Science (Documentaries)

Produced by Chedd-Angier Production Company.
60 minutes; released 1996.
This film explores the impact of technology on medicine, from brain surgery to phobias and gene therapy. Part of the Scientific American Frontiers series hosted by Alan Alda.

Directed by Jessica Sanders.
95 minutes; released 2005.
The dramatic and compelling story of seven men imprisoned for decades who were exonerated after DNA evidence proved their innocence.

Produced by the Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released 2008.
Albert Einstein: Physicist, Philosopher, Humanitarian, 24 lectures by award-winning Professor Don Howard of the University of Notre Dame, presents a wide-ranging intellectual biography of this iconic scientist, genius, and champion of social justice.

Directed by Ron Fricke.
96 minutes; released 1992.
A nature film shot on six continents in 24 countries. Baraka captures the planet's glories and violent calamities.

Produced by the Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released 2002.
Twenty-four lectures detailing the evolution of humanity.

Produced by the Endowment for Human Development, Inc.
42 minutes; released 2006.
An overview of key features of human embryonic development with video sequences and animations.

Directed by John Angier et al.
60 minutes; released 2001.
Shows advancements in repairing the human body with new technology. Part of the Scientific American Frontiers series hosted by Alan Alda.

Directed by Alastair Fothergill.
394 minutes; released 2001.
An eight-part BBC series about the natural history of the Earth's oceans. Narrated by David Attenborough.

Directed by Earl Morris.
84 minutes; released 1991.
Physicist Stephen Hawking explores the Big Bang, black holes, and other fundamental questions about the universe.

Produced by the Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released 2008.
"Chaos theory," according to Dr. Steven Strogatz, Director of the Center for Applied Mathematics at Cornell University, "is the science of how things change." It describes the behavior of any system whose state evolves over time and whose behavior is sensitive to small changes in its initial conditions.

Produced by the Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released 2008.
Cosmology: The History and Nature of Our Universe introduces you to the biggest story of all in 36 lectures that cover the origin, evolution, composition, and probable fate of our universe. This detailed and accessible course, presented by award-winning Professor Mark Whittle of the University of Virginia, incorporates more than 1,700 stunning illustrations.

Produced by NOVA/Clear Blue Sky Productions.
120 minutes; released 2001.
Describes the race to decode human DNA and raises questions of whether or not we may want to know what's in our genes and whether decoding DNA will lead to cures.

Produced by Northstar Productions.
92 minutes; released 1985.
A PBS documentary which explores various scientific theories about the origins of the universe through stunning photography, animation, special effects, and discussions with leading physicists Carlo Rubbia, Murray Gell-Man, and Stephen Hawking.

Produced by the Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released 2007.
Dr. Carroll explains the subject of dark matter and dark energy in 24 lectures. He explains why scientists believe we live in a smooth, expanding universe that originated in a hot, dense state called the Big Bang.

Directed by Graham Chedd.
60 minutes; released 2004.
Hosted by Alan Alda, this PBS documentary (part of the Scientific American Frontiers series) brings together some of the world's top astronomers to discuss the hidden nature of the universe. They suggest that everything we see is only a tiny part of the entire cosmos.

Produced by the Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released 2008.
Introduces the remarkable story of Darwin's ideas, how scientists and religious leaders reacted to them, and the sea of change in human thought that resulted. Perhaps more than any other idea in science, Darwin's theory of natural selection shows how a strikingly original concept can break the bounds of its discipline to influence society at large -- in religion, politics, philosophy, and other spheres.

Directed by Duncan Copp.
56 minutes; released 2006.
A NOVA presentation about the decline in sunlight reaching the Earth, and the impact of global warming from man-made pollution.

Directed by David Glover and Carlo Massarella.
57-minute discs; released 2003.
A five volume series: Program 1: The Secret of Life, tells the story of how Jim Watson and Franis Crick won the race to unravel the structure of DNA. Program 2: Playing God, focuses on genetic engineering. Program 3: The Human Race, tracks the history of the Human Genome Project. Program 4: Curing Cancer, focuses on the search to cure cancer by tracing it back to its DNA origins. Program 5: Pandora's Box, explores genetic manipulation with a leading scientist.

