Release Date

01 Oct, 1990

Runtime

01:00: (HH:MM)

Total Episode/Season

96/15

Synopsis

Scientific American Frontiers was an American television program primarily focused on informing the public about new technologies and discoveries in science and medicine. It was a companion program to the Scientific American magazine. The show was produced for PBS in the U.S. by The Chedd-Angier Production Company, Watertown, Massachusetts, and typically aired once every two to four weeks. To this day, the shows can be viewed on-line at their website, and continue to air regularly on the national digital channel World. The show first aired in 1990 with MIT professor Woodie Flowers who served as the original host from 1990 to the spring of 1993. Actor Alan Alda became the permanent host starting in the fall season of 1993 and continued until the show ended in 2005. Alda's tenure has been notable for his humble and often humorous approach: in one memorable segment, he became car sick while driving an experimental, virtual reality vehicle. In 2005, Alda published his first round of memoirs, Never Have Your Dog Stuffed: and Other Things I've Learned, published by Random House; in the book, he recalls his intestines becoming strangulated while on location in Chile for the show, an incident that nearly cost him his life since he was in a remote region and it was difficult to get to a doctor. Finally he found one, who turned out to be a M*A*S*H fan. Further, the treatment was familiar to Alda; the historical development of techniques for vascular anastomosis during the Korean war had featured in the show's scripts.

Photos

Season 1

01 Oct, 1990

Season 2

23 Oct, 1991

Season 3

14 Oct, 1992

Season 4

13 Oct, 1993

Season 5

05 Oct, 1994

Season 6

04 Oct, 1995

Season 7

23 Oct, 1996

Season 8

08 Oct, 1997

Season 9

07 Oct, 1998

Season 10

05 Oct, 1999

Season 11

21 Nov, 2000

Season 12

16 Oct, 2001

Season 13

08 Oct, 2002

Season 14

20 Jan, 2004

Season 15

19 Jan, 2005

Actors