WEBVTT

1
00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:12.960
The End

2
00:00:18.040 --> 00:00:20.200
Hi there, I'm glad you stopped in.

3
00:00:20.500 --> 00:00:25.140
I was just planting some seeds in this flat so I could have some flowers for the garden this summer.

4
00:00:25.140 --> 00:00:33.040
But speaking of seeds, did you ever stop and take a close look at any funny little dried up things?

5
00:00:33.700 --> 00:00:36.400
Never think that anything would ever grow from them.

6
00:00:37.340 --> 00:00:43.100
But then did you ever stop and wonder where this entire earth of ours came from in the first place?

7
00:00:44.400 --> 00:00:49.860
Well, it's a story that's always fascinated me and I'd like to tell it to you.

8
00:00:49.860 --> 00:00:58.260
But not knowing just how to start a story, I guess I'll begin by, just like so many others do, by saying,

9
00:00:59.060 --> 00:01:05.440
once upon a time, long, long ago, in fact, many millions of years ago,

10
00:01:06.460 --> 00:01:12.880
the sun and the earth and the stars and the moon, as we know them today, did not exist.

11
00:01:13.780 --> 00:01:16.560
Instead, there was but a vast expanse of space,

12
00:01:17.720 --> 00:01:24.060
space reaching out in all directions beyond anything we today can comprehend or even imagine.

13
00:01:24.780 --> 00:01:25.940
Infinite space.

14
00:01:26.800 --> 00:01:28.440
And in all this space was nothing.

15
00:01:29.600 --> 00:01:35.340
Nothing but a plan, but a very definite overall plan of events that were to take place throughout time to come.

16
00:01:35.340 --> 00:01:42.140
A plan for the creation of the sun and the stars and the moon and the earth,

17
00:01:43.060 --> 00:01:47.240
and a plan for the creation of that greatest miracle of all, life.

18
00:01:47.720 --> 00:01:52.000
This story starts with the appearance out of nowhere of great clouds of various gases.

19
00:01:52.700 --> 00:01:56.180
They began drifting toward one another with ever increasing speed.

20
00:01:57.500 --> 00:02:00.220
Vast charges of static electricity were created,

21
00:02:00.220 --> 00:02:05.060
and suddenly with the fury of a gigantic tornado that began whirling around and around.

22
00:02:05.860 --> 00:02:11.640
As they traveled down through space, they whirled faster and faster, thus creating the force of gravity.

23
00:02:12.340 --> 00:02:18.280
Gradually, as this force grew stronger, the outer extremities of this whirling mass began to draw in toward the center.

24
00:02:18.880 --> 00:02:21.400
Pressure developed, and with this pressure came heat.

25
00:02:21.880 --> 00:02:28.720
Pressure and heat so terrific that finally the entire mass burst into flames and continued to burn for millions of years more.

26
00:02:29.300 --> 00:02:35.160
Slowly though, it began cooling down as vast amounts of heat were radiated off into space.

27
00:02:35.940 --> 00:02:43.160
Now whether or not the earth and other planets in our universe were small parts of the sun cast off by centrifugal force,

28
00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:51.720
or pulled away from the central mass by the gravity of a passing star so that they could cool down much faster than the main body of the sun,

29
00:02:51.720 --> 00:02:58.520
or whether each was created separately along with all the other stars in the heavens cannot definitely be stated.

30
00:02:59.180 --> 00:03:05.600
But it does seem certain that our earth has gradually cooled down from a great concentration of burning gas,

31
00:03:06.740 --> 00:03:10.500
cooled down to a ball of red hot molten mineral and rock.

32
00:03:11.160 --> 00:03:15.080
The outer surface has continued to cool and form a solid crust,

33
00:03:15.080 --> 00:03:22.560
which shriveled and cracked and heaved as this cooling and shrinking process went on for many more millions of years.

34
00:03:23.600 --> 00:03:30.340
Luckily though, all the original gases that went into this conglomeration did not mix into one single element,

35
00:03:30.720 --> 00:03:39.240
but instead they retained their original identity so that today we have many different minerals without which life could not exist.

