Connections Series 3

This humorous and upbeat science series shows that history is filled with seemingly unrelated
discoveries that are actually connected in the most surprising ways. Host James Burke continues to
delight viewers as he explores the effects and origins of inventions and events that shape the
modern world.

Volume 1: Feedback
Electronic agents may become our servants using feedback mathematics that won World War II based on
an idea from France's vineyards where the Humane Society began while a doctor in Michigan created
cornflakes.

Volume 2: What's in a Name?
A breakfast leads to corn cob garbage used for "furfan" which creates resin for bonding that leads
to inventing the tractor and diesel engine and to the creation of the Smithsonian in Washington,
DC.

Volume 3: Drop the Apple
The benefactor of the Smithsonian discovered the mineral calamine that gives off electricity used
to play records leading to Albert Einstein's theory of relativity and the creation of the atomic
bomb.

Volume 4: An Invisible Object
Connect black holes with fast food by travelling along the Pony Express, looking into a Sultans
finances, and discovering why beer is chilled. Along the way, go to a queen's party, see Buffalo
Bill's show, and learn about a historical disaster.

Volume 5: Life is No Picnic
Examine the interwoven histories of freeze dried coffee and soldier ration packs in WWII; the Star
Spangled Banner and a Greek poem and Europe's Romantic movement and Darwin's theory of evolution.

Volume 6: Elementary Stuff
Explore history's intricate web of commonalities: spiritualism and the device that makes radio
reception possible; Scottish oppression and the creation of turpentine; and the debate over modern
literature and the creation of Sherlock Holmes.

Volume 7: A Special Place
Connections between historical events are revealed and explored. Featured are a 400-year trip
through 20 locations; Swedish electricity, Dutch wind tunnels, and a new type of photography; and
WWII fighter-aces and their eccentric uncles.

Volume 8: Fire From the Sky
What does the majestic beauty of Iceland's geysers have to do with the destruction of the Allied
fire-bombing of Hamburg in WWII? Stop by Stonehenge, chat with the mystical Cabalists, and
interview Martin Luther and Mary Queen of Scots to find out.

Volume 9: Hit The Water
From the cockpit of a Tornado Fighter Bomber, dip into the history of margarine, dance at the
ballet Copelia, and blow up a dam in Norway with a British commando team to find out why and how
Hitler never harnessed heavy water and the A-Bomb.

Volume 10: In Touch
An American scientist ponders the problem of nuclear fusion in 1951 and from the connections
between the Eiffel Tower to modern oceanography, the Global Net is developed.