San Antonio College Library

The E.T. Chronicles grapples with the "big" questions such as "Who are we? Where do we come from? Why are we here?" through a careful reading of world mythology. The authors organise these ancient stories into a chronology that starts with "in the beginning" and ends with the advent of civilisation in an effort to discover the true story of human origins. It brings together myths from many cultures including the Sumerians, the Greeks, the Maya and...

Presents recent theories on man's origins from both the study of fossils and the study of molecules.

Explores the story of our evolution, and of the people who have devoted their lives to discovering the truth about our origins.

More than 400,000 years ago a certain species of primates started their victory march: it was the victory march of the homo sapiens, the human being. Due to the special abilities of our brains we can produce complicated tools and use them, for example, to fly to the moon. We harnessed fire, developed culture and religion. With their talent for complex organization and communication humans rose above other living beings on this planet. Until recently...

New discoveries in the field of human evolution are changing our understanding of human origins almost daily. What does all this new knowledge about our species mean? Science journalist Zimmer offers an illuminating journey through our ancestry, beginning 65 million years ago with the first primates and ending today, as we enter a new phase of evolution. Along the way he re-examines the major steps in human evolution, as hominids began to stand upright,...

Ancient Roots traces the family history of three quintessential voices in American life. All three descend from ancestors that were part of the wave of Greek immigrants that flooded America's shores in the early decades of the 20th century. But along the way, the stories of their Greek ancestors were lost. In recovering these stories, we'll find that their ancestors overcame terrible hardship, and showed remarkable courage in times of war. For Tina...

This program launches an investigation into the identity of the bonobo, formerly known as the pygmy chimpanzee. To what extent is this remarkable African ape closer to humans than all the other animals on the planet? Scientists from around the world, including Yves Coppens, paleoanthropologist at the College de France, and Paula Cavalieri, philosopher and founder of the Great Ape Project, discuss their findings on the genetics, biology, intelligence,...

Presents the results of research into the origins, lifestyle, and technology of Neanderthalers, discussing the genetic tests on Neanderthal bones that indicate the Neanderthal folk were not modern man's direct ancestor, and considering the recent archaeological discovery of a child that seems to be a mix of modern humans and Neanderthal types.

In 3 episodes.