"The big spin: The greatest medical accident in history starts a trail that leads to Helen of Troy, 17th century flower-power, the invention of soda pop and earthquake detection."--Container. "Bright ideas: A Baltimore man invented the bottle, which led to razors, clock springs, and the Hubbell telescope."--Container. "Making waves: Hairdressers, Gold Rush miners, Irish potato farmers and English parliamentarians are really tied together."--Container. "Routes:...

"Hit the water: From the cockpit of a Tornado Fighter Bomber, dip into the history of margarine, dance at the ballet Copella, and blow up a dam in Norway with a British commando team to find out why and how Hitler never harnessed heavy water and the A-Bomb."--Container. "In touch: An American scientist ponders the problem of nuclear fusion in 1951 and from the connections between the Eiffel Tower to modern oceanography, the Global Net is developed."--Container....

"One word: One medieval word kicks off the investigation into different cultures with the same stories that ends in cultural anthropology."--Container. "Sign here: Dutch piracy starts international law and French probability math, phonetics, and Victorian seances."--Container. "Better than the real thing: How the zipper started with technology Jefferson picked up in Paris during a row about Creation."--Container. "Flexible response: Robin Hood...

"Feedback: Electronic agents may be our servants using feedback mathematics that won World War II based on an idea from France's vineyards where the Humane Society began while a doctor in Michigan created cornflakes."--Container. "What's in a name?: A breakfast leads to corn cob garbage used for 'furfan' which creates resin for bonding that leads to inventing the tractor and diesal engine and to the creation of the Smithsonian in Washington, DC."--Container....

"Drop the apple: The benefactor of the Smithsonian discovered the mineral calamine that gives off electricity used to play records leading to Albert Einstein's theory of relativity and the creation of the atomic bomb."--Container. "An invisible object: Connect black holes with fast food by travelling along the Pony Express, looking into a Sultan's finances, and discovering why beer is chilled. Along the way, go to a queen's party, see Buffalo Bill's...

This DVD takes young viewers on a journey through time to explore some of the world's most remarkable inventions in the areas of communication, transportation, agriculture and medicine. Students will learn what an invention is, how inventions have influenced society over time and the history of patents.

James Burke examines how various scientific, historical and social factors gave rise to technological advances, including atomic weapons, nautical navigation and a growing dependence on technology. Part 1: Beginning in Egypt the program explains how plowing, building, writing, taxation, and astronomy began and how they became interdependent. Man's present dependence on complex technological networks is illustrated with a reconstruction of the New...

A series presenting science as a detective story illustrating the connections between events of the past and inventions of the future. Part 5: Traces the connection between medieval astrology, ancient Greek medical manuscripts, the need for precise measuring devices and the invention of such things as the telescope, forged steel and interchangeable machine parts. Part 6: Details many of the changes in building construction and energy usage which occurred...

A series presenting science as a detective story illustrating the connections between events of the past and inventions of the future. Part 7: Traces the connection between mercantile competition between the British and Dutch in the 17th century, the development of coal-tar pitch to protect ship hulls and its replacement by copper, the creation of waterproffed clothing, gaslight lamps and nylon. Part 8: When Napoleon marched across Europe, he needed...

Join best-selling author Steven Johnson to hear extraordinary stories behind remarkable ideas that made modern life possible, the unsung heroes who brought them about, and the unexpected and bizarre consequences each of these innovations triggered.