The Ascent of Man is a 13-part British documentary television series produced by the BBC and Time-Life Films first broadcast in 1973.

It was written and presented by Polish-British mathematician and historian of science Jacob Bronowski, who also authored a book adaptation.

Over the series' 13 episodes, Jacob Bronowski travels around the world in order to trace the development of human society through its understanding of science.

[4] Bronowski's book adaptation of the series, The Ascent of Man (1973), is an almost word-for-word transcript from the television episodes, diverging from the original narration only where the lack of images might make its meaning unclear.

Apart from Bronowski, the only other named people appearing are the sculptor Henry Moore, and an elderly Polish man, Stefan Borgrajewicz.