36
00:03:39.240 --> 00:03:44.860
Luckily also, these gases did not all liquefy and solidify at the same temperature,

37
00:03:45.240 --> 00:03:50.400
but instead some still remained in their gaseous form so we have the air we breathe.

38
00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:56.020
Some within today's present range of temperatures are liquid so we have water,

39
00:03:56.500 --> 00:04:01.260
while others have turned to solid and we have rock, the very earth itself,

40
00:04:01.900 --> 00:04:06.220
rock containing different minerals that make them all the different colors of the rainbow.

41
00:04:06.220 --> 00:04:18.340
Some are yellow, some white, others black, and others red, like these out in the Painted Desert in Arizona.

42
00:04:20.840 --> 00:04:27.380
Do you suppose that all this could be just luck or happenstance, or do you think it's part of an overall plan?

43
00:04:28.180 --> 00:04:32.160
Well, one way or the other, the progress of development goes on.

44
00:04:32.160 --> 00:04:36.760
The air carries moisture from the oceans to fall as rain over the solid rocks,

45
00:04:37.320 --> 00:04:42.640
to form lakes large and small, and to form rivers that flow from all parts of the land,

46
00:04:43.260 --> 00:04:49.680
swirling and churning as the waters rush on, eroding the rocks and carrying minute particles of all the different minerals

47
00:04:49.680 --> 00:04:56.620
that originally went into this earth of ours, down from the mountains, through the valleys, and back into the ocean again.

48
00:04:56.620 --> 00:05:01.620
The wind made waves and the moon created tides.

49
00:05:02.900 --> 00:05:09.320
Ocean currents continued to churn the waters until finally the exact mixture of minerals and chemicals came together

50
00:05:09.320 --> 00:05:13.300
with an impact that created the greatest miracle of all, life.

51
00:05:13.960 --> 00:05:19.740
A single cell, but a living cell, a minute plant that could eat and live and grow.

52
00:05:19.740 --> 00:05:29.140
It could create more living cells by the simple process of dividing in two, each part continuing to grow, for it contained life.

53
00:05:31.060 --> 00:05:36.220
Another of the big steps forward was the emergence of plants out of the sea to take root on dry land

54
00:05:36.220 --> 00:05:38.660
and adapt themselves to varying conditions.

55
00:05:39.260 --> 00:05:45.980
This was a gradual step that required many more millions of years, but it went on slowly and deliberately.

56
00:05:47.580 --> 00:05:55.540
The first land plants just fringed the oceans where they were constantly splashed by waves and covered by the tide

57
00:05:55.540 --> 00:05:58.720
and remained out of water for short periods at a time.

58
00:05:59.620 --> 00:06:03.140
One of the most primitive of these strictly land plants was the lichen.

59
00:06:03.940 --> 00:06:11.520
These very small plants have microscopic, hair-like roots that secrete an acid that actually dissolves the rock as they grow.

60
00:06:11.520 --> 00:06:16.340
When rocks have been covered with lichens, they will crumble easily compared to bare rock.

61
00:06:16.860 --> 00:06:24.640
Thus these most primitive plants hasten the weathering and decomposition of rocks, producing soil for other plants to come.

62
00:06:26.440 --> 00:06:32.160
From the earliest invention of cell division plants that came out of the oceans, the process of further development began.

63
00:06:32.700 --> 00:06:36.880
In some unexplained way, new and more complicated forms of plants appeared.

64
00:06:36.880 --> 00:06:44.320
We call one of these early plants a horsetail, even though they started to grow long before there were any horses on the earth.

65
00:06:45.100 --> 00:06:52.060
An interesting thing about these first land plants, though, was that they begun to produce spores as can be seen at the top of this one.

66
00:06:52.700 --> 00:06:58.100
The spore is a single cell that drops from the parent plant or is carried by the wind to some new location.

67
00:06:58.740 --> 00:07:06.500
Wonderful as this new development was, the spore had its shortcomings, as it was vulnerable to the adversities of weather and climates.

