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Dirty water has killed more humans than all the wars of history combined, but in the last 150 years, a series of radical ideas, extraordinary innovations and unsung heroes have changed our world. Steven Johnson plunges into a sewer to understand what made a maverick engineer decide to lift the city of Chicago with jackscrews in order to build America’s first sewer system. He talks about John Leal, who deliberately “poisoned” the water supply of 200,000 people when, without authorization, he added chlorine, considered lethal in 1908, into Jersey City’s water and made it safe to drink. This isn’t only about the world becoming a cleaner place — the iPhone, the subway, flat screen TVs and even the two piece swimsuit are the result of the valiant efforts of the unsung heroes of clean.
1/6 • How We Got to Now • 2014 • Technology
To fly an early airplane required skill, courage and a sense of adventure. The advent of the movie camera meant that their exploits could be broadcast to every corner of the globe, and recorded for posterity. The pilots of Germany, France and Britain who were able to master combat flying in time to prevent an early death were known as "Air Aces".
2/13 • The Amazing World Of Aviation • 2009 • Technology
The invention of TV is born out of a David vs. Goliath competition between Sarnoff and Farnsworth.
S1E3 • American Genius • 2015 • Technology
Learn about the technologies that will usher in a whole new way of life: we will live in floating cities, fly to work and travel in cars capable of operating underwater. And, with new technologies, humanity will find new ways of protecting and conserving resources to meet the needs of a growing population by using renewable sources of water, food and electricity. The era of smog-filled skies will be over, because fewer of us will be driving cars. Where we’re going, we won’t need roads. We’ll be piloting environmentally friendly personal vehicles between cities and under the seas. And the good news is we’ll never be lost, thanks to new advances in GPS-driven virtual mapping. Then again, with the ability to teleport our presence anywhere on Earth, we might not have to travel at all. And, best of all, we’ll all have more time to enjoy the astounding advances of our near future, because we’ll all be living longer. A lot longer.
1/6 • Next World • 2010 • Technology
Ada Lovelace was a most unlikely computer pioneer. In this film, Dr Hannah Fry tells the story of Ada's remarkable life. Born in the early 19th century Ada was a countess of the realm, a scandalous socialite and an 'enchantress of numbers'. The film is an enthralling tale of how a life infused with brilliance, but blighted by illness and gambling addiction, helped give rise to the modern era of computing. Hannah traces Ada's unlikely union with the father of computers, Charles Babbage. Babbage designed the world's first steam-powered computers - most famously the analytical engine - but it was Ada who realised the full potential of these new machines. During her own lifetime Ada was most famous for being the daughter of romantic poet Lord Byron ('mad, bad and dangerous to know'). It was only with the advent of modern computing that Ada's understanding of their flexibility and power (that they could be far more than mere number crunchers) was recognised as truly visionary. Hannah explores how Ada's unique inheritance - poetic imagination and rational logic - made her the ideal prophet of the digital age. This moving, intelligent and beautiful film makes you realise we nearly had a Victorian computer revolution.
2015 • Technology
Cities are growing faster than at any time in history, straining services and infrastructure. Technology-driven advances are at the forefront of solving this age-old problem
The Economist • 2017 • Technology