A Glorious Accident

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Een schitterend ongeluk (translated "A Glorious Accident" in English) was a 1993 documentary series featuring six prominent scientists and philosophers. Hosted by Wim Kayzer, a Dutch television producer, and filmed in seven parts, A Glorious Accident included interviews with Daniel Dennett, Freeman Dyson, Stephen Jay Gould, Oliver Sacks, Rupert Sheldrake, and Stephen Toulmin. [1] [2]

Contents

During six individual interviews with each guest and a final round table, the attendees discussed their vision of their work and the world with the central themes introduced by Kayzer: "How far did you come in your understanding of our thoughts and actions? What did science really bring us at the end of the 20th century: knowledge or also understanding?" [1] "What is consciousness?" "What is memory?" [3]

The roundtable discussion was filmed in the Netherlands. [3] The film was released by VPRO and produced by Nellie Kamer and Wim Kayzer. [4] The film broke viewing records in the Netherlands in 1993. [5]

In the United States, A Glorious Accident was broadcast twice in June 1994 on PBS member station WNET. [3] In September 1996, PBS member station KCET in Los Angeles also broadcast the series. [6] [4] The film was over 15 hours in length. [3] The title phrase "glorious accident" is attributed to Stephen Jay Gould [7] who referred to the asteroid-induced extinction of the dinosaurs which preceded the development of humanity. [4]

Book

Together with the series, a book with the same title containing the text from the interviews was also published in the Netherlands in 1993. [8] It was a number one bestseller in the Netherlands for several months. [3] The publisher summary reads: [8]

Transcripts of six interviews and a group discussion [...] with six leading contemporary scientists from various disciplines on the possibilities and limitations of (scientific) intelligence.

In 1997, a book titled A Glorious Accident: Understanding Our Place in the Cosmic Puzzle was also published in English. [9]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Oliver Sacks - Een schitterend ongeluk". VPRO. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  2. A Glorious Accident , retrieved 2023-01-31
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Angier, Natalie (12 June 1994). "TELEVISION; Six Smart Guys Sitting Around Talking". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 Everett, Todd (1996-09-06). "A Glorious Accident". Variety. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  5. Goodman, Walter (1994-06-10). "TV Weekend; Serious Entertainment From a Rare Resource". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  6. "USC in the News". USC News. 1996-10-13. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  7. Panosian, Claire B. (1996-10-07). "KCET Needs New Science Formula". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  8. 1 2 Kayzer, Wim (1993). Een schitterend ongeluk. Amsterdam: Contact. ISBN   9789025403959. OCLC   66099260 . Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  9. Kayzer, Wim; Sacks, Oliver W. (1997). A Glorious Accident: Understanding Our Place in the Cosmic Puzzle. W.H. Freeman. ISBN   978-0-7167-3144-3.