68
00:07:06.500 --> 00:07:14.900
Spores will grow well provided the moisture conditions are just right, but in this respect alone the spore was limited as to where these plants could travel.

69
00:07:15.460 --> 00:07:21.380
In the swamps and marshes where conditions were right, the growth of the spore plant was unusually prolific.

70
00:07:21.960 --> 00:07:25.500
Ferns and horsetails grew to 100 feet or more in height.

71
00:07:26.680 --> 00:07:34.600
The lush green growth of these spore plants, the most luxuriant growth the world has ever seen, was at its height 200 million years ago.

72
00:07:34.600 --> 00:07:46.640
And while these plants continued to grow, developing great jungle-like forests of giant horsetails, club mosses, and tree ferns, other events of tremendous importance were also taking place.

73
00:07:47.720 --> 00:07:51.820
A few types of primitive creatures had begun to move around in the waters.

74
00:07:52.500 --> 00:08:01.060
The amoeba was one of the first single-celled animals that could change its shape by putting forth long lobes, and in this way could move about.

75
00:08:01.060 --> 00:08:06.600
It could also envelop other microscopic particles and slowly absorb them for food.

76
00:08:07.380 --> 00:08:11.500
The amoeba, like the first plants, also reproduced by cell division.

77
00:08:12.260 --> 00:08:16.360
Then, just as plant cells grouped together, so did animal cells.

78
00:08:16.840 --> 00:08:19.320
Tentacles developed that could reach out for food.

79
00:08:19.780 --> 00:08:23.180
But also these animals developed a new method of reproduction.

80
00:08:23.860 --> 00:08:27.180
Instead of dividing in half, they developed a form of budding.

81
00:08:27.180 --> 00:08:32.460
Here a sort of bud starts growing, which finally breaks off and continues to grow.

82
00:08:34.060 --> 00:08:41.400
Next, other microscopic creatures that did not look much different from some of the earliest plants began to move around much faster.

83
00:08:41.880 --> 00:08:55.020
But through the disciplined process of creation, step by step, just as plants had developed their roots, stems, and leaves, some of these little creatures, after hundreds of thousands of generations, began to look different.

84
00:08:55.020 --> 00:08:59.220
They had little whip-like petals and could move about still faster.

85
00:08:59.740 --> 00:09:09.080
But this movement required much more energy, and to supply this energy fast enough, a radically new system of eating and digesting food had to be developed.

86
00:09:09.980 --> 00:09:14.360
Here was something entirely new and different, another great stride forward.

87
00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:16.820
But things did not stop now.

88
00:09:16.820 --> 00:09:20.860
The little petals continued to develop into more streamlined fins.

89
00:09:21.400 --> 00:09:34.740
And with this greater speed and necessity for food came eyes and gills, the skeleton structure of bone, and above all, a brain to regulate these radically new innovations of life.

90
00:09:35.640 --> 00:09:44.600
The brain and its intricate nervous system, primitive as it was in this early form of fish life, was truly a marvel of creation to behold.

91
00:09:44.600 --> 00:09:49.200
Here again, though, different forms and shapes of fish appeared.

92
00:09:49.840 --> 00:09:53.760
Nature was generous with color, all sorts of color combinations.

93
00:09:54.560 --> 00:10:01.840
Some were red, some yellow, others black, or plain white.

94
00:10:03.580 --> 00:10:08.620
Just as plant life came out of the oceans, also out of the oceans came animal life.

95
00:10:08.620 --> 00:10:15.300
Not overnight, not in a year, but again through the changes that took place through the force of time.

96
00:10:16.220 --> 00:10:17.180
How did this happen?

97
00:10:17.720 --> 00:10:32.240
The pioneer that led this land invasion was an ancient ancestor of our present-day scorpion, and was able to become an air-breather because of his exceedingly simple, cooked lungs, which needed only slight modification to become efficient users of oxygen.

98
00:10:33.400 --> 00:10:41.960
While the appearance of early forms of fish and insects during the era of spore plants naturally had its significance in later developments,

99
00:10:42.740 --> 00:10:48.940
the spore plants themselves that were growing at this time played an important part in our modern civilization,

100
00:10:49.500 --> 00:10:59.700
for it was the layer upon layer of these early plants that grew and fell that built up the deposits of plant material that compressed during the next 200 million years into coal.

