The Century That Wrote Itself - 2013 - 6/10
Century, meaning the 17th (1600’s if this is easier), and the writers, the English.
Presented by Adam Nicolson, this does not follow the poets or novelists.
No, for the most part, he selects ordinary people, writing diaries, letters, journals.
As more are able to read and write, and as delivery methods improve, communication explodes.
This propulsive juggernaut of all this knowledge will lead to our modern era.
So … the skeptical may have to suspend a bit with this, and E03 is marred by fluff.
E02, however, “The Rewritten Universe” excels!
The beginning finds diarist Ralph Josselin recording his daily life, piously thanking God for even the most trivial occurrences in a world mysterious and dangerous, only to conclude with Isaac Newton attempting to understand the mechanics behind the Divine design.