BBC Earth Wind Fire and Water. "To mine or not to mine"

Crystals in Mexico

BBC’s “How Earth Made Us” hosted by geologist Professor Iain Stewart documents 4 incredible natural forces that shaped history: Water, Fire, Earth Beneath and Wind.

Each force is treated independently with a strong revelation per force that keeps one glued to both the professor’s narration and the awesome visuals typical of BBC’s documentaries.

While the forces are separately treated, they are linked together creating a complementing picture of how they shaped history and the advancement and destruction of civilization.

It showed the importance of water and how it cycles where at each stage, man abruptly disrupts resulting in distortion of the natural process.

Experiencing Fire

The earth beneath reveals minerals and metals which when converted speeded up the shaping of the earth.

Beneath the Earth

Wind influenced the discovery of land through the natural air flow opening up new frontiers via sailing.

Fire transformed earth’s natural condition to an industrial and mechanical state.

All forces lead to a climax keeping your curious mind interested and prompting you to beg for the answer which Professor Stewart eventually provides.

1. How did water influence the maturity of early civilization and the wealth of the state?

2. How did coal make countries rich?

3. How did fire wipe out an entire civilization?

How Earth Made Us shows us conditions and dimensions we have not seen before like crystals beneath the earth, fire in the eyes of man, inside an aquifer.

The 4 hour documentary ends posing a point of view: resources are finite and man is exponentially expediting its depletion. The team of writers mainly scientists also presents a perspective that man too has the power to reengineer the shaping of the earth. How? The answer won’t keep you hanging but you have to watch it.

Text by Chito, visuals from the BBC site.