Directed by Sophie Elwin-Harris.
45-minute programmes; released 2007.
A series about the planet Earth, using breathtaking footage and specialist imaging to tell the story of the great forces that shape the planet - volcanoes, the ocean, the atmosphere and ice.

Produced by the Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released 2009.
Ecology is to reveal the nature of ourselves and of our relationship with the species around us. The lectures in this course are often in pairs, with basic ecological principles discussed in the first lecture and the human role or human implications addressed in the second.

Produced by the Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released 2007.
This course of 12 lectures reviews the most up-to-date research on climate change, explaining the concepts, tools, data, and analysis that have led an overwhelming number of climate scientists to conclude that Earth is warming and that we humans are in great part responsible.

Directed by Gary Johnstone.
112 minutes; released 2005.
A NOVA dramatization of how a young patent clerk came to realize that matter and energy are linked. The film is rooted in the human stories of the the men and women whose innovative thinking over four centuries helped lead to E=mc2, and ultimately the power of the atom.

Produced by the Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released 2000.
Now you can learn the basic ideas behind the theory of relativity and quantum physics from 24 lectures that require no special background in math or science. Professor Richard Wolfson teaches the awe-inspiring - and even, at times, mind-bending - concepts of modern physics in ways that anyone interested in learning can readily master.

Directed by Nicola Woolmington.
60 minutes; released 2004.
A PBS documentary about the relationship between Albert Einstein and Mileva Maric.

Directed by Joseph McMaster.
180 minutes; released 2003.
A documentary about "string theory", a revolutionary idea which seeks to find order in the universe.

Directed by Gregory Greene.
78 minutes; released 2004.
A frightening documentary about the coming "end of oil" and the effect that a future of steadily increasing energy prices will have on the world in general and the suburbs in particular.

Produced by WGBH/NOVA Science Unit and Clear Blue Sky Productions.
120-minute discs; released 2001.
Evolution presents the tremendous impact that Darwin's idea of evolution has had on our understanding of the world around us. Narrated by Liam Neeson, this 7-part series reviews Darwin's revolutionary theory, explores how evolution continues to affect us, and considers the perceived conflict between science and religion.

Directed by Angelo Sacerdote.
58 minutes; released 2002.
Using archival footage and interviews, this video presents an overview of the American food production system and explores the unintentional effects of pesticides, the resistance of biotechnology companies to food labeling and the links between government officials and major biotechnology and chemical companies.

Directed by Al Reinert.
79 minutes; released 1989.
Using original footage, this documentary tells the story, in their own words, of 24 men who traveled to the moon on the Apollo mission.

Directed by Peter Jones.
120 minutes; released 2002.
A look at Galileo's life and his theories.

Produced by the Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released 2008.
Ever since modern game theory—the scientific study of interactive, rational decision making—achieved prominence in the mid-20th century, it has proven instrumental in helping us understand how and why we make decisions. Game theory plays a crucial role in our lives and provides startling insights into all endeavors in which humans cooperate or compete, including biology, computer science, politics, agriculture, and, most importantly, economics.

Produced by the Chedd-Angier Production Company, Inc.
60 minutes; released 2000.
Hosted by Alan Alda, this video explores current research into human genes and diseases. Part of the Scientific American Frontiers series hosted by Alan Alda.

Produced by the Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released 2006.
Classical physics is about how things move, why they move, and how they work. It's about making sense of motion, gravity, light, heat, sound, electricity, and magnetism, and seeing how these phenomena interweave to create the rich tapestry of everyday experience. Sound complicated? It's not - you already know more physics than you think, says award-winning science educator Steven Pollock.

Produced by the Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released 2007.
Why has science so dramatically altered how we live and how we think about ourselves? With characteristic energy and verve, Professor Steven L. Goldman declares, "One is tempted to speak of scientific discoveries as being the source of science's power to be a driver of social change - that scientists have been discovering new truths about nature, and that the change follows from that. But I argue that it is scientific ideas that are responsible for this change. Ideas are the source of science's power - not discoveries."

Directed by Stuart McDonald.
60-minute episodes; released 1991.
Richard Dawkins presents a series of five lectures on life, the universe, and our place in it. Originally broadcast in 1991 as the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures for Children.

