Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7831 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-04-27
• Rating: Exempt
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 1

DVD Description
“… elegant, exciting, and genuinely informative…It was fascinating, and thoroughly engaging.” --Independent

Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution sent shockwaves through the nineteenth century world, but its impact has continued to be potent and widespread – in society, religion, politics and science. Andrew Marr’s fascinating documentary series tells the story of Darwin’s amazing legacy…

Recounting some of the experiences which shaped Darwin’s thinking during his famous voyage on The Beagle and explaining how the theory broke out from the world of science, Andrew Marr tells of the impact of this revolutionary idea and how it came to challenge so many aspects of society.

Natural Selection was an incendiary concept that was equally appropriated and misappropriated: it inspired Nietzsche and Freud, but was used by those justifying slavery and World War I slaughter; the Nazis used it to validate their Final Solution, but it was a founding idea behind the democratic, anti-racist values of the United Nations; it was the basis of eugenics, but has been used to eliminate a fatal genetic disease. Darwinism is still a pervading infl uence, fuelling environmentalist concerns, educational debate and predictive DNA dilemmas. As inspiring and disturbing today as it was 150 years ago, this series is proof that Darwin’s bombshell remains a truly dangerous idea.

Synopsis
Charles Darwin's theory of evolution sent shockwaves through the nineteenth century world, but its impact has continued to be potent and widespread – in society, religion, politics and science. Andrew Marr’s fascinating documentary series tells the story of Darwin's amazing legacy. Recounting some of the experiences which shaped Darwin's thinking during his famous voyage on The Beagle and explaining how the theory broke out from the world of science, Andrew Marr tells of the impact of this revolutionary idea and how it came to challenge so many aspects of society.

Customer Reviews

An over-aching view of how Darwin's ideas have been used and abused.
This is a very well done and thought provoking series which adds to and complements David Attenborough's one off Tree of Life programme. That was concerned solely with Natural History and how Darwin's theory tied all living things together. This series explores the effects that idea has had on society and its exploitation for political ends vastly different and indeed contrary to what Darwin intended. There was no scientific basis or justification for these abuses, but Darwin was used to underpin prejudices and ill-advised policies. The refutation of these abuses and the use of his ideas to support entirely different principles was also well explained.
It also shows how his ideas are important as we seek to prevent biodiversity loss and mitigate climate change.
The series certainly shows that his theory is as relavant to current events as to the past and all in all is an excellent account of an aspect that could have been missed on this anniversary.

TV documentary at its best!
Fascinating, highly informative, and extremely thought provoking! Well written and powerfully presented by Andrew Marr, this is an exceptional mini-series. Thorough research and beautiful filming add to its magic and great archive material and tight editing complete the package.

Must see, an excellent documentary
The history, the facts, this documentary has it all. The narration will keep your attention focused on how the world is forever changing. Excellent entertainment!