Heretic (Heretics in the 20th Century) (MKV)

A BBC series from 1994 which details the responses in the scientific community to ideas generally considered unacceptable by scientists, and the treatment given to those advocating such ideas. Typical 'unacceptable' claims were the effectiveness of high doses of vitamin C, antigravity, and psychokinesis.

In every case a similar story unfolded: dismissal of the claims as being nonsense or impossible, generally without any serious attempt to look at the evidence or the arguments; the non-materialisation of the honours, promotions, invitations to give public lectures and so on that such individuals might have been expected to receive given their past achievements; violent attacks by other scientists; and, for some, demotion or withdrawal of research facilities.

The prestige of the individuals concerned and their continuing competence in other matters is seen as being of no moment: their unorthodox claims are perceived merely as instances of the failings to which all human beings are subject.

Episode 1 - Jacques Benveniste
Episode 2 - Linus Pauling
Epsidoe 3 - Rupert Sheldrake
Episode 4 - Hans Eysenck
Episode 5 - Robert Jahn
Episode 6 - Eric Laithwaite
(Episode 7 - Peter Duesberg: HIV/AIDS) - missing (please let me know if you have it)

Run time: 6 x 30 minutes
Video codec: theora, 352x256, PAL, 25fps
Audio Codec: vorbis, 128 kbps, 44kHz, stereo
Source: VHS

Theora and vorbis are open source formats and play in the VLC media player:

http://videolan.org/vlc

Please Note: Episode 6 goes out of sync at 16:25-19:00 because of bad source data.