The Nature of Things
Season 39
The Nature of Things is a Canadian television series of documentary programs. It debuted on CBC Television on November 6, 1960. Many of the programs document nature and the effect that humans have on it. The program was one of the first to explore environmental issues, such as clear-cut logging.
The series is named after an epic poem by Roman philosopher Lucretius: "Dē Rērum Nātūrā" — On the Nature of Things.
The series is named after an epic poem by Roman philosopher Lucretius: "Dē Rērum Nātūrā" — On the Nature of Things.
Where to Watch The Nature of Things • Season 39
15 Episodes
- Up Close and Personal: The Ecology of David SuzukiE1
Up Close and Personal: The Ecology of David SuzukiThe program is about the natural history of this invisible world: the things that float in the air around us, the microbes that live in the dish cloth on the kitchen counter, the fungi under our fingernails, and the visitors in the saucer under a house plant. - High Society: Reefer Madness 2E2
High Society: Reefer Madness 2There is a growing number of people who regard marijuana (cannabis) as a benign medicine, offering relief to people suffering from a variety of illnesses, including epilepsy, arthritis, multiple sclerosis and glaucoma as well as lessening the side effects of medications and treatments given to cancer and HIV patients. CBC Television's THE NATURE OF THINGS with David Suzuki examines the medicinal uses of marijuana. - GrasslandsE3
GrasslandsOver the last 200 years, the prairie grasslands of North America have undergone a radical transformation. The fertile soil, formed slowly over thousands of years, has been taken over by agriculture for crops like grain, oil seeds and forages for livestock. The buffalo have gone, replaced by millions of cattle. Breaking up the soil and removing the protective layer of grass has created severe erosion. Heavy machines compact the soil, limiting its ability to store precious moisture. Exposed to the air, soil dries to a powder and blows away. It was a frenetic period of transcontinental railway construction in the 1900s that opened the centre of the continent to millions of settlers. - Look Who's Talking...How Animals CommunicateE5
Look Who's Talking...How Animals CommunicateIt is only recently that humans have become aware that animal communication is often elegant, elaborate and subtle. Understanding how other species communicate tells us a great deal about the history and evolution of our species. - Chimps on Death RowE6
Chimps on Death RowChimps are getting Hepatitis B and it is a serious health problem, which usually leads to death in the species. They pick up the disease from handlers and experimenters when held in captivity. A startling look at the use of our closest living relatives for science. - Man and Dog: An Evolving PartnershipE7
Man and Dog: An Evolving PartnershipThe domestic dog has a special place in the human world. Is it by accident or design? All breeds of dogs trace their ancestry back to a common wolf-like creature that lived some 12 thousand years ago. But what was it that lead to the growth of such an extraordinary array of different progeny? - Weighing the Options: Elective Scoliosis SurgeryE8
Weighing the Options: Elective Scoliosis SurgeryScoliosis or curvature of the spine is found worldwide in about one out of every 10 people. Nearly all cases occur in adolescent females. It's a lifetime condition that can't be prevented or cured. At best it may be stabilized with bracing or surgery. but in the more severe cases, there's no telling when it may start to progress again. - Escape From EarthE9
Escape From EarthIn some ways Mars is like Earth: there are clouds, wind, fog and frost. But it's also as cold as Antarctica, its atmosphere is poisonous to humans, and the sky glows pink with billions of suspended dust particles. Some scientists believe the planet's ecology could be re- engineered to make it habitable for Earth's life forms. This would be humanity's greatest adventure, a mission unlike any we've ever known. - Dead HeatE11
Dead HeatThe Spanish flu reserved its special virulence not for children and the elderly but for those in the prime of life. In just a few months it killed more people than the ones that died in World Wars I and II, Vietnam and Korea combined. In the intervening years there has always remained the threat of a similar killing plague. If it hit again, the medical profession would still have been powerless. - The PillE12
The PillIn 1956, Russian tanks rolled down the streets of Budapest. Castro began fighting his way to power in Cuba and North American women kept house in an era known as the baby boom. Meanwhile, a drug trial being conducted on the island of Puerto Rico would eventually revolutionize pregnancy and be called "The Pill". - Turning Down the HeatE13
Turning Down the HeatWhat is Canada's role in solar power? We're on the leading edge of fuel cell development but what about wind and solar? Most of our national wind energy output can be assessed at one glance here on the eastern slopes of the rockies. In the meantime, 40 countries around the world boast wind energy programs while Canada has none. Why do we snub a potential jobs and a new sector. David Suzuki argues that Canada has no national renewable energy policy or subsidies. - Wonders of the WorldE14
Wonders of the WorldWhat are your wonders of the world? See what some experts have to offer as today's wonders of the world, including the bicycle and the linguistic genius of children. Tonight we'll meet three outstanding scientists and hear their very personal stories of scientific curiosity, discovery and wonder.