To illustrate this concept, James Burke tells the various stories of important scientific discoveries and technological advances and how they fundamentally altered how western civilization perceives the world.

In the United States, the ten-week hour-long series was broadcast from 13 October to 15 December 1986, on PBS and was rebroadcast on The Learning Channel in 1993.

A 1985 companion book was published with the same title, also written by Burke, presenting the same general premise of the television series in expanded detail.

[4] Alfred Unger of The Christian Science Monitor (14 October 1986) said, "The Day the Universe Changed is studded with flashes of insight amid its potpourri of intellectual revelations.

His mix of cleverness, egotism, fun, imagination and accessibility is similar to the television styles of Robert Hughes or J.K.Galbraith, except that Burke is also naughty – like a mischievous elf."