January 1983 - January 1984
Hawaii: Crucible of Life
This land of fire and beauty is the most isolated island chain in the world. NOVA cameras uncover an extraordinary world far from the teeming tourist hotels, one filled with unique life forms, but also scarred by tragic extinction.
Original broadcast date: 01/18/83
Topic: environment/ecology
Pleasure Of Finding Things Out (The)
NOVA captivates a remarkably candid portrait of Nobel prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman, a man of few pretensions and tremendous personal charm, who speaks with the same passion about a child's toy wagon and the frontiers of subatomic physics.
Original broadcast date: 01/25/83
Topic: biography
Lassa Fever
A gripping docudrama about a mysterious, highly lethal disease which struck a village in Nigeria in 1969, and the frustrating, seesaw battle against it. NOVA recounts how public health workers came perilously close to accidentally releasing a deadly virus in the US.
Original broadcast date: 02/08/83
Topic: medicine/disease & research
Miracle of Life (The)
NOVA presents the first film ever made of the incredible chain of events which turns a sperm and an egg into a newborn baby. Amazing photographic techniques give the viewers the feeling of being reduced to the size of cells, following the sperm on its perilous voyage toward the egg, and meeting protectors and enemies along the way—like Ulysses on a microscopic odyssey.
Original broadcast date: 12/15/83
Topic: human biology/behavior
Asbestos: A Lethal Legacy
Every 58 minutes between now and the end of the century, one American will die from asbestos exposure. NOVA turns its spotlight on the tragic consequences of asbestos use and on the current controversy over who is responsible.
Original broadcast date: 03/01/83
Topic: environment/ecology
City of Coral
NOVA takes a spellbinding voyage through one of the world's most fascinating and colorful ecosystems: a coral reef, where the line between plants and animals is blurred, "rocks" move, eat and fight, fish farm, and weak animals borrow the shields and weapons of stronger ones.
Original broadcast date: 03/08/83
Topic: environment/ecology
Fat Chance in a Thin World
"Why can't I lose weight?" It's a question many Americans ask themselves everyday. NOVA comes up with some surprising answers about weight and dieting that could have significant impact on our daily lives.
Original broadcast date: 03/22/83
Topic: human biology/behavior
Sixty Minutes to Meltdown
The accident at Three Mile Island made front page news all over the world and rocked the entire nuclear power industry. In this special 90-minute broadcast, NOVA presents a docudrama chronicling the minute-by-minute events leading up to the accident and examines the questions raised about safety confronting nuclear power industry today.
Original broadcast date: 03/29/83
Topic: technology/energy
Signs of the Apes, Songs of the Whales
The dream of talking with animals has been with us for centuries. NOVA explores the latest research, from language experiments with dolphins and apes to studies of animal calls in the wild.
Original broadcast date: 10/11/83
Topic: animal biology/behavior
Artificial Heart (The)
Seattle dentist Barney Clark received the first complete artificial heart implant in 1982 and lived on for three post-operative months. NOVA investigates the risk, costs and controversies surrounding the development of the artificial heart.
Original broadcast date: 10/18/83
Topic: medicine/health care & surgery
Talking Turtle
NOVA looks at computers in the classroom through the eyes of MIT's Seymour Papert, father of the Turtle—a computerized robot that crawls on the floor and talks in versatile language even five-year-olds can learn.
Original broadcast date: 10/25/83
Topic: technology/computers
Papua New Guinea: Anthropology on Trial
Remote tribes and exotic islanders have been made known to the world through the lens of anthropology. But in recent years, some of these people have begun to object. NOVA travels to Margaret Mead's Papua New Guinea and looks at anthropology from the other side.
Original broadcast date: 11/01/83
Topic: anthropology/culture
To Live Until You Die: The Work of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross has become a legend in her lifetime for her work with the dying. For the first time on American television, her explorations with patients are captured in film, as NOVA presents an intimate portrait of the Swiss-born psychiatrist at work.
Original broadcast date: 11/08/83
Topic: biography
Magic Way of Going: The Story of Thoroughbreds (A)
Can the thoroughbred horse run any faster? NOVA examines the billion-dollar horse racing industry in its search for the magic combination of speed, stamina and the will to win.
Original broadcast date: 11/15/89
Topic: animal biology/behavior
Normal Face: The Wonders of Plastic Surgery (A)
When plastic surgeons repair the shattered face of a soldier or rescue a child from a disfiguring disease, the victory is more than skin-deep. NOVA looks at the history, heroes and miracles of plastic surgery in mending the accidents of war and birth.
Original broadcast date: 11/22/83
Topic: medicine/health care & surgery
Captives of Care
Patients at an Australian institution for the severely handicapped rebel against a pair of over-zealous custodians. This astonishing true story was filmed as a docudrama, written and performed by the patients themselves.
Original broadcast date: 11/29/83
Topic: medicine/health care & surgery
Twenty-Five Years in Space
As the American space program celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, NOVA chronicles the effects of the space age on earth, drawing on popular music, film and television archives from the last quarter of a century.
Original broadcast date: 12/06/83
Topic: astronomy/space exploration
Nuclear Strategy for Beginners
Will nuclear weapons deter World War III or only make it more likely? NOVA explores the military strategies of the nuclear age, now that the challenge may no longer be to win global war but to prevent it.
Original broadcast date: 12/13/83
Topic: technology/weapons & warfare
Climate Crisis (The)
This summer's record temperatures may be one of the signs that the earth's atmosphere is warming up. NOVA looks at the climate predictions and hazard warnings for the next century, based on the effects of our soaring consumption of fossil fuels.
Original broadcast date: 12/20/83
Topic: environment/ecology
Eyes Over China
NOVA documents a dramatic encounter in international medicine when an American plane lands in China—equipped with a state-of-the-art eye-operating theater—and two very different medical systems meet eyeball to eyeball.
Original broadcast date: 12/27/84
Topic: medicine/health care & surgery
Alcoholism: Life Under The Influence
In a culture laced with alcohol, the search for a scientific understanding of alcoholism is as complex as the disease. In an interdisciplinary report, NOVA looks at the many faces of alcoholism—medical, historical and social.
Original broadcast date: 01/10/84
Topic: human biology/behavior
