This is, IMHO, the greatest TV series, ever.  James Burke's 'Connections' series was pretty good, but this is even better.  Basically, it's the history of Western Civilization as seen through the eyes of a gadget-loving social historian.  It shows how society's needs drove invention, and how invention, in turn, drove society.

No, they're not copyrighted, in case you're wondering.  I mean, you've got college kids out there selling these things as "school supplies", fer krissakes.

Info on turning these into a DVD is down below. 

I considered writing a synopsis for each one, but these thing are really taken better with a clean slate and an open mind.

The first third of the first one is preview; the story really starts kicking into gear when he mentions the Ionians, a remarkable bunch who he'll return to in later episodes.  The second one is also important, in that it shows what it takes to turn an entire civilization from looking backward, to looking forward, so that mere inventing in the first place becomes acceptable.  At that point, in episode 3, the inventions kick in and the show really starts to roll.
 

The Episodes 

1. The Way We Are	Streaming	Download
2. In The Light Of The Above	Streaming	Download
3. Point of View	Streaming	Download
4. A Matter of Fact	Streaming	Download
5. Infinitely Reasonable	Streaming	Download
6. Credit Where It's Due	Streaming	Download
7. What the Doctor Ordered	Streaming	Download
8. Fit to Rule	Streaming	Download
9. Making Waves	Streaming	Download
10. Worlds Without End	Streaming	Download

 
Troubleshooting 

If the main streaming link doesn't work, there's no sense spending any time screwing around, just download the sucker and play it from your own system.  There's no difference bandwidth-wise or any of that — it just means you'll have to wait a few minutes for the download.  No big deal.
 

Saving An Episode 

If you know you'll want to save the episode, just use the download link.  If you later decide to save an episode, it's right there in your 'Temporary Internet Files' folder after the show is over.

In Internet Explorer, open Tools Menu, 'Internet Options'.  In version 6, click on the 'Settings' button, then the 'View Files' button.  In version 7, click the 'Settings' button under 'Browsing History', then 'View Files' under 'Temporary Internet Files'. 

If you're using Firefox, Opera or Safari and there's no way to access the 'Temporary Internet Files' folder, open Control Panel, 'Internet Options'. 

When you get the folder open, click on the 'Size' heading twice to bring the largest file to the top.  That'll most likely be it.  It'll be clear by the name, i.e., "universe01.wmv".  Don't try to play it; just copy it to a different folder first, then play it.
 

Turning The Episodes Into A DVD

You can, of course, just burn the WMV files to a blank DVD disc like normal data files.  In the future, you'd open the disc and copy the episodes to the computer for playing.  (Playing them from the ROM drive wears it out too much) 

If you want the DVD disc to play on a DVD player, there are two routes you can take: 

• If you actually want them menued, with titles and thumbnails of each episode and all of that, you'll need a DVD presentation program.  At the moment, Sony is discontinuing the terrific DVD Architect and is letting them go for an unheard-of $39.  These types of programs normally run in the $200-$300 range, so this is exceptional.  I've used it for years and consider it to be tops.

  
The down side is that you'd actually have to learn how to use the program and put together the 10 episodes.  It's far, far easier to do in a modern program like Architect than it was in the early years, but it's still something of a learning curve.  There are lots of guides around, including one on this site. 
 
• For a down-and-dirty DVD, where you select each episode by the 'Title' selection, I'd recommend DVDSanta.  It's $29 and does a dandy job.  Very easy to use, instructions below.  The first episode starts playing as soon as you insert the disc, then you select the other ones from the 'Title' (or similar) function of the DVD player.

 

DVDSanta 

The program will burn the DVD for you, or you can burn it later with a DVD burning program like Nero.

The first thing you have to do is make a folder somewhere on your system.  This is where DVDSanta will copy the files.  If you're planning on burning them to disc yourself, the folder's name should be "VIDEO_TS", all caps.  That's what we'll call it here.

Although DVDSanta can shrink down a number of episodes on one DVD disc, the quality will start to degrade at some point.  I'd recommend putting four episodes on one disc and three episodes on the other two. 

Buy, download, install, fire up DVDSanta: 

• Click 'Video Files'

  
• Click 'Add Media', browse to the folder the episodes are in, highlight the episodes you want, 'Open'

   
• The order will probably be screwed up in the list.  Grab the wrong entry with the pointer and d-r-a-g it to the proper spot.

  
• Click on the 'Change' button, browse to your VIDEO_TS folder

   
• Click 'Create DVD'

   
• Go do something else for a number of hours.

There's an important point to note here.  Speed is the enemy in the video world.  With most software and hardware, faster!, faster!, faster! is the big pitch, but with video rendering, it's just the opposite.  The faster the job, the poorer the quality of the product, simple as that. 

• If you're having DVDSanta burn the disc, a box will pop open.  Put in the label you want for the disc and select the correct burner if you have two.  I like burning at a slower speed than 'Maximum'.  It's suggested you not do anything too intensive on the system while it's burning the disc.

  
When it's finished, test it in the DVD player.  If everything's playing just fine, delete the contents of the VIDEO_TS folder and do your other two discs.

If you're just having DVDSanta write the DVD files to the drive, you can pop open a computer DVD player like PowerDVD or WinDVD and test that everything's working before burning it to disc.