Ascent of Man: A Personal View by J. Bronowski, No. 1 --Lower Than Angels (part 1)

Duration: 800 ft.

Year Published: 1974

Complete Record: Dr. Bronowski sees evolution as twofold: biological and cultural. Biological evolution is by adaptive mutation (“selection”, or the survival of the fittest) and is irreversible. Cultural evolution is by choice, or a series of choices, and can be changed. Only in this respect does man differ from the other species: “Every animal leaves traces of what it was: man alone leaves traces of what he created.” A multitude of evolutionary changes - anatomical and intellectual gives rise to man’s evolution, while x-ray and slow motion photography of an Olympic athlete in action show the complex interweaving of mind and body.