rustyjaw Posted July 11, 2005 Report Share Posted July 11, 2005 I just found out about this tonight! It starts tomorrow here: http://www.pbs.org/gunsgermssteel/ This should be a great show, Guns, Germs and Steel is one of the best science books of the last decade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbert Posted July 11, 2005 Report Share Posted July 11, 2005 Already got a tivo season pass setup for it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Zot Posted July 11, 2005 Report Share Posted July 11, 2005 Never read the book, but I'll Tivo the series. Sounds a lot like Connections, one of my favorite all time shows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Monkey Posted July 11, 2005 Report Share Posted July 11, 2005 Never read the book, but I'll Tivo the series. Sounds a lot like Connections, one of my favorite all time shows. Not to threadjack (looking forward to the show, too!), but Connections sure was a fun show, wasn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris F Posted July 11, 2005 Report Share Posted July 11, 2005 I'm glad I saw this thread. I'm setting it up for a Season Pass on my TiVo right now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PoisonJam Posted July 11, 2005 Report Share Posted July 11, 2005 Wow, if this is anything like Connections I'm going to DVR it as well. Loved that series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Monkey Posted July 11, 2005 Report Share Posted July 11, 2005 I'm not sure that it's anything like Connections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Zot Posted July 11, 2005 Report Share Posted July 11, 2005 Haha, yeah I have NO IDEA if this like connections or not. It just sounds like an innovative look at history, creative in the same way that connections thought of history "outside of the box". If they talk about sextants or the combustion engine at all though, I expect it to feel Connection-y. BTW - Man, I need to get a copy of Connections on DVD. What a keeper, it might teach my kids 10x the history I ever knew at their age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbert Posted July 11, 2005 Report Share Posted July 11, 2005 For us pesky foreigners who grew up with proper edumacational TV like the BBC, what is this Connections? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyN Posted July 11, 2005 Report Share Posted July 11, 2005 proper edumacational TV like the BBC What reading rainbow, Mr Rogers and Sesame Street dont count? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Monkey Posted July 11, 2005 Report Share Posted July 11, 2005 For us pesky foreigners who grew up with proper edumacational TV like the BBC, what is this Connections? It's a BBC television series. BBC is like PBS, but from a remote, rain-drenched island -- a foreign country, in fact! http://www.bbcfactual.co.uk/connections.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustyjaw Posted July 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2005 Guns, Germs and Steel is a book that attempts to explain how human beings ended up where we are, in broad terms. The basic question is; how did Europe and Asia come to dominate the world? Diamond's answer to this is fascinating. As I read the book, it was one of those "duh, how come no one else thought of this?" kind of revelations. It seems obvious, and yet, I think he was the first to put the pieces together into a coherent picture. Part of the obviousness of his argument has to do with how well his argument is put together, it's very logical and sensible. With a few underlying principles he is able to explain how the world ended up the way it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustyjaw Posted July 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 Just finished watching the first episode. Very well done! They really captured the main puzzles and answers. The production value is high, it's a good looking show (fabulous in HD!). It was great to see, and not just read, the examples laid out in the book. Definitely a worthy TV edition of the book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustyjaw Posted July 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2005 FYI, tomorrow (monday, July 25) is the final episode of this show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustyjaw Posted July 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2005 Watched the final episode last night. Very good. I did think that the second two episodes repeated a lot of information, but I suppose that is expected when your audience may not have seen the story set-up in the previous shows. I also think the narrator used the phrase "guns, germs and steel" way to much, but these are niggling complaints for an otherwise excellent show. As expected, there is both a lot left out of the show that rounds out the arguments in the book, and also stuff added into the show (like interviews with the sword expert or the Spanish horse rider). Did anyone else watch it? I'd be most interested to hear from anyone who watched the show who has not read the book to see how you feel about Diamond's theory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Zot Posted July 26, 2005 Report Share Posted July 26, 2005 That was good stuff, wife and I enjoyed each installment. Seems like they could have done one 2 hour special though and trimmed out all the repeating, rehashing, and similar information that was covered in the 2nd and 3rd episode. All good info, but I understood the importance of lattitude, animal stock, strong crops, germs, and specialization pretty well by the time I heard it repeated the 10th time. Fascinating theory, so simple it's insidous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PoisonJam Posted July 26, 2005 Report Share Posted July 26, 2005 I've got all three episodes saved and I plan on watching this weekend. I saw about half of the first episode when it aired and I am keen to see it through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbert Posted July 26, 2005 Report Share Posted July 26, 2005 They're sitting on my Tivo, been too busy to watch much of anything, let alone something that makes me think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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