Produced by the Eternal Word Television Network.
180 minutes; released 2004.
Three documentary programmes (The Great Origins Questions; The Primordial Origin Events; The Ultimate Origin Discovery) which argues that modern science has, at last, discovered God.

Directed by Graham Chedd.
27 minutes; released 2005.
Part of the Scientific American "Frontiers" series. Explores how our unconscious determines our behavior - including why we buy things that we think are "cool."

Directed by Tom Dunton.
30-minute lectures; released 2002.
This course presents a survey of the history of science in the Western world from the ancient Babylonians through the discoveries of Isaac Newton. It will enhance your understanding of what science is; how, why, and by whom it has been developed; and how our modern conception of science differs from earlier ideas. Throughout these lectures, each rich in historical context, science is revealed as a dynamic, evolving entity, tightly connected to the needs and commitments of those who pursue it.

Directed by Tom Dunton.
30-minute lectures; released 2003.
The course is organized around six main themes: inquiries into the history of the cosmos; investigations into the realm of living things; the largely successful attempt to break away from occult explanations of chemical phenomena; the contrasting persistence of such appeals in explaining natural phenomena; the proliferation of physical forces discovered and investigated; and the recurring theme of the relationship of God to nature.

Directed by Mike Jay.
57 minutes; released 2000.
A panel discussion on the Human Genome Project, and the implications for the future. This discussion was aired on the Charlie Rose Show on June 23, 2000.

Directed by Stanley Kramer.
128 minutes; released 1960.
A teacher is placed on trial for teaching Darwinism in a small Tennessee town. Audio-track in English or French, with optional French or Spanish subtitles.

Directed by Amos Gelb.
50 minutes; released 2002.
An A&E report on human cloning.

Directed by Betsy McCarthy.
60 minutes; released 1988.
On this programme, scientist and author Isaac Asimov discusses evolution and the correlation between science and religion. He also addresses the future of education, why we all must think similarly if we want to survive, and why we cannot wait for the start of the next century. First broadcast on the television show, A World of Ideas with Bill Moyers.

Produced by the Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released 2001.
Lucid, information-packed lectures conveying the excitement of scientific discovery and tracing the connections between discoveries over time.

Directed by Paul Sapin.
120 minutes; released 2003.
A two part program following a team of experts (art historians, engineers, constructors and pilots) as they attempt to build full-scale models of machines Leonardo only sketched: a giant crossbow with arms 70 feet across and a glider.

Produced by Chedd-Angier Production Company, Inc.
60 minutes; released 2000.
See how our hands set us free and play baseball, how an ancient telescope found an alien world, see a baby robot that may grow up without needing us, and learn why Noah's flood may have been a snowball. Hear the big questions scientists are asking. Part of the Scientific American Frontiers series hosted by Alan Alda.

Directed by Doug Hamilton.
60 minutes; released 1999.
A Frontline episode about infertility treatments and the ethical concerns about their use. Part of the Scientific American Frontiers series hosted by Alan Alda.

Directed by Kevin McMahon.
194 minutes; released 2003.
Twenty years after Marshall McLuhan's death McLuhan's Wake investigates the relevance of his mind-bending ideas. Blending various media, including animation and special effects, this documentary features narration by performance artist Laurie Anderson, and commentary by scholars Eric McLuhan, Neil Postman and Lewis Lapham, and award-winning journalist Patrick Watson.

Produced by the Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released 2007.
Meaning from Data: Statistics Made Clear is your introduction to a vitally important subject in today's data-driven society. In 24 lectures, you will explore the principles and methods that underlie the study of statistics. You have probably heard such terms as mean, median, percentile, quartile, statistically significant, and bell curve, and you may have a rough idea of what they mean. This course sharpens your understanding of these and scores of other statistical concepts and shows how, properly used, they can extract meaning from data.

Produced by the Catholic Diocese.
120 minutes; released 1990.
Presented by Dr. John Haas and the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls.

Directed by Bram Roos.
50 minutes; released 2008.
The Scopes monkey trial that challenged Darwin's evolution theory. A PBS Home Video.

Produced by Films for the Humanities & Sciences.
53 minutes; released 2004.
Bill Moyers interviews Leon R. Kass, a physician and philosopher who believes that scientific discoveries have raised questions which scientific reasoning can't answer.

