Editing James Burke (science historian)

{{Short description|British broadcaster and author (born 1936)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2012}}

{{Infobox person
| name               = James Burke
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| caption            = James Burke in 2007
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| birth_date         = {{Birth date and age|1936|12|22|df=y}}
| birth_place        = [[Derry]], [[Northern Ireland]]
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| known_for          = ''[[Tomorrow's World]]''<br />''[[Connections (British documentary)|Connections]]''<br />''[[The Day the Universe Changed]]''
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| alma_mater         = [[Jesus College, Oxford]]
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| spouse             = Madeline Hamilton{{when|date=January 2022}}{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}
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| module             = {{Listen| embed=yes |filename = James_burke_bbc_radio4_infinite_monkey_cage_23_12_2013_b03m43fx.flac |title = James Burke's voice |type = speech |description = from the BBC programme ''[[The Infinite Monkey Cage]]'', 23 December 2013.<ref>{{Cite episode | title= James Burke |series= The Infinite Monkey Cage |series-link= The Infinite Monkey Cage |url= http://bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03m43fx |station= [[BBC Radio 4]] |date= 23 December 2013 |access-date= 18 January 2014 }}</ref> }}
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'''James Burke''' (born 22 December 1936) is a broadcaster, science historian, author, and television producer. He was one of the main presenters of the [[BBC One|BBC1]] science series ''[[Tomorrow's World]]''  from 1965 to 1971 and created and presented the television series ''[[Connections (British documentary)|Connections]]'' (1978), and its more philosophical sequel ''[[The Day the Universe Changed]]'' (1985), about the [[history of science and technology]]. ''[[The Washington Post]]'' has called him "one of the most intriguing minds in the Western world".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Starrett |first1=Ian |title=Connecting with one of the most intriguing minds in the Western world |url=http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/news-letter-belfast-northern-ireland-the/mi_7950/is_2005_June_3/connecting-intriguing-minds-western/ai_n34034374/ |work=The News Letter|date=June 3, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100611085457/http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/news-letter-belfast-northern-ireland-the/mi_7950/is_2005_June_3/connecting-intriguing-minds-western/ai_n34034374/ |archive-date=11 June 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Early life==
Burke was born in [[Derry]], [[Northern Ireland]]. During World War II he was evacuated to [[Downhill, County Londonderry]] where he lived between the ages of 4 and 9. When his father returned home after the war, the family moved to [[Kent]], England, where James Burke attended [[Maidstone Grammar School]].<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC_YSmNPv1A |title=Notables Episode 4 - James Burke's Childhood |date=28 June 2021 |publisher=Arlo Hajdu |access-date=19 November 2024 |via=YouTube}}</ref> He then served in the [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF) from 1955 to 1957 before being accepted at [[Jesus College, Oxford]], where he studied [[Middle English]], obtaining BA and [[Master of Arts (Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin)|MA]] degrees.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Notable Old Members |url=https://www.jesus.ox.ac.uk/about-jesus-college/history/notable-old-members/ |publisher=Jesus College |access-date=12 April 2025}}</ref>

== 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>

==''Knowledge Web''<span id="KnowledgeWeb"></span>==
Burke is the leading figure in the development of the ''Knowledge Web'', the planned digital realization of his books and television programmes, which would allow the user to travel through history and create his or her own connections. Eventually, the project may feature immersive virtual-reality historical recreations of people, places, and events.<ref name="kweb">{{cite web |title=[Homepage] |url=https://k-web.org |website=k-web.org |publisher=James Burke Institute |access-date=2019-03-28}}</ref>

In 2019, Burke produced a series of five 15-minute programmes for BBC Radio 4 with the title ''James Burke's Web of Knowledge'', in each of which he traced the connections between two widely separated people or themes; the first programme connected [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]] to the [[helicopter]].<ref name="bbc-web">{{cite web |title=James Burke's Web of Knowledge |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00024p7 |website=bbc.co.uk |publisher=BBC Radio 4 |access-date=6 August 2020}}</ref>

