Connections

Today, with the internet and social media, we say we live in a connected world, but would it surprise you to learn that this has always been the case?

Sometimes there are surprising connections between events or persons or objects that we might think are totally unrelated. In fact, nothing happens in isolation.

In 1978, the BBC Science and Features Department produced a new TV show called, simply, "Connections". Each episode explored how scientific discoveries, world events, and inventions were affected by one another, often in non-intuitive ways.

Sociologists speak of “unintended consequences”; some of these are beneficial, others not so much:

• Think of aspirin, developed as a pain reliever, working also as an anti-coagulant which can prevent heart attacks and lessen the severity of strokes.


• When the Australian state of Victoria passed a law requiring the use of bicycle helmets to ensure the safety of riders, what actually happened was a reduction in the number of cyclists. Research showed that young cyclists found the helmets unfashionable so they stopped exercising altogether, leading to a decrease in public health.


• And, speaking of bicycles, did you know that a massive volcanic eruption of a volcano on Sumbawa Island in the Indian Ocean in 1815 led directly to the invention of the bicycle in Germany?


• The arrival of COVID19 resulted in the rise of the face-mask industry, and the subsequent rising demand for elastic bands. Elastic bands use rubber, the procurement of which affects our trade balance. COVID is also responsible for the concurrent downfall of science fiction conventions and music festivals. And let’s not forget the significant drop in air pollution levels when commuter traffic went on hiatus, leading to the Himalayas being visible from 100 miles away for the first time in decades, leading perhaps, to renewed optimism and national pride.


• Think how, with so many young men serving in the military during World War II, women were given opportunities to fill jobs they were not previously considered for, and how that might have jump-started second-wave feminism by the daughters of these women, twenty years later.


• Think of the murder of a black man by a police officer leading to the tearing down of an 80 year-old statue of Theodore Roosevelt from its pedestal in front of the Museum of Natural History in New York City. This empty pedestal may be the future home of a piece of art by a struggling artist or of one who is a POC, leading to new opportunities and new voices heard.

The BBC TV show had as its subtitle “An Alternate View of Change”. It ran for three seasons, consisting of 40 episodes, and was hosted by its creator, Englishman James Burke. The show was an amalgam of commentary, historical reenactments, and demonstrations.

For example, episode 2, “Death in the Morning", examined how the discovery that pure gold left a different mark on a "touchstone" from that of alloys, led to the greater acceptance of gold in commerce in the ancient world. This then stimulated trade from Greece to Persia, ultimately causing the construction of a huge commercial center in Alexandria, Egypt and the building of the Great Library, which is said to have housed a 1/2 million scrolls.

This library, now lost to us, had catacombs. When the library burned, the materials in these subterranean chambers were preserved, including the 13 volumes of Claudius Ptolemy's star tables. Created around 150 A.D., these charts showed over 1000 stars, their relative position, the constellation they appeared in, and their magnitude (apparent brightness).

This astronomical and navigational resource, ignored during its own time, helped ship captains and pilots during the Age of Discovery. During these voyages of exploration and profit, mariners discovered that a compass's magnetized needle did not actually point directly north. For mercantile, ocean-navigating empires, this was devastating. Wondering why this disparity existed led to investigations into the nature of magnetism, which led to the discovery of electricity.

And research into in atmospheric electricity, in modern times at a meteorological station on Ben Nevis mountain in Scotland, led to the invention of the particle detection chamber, which in turn allowed development of nuclear weaponry...and the dropping of the A-bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan in August,1945.

The show was very popular and a similar show, "The Day the Universe Changed", was created in 1985. And "Connections" led to "Connections2" in 1994 and "Connections3" in 1997. In 2004, viewers could slake their curiosity with "Re-Connections", which consisted of excerpts from the original show.

Some meta-lessons to be learned:
Over-specialization can lead to missed opportunities.
Siloed individuals don’t think in the interdisciplinary ways that lead to innovation.
We should all remember that actions have repercussions, and sometimes these are unfathomable at the time.

More about "Connections" show

Borrow the "Connections" DVDs

Book about "Connections" available at WPL

Why global crises are the mother of invention

More about unintended consequences

Statue of Theodore Roosevelt

More about Ptolemy