This program provides a substantive overview of the theoretical dispute between Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr, a controversy that still resonates today. Bohr's Copenhagen Interpretation-that measurement of phenomena creates a set of possible outcomes and that unobserved phenomena are meaningless-is thoroughly explained in conjunction with Einstein's cause-and-effect approach. Using clever animation, archival footage, and interviews with leading physicists,...

Some people suffer chronic pain long after an injury has healed, while others can jump from a two-story building and not feel a thing. This film reveals the physiological foundations of both scenarios as it examines the mechanics of pain perception. Viewers meet a family whose unique genetic code has lent insight into the sensation of pain, while a man who cut off his own arm to save his life describes what he felt - and what he didn't feel - during...

This program from the Famous Composers series provides an overview of the tumultuous life and influential work of Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, born to a large family with a history of military service. The film details Tchaikovsky's early loss of his mother, and how it influenced him greatly throughout his life. His musical education at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory distanced the composer from both his family, who wished him to...

Since the penning of the Declaration of Independence, America had been steadily evolving into two distinctly different societies-and by 1861, sectional differences had reached the flashpoint. This program addresses abolitionist fervor in the industrialized North; the rising clamor for secession in the antebellum South, an agrarian economy transfigured by the cotton gin; and the political emergence of Abraham Lincoln-intertwined strands of history...

At ground level, shallow seas, broad beaches, dunes, and waterlogged hollows seem to comprise a chaotic environment. In fact, there is order and form, produced by the interaction of wind, vegetation, and moving sand. Because sand dunes develop rapidly, the development of a landform can be observed. Measuring wind velocity demonstrates how saltation, sand movement, and erosion happen. The program demonstrates the morphology of dune development and...

World War II is a watershed event for Latino Americans with hundreds of thousands of men and women serving in the armed forces, most fighting side by side with Anglos. In the Pacific, East L.A.'s Guy Gabaldon becomes a Marine Corp legend when he single-handedly captures more enemy soldiers than anyone in U.S. military history. But on the home front, discrimination is not dead: in 1943, Anglo servicemen battle hip young "Zoot suitors" in racially charged...

This program looks inside a modern nuclear reactor and explores its functions in detail. It also addresses nuclear safety-the various measures intended to diminish the risk of accidents and radioactive emissions. Finally, the program looks at the steps involved in the production and storage of radioactive waste, as well as the dangers of its by-products.

Five-star General Omar Bradley was one of the main American field commanders in Europe and North Africa during World War II. This episode of Biography follows his distinguished military career from West Point, to the invasion of Normandy, to the Battle of the Bulge, and on to victory.

It began in 1968 as a tiny commerce organization based in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo. Today, Manos del Uruguay is an international business that exports to the U.S., Japan, and Europe. This program looks at the success of the women's garment-making cooperative, and in doing so, weaves together helpful Spanish lessons about day-to-day business practices as well as shopping for clothes and craft objects. Viewers learn how training is an important...

Geographically, Muslim countries cover approximately 50 percent of Africa. This program travels around the continent to inquire into Islamic history and the Muslim way of life, making stops in Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zanzibar, South Africa, Senegal, Algeria, Sudan, and many other destinations. The experiences of two particular groups-those sent by Muhammad himself to Ethiopia, during the Muslim-Quraish War, and slaves and prisoners of the Dutch who were...