Lynn Poole sets the scene of Shays' Rebellion in 1787 Massachusetts, and American history professor Charles Barker, with the assistance of costumed actors, fills in the details. This first political protest after the American Revolution was a precursor of Jacksonian democracy and led to the creation of the U.S. Constitution. At issue were the farmers caught between mounting debts and insufficient gold-backed paper currency in circulation. In numerous towns in western Massachusetts, such as Northampton, Worcester, Great Barrington, armed mobs prevented the supreme judicial courts from sitting and sending debtors to prison. They were led by Capt. Daniel Shays, a veteran of the Revolution and farmer from Pelham, MA. Gen. Lincoln's army was sent to suppress the insurrections and protect the judicial courts. On January 25, 1787, Shays' rebels attacked the arsenal at Springfield, MA, but were rebuffed by Gen. Shepard's troops. With the exception of two, the rebels were pardoned after asking forgiveness, and the government made the reforms they sought. Dr. Barker recommends two books about the incident: George Richard Minot's famous "History of the Insurrections in Massachusetts" and the historical fiction "Duke of Stockbridge" by Edward Bellamy.

Lynn Poole summarizes the history of the period in which Chaucer wrote "The Canterbury Tales." Dr. Richard Green, assistant professor of English at Johns Hopkins University, summarizes Chaucer's life and the basic plot of the work, noting that Chaucer was a civil servant primarily rather than a writer but was a satirical observer of human folly. The thirty pilgrims of "The Canterbury Tales" thus represent all types of human beings. Dr. Green maintains that Chaucer was an early popularizer of romantic love and ideal marriage and that the moral purpose in Chaucer's love stories was that man should love God first and all other things only in so far as they lead him to love of God. While costumed actors interpret, Dr. Green reads passages from the Wife of Bath's account of five marriages, the Clerk's tale of Walter and Grisilde, and the Nun's Priest's story of Chauntecleer and Pertelote to show that a wife's submission to her husband is symbolic of reason over passion and of man's love of God, but a domineering woman turns this upside down and causes reason to be governed by passion.

Neurological surgeon Walker explains that the brain is composed of neurons, nerve cells that convey impulses to various parts of the body and store memory of impulses. He shows a diagram of the dendrites and axons of the neurons and explains a cross-section model of a neuron. Lynn Poole lists some of the history of the research on brain functions, including that of the early German phrenologist Franz Joseph Gall. In 1817 it was demonstrated that electrical stimulus applied to the brain produced movement on the opposite side of the brain, giving rise to the existence of motor areas of the brain. Using a brain cross-section diagram related to various parts of the body, Dr. Walker shows how the sensory cortex, or homunculus, is closely correlated with the motor cortex. He also discusses what happens when these areas are injured and how they affect vision, hearing, and speech. The association area of the brain is the temporal lobe. Personality and drive may be located in the frontal lobe as lobotomies in that area produce personality change and induce apathy. Additional research is needed to discover if patterns of pathways between nerve cells are responsible for psychological differences.

Seven Johns Hopkins scholars predict what the audience might expect in 1968 in various fields of science. Dr. Dayton Carritt, assistant director of the Chesapeake Bay Institute, considers the future of earth sciences: rockets will orbit the earth and send back weather information, nuclear power will be developed, and ocean circulation will be studied for possible food production. In the area of life sciences, biology professor William McElroy discusses nutritional requirements to relieve diseases, trapping solar energy, the physiology of space travel, insights on aging, and other possibilities in a "golden age of medicine." Professor of microbiology Thomas B. Turner predicts space medicine, electronic equipment for the handicapped, public protection against radioactivity, better surgical methods for transplants, and the reduction or elimination of heart disease, polio, and cancer. Professor Charles Singleton maintains that the humanities will continue to survive as long as we ask "What is a man?" and "What does it mean to be where we are?" In communications, chemistry professor Donald Hatch predicts the extension of television networks as well as 3-D television programs and programs on demand. Professor of physics Theodore Berlin lists future energy issues such as control of thermonuclear fusion reactions, problems with radioactive wastes, application of atomic energy (but not in homes or vehicles), transformation of devices to control energy, and development of solid fuels and solar energy. According to Francis Clauser, professor of aeronautics, in the realm of space travel, commercial airlines will fly at supersonic speeds; guided missiles and anti-missile devices will be the backbone of defense; the U.S. will enjoy peaceful space travel with the Russians; and a rocket will go to the moon. To reinforce this view, Wernher von Braun, in a taped segment, predicts that the U.S. will launch a man into outer space, he will orbit and return to earth. He says an unmanned rocket will also land on Mars. Milton S. Eisenhower, the president of Johns Hopkins University, sums up their findings by pointing out the importance of education in all these endeavors.

