Connections

Season 2

This series explores the various paths of how technological change happens and the social effects of these changes on Western society. To illustrate this, James Burke follows various timelines of how one innovation lead to something seemingly totally unrelated in the future such as how a 17th century Dutch cargo ship design lead to development of plastic in the 20th century.
Where to Watch Season 2
20 Episodes
  • Revolutions
    E1
    Episode 1RevolutionsDiscover how the steam engine led to safety matches, imitation diamonds and the moon in a wild ride.
  • Sentimental Journeys
    E2
    Episode 2Sentimental JourneysWhat has Freud got to do with maps? Or prison reform with blue dye? Or the inside of a star with the Himalayas? India reveals the answers.
  • Getting It Together
    E3
    Episode 3Getting It TogetherStart by examining a SWAT team, which leads to hot air ballooning, the root of many inventions.
  • Whodunit?
    E4
    Episode 4Whodunit?Who stole a set of billiard balls in 1902 and why was he the most famous crook in history? The clues: maps from 1775, Charles Darwin's cousin and the FBI.
  • Something for Nothing
    E5
    Episode 5Something for NothingSomething impossible happened 400 years ago. And we wound up in outer space, thanks (en route) to pigeon lovers, the Pope, and electric Italian frogs.
  • Echoes of the Past
    E6
    Episode 6Echoes of the PastOn his way to finding the secret of the universe, Burke takes us to the Buddhist tea ceremony, ties it to international spies and Lincoln's assassination.
  • Photo Finish
    E7
    Episode 7Photo FinishThe Le Mans 24-hour race is the backdrop for linking photography and bullets, relativity and blimps.
  • Separate Ways
    E8
    Episode 8Separate WaysTwo trails split over slavery in the 18th Century. One route leads to the Wild West and Brooklyn Bridge, the other coining money and TV. Both end with a threat to peace.
  • High Time
    E9
    Episode 9High TimeUnwrap a sandwich and you're on a path to World War II radar and Neo-Impressionist painters.
  • Déjà Vu
    E10
    Episode 10Déjà VuHistory repeats itself, when you know how to look. Pizzaro beats the Incas, the first stock market opens. The Queen of England salutes a Mexican beetle and Hitler's plans misfire.
  • New Harmony
    E11
    Episode 11New HarmonyMicroscopic bugs inspired the novel "Frankenstein" which aided the birth of Socialism.
  • Hot Pickle
    E12
    Episode 12Hot PickleThe connections between a cup of tea, opium dens, the London Zoo and a switch that releases bombs.
  • The Big Spin
    E13
    Episode 13The Big SpinThe greatest medical accident in history starts a trail that leads to Helen of Troy, 17th Century flower-power, the invention of soda pop and earthquake detection.
  • Bright Ideas
    E14
    Episode 14Bright IdeasA Baltimore man invented the bottle, which led to razors and clock springs, and the Hubble telescope.
  • Making Waves
    E15
    Episode 15Making WavesHairdressers, Gold Rush miners, Irish potato farmers and English parliamentarians are really tied together.
  • Routes
    E16
    Episode 16RoutesA sick lawyer in 18th Century France changes farming and triggers the French Revolution and new medical research.
  • One Word
    E17
    Episode 17One WordOne medieval word kicks off the investigation into different cultures with the same stories that ends in cultural anthropology.
  • Sign Here
    E18
    Episode 18Sign HereDutch piracy starts international law and French probability math, phonetics and Victorian séances.
  • Better Than the Real Thing
    E19
    Episode 19Better Than the Real ThingHow the zipper started with technology Jefferson picked up in Paris during a row about Creation.
  • Flexible Response
    E20
    Episode 20Flexible ResponseRobin Hood starts us on a trail from medieval showbiz to land drainage, to the invention of decimals that end up in U.S. currency, thanks to the guy who started the Erie Canal.
 
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