity's understanding of the natural world and ability to manipulate it have changed over the millennia...
leavened with a sense of humour.
Biography
Burke was born in
DerryDerry or Londonderry often called the Maiden City, is a city in Northern Ireland. It is the second largest city in Northern Ireland and fourth largest city in the island of Ireland...
,
Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and it is situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
,
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
. He was educated at
Maidstone Grammar SchoolMaidstone Grammar School is a grammar school located in Maidstone, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1549. The school takes boys at the age of 11 and over by examination and boys and girls at 16+ on their GCSE results. They can take boys into other years if they are suitably qualified and there...
. He received his first degree from Oxford University. He received his MA in
Middle EnglishMiddle English is the name given by historical linguists to the diverse forms of the English language in use between the late 11th century and about 1470, when the Chancery Standard, a form of London-based English, began to become widespread, a process aided by the introduction of the printing...
from
Jesus CollegeJesus College is one of the colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship Street, Cornmarket Street and Market Street...
.
Later, Burke moved to
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
, where he lectured at universities in
BolognaBologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of northern Italy...
and
UrbinoUrbino is a walled city in the Marche region in Italy, south-west of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially under the patronage of Federico da Montefeltro, duke of Urbino from 1444 to 1482...
as well as at English schools in that country. While in
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
, he was engaged in the creation of an
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
–
ItalianItalian is a Romance language spoken by about 60 million people in Italy, and by a total of around 70 million in the world. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four official languages. It is also the official language of San Marino, as well as the primary language of Vatican City...
dictionary and the publication of an art encyclopedia.
In 1966, after a period of broadcasting work, Burke moved to
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
to join the
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
's Science and Features Department, where he hosted and co-hosted a number of programmes. He was fascinated by the possibilities of television and the potential to educate and entertain by making programmes about science and technology. He also worked for a while as a teacher of English as a Foreign Language at the Regency Language School in Ramsgate.
Burke first made his name as a
reporterA reporter is a type of journalist who researches and presents information in certain types of mass media.Reporters gather their information in a variety of ways, including tips, press releases, sources and witnessing events. They perform research through interviews, public records, and other...
on the popular and very long-running BBC science series
Tomorrow's WorldTomorrow's World was a long-running BBC television series, showcasing new developments in the world of science and technology. First aired on July 7, 1965 on BBC1, it ran for 38 years until it was cancelled at the beginning of 2003, ostensibly because of falling ratings...
. He was BBC television's science anchor and chief reporter on the
Project ApolloNASA's Apollo Program landed the first humans on Earth's moon. US President John F. Kennedy announced his support for a manned moon landing on May 25, 1961, as part of a special address to a joint session of Congress:...
missions, including being the main presenter on the
BBC's coverage of the first moon landingsBritish television coverage of Apollo 11, man's first mission to land on the moon, lasted from 16 to 24 July 1969 . All the then three UK channels BBC1, BBC2 and ITV provided extensive coverage. Most of the footage covering this historic event from a British perspective though has now been either...
in 1969. However, the prestige output of the BBC Features Department in the 1970s was the "epic 13-parter", dominated by one charismatic and scholarly figure, epitomised by Sir
Kenneth ClarkKenneth McKenzie Clark, Baron Clark, OM, CH, KCB, FBA was a British author, museum director, broadcaster, and one of the best-known art historians of his generation...
's
CivilisationCivilisation — in full Civilisation: A Personal View by Kenneth Clark — is a television documentary series outlining the history of Western art, architecture, and philosophy since the Dark Ages. The series was produced by the BBC and aired in 1969 on BBC Two...
and
Jacob BronowskiJacob Bronowski was a British mathematician and biologist of Polish-Jewish origin. He is best remembered as the presenter and writer of the 1973 BBC television documentary series, The Ascent of Man.-Life and work:...
's
The Ascent of ManThe Ascent of Man was a groundbreaking BBC documentary series, produced in association with Time-Life Films, produced by Adrian Malone, and written and presented by Jacob Bronowski.-Overview:...
.
Following in their footsteps, Burke co-produced (with Mick Jackson) his most important work: a highly acclaimed 10-part documentary series
ConnectionsConnections was a ten-episode documentary television series created and narrated by science historian James Burke. The series was produced and directed by Mick Jackson of the BBC Science & Features Department and first aired in 1978...