Dr. N. Bryllion Fagin recounts the life of Poe and the circumstances surrounding his death in Baltimore. Poe's obsession with death and the transmigration of souls led him to become a precursor to modern mystery writers. Dr. Fagin analyzes several of Poe's short stories, indicating pattern weaving. Three of Poe's lyrical poems are read in part and analyzed: "The Raven," "The Bells," and "Ulalume." Dr. Fagin also notes Poe's reputation as a literary critic.

With the assistance of sketches, photos, and a reenactment of John Brown's trial and indictment, Dr. C. Vann Woodward, history professor at Johns Hopkins University, describes the details of John Brown's failed slave insurrection of 1859 and sketches in the historical and biographical background. A copy of Brown's "Provisional Constitution and Ordinances" is shown and Brown's famous trial speech is recited. Dr. Woodward concludes with comments on whether the end justified the means.

The program opens with performer Elizabeth Hughes singing the folk song "Lord Randall" with dulcimer accompaniment. Lynn Poole briefly discusses southern Appalachian mountain folk lore and how music records the heritage of the people. Virgil Sturgill describes the origins and characteristics of folk songs such as "Billy Grimes," sung by Ms. Hughes. The ballad "Barbara Allen" can be traced to the mid-1600s in Scotland, with several versions of the tragic fate of the rejected lover evolving over time and continents. Mike Seeger sings one version with a fiddle; Larry Marxer performs another variant with guitar; and Ms. Hughes sings still another with dulcimer. Mr. Sturgill shows the typical instruments played in the Appalachians: melodian or autoharp, dulcimer, banjo, guitar, harmonica, mandolin, whistle, and fiddle, and Seeger plays "Black Mt. Rag" on the latter. The performers sing answering back songs, such as "Billy Boy"; Bible stories, such as "Little Moses"; and songs about local events.

Lynn Poole points out the country's increasing need for engineers, scientists, technicians, and researchers. Dr. John Woodburn, assistant director of the Johns Hopkins masters in teaching program, offers courses to working teachers wanting an advanced degree. He maintains that teachers can interest children in science by exposing them to the phenomena of nature, asking questions, teaching them to notice things around them, and showing them the scientific principles in everyday things. To illustrate, teacher Jacqueline Wolfe performs a simple experiment, and students in her fifth grade class from Woodmore School in Baltimore, MD, observe, hypothesize, test tentative hypotheses, and verbalize final conclusions. Dr. Woodburn suggests that other teaching aids, such as microscopes, telescopes, blocks, and models, also stimulate young minds.

Lynn Poole shows a chart of epochs and notes that man didn't appear until the Pleistocene period. Dr. George Carter, department chair and professor of geography at Johns Hopkins University, discusses the possibility of a land bridge from Siberia to Alaska across the Bering Strait, based on human tools found with mastodon remains. Likewise, zoologist R.G. Gilmore has discovered that animals crisscrossed the Bering Strait between ice periods. In describing the history of the study of pre-history, Dr. Carter names W.H. Holmes and Ales Hrdlicka as men who led the opposition to the previously generally accepted belief in the existence of a glacial age man in America. With Willard F. Libby's 1951 discovery that all living things contain radioactive carbon, remains could be dated, challenging previous beliefs. From evidence such as stone tools, Dr. Carter speculates that man entered America about 40,000 years ago. He creates a timeline based on the degree of skill in making tools, the degree of weathering on tools, and the date of the existence of the lake where the tools were found. Dr. Carter also discusses physical geography and carbon-14 dating of tools along the southern California coast. Using charts and photos, he shows how reading California river valley records also yields data about sea level, climate, and glaciers. In the controversial Texas Street site in San Diego, Dr. Carter claims he has discovered hearths, crude stone tools, and dart points corresponding to the last interglacial period.

Lynn Poole shows photos of a variety of computers from desk-size to house-size. Dr. Robert Rich, supervisor of the computer center at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Lab, explains the workings of an electromechanical punch card accounting system, which is an externally programmed device. He shows an oversized punch card and photos of keypunch, sorting, and accounting machines. He notes that this process has speed limitations, but internally programmed computers have both speed and versatility of input. Dr. Rich describes the operation of a model of a UNIVAC business computer, which he says resembles an IBM 700 or Datamatic 1000. Such a computer is most efficient in routine computations on large numbers of data for such purposes as banking, weather forecasting, inventory control, etc. Scientific applications, such as missile flight paths, require a human programmer to write complex sets of instructions for the computer.