Episodes

1. Lower Than the Angels

The programme follows the changes in Man as he marches out of Africa, through desert and ice age, to leave the print of his hand in a dark Spanish cave.

2. The Harvest of the Seasons

As the ice retreats and the land flowers, Man the hunter turns to agriculture, domesticating plant and animal, imposing his will on the wild wheat and the horse.

3. The Grain in the Stone

The wandering nomads cease their migrations and settle in townships, learning new skills.

4. The Hidden Structure

The programme follows the beginnings of chemistry: from the techniques of ancient metallurgy in China and Japan to the mystical searchings of the alchemists.

5. Music of the Spheres

Mathematics is a way of describing the world that we see, hear and touch.

6. The Starry Messenger

From the earliest times, Man has looked outwards from the earth and wondered at the movements of sun, stars and planets. The programme hinges on the crisis of the scientific conscience in the person of the astronomer Galileo and in the rich cities of Venice and Rome, the scenes both of his triumph and his punishment.

7. The Majestic Clockwork

The universe of Newton, clear, English, stately, like the music and the great buildings of his century ticking away with a fine clockwork mechanism, wisely regulated by laws. Then the quizzical world of Einstein whose direct truth and questions could turn the dignified universe upside-down in the interests of a clearer understanding. We ride with Einstein on his beam of light to end our journey in our own century.

8. The Drive for Power

As political revolutions shook France and America, another quieter, yet more profound restructuring was taking place in Britain - the Industrial Revolution.

9. The Ladder of Creation

How did life begin on earth? Dr Jacob Bronowski recounts the adventures of Alfred Russell Wallace, and how they triggered off the ideas of Charles Darwin.

10. World Within World

Dr Jacob Bronowski tells the story of the men and ideas that gave concrete expression to the invisible, intangible structure that lies beneath all matter.

11. Knowledge or Certainty

Dr Jacob Bronowski considers how the great achievement of physics in the 20th century has been to show that absolute certainty, in science or outside of it, is beyond our grasp.

12. Generation Upon Generation

Dr Jacob Bronowski follows the history of genetics, from the lonely experiments of Gregor Mendel to the discovery of the structure of DNA. Should we see human sexuality as a gift?

13. The Long Childhood

From his home, Dr Jacob Bronowski takes stock of man's complex and often precarious ascent, drawing on experiences from his own lifetime.

Overview

The Ascent of Man is a thirteen-part documentary television series produced by the BBC and Time-Life Films first transmitted in 1973, written and presented by Jacob Bronowski. Intended as a series of "personal view" documentaries in the manner of Kenneth Clark's 1969 series Civilisation, the series received acclaim for Bronowski's highly informed but eloquently simple analysis, his long unscripted monologues and its extensive location shoots.

Details

Cast

Jacob Bronowski