Evolution on film

DinoBot

so after endless searching on the net and watching a lot of crap i am still not closer to finding a good program on evolution.

Has anyone a good recommendation on a film or program which describes evolution in a nutshell ?

Thanks

Dave!

I struggled with evolution for a while, but I think this short video by Carl Sagan (astrologist astronomer) was the concise explaination that 'clicked' with me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aAs47NvxL0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aAs47NvxL0

It might throw you that he says "imagine, just by chance, that one crab ancestor has a shell that looks like a human face" -- it's been well established that mutation sometimes occurs during cell division (and so during reproduction!!!). Some are advantageous, some are deleterious, and some are neutral.

The video should flesh it out a bit

pH

Dave! wrote: »

Carl Sagan (astrologist)

MrPudding

Dave! wrote: »

I struggled with evolution for a while, but I think this short video by Carl Sagan (astrologist) was the concise explaination that 'clicked' with me.

pH wrote: »

Yeah, He had a spot in the Sun before Mystic Meg came arrived on the scene.

MrP

Dave!

ChocolateSauce

Although a video might help you grasp it, only reading a book will actually allow you to understand it. Any science section of a bookshop or library will have dozens of books on the topic, some popular science and some hard science.

Mark Hamill

DinoBot wrote:

so after endless searching on the net and watching a lot of crap i am still not closer to finding a good program on evolution.

Has anyone a good recommendation on a film or program which describes evolution in a nutshell ?

Thanks

Have you tried potholer54s "Made Easy" series? (videos 6,7, and 8 go through natural selection, the theory of evolution and human evolution)

sdep

There's a 2006 45 min program called 'Was Darwin Wrong?'* from the National Geographic Channel.

It's on Youtube, split up. First part:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrBi32IzOC8

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

There are minor sound glitches, and the first couple of mins are a bit sensationalist and frenetic, but it settles down afterwards to look at the main predictions of evolution and the kinds of evidence used to test them.


*

No.

Agonist

DinoBot wrote: »

so after endless searching on the net and watching a lot of crap i am still not closer to finding a good program on evolution.

Has anyone a good recommendation on a film or program which describes evolution in a nutshell ?

Thanks

As it happens, I've just been doing a bit of downloading. I'm looking forward to watching these two.

BBC - Horizon - A war on science
The theory of evolution is under attack from a controversial new idea called intelligent design. But is it science? When Charles Darwin published his theory of evolution nearly 150 years ago, he shattered the dominant belief of his day that humans were the product of divine creation. Through his observations of nature, Darwin proposed the theory of evolution by natural selection. This caused uproar. After all, if the story of creation could be doubted, so too could the existence of the creator. Ever since its proposal, this cornerstone of biology has sustained wave after wave of attack. Now some scientists fear it is facing the most formidable challenge yet: a controversial new theory called intelligent design.


Richard Dawkins – The Genius of Charles Darwin (2008)

In this three part documentary, Richard Dawkins asks why so many people, despite mountains of evidence, still do not believe in evolution. He is escpecially worried about the quality of science education kids recieve, as many students leave school with a lack of understanding of the theory of evolution. He also tackles the religious world, and the many misconceptions creationists and supporters of Intelligent Design have of Darwin's theory.


Also, I loved Dawkin's books, the blind watchmaker and the selfish gene. Maybe you could get them as audiobooks if you don't want to read them?

A

DinoBot

Thanks guys. Some good info to start with there.

5uspect

The Blind Watchmaker:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6413987104216231786