Voyage of the Continents

Fascinating series, and I learned a lot from it. The only thing I would change is sound-related, specifically the translations of French to English. As this is a French production, many of the geologists and other subject-matter experts speak French of course, but the thing I found really annoying was there was little or no reduction in the volume of the French speakers' voices so English-speaking viewer's could hear the English translations. It was like two people were speaking at the same volume in different languages, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't concentrate on what the person speaking English was saying. I ended up having to mute the parts with French speakers, and turning on English closed captions. And I did try listening on every sound setting my TV has.

I would characterize "Voyage of the Continents" as a geohistory series focusing on the transition of Gondwana, and Pangea, into the modern continents. Scientists are introduced and provide commentary but there isn't nearly as much focus on them and their work as in the fashionable "Nova" series. The science is also on the light side compare to, for example, the geology series "How the earth was made."

But it is an engaging series that tells the story of each continent from a plate tectonics point of view. So unless you live in Antarctica there is an episode in the series that will stike close to home.

The series is also facinating as a travelogue. It explains in some detail how scientists know, or at least believe, a certain event in geological history happened. To do that the featured scientists visit rock formation around the word and explain, on the spot, how they were formed and what they mean to the origin of each continent. Some spots are great tourist destinations. Others are on the remotest corners of the Earth.

The series also explains how platatectonics impacts life on earth from mass extinctions to individual species. Episode 7, "Asia: The Tectonics of Life and Death" gives particular insight into platectonics' role in human civilization right up to modern times.

So a rock formation in Australia is the oldest rock in existence. But wait. They said the same of rocks in Africa four episodes ago. And is it 1 billion, 2.5 billion, or 3.5 billion years? This is very confusing and doesn't sound much like science to me. It sounds more like fantasy daydreaming. The visuals are nice. Maybe if I turn the sound off...

I've watched this documentary 4 times. I find it amazing. If I had seen this while I was a kid, this would have been my career. I've always been an amateur rock hound, but this was a revelation, albeit too late in life. ButI still like to watch it and see if there are signs of tectonics around where I live.