CBC Digital Archives

Man Alive: life before birth

It was religious programming that didn't preach. When Man Alive debuted on Sunday afternoons in 1967, its non-denominational, magazine-style approach differed from any other religion-based program in CBC history. After two seasons, the CBC-TV program moved to a weeknight, becoming North America's only prime time program focusing on religious issues. Over the years, Man Alive featured an eclectic range of topics — from marriage, to apartheid, to UFOs. Roy Bonisteel was host from 1967 until he retired in 1989, after which hosts included Peter Downie, Arthur Kent and R.H. Thompson, who hosted until the program's end in 2000.

Aristotle thought a human embryo developed from a "formless coagulum of fluid." Leonardo da Vinci believed the human heart didn't beat until birth, and that the soul of the mother governed the body of the fetus. By 1972, scientists know much more about fetal development. Thanks to modern technology, "today we can see life developing from the moment of conception," says host Roy Bonisteel in this excerpt from a 1972 episode of Man Alive - the first in a two-part series on prenatal development and consciousness.
• The first person to publish photographs of life before birth was Swedish photographer Lennart Nillson. In the 1950s, Nilsson began experimenting with new close-up photography techniques. Around the same time, there were great technological advances in the endoscope (a tiny tube that can be inserted in the body in order to see inside). As a result, he was able to use his close-up techniques to take groundbreaking photos of a fetus in the womb.
  • First published in Life magazine in 1965, Nilsson's series of fetal photos made a huge impact on the public. The never-before-seen images of early stage fetuses also added fuel to the abortion debate - although as Nilsson told Heath magazine in 1994, he "never intended to fuel the violent debate over fetal development and abortion." He was simply very curious about how the human body worked.

Medium: Television
Program: Man Alive
Broadcast Date: Nov. 13, 1972
Host: Roy Bonisteel
Duration: 8:56

Last updated: April 5, 2013

Page consulted on April 5, 2013

All Clips from this Topic

Related Content

The Birth Control Pill

One tablet, once a day: that routine is followed by as many as 80 million women worldwide to p...

Tom Cochrane's long highway to success

In 1991, the musician describes the inspiration behind his smash hit song Life is a Highwa...

Ultrasound: is it safe?

Marketplace probes a popular new procedure for pregnant women.

Quebec missionary murdered in Guatemala

A Quebec missionary is murdered in Guatemala because his teachings too closely resemble Marxis...

David Suzuki on making science accessible

As he becomes more famous, Suzuki talks about his motives for making science accessible.

Morgentaler: the man behind the story

CBC Newsmagazine looks at the abortion issue and the man that brought it to the fore of societ...