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Science & Nature

The Ascent of Man

A true TV landmark. Dr Jacob Bronowski’s epic series unravelling of the making of mankind that spellbound audiences in the 1970s.

1. Lower than the Angels (49 mins)

1. Lower than the Angels

Jacob Bronowski opens the first programme at the Great Rift Valley of East Africa.

49 mins

2. The Harvest of the Seasons

Jacob Bronowski looks at mankind's move from nomadic pasturage to settled agriculture.

3. The Grain in the Stone

Jacob Bronowski discovers the origins of science in the interaction of hand and brain.

4. The Hidden Structure

Jacob Bronowski examines man's probing of the hidden structure below the visible world.

5. Music of the Spheres

Dr Bronowski gives his own novel proof of Pythagoras' famous theorem.

6. The Starry Messenger

Dr Jacob Bronowski looks at the life, work and trial of Galileo.

7. The Majestic Clockwork

Dr Jacob Bronowski explores how Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein are connected by light.

8. The Drive for Power

Dr Jacob Bronowski reflects on the Industrial Revolution.

9. The Ladder of Creation

Dr Jacob Bronowski recounts the adventures of Alfred Russell Wallace and Charles Darwin.

10. World within World

The ideas that gave expression to the invisible, intangible structure beneath all matter.