The Ascent of Man

The Ascent of Man (1973) is a BBC documentary series, produced in association with Time-Life Films, written and presented by Jacob Bronowski.

Related Topics:
1973 - BBC - Documentary - Time-Life - Jacob Bronowski

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The title alludes to The Descent of Man by Charles Darwin. Over the course of 13 episodes Bronowski travelled around the world in order to trace the development of human society through its understanding of science rather than art. Although it was not written specifically as a refutation of Kenneth Clark's Civilisation (1969), in which Clark argued that art was a major driving force in cultural evolution, the two series can be seen as a dialogue between two fundamentally opposed philosophies. Both series had been commissioned by David Attenborough, then controller of BBC 2, although he had moved on by the time The Ascent of Man aired.

Related Topics:
The Descent of Man - Charles Darwin - Science - Art - Kenneth Clark - Civilisation - 1969 - Philosophies - David Attenborough - BBC 2

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The book of the series, The Ascent of Man: A Personal View by J. Bronowski, is an almost word-for-word transcript from the original television episodes, diverging from Bronowski's original narration only where the lack of images might make its meaning unclear.

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Just over a year after the series appeared, Bronowski died. Some claimed that the stress of working on the series had proved too much for him.

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