Editing Jacob Bronowski (section)

==Public science education==
In 1967 Bronowski delivered the six [[Silliman Memorial Lectures]] at [[Yale University]] and chose as his subject the role of imagination and symbolic language in the progress of scientific knowledge. Transcripts of the lectures were published posthumously in 1978 as ''The Origins of Knowledge and Imagination'' and remain in print. He first became familiar to the British public through appearances on the [[BBC Television]] version of ''[[The Brains Trust]]'' in the late 1950s. 

=== ''The Ascent of Man'' (1973); BBC television documentary ===
Bronowski is best remembered for ''[[The Ascent of Man]]'', a 13-part series about the history of human life and scientific endeavour. This project was commissioned by [[David Attenborough]], then director of programmes for BBC Television, and was intended to complement two preceding series: art historian [[Kenneth Clark]]'s "personal view" series ''[[Civilisation (TV series)|Civilisation]]'' (1969), which had covered cultural history, and [[Alistair Cooke]]'s series ''[[America: A Personal History of the United States]]'' (first broadcast in 1972).<ref>Deutsch, David, 
''[https://nautil.us/not-merely-the-finest-tv-documentary-series-ever-made-234658/ Not Merely the Finest TV Documentary Series Ever Made: A reflection on Jacob Bronowski’s “The Ascent of Man”]'', [[Nautilus Quarterly]], November 22, 2013 - a lengthy review </ref>

The documentary was described as "a landmark in television" and "lavishly produced and visually stunning, it impressed viewers with its lucidity and with the power of the presenter’s personality".<ref name="nature_review" />

==== Auschwitz scene ====
In a personal scene filmed at [[Auschwitz concentration camp]], where many Polish members of his family died during [[the Holocaust]], Bronowski walks into the muddy waters where the ashes of his family were thrown, saying:
<blockquote>It is said that science will [[dehumanization|dehumanise]] people and turn them into numbers. That is false - tragically false. Look for yourself. This is the concentration camp and crematorium at Auschwitz. This is where people were turned into numbers. Into this pond were flushed the ashes of four million people. And that was not done by gas. It was done by arrogance. It was done by dogma. It was done by ignorance. When people believe that they have absolute knowledge, with no test in reality - this is how they behave. This is what men do when they aspire to the knowledge of gods.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bronowski |first=Jacob |title=The Ascent of Man |date=1980 |publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation |isbn=978-0-563-10498-8 |edition=Reprinted |location=London |pages=374–5}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Ascent of Man, The (1973) |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/549805/index.html |website=BFI Screenonline |publisher=[[British Film Institute]] |access-date=17 August 2024}}</ref></blockquote>

In an interview by [[Michael Parkinson]] conducted soon after the program was broadcast, Bronowski's recounted his visit to [[Auschwitz concentration camp|Auschwitz]] leading to Parkinson's describing the segment as one of the most memorable parts of any interview he had done.<ref>{{cite interview |last=Bronowski |first=Jacob |interviewer=Michael Parkinson |date=8 February 1974 |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00nyy41 |title=Dr. Jacob Bronowski |work=[[Parkinson (TV series)|Parkinson]] |publisher=BBC Television |access-date=2014-02-03}}</ref> Decades later and at the end of his career, Parkinson said: "if I could save one interview from the thousands I have done, it would be the one-man show with Professor Jacob Bronowski."<ref>Parkinson, Michael (2010), ''Parky's People''. Hodder & Stoughton.</ref>