Documentary Educational Resources - Subject / Science & Technology / History & Philosophy of Science / All Films

Edward O. Wilson

Thu, 30 Aug 2018 07:05:00 GMT

Edward O. Wilson, the Pelligrino University Professor and Honorary Curator of Entomology at Harvard University, is one of the world's most distinguished and controversial scientists. Through his books and lectures, Wilson has changed the way scientists and nonscientists alike view the natural world by fueling their enthusiasm for science and showing them its immediacy for their everyday lives. Wilson's devotion to natural history, his broad humanistic approach to learning, and a gift for storytelling have made him one of the most popular teachers at Harvard and lecturers around the world. In this warm and engaging biographical portrait Wilson offers insight into the scientific process, relating how an interest in studying ants and social insects led him to establish the field of sociobiology and to promote the study of biodiversity. He compares scientists to mythmakers and examines the role of imagination in scientific inquiry. Wilson’s passionate concern for the preservation of our natural heritage has placed him in the forefront of environmental activism. As a young boy growing up in the deep South, Wilson began to dream of going to the "Big Tropics, the Amazon, New Guinea, of discovering new kinds of plants and animals." This urge to explore propelled him from a childhood interest in collecting insects to a career that has encompassed studies in the biology of social insects, ecology, biogeography, sociobiology, and environmental conservation. He has received numerous awards and honors, including the National Medal of Science (1976), the Crafoord Prize of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (1990), and two Pulitzer Prizes. Prof. Wilson's books include The Insect Societies, Sociobiology: the New Synthesis, On Human Nature, The Diversity of Life, Biophilia, Naturalist, and The Future of Life.

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Flatland

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 14:53:00 GMT

Flatland
Buy Now: $275.00

In 1962 John Hubley came to Harvard University as the first teacher of animation in the new Visual Arts Center. It was his idea to make a film based on Edwin Abbott’s famous novel about life in a two-dimensional world, Flatland. The story is told by the voices of Dudley Moore and other actors belonging to the British theatrical comedy group, "Beyond the Fringe." Aside from mathematicians and philosophers of science, the film has entertained and delighted audiences of many kinds since it first appeared.

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Flock of Dodos

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 14:53:00 GMT

Flock of Dodos
Buy Now: $320.00

Flock of Dodos: The Evolution-Intelligent Design Circus is the first feature length documentary to explore the Darwin vs. intelligent design controversy. Filmmaker/evolutionary ecologist/surfer Dr. Randy Olson pokes fun at both sides of this debate and eventually uses his own mother, Muffy Moose, to make sense out of the issue that both Time and Newsweek has featured on their covers. He travels to his home state of Kansas, the top battle ground for evolution, where he sits down with his mother's neighbor, John Calvert, one of the top lawyers backing intelligent design, for a confrontation that leaves audiences squirming in their seats. "It's a reflection of the current culture wars," Olson says. "It's the age old split between science and religion, with a few new twists."

Labeled by early audiences as "a polite Michael Moore," Olson challenges top advocates for intelligent design (including Dr. Michael Behe, author of Darwin's Black Box). With a sense of scientific inquiry, he tries to understand a movement that so misfired last year in Dover, PA., a Republican-Bush appointee judge labeled local efforts to teach intelligent design as, "breathtaking inanity." School districts are now grappling with the new efforts to introduce intelligent design, the movement evolutionists prefer to call, "creationism in a cheap tuxedo." However, Olson, in a surprising turn given his evolution background, also paints an unflattering portrait of his fellow scientists. Pulling together eight evolutionists for a night of poker, he reveals them to be arrogant, condescending, and self-certain until they eventually turn on themselves in a spat that sounds like...a flock of dodos.

From the opening statistic (a pie chart in the form of an apple pie) the film provides equal amounts of laughter, guffaws, and eventually enough serious thought to prompt hours of discussion. And unlike recent political rants, the film maintains an atmosphere of fairness, allowing audiences from both sides to watch it together.

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Robert Coles: An Intimate Biographical Interview

Tue, 28 Aug 2018 08:59:00 GMT

Robert Coles: An Intimate Biographical Interview
Buy Now: $320.00

Dr. Robert Coles is one of the most provocative and articulate social observers in America today. Professor of Psychiatry and Medical Humanities at Harvard University, Dr. Coles is recognized around the world for his social anthropological work with children. A Pulitzer Prize-winning author, he has written 38 books and hundreds of articles.

The videotape presents a comprehensive overview of Dr. Coles’s work and thought; while having a life of its own, the tape provides an essential complement to his written works. It focuses not only on the rewards and fulfillments, but also on the difficulties and disappointments of a remarkably full life. The format of the interview is that of a sustained, intimate conversation between Dr. Coles and one of his students and teaching fellows, Bruce Baird-Middleton.

The tape offers a unique opportunity to see and hear at length a teacher of singular inspiration, capturing Dr. Coles’s noted ability to supply the idealism of his students with nourishment and support. Coles shares a lifetime of impassioned inquiry with interviewer Baird-Middleton.

The Harvard Professor of Psychiatry and Medical Humanities reveals the spiritual, moral, and ethical impetus that lead to a career spent studying the poor, distraught, and burdened among society. This work lead to a number of publications, most notably the Pulitzer prize-winning five-volume series Children of Crisis. In this insightful discussion, Coles traces his educational development and subsequent research interests, interspersed with intimate family stories, and provides anecdotes about his influences and mentors: William Carlos Williams, Robert F. Kennedy, Eric Ericson, and Dorothy Day. Humble and contemplative, Coles cites literature, medicine, and travel as inspiring his psychological and sociological inquiries and finds fault with institutional thinking inherent to the academy.

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