The Genius of Charles Darwin

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Contents 1 General Information 2 Cover 3 Information 3.1 Life Darwin and Everything 3.2 The Fifth Ape 3.3 God Strikes Back 3.4 EXTRAS 4 Screenshots 5 Technical Specs 5.1 DVDrip 5.2 TV cap 6 Links 6.1 Further Information 6.2 Release Post 6.3 Related Documentaries 6.4 ed2k Links

[edit] General Information

Science Documentary hosted by Richard Dawkins and published by Channel 4 in 2008 - English narration

[edit] Cover

[edit] Information

The Genius of Charles Darwin is a three-part television documentary, written and presented by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins.

As we approach the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's masterpiece, On the Origin of Species, Richard Dawkins presents the ultimate guide to Darwin and his revolutionary theory of evolution by natural selection which Dawkins considers the most important idea ever to occur to a human mind.

In this powerful three-part polemical series, Dawkins explains who Charles Darwin was, how he developed his theory, what it is, and why it matters. He reveals how Darwin changed forever the way we see ourselves, the world and our place in it, and hopes to convince us that "evolution is a fact, backed by undeniable evidence".

According to recent polls four out of 10 British people still believe in God as the creator of the universe and everything in it. As a scientist, and Britain's best-known atheist, Dawkins believes that such people simply don't know enough about the evidence for Darwin's entirely natural explanation of life on Earth – evolution.

It was first shown in August 2008 on Channel 4. [1] It won Best TV Documentary Series 2008 at the British Broadcast Awards in January 2009.[2]

[edit] Life Darwin and Everything

In the first part of the series, Richard Dawkins retraces Darwin's journey as a scientist. He re-examines the rich evidence of the natural world – iguanas on the Galapagos islands, giant fossilised sloths in the Americas and even pigeons back home in England – which opened Darwin's eyes to the extraordinary truth that all living things must be related and had evolved from a common ancestor.

Darwin knew his espousal of evolution would cause outrage, challenging, as it did, the prevailing religious view of the world and our place in it. But, as Dawkins explains, it was really his theory of natural selection that undermined the notion of a benevolent God who designed all creatures great and small. Returning to his own birthplace, Kenya, Dawkins considers the brutal realities of the struggle for existence for wild animals on the plains of Africa. Here, he argues, we see the ongoing process sex, suffering and death, that drives evolution onward as the fittest survive to reproduce and the weakest perish without offspring.

[edit] The Fifth Ape

In the second episode Richard Dawkins deals with some of the philosophical and social ramifications of the theory of evolution.

Dawkins starts out in Kenya, speaking with palaeontologist Richard Leakey. He then visits Christ is the Answer Ministries, Kenya's largest Pentecostal church, to interview Bishop Bonifes Adoyo. Adoyo has led the movement to press Kenya's national museum to sideline its collection of hominid bones pointing to man's evolution from ape to human.[5] The collection includes the Turkana Boy discovered by Kamoya Kimeu, a member of a team led by Richard Leakey in 1984.

Dawkins discusses social darwinism and eugenics, explaining how these are not versions of natural selection, and that "Darwin has been wrongly tainted".

He then meets with evolutionary psychologist Steven Pinker to discuss how morals can be compatible with natural selection. He goes on to explaining sexual selection, with peafowls as an example. To find out whether sexual selection plays a role for altruism and kindness among humans, he visits women who are looking for sperm donors, as well as a sperm bank manager. Dawkins also explains kin selection and selfish genes.

[edit] God Strikes Back

Richard Dawkins on natural selection, creationism and intelligent design
In this final episode Dawkins examines why Darwin's theory remains one of the most controversial ideas in history.

As Darwin set out on the voyage on the Beagle he still believed that god created the world and everything in it. But the evidence he discovered - fossils, patterns of anatomical resemblance, startling similarities of embryos and domestic breeding - demonstrated the truth: that all life forms vary and that some are more likely to reproduce, passing variations on. His wife Emma, however, was deeply religious and Darwin never criticised religion in public but he believed that "science would bring about a gradual illumination of minds".

Today, Dawkins argues, science has the evidence to prove that evolution is true. Modern discovery of the DNA code which links all life has added to the mountain of evidence showing that evolution is a fact. So why, he wonders as he meets creationists in America, is opposition to evolution more aggressive than ever?

[edit] EXTRAS

EXTRAS include

The Lava Lizard's Tale
The Giant Tortoise's Tale
The Sea Turtle's Tale

[edit] Screenshots

[edit] Technical Specs

[edit] DVDrip

Video Codec: XviD 1.0.3
Video Bitrate: 1958 kbps
Video Resolution: 672x368
Video Aspect Ratio: 1.826:1
Frames Per Second: 29.970
Audio Codec: 0x2000 (Dolby AC3) AC3
Audio Bitrate: 192kb/s CBR 48000 Hz
Audio Streams: 2
Audio Languages: English
RunTime Per Part: 48min + 28min
Number Of Parts: 3+1
Part Size: 743MB + 368MB
Subtitles: YES , English
Ripped by: jvt40

[edit] TV cap

• Video Codec: XVID
  
• Video Bitrate: 872 kbps
  
• Video Resolution: 352x640 (height x width)
  
• Video Aspect Ratio: 13x24 (1:1.82)
  
• Audio Codec: MPEG-1 Layer 3 (MP3) <0x0055>
  
• Audio BitRate: 130 kbps
  
• Audio Streams: 1
  
• Audio Languages: English
  
• RunTime Per Part: 48 min 4.36 s (72109 Frames)
  
• Part Size: 348.13M
  
• Subtitles: none

[edit] Links

[edit] Further Information

• Randolph Nesse - uncut interview from 'The Genius of Charles Darwin'
• Wikipedia on series
• Ch4 on Genius of Charles Darwin

[edit] Release Post

• MVGroup.org (ed2k)
• MVGroup.org (torrent)
• 666fs.com
• DocsPT.com
• DocsPT.com
• DocuZone.net
• DonkeyHeaven.com
• DonkeyHeaven.com
• Ed2k4Ever.com
• FileHeaven.org
• Norsk EselForum.org
• P2P-United.org
• Phantom P2P.com
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• ShareSoulP2P.com
• ShareTheFiles.com
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• VeryCD.com
• VeryCD.com

[edit] Related Documentaries

• Darwins Lost Voyage
• Humboldt: Epic Explorer
• Darwin and the Beagles Scandal
• Eugenics: Science's Greatest Scandal
• Islands of Creation
• Your Inner Fish
• Fossil Detectives
• Galapagos (BBC Born of Fire)
• Galapagos (BSkyB)
• Mark Steel Lectures: Series 1 to 3
• Great Explorers
• The End of God: A Horizon Guide to Science and Religion
• Charles Darwin Evolution's Voice
• Charles Darwin: The Story of
• Darwin's Secret Notebooks
• Did Darwin Kill God
• Evolution: was Darwin Wrong
• Jimmy Doherty in Darwin's Garden
• The Link - Uncovering Our Earliest Ancestor
• The Mark Steel Lectures - Charles Darwin
• The Story of Science

[edit] ed2k Links