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| How William Shatner Changed the World | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | How Techies Changed the World with William Shatner |
| Genre | Documentary |
| Based on | I'm Working on That by William Shatner (2002) |
| Narrated by | William Shatner |
| Production | |
| Running time | 120 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | Discovery Channel Canada |
| Release | 13 November 2005 (2005-11-13) |
| Network | History Channel (U.S.) |
| Network | Channel Five (U.K.) |
| Related | |
| Star Trek | |
How William Shatner Changed the World (orHow Techies Changed the World with William Shatner in Europe, Asia, and Australia) is a 2005 two-hour televisiondocumentary, commissioned byDiscovery Channel Canada and co-produced forHistory Channel in the United States andChannel Five in the United Kingdom. Hosted and narrated byWilliam Shatner, known for his portrayal ofCaptain James T. Kirk, and based on his 2002 book,I'm Working on That, the show focuses on technological advancements and people in the real world that were inspired by theStar Trek phenomenon.
The first hour focuses on the originalStar Trek series and the ideas thatGene Roddenberry had about the future of space travel.
It begins with the life of Dr. Marc D. Rayman, the chief propulsion engineer atNASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and shows how Dr. Rayman became interested in propulsion throughStar Trek. It also discusses how NASA's newest deep space probe'sion propulsion was inspired by the 1968Star Trek episode "Spock's Brain". Shatner also states that "those pesky trekkies are everywhere in the space program," hence the name for the firstSpace Shuttle:Enterprise.
The show then examines the life ofMartin Cooper, the chief engineer atMotorola, who invented thecell phone. Cooper states thatStar Trek was his inspiration for the cell phone, and discusses the similarities between the modern day cell phone and aStar Trek communicator. He also discusses howStar Trek introduced the concept of computervoice recognition dialing.
Next,Mae C. Jemison describes howStar Trek inspired her to become the first African-American woman in space, andSeth Shostak, ofSETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence), tells how it led him to astronomy.
The show also explores howStar Trek popularized the notion of theuser-friendlypersonal computer, and howTrek fanEd Roberts, invented the first home computer, theAltair 8800, named after the solar system Altair (Altair 6) in the 1967Star Trek episode "Amok Time". This led toBill Gates writing the computer programming languageBASIC for the Altair and formingMicrosoft.
Medical technologies are discussed, in particular the inspiration fornon-invasiveStar-Trek-style imaging technology.
Warp drive andfaster-than-light interstellar travel with theoretical physicistMiguel Alcubierre's theories are mentioned.Lawrence M. Krauss, physicist and author of the 1995 non-fiction bookThe Physics of Star Trek, is also featured.
The show then investigates the research work ofKevin Warwick at theUniversity of Reading and considers its links with theBorg. Warwick'scyborg implants, linking his own nervous system into theinternet, are featured.
The second hour focuses on further programs inStar Trek franchise:Star Trek: The Next Generation,Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,Star Trek: Voyager andStar Trek: Enterprise and their impact and how they differed from the original series.
Next up isSteve Perlman, at the time principal scientist at Apple Computer, who was inspired to invent theQuickTime media player by watching an episode ofStar Trek: The Next Generation.
Filmed mostly inVancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the special featured some scenes that took place in locations shown inStar Trek TV series.
The Coast remarked that the documentary is "not particularly well-structured" yet acknowledged that "hammy Shatner brings his A-game, so the movie’s still fun to watch."[1]The Associated Press wrote: "As scientists recount the ideas and inspiration they gained from “Star Trek,” Shatner struts, blusters and soliloquizes about the impact of the show, hamming it up as much as he ever did as the melodramatic Kirk."[2]
The special was nominated for twoEmmy Awards in 2006 - Outstanding Nonfiction Special, and Outstanding Writing For Nonfiction Programming.[3]
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