101
00:10:59.700 --> 00:11:10.260
While the great coal-making era was dominated by spore plants, there is evidence that some seed-bearing ferns and trees did grow during the carbon swamp period.

102
00:11:10.640 --> 00:11:15.840
But it was not until after the great swamps dried up that the development of seeds really got underway.

103
00:11:16.720 --> 00:11:27.320
Maybe nature was put to it to find other ways to propagate plants, as the conditions prevailing in the warm, moist swamps changed to those of windswept hills.

104
00:11:28.940 --> 00:11:37.100
One of the earliest seed plants was the cycad. Its seeds are called naked seeds and grow on an exposed stalk.

105
00:11:37.500 --> 00:11:40.860
As they ripen, they merely fall directly to the ground beneath.

106
00:11:41.340 --> 00:11:51.220
But instead of a single cell spore, they are a complete embryo of a new plant supplied with a quantity of concentrated food and all wrapped up in a weatherproof covering

107
00:11:51.220 --> 00:11:59.000
so they can retain their spark of life over long periods of drought or cold weather and be ready to sprout when the right time comes.

108
00:12:00.380 --> 00:12:03.980
The pine was the first of the true coniferous softwood trees.

109
00:12:04.280 --> 00:12:10.920
Moreover, its seeds represented a big improvement over those of the cycad, which merely dropped to the ground when ripe.

110
00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:15.480
The pine cone develops as a small embryo the first year on the new growth.

111
00:12:15.960 --> 00:12:19.640
The second summer, it continues to grow larger and larger.

112
00:12:19.640 --> 00:12:25.060
When the seeds are ripe, the cone opens and out they come, ready to sprout the third year.

113
00:12:25.460 --> 00:12:27.940
But look, something new has also been added.

114
00:12:28.340 --> 00:12:35.140
The seeds are equipped with a little wing, so the wind will carry them further than the cycad seeds that just fall to the ground.

115
00:12:35.620 --> 00:12:38.780
Quite an improvement, but this is just the beginning.

116
00:12:39.340 --> 00:12:43.380
More modern plants have developed other ingenious ways of spreading their seeds.

117
00:12:43.380 --> 00:12:50.320
Plants like the dandelion and the cottonwood tree have a little parachute arrangement that carries them much farther.

118
00:12:51.560 --> 00:12:59.260
The touch-me-not and a number of other plants produce their seeds in a pod that builds up with spring tension as the sections of the pod dry out.

119
00:12:59.560 --> 00:13:04.540
And finally, it bursts right open, shooting the seeds 10 to 15 feet.

120
00:13:05.240 --> 00:13:11.860
As animals appeared on the earth, some seeds were given barbs like these birds that catch in the fur and get a free ride.

121
00:13:11.860 --> 00:13:19.760
The tumbleweed, though, grows like a ball and sprinkles its seeds across the countryside as it breaks loose and is blown along by the wind.

122
00:13:20.900 --> 00:13:24.280
The wild oak, though, is more energetic and self-sufficient.

123
00:13:24.780 --> 00:13:30.400
Its seeds were given legs that are activated by changes in temperature and humidity.

124
00:13:30.980 --> 00:13:39.080
And these seeds start out walking on their own, as seen through fast-motion photography, until they lodge in some place where they can start growing.

125
00:13:40.800 --> 00:13:47.060
However, along with all these improved methods of distributing seeds came improvements in the design of the seed itself.

126
00:13:47.820 --> 00:13:57.940
More modern seeds are placed in a regular seed container, such as the pods of peas, beans, various types of nuts, berries, and fruits,

127
00:13:58.480 --> 00:14:04.340
all of which are the result of encasing seeds within the intricate parts of the newly created flowers.

128
00:14:05.400 --> 00:14:11.200
Here again was something entirely new, flowers of all shapes and sizes.