Produced by the Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released 2003.
Clear introductions to essential principles of physics support these lectures, including density, quantum theory, gravity, and the General Theory of Relativity. Also includes forays into disciplines such as chemistry and biology as needed to explain events in astronomy.

Produced by the Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released 2006.
These lectures are your initiation into the geological world that lies just outside your door, introducing you to physical geology, the study of Earth's minerals, rocks, soils, and the processes that operate on them through time.

Directed by Andrew Liebman and John Angier.
60 minutes; released 2000.
Discusses latest findings on how to extend the lifespan, including low calorie diets, research in tissue engineering and cell rejuvenation, and the importance of daily physical and mental activity. Part of the Scientific American Frontiers series hosted by Alan Alda.

Produced by WGBH Boston Video.
56 minutes; released 2005.
A NOVA docudrama recreating the climate of 17th century England and one of the century's stars, Sir Isaac Newton. Besides revealing his secretive and vindictive personality, the special also shows how he made the bold intellectual leaps that transformed science, such as the universal law of gravitation.

Directed by Alice Harper et al.
240 minutes; released 2004.
A NOVA documentary which presents startling new scientific findings which attempt to explain the origins of the universe and life on Earth.

Produced by the Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released 2005.
Four billion years ago, the infant Earth was a seething cauldron of erupting volcanoes, raining meteors, and hot noxious gases, totally devoid of life. But a relatively short time later - 100 to 200 million years - the planet was teeming with primitive organisms. What happened? Professor Robert M. Hazen, one of the nation's foremost science educators and leader of a NASA-supported team that is studying the origins of life in the universe, leads you on a 24-lecture expedition to find the answer to this momentous question.

Produced by the Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released 2003.
Would you like to know how the universe works? The science that has found many of the answers to that profound and age-old question is particle physics: the study of those impossibly tiny particles with unbelievably strange names: bosons and leptons, quarks and neutrinos. In Particle Physics for Non-Physicists: A Tour of the Microcosmos, Professor Steven Pollock translates the language of the remarkable science that, in only 100 years, has unlocked the secrets of the basic forces of nature.

Directed by Terry Carlyon.
56 minutes; released 2004.
A documentary about philosopher Peter Singer and his controversial views on euthanasia, abortion, and infanticide.

Produced by the Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released 2006.
Science can't be free of philosophy any more than baseball can be free of physics." With this bold intellectual swing for the fences, philosopher Jeffrey L. Kasser launches an ambitious and exciting inquiry into what makes science science, using the tools of philosophy to ask: Why is science so successful? Is there such a thing as the scientific method? How do we distinguish science from pseudoscience? Is science rational, cumulative, and progressive?

Produced by the Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released 2004.
"This course introduces principles of physics through their application to everyday life" -- Guidebook.

Produced by Chedd-Angier Production Company.
60 minutes; released 1997.
Shows a sleep laboratory and how the brain works to create memories, dreams, and language. Shows how technology is helping scientists understand more about when and how the human brain learns language, processes and recalls information, and dreams dreams. Part of the Scientific American Frontiers series hosted by Alan Alda.

Produced by BBC Worldwide Americas, Inc.
550 minutes; released 2007.
A stunning 11-part series that captures rare action, impossible locations, and intimate moments with our planet's best-loved, wildest, and most elusive creatures. With optional French or Spanish subtitles.

Produced by the Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released 2006.
This course of 36 lectures examines the breadth of modern psychology from both clinical and experimental perspectives.

Produced by Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute.
30 minutes; released 2003.
A documentary about the Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute's work to promote and protect the dignity of the human person.

Directed by Mike Jay.
57 minutes; released 2001.
A panel discussion on human cloning. This discussion was aired on the Charlie Rose Show on February 14, 2001.

Produced by the Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released 2006.
Professor Lawrence M. Principe unfolds a surprisingly cooperative dynamic in which theologians and natural scientists share methods, ideas, aspirations, and a tradition of disputational dialogue.

Produced by the Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released 2006.
Professor Goldman leads you on a quest for the nature of scientific reasoning in this intellectually path-breaking lecture series. Those who have taken Professor Goldman's previous course, which is an intensive survey of the revolution in scientific knowledge from 1900 to 2000, may have wondered: if what counts as scientific knowledge can transform so dramatically within only 100 years, what exactly is scientific knowledge? Science Wars addresses this surprisingly difficult question.

