# James Burke Fans! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 6, 2003, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-burke-fans/166884 "2003-04-06T17:10:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-burke-fans/166884/21 "2003-04-09T16:09:20Z")
Repeating this here since it is probably of interest to people in this thread. **Hail Ants** has mentioned in [another thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=175936) that [Connections has been released on DVD](http://www.ambrosevideo.com/displayitem.cfm?vid=854). It’s a tad on the expensive side ($150 for the set) but it _is_ out. It’s through Ambrose Video, which is apparently an educational video supplier. They have a code on their homepage for 10% off your first order too! Note: I have no involvement in any way with Ambrose Video. It’s just that I have been hoping for a _Connections_ DVD release for so long and I am certain that there are a few others like me around here who will find this useful. ---
**Author:** ![haardvark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@haardvark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/haardvark)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-burke-fans/166884/22 "2003-04-12T12:26:25Z")
\*\* The Day the Universe Changed\*\* was definitely his best work. **Connections** a close second (plus, white polyester leisure suit!!) I agree that the followup series were sadly lacking - I think part of that had to do with the fact that they tried to squeeze the threads into half-hour slots rather than rolling out the unifying theme of an eppy in a more leisurely hour. I have read the two companion volumes, plus **The Pinball Effect**. The latter was quite good and reassured me that the weakness of the later TV episodes was not for lack of “connectable fodder”. The gimmick in **TPE** (marginal notes referring to other historical events, showing (you guessed it!) Connections between them was kind of aggravating to use and the few times I tried it I would just lose the thread of whatever I was reading and my attention would shrivel and die. I have a copy of **The Axemaker’s Gift** in my (huMONgous) in-pile but I have not read it yet. (Slight hijack, I am currently reading **Twentieth Century** by J.M. Roberts, and while I am generally enjoying myself the author has an unfortunate tendency to say “connexion” and “reflexion” - really sticks in my craw [/slight hijack] \*\*\*\*\* I think the contents of this thread should be passed on to whoever has marketing rights to **TDTUC** since everyone here seems to like it best and it is the one that cannot be bought for love nor money. I have looked sporadically on e-bay and the last used library copy of the VHS set sold for in excess of US$500. [hijack #2] Looking for James Burke on e-bay is doubly confounded by the presence of that prolific fiction author **James Lee Burke** (so everyone is unloading their well-thumbed QBP copies of _Burning Silver Cadillac Cimmaron Orchid_ or whatever), AND there is/was apparently a mfr. of high-end camera gear called **Burke and James**. One final thing: I also really enjoyed the _Sci.Amer._ columns but they were usually beside a column by **Phillip Morrison**? Who was he, and what was his claim to Warhol’s quarter hour? cheers biblo’vark ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-burke-fans/166884/23 "2003-04-12T13:11:24Z")
Phillip Morrison was an eminent physicist, with a resume dating back to the Manhatten Project. He was the author of many scholarly and popular works. As such, he was quite well qualified to write columns, host TV shows (The Day The World Changed), etc. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-burke-fans/166884.md?page=1)