129
00:14:11.800 --> 00:14:14.020
And again, nature was generous with color.

130
00:14:14.700 --> 00:14:23.180
There were white flowers, red flowers, yellow, and black flowers.

131
00:14:25.040 --> 00:14:33.820
Along with all these flowers came new forms and shapes of insects that were attracted by the brilliant colors, the pleasant perfumes, and the sweet nectar.

132
00:14:34.340 --> 00:14:41.100
But nature did not put color and perfume and nectar into the flowers to attract insects without a very definite purpose.

133
00:14:41.780 --> 00:14:46.180
And this was to use the insects to carry pollen from one flower to another.

134
00:14:47.880 --> 00:14:56.080
The change conditions in the earth's surface that brought about the end of the coal-making era also brought about great changes in our climatic conditions.

135
00:14:56.540 --> 00:15:01.780
The warm ocean currents of the Pacific no longer flowed through the Hudson Bay region to the Arctic Circle.

136
00:15:01.780 --> 00:15:09.560
The vast swamps and shallow seas dried up, and in addition to this, a new series of mountain ranges began forming in the west.

137
00:15:10.220 --> 00:15:18.740
The result of all these tremendous changes in the earth's surface was to make the weather much cooler over what is now the entire United States and Canada.

138
00:15:20.560 --> 00:15:27.060
The winters grew colder, and the snow began piling up deeper and deeper in the land known today as Labrador.

139
00:15:27.060 --> 00:15:32.540
The weight compressed it into ice, solid, clear, cold ice a mile high.

140
00:15:33.140 --> 00:15:38.400
The tremendous pressure began squeezing it out at the bottom, and so a great glacier was formed.

141
00:15:38.840 --> 00:15:44.080
It is hard to imagine the vast size of the great glacier that began spreading out in all directions.

142
00:15:44.660 --> 00:15:52.900
But on and on it crept, pushing its way along across Canada, covering New England, scooping out the Great Lakes, and rounding off mountains.

143
00:15:52.900 --> 00:16:02.340
So much ice and snow was accumulated in building the great glacier that all the oceans of all the world were lowered by 250 feet.

144
00:16:03.140 --> 00:16:10.420
Boulders embedded in the ice left scratches even in solid granite, scratches which helped us follow the great glacier's course.

145
00:16:11.800 --> 00:16:21.160
As the ice melted away, these boulders were left strewn across the land, and in many places still remain right where they were deposited thousands of years ago.

146
00:16:22.900 --> 00:16:30.980
In the state of Washington today, the Grand Coulee represents the greatest example of canyon excavation by glacial floodwaters in the world.

147
00:16:31.680 --> 00:16:43.360
This huge chasm in places nearly five miles wide and a thousand feet deep was carved by the greatly swollen Columbia River when its original channel was blocked by immense continental glaciers.

148
00:16:44.540 --> 00:16:52.640
The rock in this area is volcanic in origin, and the walls of the Grand Coulee reveal the many lava floods that covered that part of the country.

149
00:16:53.160 --> 00:16:59.200
For nowhere in the world today has evidence been found of greater lava floods ever having appeared on the face of the earth.

150
00:17:01.220 --> 00:17:04.420
Partway up the Grand Coulee can be seen dry falls.

151
00:17:04.900 --> 00:17:13.140
The water once flowing over these falls would have made a hundred Niagara's, but today there remain only a few small lakes in the bottom of the old riverbed.

152
00:17:14.780 --> 00:17:22.740
Beautiful Yosemite Valley in California is believed to have been carved by the action of a glacier gouging out a valley previously established by streams

153
00:17:22.740 --> 00:17:27.200
and sculpturing the impressive cliffs and domes from solid granite.

154
00:17:28.280 --> 00:17:37.820
Colorful Zion Canyon in southern Utah is not unlike glacier carved Yosemite Valley in size and shape, but in formation it had a very different history.

155
00:17:38.200 --> 00:17:49.020
It was comparatively late in the last period of geological time that gradual but tremendous movements in the earth's crust in this region made possible the cutting of Zion Canyon.

