The Nature of Things
Season 40
1999 • 15 Episodes
Episodes
1. Phallacies
October 4, 1999
No overview available.
2. How to Live to 100
October 11, 1999
No overview available.
3. The Hidden Killer: Portrait of an Epidemic
October 18, 1999
No overview available.
4. Parkinson's: Lynda's Story
October 25, 1999
No overview available.
5. Lost
November 8, 1999
We've all felt the terror of being lost - even for just a few moments. We lose our way; a child unexpectedly vanishes in the aisles of a supermarket.
6. Designing for Dignity: Engineering Body Parts
November 22, 1999
No overview available.
7. Race for the Future
November 29, 1999
No overview available.
8. Race for the Future, Part 2
December 6, 1999
No overview available.
9. The Sleep Famine
January 24, 2000
No overview available.
10. Do Parents Matter?
February 7, 2000
How much are children influenced by their peers? The documentary Do Parents Matter? examines a controversial concept put forth by Judy Harris, a suburban grandmother and author of the explosive book, The Nurture Assumption.
11. Silent Sentinels
February 21, 2000
No overview available.
12. Wild Goose Chase
February 28, 2000
No overview available.
13. Humans: Who are We, Part 1 – The Birth of The Human Mind
March 13, 2000
The Birth of The Human Mind takes viewers on an amazing journey back in time, exploring the use of language, tools and how our distant ancestors came to walk. Contrary to long-accepted belief, scientists now believe that Homo sapiens did not evolve from Neanderthals, but shared the earth with them for thousands of years. Our ancestors, the Homo sapiens, are the youngest members on the human family tree, about 150,000 years old. Homo erectus goes back 1.8 million years and Neanderthals about 200,000 years.
14. Humans: Who Are We?, Part 2 – The Human Invasion
March 20, 2000
Paleoanthropologists, linguists, archeologists and other scientists offer the latest interpretations of fossil findings and genetic studies and posit intriguing theories on how Homo sapiens became the only existing human species. Did we kill off our cousins, interbreed and merge with them, or did they just die out? It took five million years for an upright ape to evolve into an agile, quick-thinking and inventive human being. But once our ancestors emerged in Africa, were we destined to dominate the globe?
15. Weather: Dragons of Chaos
March 27, 2000
The nature of weather is so complex that it is really a system of chaos. Weather is often benign, but occasionally the chaos spawns fierce dragons. Severe weather - violent storms, floods and droughts - is largely beyond human control, and can be cruel. Few need reminding of the 1987 tornado that killed 27 people in Edmonton, the flooding of the Saguenay region in 1996 and the Red River in 1997, and the 1998 ice storm in Quebec.