(1978) that was first aired on the BBC and subsequently on PBS channels in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The series traced paths of invention and discovery through their interrelationships in history, with each episode chronicling a particular path, usually in chronological order, and was a great success for Burke. It was followed by the 20-part
Connections2 (1994) and then the 10-part
Connections3 (1997) series. Later, it was shown in more than 50 countries and appeared in about 350 university and college curricula. Additionally, the book that followed the series was also a best seller on both sides of the
AtlanticThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres , it covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface and about one-quarter of its water surface area. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek...
.
In 1985, Burke produced a 10-part series
The Day The Universe ChangedThe Day the Universe Changed is a British documentary television series produced by and starring science historian James Burke, originally broadcast in 1985. It was released in DVD form in 2009...
(revised in 1995). This series focuses more on the philosophical aspects of scientific change on
Western cultureWestern culture refers to cultures of European origin.The term "Western culture" is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and technologies...
.
Burke has also been a regular contributor for
Scientific AmericanScientific American is a popular science magazine published since August 28, 1845, which according to the magazine makes it the oldest continuously published magazine in the United States...
and
Time magazines and served as a consultant to the
SETISearch for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence is the collective name for a number of activities people undertake to search for extraterrestrial life. SETI projects use scientific methods to search for electromagnetic transmissions from civilizations on distant planets...
project. He has received the
Royal Television SocietyThe Royal Television Society is a British-based society for the discussion, analysis and preservation of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the one of the oldest television societies in the world...
's silver and gold medals.
In 1998 he was made an honorary fellow of the
Society for Technical CommunicationThe Society for Technical Communication is a professional society for the advancement of the theory and practice of technical communication.-Overview:...
.
KnowledgeWeb
James Burke is the leading figure of the
KnowledgeWeb ProjectThe KnowledgeWeb Project is a learning web site about knowledge envisioned and supervised by James Burke and the James Burke Institute for Innovation in Education. It is a non-profit, all volunteer project, currently in development phase....
. This is the digital incarnation of his books and television programmes, which allows the user to fly through history and create their own connective paths. According to the site, it will eventually have immersive, inhabited virtual reality recreations of historical people and places.
In contrast with the end of
Connections, in which Burke worried that computing and communications would increasingly be in the hands of an expert elite, in the closing scenes of
The Day the Universe ChangedThe Day the Universe Changed is a British documentary television series produced by and starring science historian James Burke, originally broadcast in 1985. It was released in DVD form in 2009...
he instead suggested that a forthcoming revolution in communication and computer technology would allow people all over the world to exchange ideas and opinions instantaneously. Subsequent events suggest he had been correct such as the rise of popular access to the
InternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standardized Internet Protocol Suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
. His views of the connected nature of history have also been substantiated by recent research in chaos/complexity/network theory. See for example
complex systemsComplex systems is a scientific field which studies the common properties of systems that are considered fundamentally complex. Such systems are used to model processes in biology, economics, physics and many other fields...
and
six degrees of separationSix degrees of separation refers to the idea that, if a person is one step away from each person they know and two steps away from each person who is known by one of the people they know, then everyone is at most six steps away from any other person on Earth...
.
Major television credits
Television series and major single documentaries made by James Burke:
- The Burke Special
The Burke Specials were a TV series broadcast on BBC1 from 1972 to 1976.They starred James Burke and were broadcast in the UK on BBC1Series One
15 June 1972 to 27 July 1972 Series Two
...
(1972–1976)
- The End of the Beginning (1972), marking the end of Project Apollo
- Connections
Connections was a ten-episode documentary television series created and narrated by science historian James Burke. The series was produced and directed by Mick Jackson of the BBC Science & Features Department and first aired in 1978...
(1978)
- The Men who Walked on the Moon (1979), 10th anniversary of Apollo 11
The Apollo 11 mission was the first human spaceflight to land on the Moon. Launched on July 16, 1969, it carried Mission Commander Neil Alden Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin Eugene 'Buzz' Aldrin, Jr...