156
00:17:49.020 --> 00:18:01.980
As the low-lying broad country was slowly raised to several thousand feet, the steady but relentless process of erosion by the waters of a mountain stream carved the sheer canyon walls.

157
00:18:04.280 --> 00:18:10.740
Not far away from Zion Canyon are the many unusual promontories, pinnacles, and spires of Bryce Canyon.

158
00:18:10.740 --> 00:18:24.240
These were carved by the action of many small streams and the brilliant colors and hues are due to the great irregularity and variety of the sands, mud, and other sediments from which these rocks were made.

159
00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:37.260
But the greatest spectacle of all is the Grand Canyon of Arizona, where probably no place in the world presents a more interesting resume of the earth's history that can be seen written in the rocks of this region.

160
00:18:38.180 --> 00:18:53.180
Rocks of all colors and characters, the dark rocks at the bottom of the canyon were formed during the first period of geological time, rocks that have been twisted and bent under great heat and pressure and in which no evidence of life has ever been found.

161
00:18:53.940 --> 00:19:03.760
Above these are rocks of the second geological period of history and show less bending and twisting but do contain traces of some of the earliest forms of plant life.

162
00:19:03.760 --> 00:19:25.380
And with each additional stratum of rock, new and higher forms of both land and marine life are evident, for everywhere can be seen rocks of different origin, some from the drifting sands of prehistoric time, the sediments of ancient seas, the deposits from early rivers, as well as great flows of lava.

163
00:19:26.400 --> 00:19:37.340
All of which tell the story of changing conditions and climate, the formation and erosion of rock, the story of life itself that existed during these early periods of time.

164
00:19:38.120 --> 00:19:51.100
Here is some ripple rock, revealing the ripples left in the sands by waters long since dried up, and fossils of every description the world over help unfold the story of the development of the earliest forms of life.

165
00:20:09.160 --> 00:20:21.700
On February 2nd, 1943, 300 miles west of Mexico City, a farmer was working in his cornfield when he felt the earth tremble beneath his feet and saw fire coming out of the ground behind him.

166
00:20:21.700 --> 00:20:39.640
The story goes that he was unable to beat it out with his hat and ran for help, but meanwhile a new volcano was born, Paracutene Volcano, and since then smoke, cinders, ashes, and lava have continued to pour forth, building up this present cone.

167
00:20:39.640 --> 00:20:46.940
It has covered the countryside for many miles with black volcanic ash, to depths of five and six feet in places.

168
00:20:47.660 --> 00:20:52.840
It has sent forth streams of red-hot molten lava, burying everything in its path.

169
00:20:54.220 --> 00:21:01.920
Here, miles away, is the steeple of a church that is all that can be seen now of what was once a town of 10,000 inhabitants.

170
00:21:01.920 --> 00:21:11.180
Here today, our lava flows in the making, and here today can be heard an echo of the days of Pompeii, of Mount Paley, and Kilauea.

171
00:21:12.940 --> 00:21:21.260
In the beginning, God created the heaven, the earth, and every living creature that moveth, and he saw that it was good.

172
00:21:21.740 --> 00:21:29.600
But forget not this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

173
00:21:29.600 --> 00:21:35.840
For a thousand years in thy sight are but yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.

174
00:21:37.140 --> 00:21:44.420
These quotations from the Bible emphasize indeed that a day to the Lord is many years in comparison to man's day.

175
00:21:44.680 --> 00:21:49.980
It must be thought of as representing an infinite period of time rather than 24 hours.

176
00:21:50.480 --> 00:21:57.420
Thus the many years required for the creation of the earth as seen in the eyes of man are but a few days to the Lord.

177
00:21:58.800 --> 00:22:07.260
Just as we have seen how some spar plants also have developed seeds, so also have there been similar transitions in animal life.

178
00:22:08.480 --> 00:22:15.280
Here is the duck-billed Pilatepus, a small aquatic mammal that lays eggs but also nurses its young.

179
00:22:15.860 --> 00:22:24.600
It has a bill like a duck, thick dark fur of an animal, and five webbed toes, whereas most reptiles and birds have but three.

