About this season
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.
Episodes (24)
1. Episode 1
Aired 6 January 1963
Series consultant Lister Sinclair is host on season's opener on which he explains how scientists approach their work and how The Nature of Things will present scientific items.
2. Brainwashing
Aired 13 January 1963
British psychaitrist Dr William Sargeant discusses and illustrates various brainwashing techniques such as weakening of mind.
3. Tubes To Transistors
Aired 20 January 1963
Hosts Dr Patterson Hume and Dr Donald Ivey of University of Toronto talk about electronics age brought about by vacuum tube and transistor.
4. From Water To Land
Aired 27 January 1963
Palaeontologist Dr Alfred S. Romer of Harvard University explains evolution of lungs, legs, and a new kind of egg in aquatic creatures.
5. Chemistry Of Salt
Aired 3 February 1963
Dr Fred H. Knelman of Montreal, talks about sources and chemistry of salt and industrial applications of salt and its components.
6. Ear Operation
Aired 10 February 1963
Film of an ear operation from BBC series YOUR LIFE IN THEIR HANDS, with commentary by Dr Hugh Barber, Toronto ear specialist.
7. The Way The Ball Bounces
Aired 17 February 1963
Professors Donald Ivey and Patterson Hume demonstrate principles behind bounce in a rubber ball.
8. Lie Detectors
Aired 24 February 1963
This program examines autonomic nervous system, how it works, and what it can reveal.
9. Smoking And Lung Cancer
Aired 3 March 1963
In cooperation with National Cancer Institute and Canadian Cancer Society, today's show explores results of years of lung-cancer research in Britain and North America.
10. Science Museum
Aired 10 March 1963
To commemorate the Canadian Centennial in 1967 it has been proposed that Canada build a national museum of science. The program includes filmed demonstrations of how science and technology can be made meaningful to the general public.
11. Tornadoes
Aired 24 March 1963
12. The Descent of Man
Aired 31 March 1963
Recent fossil discoveries in Africa have shed new light on the ancestry and evolution of man. Guest Dr. L.S.B. Leakey, renowned British anthropologist and paleontologist, unearthed fossil remains in the Olduvai Gorge that have extended the time scale of human evolution from 500,000 to two million years or more. A deductive story in anthropology and paleontology is told as Dr. Leakey describes his finds and interprets their significance
13. Isaac Newton
Aired 7 April 1963
Series consultant Lister Sinclair pays tribute to Sir Isaac Newton. The program attempts to capture the spirit of the time through the words of Newton himself and those of his contemporaries
14. New Atoms For Old
Aired 14 April 1963
15. Car Crashes
Aired 21 April 1963
What happens in a car crash - to car and to its occupants? What causes a crash?
16. Bird Migration
Aired 5 May 1963
17. Fact & Fiction
Aired 12 May 1963
Hosts Dr Donald Ivey and Dr Patterson Hume of University of Toronto, contrast observation to synthesis.
18. Code of Life
Aired 19 May 1963
Dr Louis Siminovitch, Professor of Medical Biophysics at University of Toronto, discusses what is currently known about heredity.
19. The Chemistry Of Bread
Aired 26 May 1963
Baking bread may be a familiar process, but it is by no means a simple one. A very great number of fundamental chemical actions are demonstrated in baking of one loaf of bread
20. The Infra-Red
Aired 2 June 1963
Detection of heatwaves by Special infra-red receptors has many industrial, military and other uses.
21. Human Overpopulation
Aired 9 June 1963
In aftermath of industrial revolution, with scientific advances offsetting human control, human species has experienced an increase so explosive that grave doubts are now held about future food supply.
22. Mars
Aired 16 June 1963
23. Spiders
Aired 23 June 1963
24. Hypnosis
Aired 30 June 1963