- The Other Side of the Moon (1979), a more critical look at Apollo
- The Real Thing, on various aspects of perception (1980)
- The Neuron Suite on the human brain
The human brain is the center of the human nervous system and is a highly complex organ. Enclosed in the cranium, it has the same general structure as the brains of other mammals, but is over three times as large as the brain of a typical mammal with an equivalent body size...
(1982)
- The Day the Universe Changed
The Day the Universe Changed is a British documentary television series produced by and starring science historian James Burke, originally broadcast in 1985. It was released in DVD form in 2009...
(1985)
- After the Warming (1990), on the greenhouse effect
The greenhouse effect is the heating of the surface of a planet or moon due to the presence of an atmosphere containing gases that absorb and emit infrared radiation. Thus, greenhouse gases trap heat within the surface-troposphere system...
- Masters of Illusion (1993), on Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Florence in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe...
painting
- Connections 2
Connections was a ten-episode documentary television series created and narrated by science historian James Burke. The series was produced and directed by Mick Jackson of the BBC Science & Features Department and first aired in 1978...
(1994) (sometimes written Connections²)
- Connections 3
Connections was a ten-episode documentary television series created and narrated by science historian James Burke. The series was produced and directed by Mick Jackson of the BBC Science & Features Department and first aired in 1978...
(1997) (or Connections³)
- Stump the Scientist, in which an audience of children were invited to put questions to a resident panel of scientists in the hope of "stumping" them
Books
- Tomorrow's World I, (with Raymond Baxter
Raymond Frederic Baxter, OBE was a British television presenter and writer. He is best known for being the first presenter of Tomorrow's World, continuing for 12 years, from 1965 to 1977...
) (BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
1970) ISBN 978-0563101628
- Tomorrow's World II, (with Raymond Baxter) (BBC 1973) ISBN 978-0563123620
- Connections: Alternative History of Technology (Time Warner International/Macmillan
Macmillan Publishers Ltd, also known as The Macmillan Group, is a privately-held international publishing company owned by Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. It has offices in 41 countries worldwide and operates in more than thirty others....
1978) ISBN 978-0333248270
- The Day the Universe Changed (BBC 1985) ISBN 0-563-20192-4
- Chances (Virgin Books
Virgin Books is a United Kingdom book publisher 90% owned by the publishing group Random House, and 10% owned by Virgin Enterprises, the company originally set up by Richard Branson as a record company.-History:...
1991) ISBN 978-1852273934
- The Axemaker's Gift, (with Robert Ornstein
Dr. Robert Evan Ornstein is a psychologist, writer, has been professor at Stanford University, and chairman of the Institute for the Study of Human Knowledge .-Life:...
), illustrated by Ted DewanTed Dewan is an England-based American author/illustrator, born in 1961 in Boston, Massachusetts. He is married to fellow-illustrator Helen Cooper.-Life:...
(Jeremy P Tarcher 1995) ISBN 978-0874778564
- The Pinball Effect — How Renaissance Water Gardens Made the Carburettor Possible and Other Journeys Through Knowledge (Little, Brown & Company 1996) ISBN 978-0316116107
- The Knowledge Web (Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin, and HarperCollins...
2001) ISBN 978-0684859354
- Circles — Fifty Round Trips Through History Technology Science Culture (Simon & Schuster 2003) ISBN 978-0743249768
- Twin Tracks (Simon & Schuster 2003) ISBN 978-0743226196
- American Connections: The Founding Fathers. Networked (Simon & Shuster 2007) ISBN 978-0743282260
Popular culture
The
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
topical comedy series '
Not The Nine O'Clock NewsNot the Nine O'Clock News is a television comedy sketch show which was broadcast on BBC 2 from 1979 to 1982.Originally shown as a comedy "alternative" to the BBC Nine O'Clock News on BBC 1, it featured satirical sketches on current news stories and popular culture, as well as parody songs, comedy...
' included a sketch in which Griff Rhys-Jones, imitating Burke, delivered a passage of elaborately mischievous prose somewhat in his manner, ending with the following: "So there we have it. It's all really very simple. And if it isn't, I make it up. So until then, goodbye.
(Leaves the scene but suddenly appears again) Hello again. Ha! That fooled you, didn't it. Or, did it?"
External links