==Predictions==
In an article for the ''[[Radio Times]]'' in 1973, Burke predicted the widespread use of computers for business decisions, the creation of metadata banks of personal information, and changes in human behaviour, such as greater willingness to reveal personal information to strangers. In an interview on the ''[[PM (Radio 4)|PM]]'' programme on BBC Radio 4 on 30 August 2013, Burke discussed his predictions of a [[post-scarcity economy]] driven by advances in [[Molecular assembler#Nanofactories|nanofactories]], which he believes may be viable by 2043.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://audioboo.fm/boos/1574606-james-burke-predicted-the-future-in-1973-now-he-does-it-again |title=Audioboo / James Burke predicted the future in 1973. Now he does it again |publisher=Audioboo.fm |access-date=2013-09-01}}</ref>

Burke posed at least one of his predictions as a question. In ''Connections'', he notes that the increase in connections over time causes the rate of innovation to [[Accelerating change|accelerate]], and asks what happens when this rate, or more importantly "change" itself, becomes [[Future shock|too much for the average person to handle]]. He also questions what this would mean for individual power, liberty, and privacy.<ref>{{cite AV media | people= James Burke (Actor), Mick Jackson (Director) |date=1978 |title=Connections 1 |trans-title=Yesterday, Tomorrow and You |medium=DVD |language=en |time=42:00 |location=United Kingdom |publisher=Ambrose Video Publishing, Inc. }}</ref>

In the conclusion of ''Connections'', Burke said that computing and communications might be controlled by a [[computer science]] élite. Later, he suggested at the conclusion of ''The Day the Universe Changed'' that a worldwide revolution in communications and computer technology would allow people to instantaneously exchange ideas and opinions.

==Television credits==
Television series and documentaries by Burke:

* ''[[Tomorrow's World]]'' (1966–1971)
* ''Paid Off'', a three-part series about employment (1967)
* ''Intimate Relations'', a three-part series about doctor-patient relations (1968)
* ''The End of the Beginning'' (1972), about the end of the [[Project Apollo]] space programme 
* ''[[The Burke Special]]'' (1972–1976)
* ''Stump the Scientist'' (1974), featuring an audience of children who questioned a panel of scientists in the hope of presenting a question they could not answer<ref>{{cite web | url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/f77c75d3a0f54fae97b74ba2a5e8aa25 | title=BBC Programme Index | date=22 July 1974 }}</ref>
* ''The Inventing of America'' (1976), NBC–BBC co-production for the [[United States Bicentennial|U.S. Bicentennial]], co-hosted by Burke and [[Raymond Burr]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://history.nasa.gov/sp482.pdf |title=The Impact of Science on Society |date=1985 |publisher=[[NASA]] |page=2 |access-date=2016-05-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=27 June 1976 |title='Inventing of America' poses, answers queries |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1310&dat=19760627&id=FaxVAAAAIBAJ&pg=4924,7398651&hl=en |newspaper=[[The Register-Guard|Eugene Register-Guard]]|access-date=2016-05-28 }}</ref>
* ''Scenario: The Oil Game'' (1976), crisis game examining [[OPEC]]
* ''Scenario: The Peace Game'' (1977), crisis game examining [[NATO]]
* ''[[Connections (British TV series)|Connections]]'' (1978)
* ''The Men Who Walked on the Moon'' (1979), a 10th anniversary review of the flight of [[Apollo 11]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://vimeo.com/46124444|title=''The Men who Walked on the Moon'' Vimeo}}</ref>
* ''The Other Side of the Moon'' (1979), a critical examination of the Apollo space programme<ref>{{YouTube|puWbQ1b-ljU|''The Other Side of the Moon''}}</ref>
* ''The Real Thing'' (1980), about human [[perception]]
* ''The Neuron Suite'', about the [[human brain]] (1982)<ref>{{YouTube|inF3nPFmo64|''The Neuron Suite''}}</ref>
* MacGillivray Freeman's [[Speed (1984 film)|''Speed'']] (IMAX) (1984), as the narrator
* ''[[The Day the Universe Changed]]'' (1985, 1995)
* ''After the Warming'' (1989), about the [[greenhouse effect]]
* ''Masters of Illusion'' (1993), about [[Renaissance]] painting
* ''Connections<sup>2</sup>'' (1994)
* ''Connections<sup>3</sup>'' (1997)
* ''ReConnections'' (2004)<ref>[https://archive.org/details/JamesBurkeReConnections_0 ''ReConnections'' from KCSM] via the [[Internet Archive]]</ref>
* ''Connections with James Burke'' (2023)<ref>{{Cite web |author1=Daisy Dobrijevic |date=2023-11-06 |title=James Burke discusses revival of famous 'Connections' docuseries: Exclusive Q&A |url=https://www.space.com/connections-with-james-burke-docuseries-curiosity-stream-q-and-a |access-date=2023-11-26 |website=Space.com |language=en}}</ref>

