January - December 1978
In The Event of Catastrophe
Can a nuclear war be survived? Some members of the defense
community say yes. NOVA explores the possibility.
Original broadcast date: 01/04/78
Topic: technology/weapons & warfare
Blueprints in the Bloodstream
It has been known since the turn of the century that there are
four human blood groups, based on different red cells and
serum characteristics. NOVA looks at the more recent discovery
that the different white cell types, as determined by a
variety of different molecular markers on the cell surface,
open up the possibility of the prevention of disease.
Original broadcast date: 01/18/78
Topic: human biology/behavior
One Small Step
Part one of a two-part series on the subject of man in space,
NOVA examines the history of NASA—from the origin of the
space race through the triumph of the Apollo programs. By
tracing the history of three key programs—Mercury,
Gemini, Apollo—we show how the basic challenges
surrounding space flight were answered: rendezvous and
docking, life support, weightlessness, space sickness,
equipment reliability and so on.
Original broadcast date: 01/25/78
Topic: astronomy/space exploration
Final Frontier (The)
Second of the two-part series on space programs, NOVA looks
ahead to the future, post-Apollo and the role that man in
space will play, including the possibility of space
colonization—huge orbiting space stations where people
live and work in an earth atmosphere under artificial
gravity.
Original broadcast date: 02/01/78
Topic: astronomy/space exploration
BaMiki BaNdula: Children of the Forest
In the rain forests of Zaire, in the heart of Africa, live the
Mbuti Pygmies. The Pygmy way of life has always been
extraordinarily difficult to capture on film, though many have
tried. NOVA presents a rare portrait of an elusive people,
made by an independent filmmaker who lived with the Pygmies
and won their trust.
Original broadcast date: 02/15/78
Topic: anthropology/culture
Trial of Denton Cooley
In a dramatic docudrama, NOVA reconstructs the controversial
lawsuit raised against renowned heart surgeon Dr. Denton
Cooley when one of his patients died after heart surgery, and
examines the legal and moral issues this raises in the
practice of modern medicine.
Original broadcast date: 02/22/78
Topic: medicine/health care & surgery
Great Wine Revolution (The)
A science-based revolution in the making of wine is underway.
NOVA traces the secrets of the aging process and science's
involvement with the predicting of mass production
high-quality vintage wines.
Original broadcast date: 03/01/78
Topic: plants/agriculture
Case Of The Ancient Astronauts (The)
NOVA investigates the theories of von Daniken and others that
the Earth has been visited by intelligent beings from outer
space. Among claims examined are: that the building techniques
used in the Great Pyramid of Cheops are so advanced that only
an extraterrestrial intelligence could have built it; and that
the engraved stones of Palenque in Mexico depict an ancient
astronaut at the controls of a space rocket.
Original broadcast date: 03/08/78
Topic: unexplained phenomena
Mind Machines (The)
Today's scientists may be creating their own successors. Work
being done in Artificial Intelligence (AI), a branch of
computer science, only suggest that in the not too distant
future, machines will outpace their creators. NOVA examines
the possibility.
Original broadcast date: 03/22/78
Topic: technology/computers
Icarus' Children
In the summer of 1977 Paul MacCready, a California scientist
and businessman, won the coveted Kremer Prize. His achievement
was to design and build an airplane which completed, unaided,
a one-mile figure-eight course entirely under the power
provided by the pilot himself. This is the story of those many
failures and MacCready's success.
Original broadcast date: 03/29/78
Topic: technology/aeronautics & flight
Still Waters
NOVA shows a year in the life of a beaver pond and includes
almost every life form that exists in, on, under, around and
above the water, from the microscopic plant life of summer to
the eagles feeding on carcasses of deer that collapsed on the
winter ice.
Original broadcast date: 04/12/78
Topic: environment/ecology
Battle for the Acropolis
The fortified plateau above Athens known as the Acropolis is
the site of some of the most remarkable architecture in the
world: its marble structures built in the fifth century BC,
including the renowned Parthenon, represent the artistic peak
of classical Greek architecture. NOVA examines how the heavily
polluted air of Athens produces acid rain which is dissolving
the marble sculptures and columns; and how iron tiles used
extensively in repair 40 years ago are now rusting, expanding
and shattering the stone structures.
Original broadcast date: 04/19/78
Topic: environment/ecology
Road To Happiness
Henry Ford, a great friend of Edison, was a film enthusiast
who amassed some one and a half million feet of film during
his lifetime. Deposited in the National Archives and known as
the Ford Film Collection, it covers not only the Ford family
and Ford Motor Company but also contains newsreels, and
general films produced under Ford. Using the Collection, NOVA
profiles Ford's life and times.
Original broadcast date: 05/03/78
Topic: biography
Light of the 21st Century
When first invented 18 years ago, lasers were called "a
solution looking for a problem;" nobody could think what to do
with them. But in fact research scientists immediately began
to exploit their pure colors and near-perfect focusing
ability. Today lasers have grown into a billion-dollar
business. They are used in construction, manufacturing,
clothing, dentistry and medicine. And the future uses of
lasers are likely to be of major significance as the means of
achieving nuclear fusion and as a very high efficiency
communications medium.
Original broadcast date: 05/10/78
Topic: technology/engineering
Insect Alternative (The)
In a world that each year loses up to 40 percent of its crops
to insects, some form of pest control is desperately needed.
But chemical pesticides have backfired. Pesticide-resistant
insects frequently develop, and previously harmless insects
have become devastating infestations. Farmers have found
themselves trapped on a "pesticide treadmill"—the more
they spray, the more they have to spray. NOVA examines several
alternatives for pest control.
Original broadcast date: 05/24/78
Topic: plants/agriculture
Desert's Edge (The)
For thousands of years people have managed to live in deserts
all over the world. But in recent years, a growing population
and the demands of the international market have put more
stress on these poor and easily exhausted lands. NOVA examines
the consequences and possible solutions to desertification.
Original broadcast date: 05/31/78
Topic: environment/ecology
Tse Tse Trap (The)
NOVA explores Bovine sleeping sickness. Spread by a fly, it is
a deadly disease that poses a threat to Africa's cattle.
Original broadcast date: 06/07/78
Topic: medicine/disease & research
Memories From Eden
Traditionally zoos were designed neither for people nor
animals; barred cages taught people more about their
separation from nature than about an animal and its habitat.
But just as man has realized that he has all but destroyed
much of the world's wilderness and its wildlife, he is
realizing that the zoo may be the last refuge for wildlife.
NOVA visits several United States zoos to examine a variety of
activities of concern today: breeding, public education,
creative new animal habitats, and the reintroduction of
animals to their natural environment.
Original broadcast date: 06/14/78
Topic: animal biology/behavior
Whisper From Space (A)
In 1965, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, two radio astronomers
at Bell Telephone Laboratories, discovered faint, but
ever-present, microwave signals from space—the most
ancient and most distant signals detected by man: the oldest
"fossils" in the universe. NOVA explores the current surge of
cosmological discovery that continues to aid scientists in the
"cosmic archaeology" of digging into the history of the
universe.
Original broadcast date: 06/21/78
Topic: astronomy/space exploration
Alaska: The Closing Frontier
Congress is currently considering a proposal that would double
the size of America's national park system by designating a
sizeable chunk of Alaska as off-limits to developers. NOVA
explores the public debates on Alaska, such as the
construction of the oil pipeline—a proposal that has
sparked a bitter controversy between conservationists and
developers.
Original broadcast date: 06/28/78
Topic: environment/ecology