180
00:22:26.660 --> 00:22:34.560
We have seen plants of every color and description, all kinds and colors of fish, reptiles, birds, and animals.

181
00:22:35.300 --> 00:22:39.940
We have seen the succession of ever higher forms of life that have lived supreme in their time.

182
00:22:40.760 --> 00:22:44.500
Today it is man, men of different colors.

183
00:22:46.160 --> 00:22:52.820
Is there any reason to believe that present man will always represent the highest form in the development of life on this earth?

184
00:22:52.820 --> 00:22:59.480
Or in time to come will some still more advanced creature look back on present man as merely a transition animal

185
00:22:59.480 --> 00:23:03.440
or stepping stone in the process of development on our changing world?

186
00:23:05.160 --> 00:23:11.640
Maybe man's future development will come in further advancement of his mind, or possibly his soul.

187
00:23:12.980 --> 00:23:18.020
Have you ever stopped to realize what a comparatively short time man has existed on this earth?

188
00:23:18.800 --> 00:23:29.840
Here imprinted in the stone of a French cave is the footprint of primitive man left there in the soft mud about 15,000 years ago during the time of the last great glacier.

189
00:23:30.600 --> 00:23:41.460
The story of modern man is one of incredibly fast development and can well be illustrated by the lifespan of a single giant sequoia tree, one of the oldest living things in the world today.

190
00:23:41.460 --> 00:23:46.460
This giant tree is estimated to be about 4,000 years old.

191
00:23:46.940 --> 00:23:56.160
This would mean that it started to grow about the time that Jacob, son of Abraham, led his people and their flocks from the land of Canaan to seek refuge in Egypt.

192
00:23:56.820 --> 00:24:01.400
During the life of this single tree, many empires have risen and fallen.

193
00:24:02.520 --> 00:24:09.440
The Egyptian, Roman, Greek, and others that today are classified as ancient history.

194
00:24:09.440 --> 00:24:15.060
Why have all these empires crumbled? Why cannot man maintain what he has achieved?

195
00:24:15.740 --> 00:24:22.860
The answer is not easy, but the same social and political trends seem to have prevailed with each empire's decline.

196
00:24:24.160 --> 00:24:32.220
The general philosophy of men changed from that of each individual supporting the state to that of the state caring for each individual.

197
00:24:32.860 --> 00:24:37.800
More and more people were added to government payrolls, leaving fewer and fewer supporting government.

198
00:24:37.800 --> 00:24:42.980
Taxes rose to high proportions. The cost of governments became too great.

199
00:24:43.820 --> 00:24:49.980
Historians also tell us that in addition to an increasing amount of graft, bribery, and political corruption,

200
00:24:50.800 --> 00:24:59.300
that other trends preceding the fall of these ancient empires were the breaking up of the home as a family unit, together with the tendency to ignore the church.

201
00:24:59.940 --> 00:25:04.200
But though empires rise and fall, this big tree lives on.

202
00:25:06.140 --> 00:25:12.120
Perhaps this calendar will help explain the relative time of the various geological periods of the earth's history.

203
00:25:12.780 --> 00:25:17.580
If the time since the earth's beginning until today was represented by one year,

204
00:25:18.020 --> 00:25:22.680
then the accumulation of the various gases would have taken place during the month of January.

205
00:25:23.740 --> 00:25:30.100
February would have represented the burning period, and March the formation of a thin outer crust.

206
00:25:31.220 --> 00:25:36.620
By April, the surface would have cooled sufficiently to permit water to fill the oceans.

207
00:25:37.420 --> 00:25:42.360
In May, the most primitive one-celled plants and animals would have made their appearance.

208
00:25:43.340 --> 00:25:51.000
During June, continued great crustal disturbances, volcanic activity, and formation of some of the oldest mountain ranges.

209
00:25:51.640 --> 00:25:56.900
July would have seen the first blue-green algae. Seaweed began to grow in August.

210
00:25:56.900 --> 00:26:01.600
In September, two-thirds of North America were still underwater.

