January - December 1981
Doctors Of Nigeria (The)
Is the fagara root a match for the stethoscope? This program
looks at the contributions of both traditional herbal medicine
and western orthodox medicine to the health of the Nigerian
people.
Original broadcast date: 01/06/81
Topic: medicine/health care & surgery
Message In The Rocks
This program explores clues gathered from ancient rocks and
meteorites in an attempt to piece together how our planet
formed, what happened during its earliest days, and when life
first appeared. The program includes visits to the scene of a
fresh fall of meteorites, several volcanic eruptions, and an
underwater glimpse of molten "pillow" lava as it oozes out of
volcanic vents in the sea floor.
Original broadcast date: 01/20/81
Topic: geology
Dead Sea Lives (The)
NOVA examines the Dead Sea. The lowest place on earth, at 1400
feet below sea level, it is jointly owned by Israel and
Jordan. If used properly it could become a vital natural
resource for both countries, giving them not only salt, but
protein, fertilizer, oil, and a solar energy store.
Original broadcast date: 01/27/81
Topic: environment/ecology
Anatomy of a Volcano
When Mt. St. Helens erupted earlier this year, it focused the
attention of the whole world on the almost incredible
destructive forces that volcanos can release. Geologists from
around the world congregated at the volcano and NOVA joined
the vigil for an in-depth look at the incident and its
aftermath.
Original broadcast date: 02/10/81
Topic: geology/earthquakes & volcanoes
Science Of Murder (The)
NOVA investigates what science can do in helping to solve
murder—in understanding why it occurs, and how the rate
might be reduced—and explores the work of people who
have the stark job of dealing with death: the police,
pathologist, scientists and psychiatrists.
Original broadcast date: 02/17/81
Topic: technology/crime
Malady Of Health Care (The)
Health care is no longer two aspirins and some chicken
soup—it is a huge enterprise capable of amazing feats
and costing billions of dollars. How can we afford to pay the
bills? Is quality health care a right or a privilege? NOVA
examines these questions in a comparison between the American
and British systems of health care.
Original broadcast date: 02/24/81
Topic: medicine/health care & surgery
Beyond The Milky Way
Sophisticated instruments used by astronomers enable
earthlings to see beyond what was once the cloudy barrier of
the Milky Way, to a universe of perhaps 100 billion other
galaxies. NOVA takes a trip into outer space to see these
clusters which are as old as time and several million light
years away.
Original broadcast date: 03/03/81
Topic: astronomy/space exploration
Asteroid and the Dinosaur (The)
For 150 million years, dinosaurs dominated the earth. Then, 65
million years ago, they suddenly vanished, along with a great
deal of the planet's animal and plant life. NOVA examines a
remarkable theory about the cause of the catastrophe—in
which the first clue to the solution was a piece of clay.
Original broadcast date: 03/10/81
Topic: dinosaurs/paleontology
Animal Olympians
The beauty, endurance, and raw power of animals in the wild
are captured on film as NOVA juxtaposes Olympic athletes
performing feats which have parallels in the animal kingdom
with animals who are the champions of grace and strength.
Original broadcast date: 03/17/81
Topic: animal biology/behavior
Resolution on Saturn
It's over 300 years since Galileo turned his new telescope on
Saturn and first saw its spectacular rings. NOVA shows the
beauty and new mysteries discovered by Voyager 1 on its
historic visit.
Original broadcast date: 08/28/81
Topic: astronomy/space exploration
Computers, Spies & Private Lives
NOVA reports on the potential danger of modern computers that
gather "routine" information about our daily lives as we buy
things, go to the hospital, or make donations. Computers can
know more about us than our closest friends. NOVA examines how
much of that personal information is readily shared with other
computers.
Original broadcast date: 09/27/81
Topic: technology/computers
Why America Burns
More people die in fires in the US than in any other
industrialized country. In an alarming report that challenges
the complacency of the US fire prevention establishment, NOVA
uncovers glaring gaps in our defenses against flames that
kill. Sealing any one of these gaps might save thousands of
lives and prevent enormous pain and misery.
Original broadcast date: 10/04/81
Topic: social sciences/miscellaneous
Great Violin Mystery (The)
A great secret lies locked inside the master violins created
by Italian craftsmen like Antonio Stradivari in the 17th and
18th centuries. Now, a Wisconsin physicist, working alone in
his cellar, may have solved the violin mystery.
Original broadcast date: 10/11/81
Topic: technology/engineering
Cosmic Fire
A NOVA showing the extraordinary discoveries of X-ray
astronomy. This new science has revealed that our universe is
much stranger and more violent than ever imagined, filled with
neutrons, stars, exploding galaxies, quasars and black
holes—a universe seething with energy, bursting across
vast distances of space and time.
Original broadcast date: 10/18/81
Topic: astronomy/space exploration
Locusts: War Without End
Called the "teeth of the wind" by those who have battled them
for centuries, locusts continue to plague hundreds of millions
of people. Rare desert rains transforms locusts from harmless
grasshoppers to voracious swarms capable of destroying all
vegetation in their path. NOVA reveals some of man's latest
attempts to rid himself of his age-old enemy, the locust.
Original broadcast date: 10/25/81
Topic: plants/agriculture
Did Darwin Get It Wrong?
The controversy which exploded a century ago when Charles
Darwin published "The Origin of Species" is erupting again
with new facts and emotion. NOVA explores challenges to the
theory of evolution coming from evidence in fossils, from
biology laboratories, and Creationists.
Original broadcast date: 11/01/81
Topic: science/methods, ethics & education
Artists in the Lab
Many were delighted by the extraordinary special effects in
movies like "2001" and" Star Wars," but few realized how their
magic relied on technologies as futuristic as their science
fiction plots. NOVA introduces 20th century pioneers who use
computers and lasers to create an extraordinary array of
strange, exciting new art forms.
Original broadcast date: 11/15/81
Topic: photography/film
Notes of a Biology Watcher: A Film With Lewis Thomas
You are not alone! Like it or not, every human being and
virtually every living creature is, in a sense, owned and
operated by legions of prehistoric organisms, hordes of them
in each cell in the body. That is one of the startling
revelations as NOVA explores the mysterious wonder of life
with Dr. Lewis Thomas, a leading biologist and award-winning
author described by Time as "quite possibly the best essayist
on science anywhere in the world."
Original broadcast date: 11/22/81
Topic: biography
City Spaces, Human Places
William H. Whyte's insightful and humorous look at city parks,
plazas and streets, and the people who use them. Whyte shows
the remarkable research he did over a period of many years to
find out why some city squares and small parks are enjoyable
while others are so dreary. His work led to the transformation
of some New York City plazas from barren to bustling. Whyte
shows how any city—large or small—can lick the
problem of downtown dreariness.
Original broadcast date: 11/29/81
Topic: social sciences/miscellaneous
Twins
Ever thought what it's like having your mirror image talk back
to you? It can be an everyday occurrence for identical twins.
NOVA tells the incredible story of scientific research on
twins—a field marked by brazen and damaging fraud, but
also by suprising and important new discoveries about nature's
recipe of heredity and environment which makes us all unique
individuals.
Original broadcast date: 12/06/81
Topic: genetics