Evolution (TV series)


Evolution is a documentary series produced by PBS. It it is accompanied by an interactive website with resources for students and teachers and Carl Zimmer's book Evolution: [The Triumph of an Idea].

Overview

The series spokespeople were Jane Goodall, Kenneth R. Miller and Stephen Jay Gould, Eugenie C. Scott, Arthur Peacocke and Arnold Thomas. It was narrated by Liam Neeson.
The first episode, "Darwin's Dangerous Idea", dramatizes the life of Charles Darwin, his brother Erasmus and wife Emma. The cast includes the Captain of the HMS Beagle, Robert FitzRoy, Darwin’s mentor Charles Lyell and champion Thomas Huxley. It introduces themes that recur throughout the series. Philosophers, scientists and everyday people discuss the impact of Darwin’s theory. The title is from the philosopher Daniel Dennett, who calls Darwin’s theory “the best idea anyone ever had.” The last episode, “What About God?”, explores conflicts between science and religion and how they may be resolved.

Reception

writes that Evolution “is bustling with ideas. A powerful sense of drama, discovery and intellectual enthusiasm runs through this rich eight-hour series... The series covers an enormous amount of ground but doesn't leave you feeling swamped. It's also soothing, approaching its sometimes fiery subject with a comforting sense of humanism."
The last episode, "What About God?" focused on religion, and "through personal stories of students and teachers, it offers the view that they are compatible". Reverend Phina Borgeson, Faith Network Director of the National [Center for Science Education], provided a Congregational Study Guide for Evolution.
Twenty years after it aired, Kenneth R. Miller wrote, "The polish and professionalism of the series were without equal, and its boldness in presenting even the most complex material in terms that were easy to understand was extraordinary. Even today, when some of its science is a bit outdated, the series stands alone in its ambitious attempt to gather so many scientific strands together under the banner of evolution. In so doing, Evolution makes it clear that evolution is truly the unifying principle of the life sciences — literally nothing in biology makes sense without it."