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About the Project
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Evolution Series Overview Jane Goodall
Jane Goodall, an advisor
to the Evolution project,
describes its significance.

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dr. kenneth miller quote

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Evolution determines who lives, who dies, and who passes traits on to the next generation. The process plays a critical role in our daily lives, yet it is one of the most overlooked -- and misunderstood -- concepts ever described.

The Evolution project's eight-hour television miniseries travels the world to examine evolutionary science and the profound effect it has had on society and culture. From the genius and torment of Charles Darwin to the scientific revolution that spawned the tree of life, from the power of sex to drive evolutionary change to the importance of mass extinctions in the birth of new species, the Evolution series brings this fascinating process to life. The series also explores the emergence of consciousness, the origin and success of humans, and the perceived conflict between science and religion in understanding life on Earth.

The Evolution series' goals are to heighten public understanding of evolution and how it works, to dispel common misunderstandings about the process, and to illuminate why it is relevant to all of us.

  Evolution Series Show Descriptions  
  Show 1: Darwin's Dangerous Idea (two-hour premiere)  
  Why does Charles Darwin's ''dangerous idea'' matter more today than ever, and how does it explain the past and predict the future of life on Earth? The first show interweaves the drama of Darwin's life with current documentary sequences, introducing key concepts of evolution.
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  Show 2: Great Transformations (one hour)  
  What underlies the incredible diversity of life on Earth? How have complex life forms evolved? The journey from water to land, the return of land mammals to the sea, and the emergence of humans all suggest that creatures past and present are members of a single tree of life.
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  Show 3: Extinction! (one hour)  
  Five mass extinctions have occurred since life began on Earth. Are humans causing the next mass extinction? And what does evolutionary theory predict for the world we will leave to our descendants?
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  Show 4: The Evolutionary Arms Race (one hour)  
  Survival of the fittest: Raw competition? Intense cooperation? Both are essential. Interactions between and within species are among the most powerful evolutionary forces on Earth, and understanding them may be a key to our own survival.
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  Show 5: Why Sex? (one hour)  
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  Show 6: The Mind's Big Bang (one hour)  
  Fifty thousand years ago, something happened -- the modern human mind emerged, triggering a creative, technological, and social explosion. What forces contributed to that breakthrough? Where might our power of mind ultimately lead us?
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  Show 7: What About God? (one hour)  
  Of all species, we alone attempt to explain who we are and how we came to be. This final show explores the struggle between science and religion. Through the personal stories of students and teachers, it offers the view that they are compatible.
Watch show preview in QuickTime | RealPlayer
  The Evolution series is closed captioned for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers by The Caption Center at WGBH Boston.

Narrated descriptions are provided by Descriptive Video Service® (DVS®), a national service of WGBH Boston that makes television, cable, and home video programming accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired.

The Web site is also accessible, designed for use with screen reader devices which render text into speech for blind and low-vision Web users.

To learn more about providing access to Web content for users with disabilities, please visit the CPB/WGBH National Center for Accessible Media.