“THE DAY THE UNIVERSE CHANGED,” Monday, 8...

“THE DAY THE UNIVERSE CHANGED,” Monday, 8 p.m. (15); 9 p.m. (28)(50)--We are what we know.

That’s the belief of British author and science observer James Burke, host of this unpreviewed 10-part series tracing the history of Western knowledge from ancient to modern times. It’s an RKO Pictures/BBC production. (The series also airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on Channel 24.)

Each weekly hour is introduced by Burke, a longtime host of science programs on British TV, and producer/writer Benjamin Dunlap. The programs intersperse dramatic reenactments with period pieces and flashbacks to examine the discoveries that have shaped our understanding of the world.

Monday’s opening program illustrates the we-are-the-product-of-our-knowledge thesis by showing everyday scenes that are said to contribute to the Western culture’s self image.

The second program is more specific and more typical of the rest of the series, with Burke visiting Europe’s great universities and early Gothic cathedrals to show how the discovery of long-lost Greek manuscripts in 1085 created a conflict between reason and faith.

The 52-year-old Burke considers this series the third part of a TV trilogy that he has been associated with, starting with “Connections” in 1977, which examined the technology that shapes contemporary society. That was followed in 1980 by “The Real Thing,” which looked at how perceptions shaped our understanding of the world.

“The Day the Universe Changed” completes the search.

“If you don’t know why things have turned out the way they have, you haven’t a hope of understanding the crazy, fast-moving circus we live in,” Burke has said. We’ll never comprehend who we are, in other words, until we comprehend who we were and where we’ve been.