Summary: At the time of the fall of the Roman Empire in the West and the Dark Ages that followed, India experienced a series of great flowerings of culture, both in the north and the south. In this program, Michael Wood shows viewers some of the amazing achievements of India during this time. Breakthroughs in astronomy and mathematics, mastery of wrought iron and bronze technologies, island conquests...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
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Summary: This program featuring Michael Wood takes viewers to the India of the early centuries AD, a time that saw Indian civilization grow into a major participant in the first global economy as trade enriched it through contact and exchange. The rediscovered site of Rome's most significant trading port in India and a trip to Madurai, the ancient capital of South India, offer insights into the spice...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: Beginning in the strange and chaotic world of war financing, this program explores the origins and development of bond trading. Historian Niall Ferguson profiles military backers and bankrollers through the centuries, linking their activities to the rise and fall of governments, the volatile fortunes of their constituents, and the fluctuations of global markets. Viewers will learn about Sir...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: The fifth installment of Michael Wood's journey through Indian history moves on to the time of the Renaissance in Europe, when India was the richest, most populous civilization in the world. The major focus is on the history of the Mogul Empire, its legacy, and the rulers most readily associated with it: the redoubtable Babur, founder of the Mogul dynasty, and his grandson Akbar the Great. The...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: The second installment of Michael Wood's journey through Indian history covers the Age of Buddha, the incursions of the ancient Greeks, and the rule of Emperor Ashoka as they relate to the enduring power of Indian ideas. Drawing upon archaeology, living traditions, legends, and India's "Rosetta stone," Wood explores the imperishable principle of nonviolence and the tenets of Buddhism as he...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program looks at identity and the roots of India's famous "unity in diversity." Using all the tools available to the historical detective-archaeology, cultural anthropology, climatology, DNA research, and more-Michael Wood takes viewers to Kerala to witness surviving human sounds and rituals that predate spoken language; to a village in Tamil Nadu where everyone still bears the genetic...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: In this program, Michael Wood tells how a foreign multinational, Britain's East India Company, gradually and almost by chance took power over great swathes of the Indian subcontinent; how after the shock of the 1857 Sepoy Rebellion, the British state assumed total control over the country and transformed it into the Raj; and how the freedom movement, epitomized by Mahatma Gandhi, succeeded in...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: How did the American credit market become so entwined with—and dependent on—Chinese lending? This program examines the rise and potential decline of “Chimerica,” the financial marriage between two of the world’s biggest economic powers. Historian Niall Ferguson shows how the Chinese “savings glut” led to excessively easy American borrowing and prompted the subprime mortgage crisis of 2007....
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: From “promises to pay” on ancient Babylonian tablets to the insolvency of present-day consumerist America, this program explains the origins of credit and debt and why credit networks are central to civilization. Historian Niall Ferguson examines financial transactions recorded in cuneiform; the transition from Roman numerals to Arabic symbols for greater speed and efficiency among medieval...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Giving equal time to two vital accounting topics, this program explains how accountants handle assets and payroll. The video begins with the acquisition and retention of tangible fixed assets through capital expenditures and revenue expenditures. Then, methods of accounting for tangible fixed assets with respect to depreciation and disposal are presented. Allocation of an asset's cost over its...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Contrary to widespread perception, real estate is no different than any other financial asset—its value can plunge. This program examines the volatility of property investment and the ramifications of buying and selling bulk mortgages and mortgage-backed securities. Beginning with an example from British history, scholar Niall Ferguson discusses the fate of the 2nd Duke of Buckingham, whose...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Insights into immune system disorders are unlocking new treatments for rheumatoid arthritis. Many of these innovative approaches are explored in this program, such as experimental drugs that suppress messenger proteins, treatments to regenerate cartilage through the use of stem cells, and the cultivation of chondrocyte cells in the lab. The program looks at detection and treatment of reactive...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Life is risky—which is why people buy insurance. But when disaster overwhelms conventional insurance systems, should the state step in? In this program, economics expert Niall Ferguson travels to post-Katrina New Orleans to evaluate the free market’s ability to help victims of the catastrophe. Ferguson then delves into one of the earliest insurance schemes, the Scottish Ministers’ Widows Fund;...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Heart valves fabricated from the body's own cells are durable and are not rejected. Stimulating the natural growth of blood vessels to skirt clogged ones could make elaborate bypass surgery obsolete. As this program shows, these are some of the tools, either in use or under development, that place vascular science at the forefront of medicine. The program also highlights innovations in...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Keeping track of inventory is a crucial yet challenging process-and the more raw materials, components, and products a company has, the more challenging it gets. This program explores key aspects of managing inventory while keeping an eye on how inventory figures impact a company's bottom line. First, the physical counting process is illustrated, including special situations such as figuring...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: The Pap smear was a diagnostic milestone in detecting precancerous cells. Researchers are developing similar tests, particularly ones based on genetic predisposition, as they learn to home in on other cancers. As this program illustrates, sophisticated screening is just one of the ways medicine has advanced the fight against a dreaded disease. The program also looks at the targeted destruction...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Because of constant use of disinfectants, a hospital is a place where only the fittest microbes survive, a dilemma that raises the stakes of even routine surgical procedures. This program looks at how germs develop partial or total antibiotic resistance and how researchers are pursuing new lines of attack to keep pace with these highly adaptive organisms. Computer imaging and electron...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Perhaps the most intriguing field of medicine is the one that seeks to understand consciousness itself. This program provides a tour of the most advanced work in brain research and cognitive science, as well as the latest applications of these discoveries in treating patients with brain disorders. Using MRI and EEG to determine areas of brain activity, researchers explore the connection between...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Why do stock markets produce bubbles, and what makes them burst? In this program, financial scholar Niall Ferguson examines the origins of the joint stock company and the modern share trading system, highlighting some of history’s most notorious market meltdowns. Analyzing the herd instinct and its role in economic upswings and downturns, Ferguson draws parallels between the 2001 Enron...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program divides its time between the matching concept and the accounting cycle. First, the cash basis of accounting is compared to the accrual basis of accounting. Next, the five main types of entry adjustments are defined and illustrated. And then, with suitable fanfare, the accounting cycle is described in detail. Its eight steps include analyzing and journalizing transactions, posting...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: As this program illustrates, direct access to the eye coupled with technological wizardry has meant that ophthalmology is one of the most rapidly advancing areas of medicine. Both up-to-the-minute techniques and experimental procedures are profiled, such as photodynamic therapy, which inhibits macular degeneration by eroding deposits called drusen. The program shows how microsurgery,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: When it comes to finances, "approximately" is just not good enough. Accounting professionals are expected to understand all the ins and outs of money matters, applying the rules of accountancy with good sense and care. With that in mind, this program starts with the basics, introducing the purpose of accounting, identifying the AICPA and FASB, explaining the concept of GAAP, and spelling out...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: In late-medieval England, English quietly ousted French in law and government- but the move to make it God's language meant bloodshed. This program looks at the battle for a Bible in English, a struggle with huge impact on the language itself. Dramatic readings from successive English Bibles show the language's evolution. Location footage and original manuscripts illustrate key figures and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Melvyn Bragg begins the story of English in Holland, finding ancestral echoes in the Frisian dialect. What follows is a chapter on survival as the English language weathers Viking and Norman invasions, vying with and eventually absorbing rival tongues. Lively settings such as village pubs and markets bring home the lasting influence of Anglo-Saxon, Old Norse, and Old French. The connection...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006