Produced by the Sea Studios Foundation.
106-minute discs; released 2002.
Covering scientific breakthroughs in biology, genetics and paleontology, these first 2 episodes of the PBS series The Shape of Life tells the story of the beginnings of animal life. Episode 1 discusses the beginnings of animal life, while episode 2 focuses on what happened after animals started to move.

Produced by the Sea Studios Foundation.
106-minute discs; released 2002.
Episodes 3 and 4 of the PBS series The Shape of Life investigate the flatworm, the first animal predator, and the sudden geologic change that abruptly made possible the diversity of animals that exist today.

Produced by the Sea Studios Foundation.
106-minute discs; released 2002.
In episodes 5 and 6 of the PBS series The Shape of Life, the series hones in, first on the evolution of land animals, and second on the struggle for survival among marine animals such as molluscs.

Produced by the Sea Studios Foundation.
106-minute discs; released 2002.
Episodes 7 and 8 of the PBS series The Shape of Life examine the spiny starfish--a star survivor--before probing the origins of human life and finding connections between humans and a vast range of animals.

Directed by Philip Martin.
120-minute discs; released 1997.
This PBS series explores the origins of the universe. Volume 1: The Big Bang; Volume 2: On the Dark Side; Volume 3: Black Holes and Beyond.

Produced by the Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released 2006.
One of the most exciting scientific adventures of all time is the search for the ultimate nature of physical reality, a hunt that in the past century has yielded such breakthroughs as Einstein's theory of relativity and quantum mechanics, two theories that radically altered our picture of space, time, gravity, and the fundamental building blocks of matter. The latest advance in this epic quest is string theory - known as superstring or M-theory in its most recent versions. Based on the concept that all matter is composed of inconceivably tiny filaments of vibrating energy, string theory has potentially staggering implications for our understanding of the universe.

Produced by the Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released 2002.
This course traces the history of evolution science, with an eye toward enhancing your understanding of the theory itself, and the roots of the controversies surrounding it. Topics include discussions of Darwin's life and work, disputes among scientists about his theory, the history of religious objections to evolution, and the unfortunate effects of social Darwinism.

Produced by the Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released 2008.
The 36 lectures—taught by acclaimed linguist, author, and Professor John McWhorter from the Manhattan Institute—are your opportunity to take a revealing journey through the fascinating terrain of linguistics. You focus on the scientific aspects of human language that were left out of any classes you may have taken in English or a foreign language, and you emerge from your journey with a new-found appreciation of the mysterious machinery built into all of us—an appreciation likely to surface time and again in your everyday life.

Produced by the Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released 2007.
This course takes you inside this astonishingly complex organ to show you how it works. Recent decades have seen unparalleled advances in understanding how the brain does what it does. Today we can pinpoint the specific regions, or nuclei, where some of life's most mysterious processes take place.

Directed by Tom Dunton.
45-minute lectures; released 2004.
These 32 lectures are your owner's manual to a remarkably complex, resilient, and endlessly fascinating structure: the human body. You guide is Dr. Anthony Goodman - surgeon, professor, and writer - who takes you step by step through the major systems of the body, explaining exactly how things work and why they sometimes don't.

Produced by the Teaching Company.
45-minute lectures; released 1998.
Alex Filippenko's lectures offer a non-technical description of modern astronomy, including the structure and evolution of planets, stars, galaxies, and the universe as a whole.

Produced by the Teaching Company.
45-minute lectures; released 2003.
All of the course material is integrated so that one topic builds on another as you develop the conceptual tools that allow you to explore the Universe. For example, the study of the Solar System leads naturally to the investigation of planets around other stars and the possibility of life elsewhere in the cosmos.

Directed by Marie-Monique Robin.
109 minutes; released 2008.
An exposé of industrial giant Monsanto which has become one of the world's leading seed manufacturers, spreading genetically-modified crops worldwide with little monitoring of their effects on nature or human health.

Directed by John Angier, David Huntley and Leslie Reinherz.
60 minutes; released 2003.
Part of the Scientific American Frontiers series, this PBS documentary hosted by Alan Alda explores the body's physiological reaction to stress, considers the ill-effects of worry on health, and suggests ways to counter extreme tension.