The Genius of Charles Darwin
Science Documentary hosted by Richard Dawkins and
published by Others in 2008 - English narration
Information
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The Genius of Charles Darwin is a three-part
television documentary, written and presented by
evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins.
As we approach the one hundred and fiftieth
anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's
masterpiece, On the Origin of Species, Richard
Dawkins presents the ultimate guide to Darwin and
his revolutionary theory of evolution by natural
selection which Dawkins considers the most
important idea ever to occur to a human mind.
In this powerful three-part polemical series,
Dawkins explains who Charles Darwin was, how he
developed his theory, what it is, and why it
matters. He reveals how Darwin changed forever the
way we see ourselves, the world and our place in
it, and hopes to convince us that "evolution is a
fact, backed by undeniable evidence".
According to recent polls four out of 10 British
people still believe in God as the creator of the
universe and everything in it. As a scientist, and
Britain's best-known atheist, Dawkins believes
that such people simply don't know enough about
the evidence for Darwin's entirely natural
explanation of life on Earth - evolution.
It was first shown in August 2008 on Channel 4.
[1] It won Best TV Documentary Series 2008 at the
British Broadcast Awards in January 2009.[2]
1) Life Darwin and Everything
In the first part of the series, Richard Dawkins
retraces Darwin's journey as a scientist. He
re-examines the rich evidence of the natural world
- iguanas on the Galapagos islands, giant
fossilised sloths in the Americas and even pigeons
back home in England - which opened Darwin's eyes
to the extraordinary truth that all living things
must be related and had evolved from a common
ancestor.
Darwin knew his espousal of evolution would cause
outrage, challenging, as it did, the prevailing
religious view of the world and our place in it.
But, as Dawkins explains, it was really his theory
of natural selection that undermined the notion of
a benevolent God who designed all creatures great
and small. Returning to his own birthplace, Kenya,
Dawkins considers the brutal realities of the
struggle for existence for wild animals on the
plains of Africa. Here, he argues, we see the
ongoing process sex, suffering and death, that
drives evolution onward as the fittest survive to
reproduce and the weakest perish without
offspring.
2) The Fifth Ape
In the second episode Richard Dawkins deals with
some of the philosophical and social ramifications
of the theory of evolution.
Dawkins starts out in Kenya, speaking with
palaeontologist Richard Leakey. He then visits
Christ is the Answer Ministries, Kenya's largest
Pentecostal church, to interview Bishop Bonifes
Adoyo. Adoyo has led the movement to press Kenya's
national museum to sideline its collection of
hominid bones pointing to man's evolution from ape
to human.[5] The collection includes the Turkana
Boy discovered by Kamoya Kimeu, a member of a team
led by Richard Leakey in 1984.
Dawkins discusses social darwinism and eugenics,
explaining how these are not versions of natural
selection, and that "Darwin has been wrongly
tainted".
He then meets with evolutionary psychologist
Steven Pinker to discuss how morals can be
compatible with natural selection. He goes on to
explaining sexual selection, with peafowls as an
example. To find out whether sexual selection
plays a role for altruism and kindness among
humans, he visits women who are looking for sperm
donors, as well as a sperm bank manager. Dawkins
also explains kin selection and selfish genes.
3) God Strikes Back
Richard Dawkins on natural selection, creationism
and intelligent design
In this final episode Dawkins examines why
Darwin's theory remains one of the most
controversial ideas in history.
As Darwin set out on the voyage on the Beagle he
still believed that god created the world and
everything in it. But the evidence he discovered -
fossils, patterns of anatomical resemblance,
startling similarities of embryos and domestic
breeding - demonstrated the truth: that all life
forms vary and that some are more likely to
reproduce, passing variations on. His wife Emma,
however, was deeply religious and Darwin never
criticised religion in public but he believed that
"science would bring about a gradual illumination
of minds".
Today, Dawkins argues, science has the evidence
to prove that evolution is true. Modern discovery
of the DNA code which links all life has added to
the mountain of evidence showing that evolution is
a fact. So why, he wonders as he meets
creationists in America, is opposition to
evolution more aggressive than ever?
4) EXTRAS
EXTRAS include
The Lava Lizard's Tale
The Giant Tortoise's Tale
The Sea Turtle's Tale
Screenshots
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Technical Specs
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Video Codec: XviD 1.0.3
Video Bitrate: 1958 kbps
Video Resolution: 672x368
Video Aspect Ratio: 1.826:1
Frames Per Second: 29.970
Audio Codec: 0x2000 (Dolby AC3) AC3
Audio Bitrate: 192kb/s CBR 48000 Hz
Audio Streams: 2
Audio Languages: English
RunTime Per Part: 48min + 28min
Number Of Parts: 3+1
Part Size: 743MB + 368MB
Subtitles: YES , English
Ripped by: jvt40
Links
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1) Further Information
* Randolph Nesse - uncut interview from 'The
Genius of Charles Darwin'
* Wikipedia on series
* Ch4 on Genius of Charles Darwin
2) Related Documentaries
* Charles Darwin Evolution's Voice
* Charles Darwin: The Story of
* Darwin's Secret Notebooks
* Evolution: was Darwin Wrong
3) ed2k Links
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Source:
http://docuwiki.net/index.php?title=The_Genius_of_Charles_Darwin
The Genius of Charles Darwin 1of3 Life Darwin and Everything XviD AC3 MVGroup org avi
