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ALPHABETICAL BRAIN® VOCABULARY
HUMANIST HUB
OF SECULAR SCIENCE STARS
JAMES BURKE
June 9, 2022
Note: James Burke began his series of internationally famous bestselling books with the original classic television documentary in the 1970s, and the companion book, Connections (1979). The five book outlines and reviews should be read or viewed throughout the Humanist Galaxy of educated free thinking adults --- and children!
The following comments include excerpts of online annotations of James Burke's books and PBS TV programs as well as comments by the webmaster as a reader of the books and as the curator of this website. They summarize the full impact of his popular books and PBS TV series:
[1] Burke examined the ideas, inventions, and coincidences that culminated in the major technological advances in the 20th century. His book is a brilliant examination of the ideas, inventions, and coincidences that have culminated in the major technological achievements of our time.
[2] Then came the book, The Day the Universe Changed (1985), which argues that knowledge is a man-made artifact which can change a person's concept of the nature of reality itself. Burke convincingly demonstrated how new knowledge can render traditional systems of belief invalid. This bestselling history book challenges readers to decide whether knowledge is absolute or relative depending upon cultural values. In other words, whether knowledge is absolute to be discovered --- or whether knowledge of the universe is relative, meaning that "knowledge is ultimately what we say it is."
[3] The third book by Burke analyzed on this website is The Pinball Effect (1996). It views history not as the usual chain of historical events but as a complex web of the serendipitous and the seemingly unconnected and inconsequential. The "Pinball Effect" is a metaphor for this "Intellectual Web." The book is deliberately more coherent and less pretentious than his earlier book and TV series.
[4] Burke's fourth book takes the reader on a fascinating tour through the interlocking threads of knowledge running through Western history. He displays mesmerizing flights of fancy, when he shows how seemingly unrelated ideas and innovations bounce off one another, spinning a vast, interactive web on which everything is connected to everything else. The book illustrates Burke's open, connective theme in the form of a journey across the web. He breaks down complex concepts and offers information in a manner accessible to anybody --- from high school graduates and Ph.D. holders alike.
[5] In Burke's fifth book, "each of the 25 chapters starts out with a significant historical event, then shows how it led in two different directions that eventually merge in the present, giving us a new understanding of our world." -- from Library Journal Review. The book requires more physical reading effort than Burke's other histories usually do. The popular British author and public television star, returns with another quirky look at the way history works. He connects "trigger events" with unexpected outcomes. This inventive impresario of science history warns that peeking ahead spoils the fun. But later about that: first, the substance here is Burke's forte, showing the connections that come together in a particular technology. One reason for Burke's popularity is his irreverent snarkiness.
Book #1:
CONNECTIONS:
From Ptolemy's Astolabe to the
Discovery of Electricity: How Inventions
are Linked and How They Cause
Change Throughout History
by James Burke.
1978, 1995, new preface 2007 (304 pages);
[A Connections documentary set of 5 DVDs
will be critiqued online here very soon) ]
AND
Book #2:
THE DAY THE UNIVERSE CHANGED
by James Burke.
Little, Brown, 1985 (352 pages)
AND
Book #3:
THE PINBALL EFFECT:
How Renaissance Water Gardens
Made the Carburator Possible: and
Other Journeys Through Knowledge
by James Burke.
Little, Brown, 1996 (310 pages)
AND
Book #4:
THE KNOWLEDGE WEB:
From Electronic Agents
to Stonehenge and Back: and Other
Journeys Through Knowledge
by James Burke.
Simon & Schuster, 1999 (285 pages)
AND
Book #5:
TWIN TRACKS:
The unexpected origins
of the modern world
by James Burke.
Simon & Schuster, 2003 (276 pages)
Click or Tap to Outlines and Reviews
Book #1:
CONNECTIONS:
From Ptolemy's Astolabe to the
Discovery of Electricity: How Inventions
are Linked and How They Cause
Change Throughout History.
OR
Book #2:
THE DAY THE UNIVERSE CHANGED:
OR
Book #3:
THE PINBALL EFFECT:
How Renaissance Water Gardens
Made the Carburator Possible:
and Other Journeys through Knowledge.
OR
Book #4:
THE KNOWLEDGE WEB:
From Electronic Agents to
Stonehenge and Back: and
Other Journeys Through Knowledge.
OR
Book #5:
TWIN TRACKS:
The unexpected origins
of the modern world
Click or Tap Star to Return to List
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