Editing James Burke (science historian) (section)

== Career ==
Upon graduation, he moved to Italy, where at the British School in [[Bologna]], he was lecturer in English and director of studies, 1961–1963.  He also lectured at the [[University of Urbino]].  Thereafter, he was headmaster of the English School in Rome, 1963–1965. He was involved in the creation of an English&ndash;Italian dictionary, and the publication of an art encyclopedia.{{Citation needed|date=September 2017}}

Burke's entry into television was explained by [[People (magazine)|''People'']] magazine in 1979: "Television beckoned by chance one day on a Rome bus. Spotting an ad for a reporter for the local bureau of Britain's [[ITV Granada|Granada Television]], he says, 'I decided if the bus stopped at the next corner I would get off and apply for the job.' It did, he did, and the next thing he knew 'we went straight off to Sicily to do a series on the Mafia.'"<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Tweedy|first1=Ann|title=Technology Is All Connections, Says James Burke—but Between Sleepless Monks and Henry Ford?|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20074932,00.html|journal=[[People (magazine)|People]]|volume=12|issue=18|date= 29 October 1979}}</ref>

In 1966, Burke moved to London and joined the Science and Features Department of the [[BBC]], for which he was host or co-host of several programmes. He also worked as an instructor in English as a foreign language at the Regency Language School in [[Ramsgate]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2017}}

Burke established his reputation as a reporter on the [[BBC One|BBC1]] science series ''[[Tomorrow's World]]'', and went on to present ''[[The Burke Special]]''. He was BBC television's science anchorman and chief reporter for the [[Project Apollo|Apollo]] missions, as the main presenter of the [[British television Apollo 11 coverage|BBC's coverage of the first Moon landing]] in 1969.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Escolme |first1=John |title=One small step for man, one giant leap for BBC Television |url=https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/research/moon-landing |website=BBC }}</ref>

In collaboration with [[Mick Jackson (director)|Mick Jackson]], he produced the 10-part documentary series ''[[Connections (British documentary)|Connections]]'' (1978), which was broadcast on the BBC, and subsequently on [[PBS]] in the United States. ''Connections'' traced the historical relationships between invention and discovery; each episode chronicled a particular path of technological development. ''Connections'' was the most-watched PBS television series up to that time. It was followed by the 20-part ''Connections<sup>2</sup>'' (1994) and the 10-part ''Connections<sup>3</sup>'' (1997). ''Connections: An Alternative View of Change'' was broadcast in more than 50 countries and the companion book ''Connections: An Alternative History of Technology'' (1978) sold well.{{Citation needed|date=September 2017}} In 1980, Burke created and Jackson produced the six-part BBC series ''The Real Thing'', about perception.

In 1985, Burke, with Richard Reisz and John Lynch, produced the 10-part television series ''[[The Day the Universe Changed]]'' (revised 1995), focusing on the philosophical aspects of scientific change in [[Western culture]].

Burke has been a regular writer for ''[[Scientific American]]'' and ''[[Time magazine|Time]]'', and a consultant to the [[SETI]] project.{{citation needed|date=March 2019}}

Burke received the gold and the silver medals of the [[Royal Television Society]]. In 1998, he was made an honorary fellow of the [[Society for Technical Communication]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stc.org/component/content/article/83-honors-articles/888-previous-honorary-fellows |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610213505/http://www.stc.org/component/content/article/83-honors-articles/888-previous-honorary-fellows |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 June 2015 |title=Previous Honorary Fellows |work=Society for Technical Communication |access-date=12 January 2012 }}</ref>

Burke has contributed to podcasts, such as in 2008, when he appeared on ''Hardcore History'' with [[Dan Carlin]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dancarlin.com/dccart/index.php?main_page=product_music_info&cPath=1&products_id=144 |title=Hardcore History |work=A Fly on James Burke's Wall |access-date=21 March 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120607183153/http://dancarlin.com/dccart/index.php?main_page=product_music_info&cPath=1&products_id=144 |archive-date=7 June 2012 }}</ref> and in 2016 on ''Common Sense'', again with Carlin,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dancarlin.com/common-sense-home-landing-page/ |title=Common Sense |work=Reconnections with James Burke |access-date=15 June 2017}}</ref> and to newspaper articles including two series for the ''Mogollon Connection'' by [[Jesse Horn]], one focusing on the nature of morality,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.azalert.com/mogollonconnection/?p=793 |title=Chasing Demons |work=The biology of good |access-date=21 March 2012}}</ref> the other on the future of our youth.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.azalert.com/mc/090308child4.htm |title=For the Sake of Our Children |work=Disconnection |access-date=21 March 2012}}</ref>

Burke presented a monologue, "James Burke on the End of Scarcity", first broadcast on [[BBC Radio 4]] on 26 December 2017, in which he predicted [[Nanotechnology|nanotech]] manufacturing would revolutionize the world economy and society.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09jvfc4|title=BBC Radio 4 - James Burke on the End of Scarcity|website=BBC}}</ref> 

In a May 2020 interview, Burke said that he was writing a new ''Connections'' book.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUb6Sv-rUv0  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/mUb6Sv-rUv0| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|title=James Burke ( Connections ) Interview 5-17-20 with Patrick Rodgers (Quarantine Interview Series) |website=[[YouTube]]|access-date=28 September 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In 2023, his new series ''Connections with James Burke'' premiered on [[Curiosity Stream]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://curiositystream.com/title/series/787|title=Connections with James Burke on Curiosity Stream}}</ref>