I have one more to add to this collect before moving on to some essays I wrote these past months.
In the 1980s my curiosity was increasing faster than my scattered understanding was adding up. Then came David Attenborough with his two master pieces. In 1979 Life on Earth, followed by the equally excellent The Living Planet in 1984.
Attenborough’s Life on Earth series was a godsend of sorts and I watched them repeatedly during the ‘80s and '90s with the book as a study guide as I listened to him weave together the various strands of our scientific understanding of evolution with actual living species who were "witnesses" to those ancient divergences back in deep time.
It made Evolution tangible and personal. That was joined by The Living Planet which drove home my realization that “Mother Earth” was a pretty apt description considering our Earth’s folds within folds of cumulative harmonic complexity flowing down the cascade of time.
Attenborough conveyed his understanding with such enthusiasm and love for creation that I couldn’t help but get swept along, particularly since it so perfectly resonated with my own driving desire to grasp Evolution.
Musing on the outpouring of information in these videos I was inspired to pull out some continuous feed computer paper and graph out the 4.6 billion year old timeline - one million years equaling one millimeter. Luckily at the time I had an unused space where I had two banquet tables lined up, since it took a couple weeks to complete in my spare time. I filled it with PostIt notes marking key events. Trying to get a feel for the time spans involved.
Attenborough conveyed his understanding with such enthusiasm and love for creation that I couldn’t help but get swept along, particularly since it so perfectly resonated with my own driving desire to grasp Evolution.
Musing on the outpouring of information in these videos I was inspired to pull out some continuous feed computer paper and graph out the 4.6 billion year old timeline - one million years equaling one millimeter. Luckily at the time I had an unused space where I had two banquet tables lined up, since it took a couple weeks to complete in my spare time. I filled it with PostIt notes marking key events. Trying to get a feel for the time spans involved.
Here I’ve embedded the 2010 “First Life” videos. Below the fold I share descriptions of Attenborough’s “Life On Earth” and “Living Planet” episodes, along with a list of his writings and some other interesting bits of information.
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David Attenborough’s First Life -- ARRIVAL -- BBC Documentary.
On YouTube courtesy of Philip D. Kreps
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David Attenborough’s First Life -- CONQUEST -- BBC Documentary.
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- ED YONG \ MAY 6, 2016