211
00:26:02.680 --> 00:26:11.260
During October, there was further great volcanic activity, and important deposits of copper, gold, nickel, and silver were laid down.

212
00:26:12.020 --> 00:26:14.640
The great coal-making period took place in November.

213
00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:17.900
The first week in December was the age of reptiles.

214
00:26:19.680 --> 00:26:25.460
Birds appeared during the second week, and the Rocky Mountains and first modern plants during the third.

215
00:26:25.460 --> 00:26:29.880
By December 26, mammals were dominating the earth.

216
00:26:30.620 --> 00:26:32.300
Twenty-seven, elephants.

217
00:26:33.600 --> 00:26:35.720
Twenty-eight, the Alps were formed.

218
00:26:36.140 --> 00:26:40.820
Primitive man appeared on the 29th and showed considerable development by the 30th.

219
00:26:41.120 --> 00:26:45.340
On the morning of the 31st, he was already using simple stone implements.

220
00:26:45.760 --> 00:26:50.020
By afternoon, he had begun using bronze, and by evening, iron.

221
00:26:50.700 --> 00:26:54.160
At five minutes before midnight, the last glacier melted away,

222
00:26:54.160 --> 00:26:56.160
and modern man was developing rapidly.

223
00:26:59.080 --> 00:27:02.320
One minute before midnight saw the end of the Egyptian Empire.

224
00:27:03.040 --> 00:27:09.200
Thirty seconds later, the Roman Empire was falling, and in ten seconds more, Christ was born.

225
00:27:11.240 --> 00:27:15.340
The clock is now striking midnight, and only five seconds left.

226
00:27:16.980 --> 00:27:18.620
Columbus discovers America.

227
00:27:20.140 --> 00:27:21.480
One second left.

228
00:27:22.620 --> 00:27:25.620
The Declaration of Independence is signed,

229
00:27:27.260 --> 00:27:31.700
and during this last second of the year, man has built our present civilization,

230
00:27:33.440 --> 00:27:35.580
has cut down our forests to make lumber,

231
00:27:37.360 --> 00:27:41.340
has taken coal and minerals from the earth to build our great cities,

232
00:27:43.740 --> 00:27:48.740
ships, automobiles, streamliners, and airplanes.

233
00:27:50.280 --> 00:27:53.580
New inventions are coming in split-second succession.

234
00:27:55.340 --> 00:27:57.780
We are entering the Atomic Age.

235
00:28:10.020 --> 00:28:14.060
Well, that's the story of our changing world, and I hope you've enjoyed it.

236
00:28:14.740 --> 00:28:17.580
But there are a couple of other thoughts that I'd like to leave with you,

237
00:28:17.580 --> 00:28:23.760
and one is that astronomers estimate today that there are about as many other stars in the heavens

238
00:28:24.300 --> 00:28:29.660
as there are grains of sand on all the shores of all the oceans of our earth.

239
00:28:30.820 --> 00:28:35.740
And when you stop to think that our sun and the planet circling around it

240
00:28:35.740 --> 00:28:38.480
would represent just one of those little grains of sand,

241
00:28:39.480 --> 00:28:45.280
what do you suppose might be going on in the way of life on some of the planets circling some of those other grains of sand?

242
00:28:46.360 --> 00:28:49.720
And then, too, at the rate things are developing on this earth of ours,

243
00:28:49.800 --> 00:28:53.780
as I've tried to show you in that calendar and the clock,

244
00:28:54.880 --> 00:29:01.840
what do you suppose might take place, not necessarily in the next million years or even the next thousand years?

245
00:29:02.720 --> 00:29:05.460
But at the rate things are happening on this earth,

246
00:29:06.440 --> 00:29:11.620
what do you suppose may take place within the balance of our own lifetimes?

247
00:29:12.380 --> 00:29:15.880
It's something to really stop and think about.

248
00:29:17.200 --> 00:29:21.100
Well, glad you stopped in. I hope to see you again sometime.

249
00:29:22.180 --> 00:29:24.540
Guess I better get on and planting my seeds.

250
00:29:42.940 --> 00:29:44.340
Music