A Glorious Accident

Een schitterend ongeluk (translated "A Glorious Accident" in English) was a 1993 documentary series featuring six prominent scientists and philosophers. Hosted by Wim Kayzer, a Dutch television producer, and filmed in seven parts, A Glorious Accident included interviews with Daniel Dennett, Freeman Dyson, Stephen Jay Gould, Oliver Sacks, Rupert Sheldrake, and Stephen Toulmin.[1][2]

During six individual interviews with each guest and a final round table, the attendees discussed their vision of their work and the world with the central themes introduced by Kayzer: "How far did you come in your understanding of our thoughts and actions? What did science really bring us at the end of the 20th century: knowledge or also understanding?"[1] "What is consciousness?" "What is memory?"[3]

The roundtable discussion was filmed in the Netherlands.[3] The film was released by VPRO and produced by Nellie Kamer and Wim Kayzer.[4] The film broke viewing records in the Netherlands in 1993.[5]

In the United States, A Glorious Accident was broadcast twice in June 1994 on PBS member station WNET.[3] In September 1996, PBS member station KCET in Los Angeles also broadcast the series.[6][4] The film was over 15 hours in length.[3] The title phrase "glorious accident" is attributed to Stephen Jay Gould[7] who referred to the asteroid-induced extinction of the dinosaurs which preceded the development of humanity.[4]

Book

Together with the series, a book with the same title containing the text from the interviews was also published in the Netherlands in 1993.[8] It was a number one bestseller in Holland for several months.[3] The publisher summary reads:[8]

Transcripts of six interviews and a group discussion [...] with six leading contemporary scientists from various disciplines on the possibilities and limitations of (scientific) intelligence.

In 1997, a book titled A Glorious Accident: Understanding Our Place in the Cosmic Puzzle was also published in English.[9]

References
  1. "Oliver Sacks - Een schitterend ongeluk". VPRO. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  2. A Glorious Accident, retrieved 2023-01-31
  3. Angier, Natalie (12 June 1994). "TELEVISION; Six Smart Guys Sitting Around Talking". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  4. Everett, Todd (1996-09-06). "A Glorious Accident". Variety. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  5. Goodman, Walter (1994-06-10). "TV Weekend; Serious Entertainment From a Rare Resource". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  6. "USC in the News". USC News. 1996-10-13. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  7. Panosian, Claire B. (1996-10-07). "KCET Needs New Science Formula". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  8. Kayzer, Wim (1993). Een schitterend ongeluk. Amsterdam: Contact. ISBN 9789025403959. OCLC 66099260. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  9. Kayzer, Wim; Sacks, Oliver W. (1997). A Glorious Accident: Understanding Our Place in the Cosmic Puzzle. W.H. Freeman. ISBN 978-0-7167-3144-3.
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