==Books==
* ''Tomorrow's World I'', with [[Raymond Baxter]], ([[BBC]] 1970) {{ISBN|978-0-5631-0162-8}}
* ''Tomorrow's World II'', with Raymond Baxter, (BBC 1973) {{ISBN|978-0-5631-2362-0}}
* ''Connections: Alternative History of Technology'' (Time Warner International/[[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]] 1978) {{ISBN|978-0-3332-4827-0}}; published in North America as ''Connections'' (Little, Brown and Company, 1978) {{ISBN|0-3161-1681-5}} and pbk: {{ISBN|0-3161-1685-8}}.
* ''The Day the Universe Changed'' (BBC 1985) {{ISBN|0-5632-0192-4}}
* ''Chances'' ([[Virgin Books]] 1991) {{ISBN|978-1-8522-7393-4}}
* ''The Axemaker’s Gift'', with [[Robert Ornstein]] and illustrated by [[Ted Dewan]] ([[Jeremy P Tarcher]] 1995) {{ISBN|978-0-8747-7856-4}}
* ''The Pinball Effect: How Renaissance Water Gardens Made the Carburetor Possible—and Other Journeys Through Knowledge'' ([[Little, Brown & Company]] 1996) {{ISBN|978-0-3161-1610-7}}
* ''Circles: Fifty Round Trips Through History, Technology, Science, Culture'' (Simon & Schuster 2000) {{ISBN|978-0-7432-4976-8}}
* ''The Knowledge Web'' ([[Simon & Schuster]] 2001) {{ISBN|978-0-6848-5935-4}}
* ''Twin Tracks'' (Simon & Schuster 2003) {{ISBN|978-0-7432-2619-6}}
* ''American Connections: The Founding Fathers. Networked.''  (Simon & Schuster 2007) {{ISBN|978-0-7432-8226-0}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* [https://www.facebook.com/pages/James-Burkes-Knowledge-Web/1636642569892667 Burke's KnowledgeWeb Project's Facebook page] 
* {{IMDb name | id = 0121708 | name =  James Burke }}
* [http://www.stranova.com/Podcasts/Stranova25.mp3 Stranova Interview with James Burke on "The Knowledge Web"] 26 September 2006.
* [http://archive.dconstruct.org/2012/admiralshovel ''Admiral Shovel and the toilet roll'' talk by Burke in the dConstruct Archive]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, James (Science Historian)}}
[[Category:1936 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:British historians of science]]
[[Category:Science writers from Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:British television presenters]]
[[Category:Television presenters from Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:Male non-fiction writers from Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Writers from Derry (city)]]
[[Category:Scholars and academics from Derry (city)]]
[[Category:People educated at Maidstone Grammar School]]
[[Category:21st-century writers from Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:Television producers from Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:21st-century non-fiction writers from Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:Broadcasters from Derry (city)]]