"A timeless piece, brilliantly conceived and executed, and an example of science and environment exposition at its best." E. O. Wilson, Harvard University
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All life on Earth is forged in the furnace of the sun. This vast energy source, one million times larger than Earth, bathes us, from a distance of 93 million miles, in life-giving rays.
THE FIRE OF CREATION begins with the sun filling the sky, bursting into the star-pricked blackness of space with a pyrotechnic spectacle of shifting, scorching images.
This, Southern California cosmologist Brian Swimme tells David Suzuki and his grandson Tamo, is the way the cosmos began: in a single Big Bang, approximately 13 billion years ago, matter coalesced, and the stars turned on.
Swimme considers each day's dawn as a cosmic act of generosity - a vast giveaway of energy. We are all children of the sun, accumulating cosmic energies, transforming them into matter. Throughout the ages human beings have revered this sacred flame. As David discovers on this journey, the findings of science amplify that reverence.
With cosmologist Brian Swimme, and anthropologist Stephen Lansing.
The other titles in this series are:
Journey into New Worlds - Suzuki celebrates the birth of a new scientific worldview that is holistic rather reductionist.
The Matrix of Life - Suzuki travels the world exploring our intimate relationship with water and air.
Coming Home - Suzuki explores biophilia -- the innate, hereditary need of human beings to affiliate with nature.
Grade Level: 10-12, College, Adult
US Release Date: 2003
Copyright Date: 2002
DVD ISBN: 1-59458-891-0
VHS ISBN: 1-59458-016-2
Reviews
"THE SACRED BALANCE is a spiritual, holistic and almost poetic take on the science of the planet...it launch[es] the viewer's mind into a different space." Liane Faulder, The Edmonton Journal
"Suzuki's talent has always been to take broad scientific topics and decipher and deliver them to viewers in plain, accessible terms. He's very good at it...while there's much to digest in this series, his tone is always patient and pragmatic" Andrew Ryan, The Globe and Mail
"The Sacred Balance is a challenge to all who watch it, a cornucopia of amazing comments and predictions. It's designed to make you think." Jim Bawden, Toronto Star, Starweek Magazine
"Stunning cinematography and state of the art computer graphics" Andrea Nemetz, Halifax Chronicle Herald
"An enthralling, beautifully shot series...It's one of the most important and engrossing programs you'll see all year... [it] might very well go down as the crowning achievement in the career of David Suzuki." Basem Boshra, The Montreal Gazette
"A timeless piece, brilliantly conceived and executed, and an example of science and environment exposition at its best." E.O.Wilson, Harvard University
"Strikingly beautiful and sometimes even profound...[it] becomes increasingly affecting as it piles up scientific research with remarkable dexterity." Tony Atherston, The Ottawa Citizen
"Recommended" Educational Media Reviews Online
"[A] captivating examination of how the Earth's systems interact and depend on one another...Approaching the subject from a wide variety of cultural and philisophical viewpoints, Suzuki makes the point that we are a vital part of this 'web of life, ' and challenges viewers to feel that connection and then change the way we act towards our planet." Teacher Librarian
"Features stunning visuals and is unique in providing a multicultural perspective and philosophical points of view not usually studied with science." School Library Journal
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