Inventions That Changed the World
The stories behind some of the most significant inventions which have helped shape the world we live in today.
Seasons
1. The Gun
There would be no guns without gunpowder, the volatile mixture of saltpetre (potassium nitrate), charcoal and sulphur that came to Europe in the 14th century. Chinese chemists were experimenting with early forms of gunpowder by the 9th century or even earlier. Mixing gunpowder was a tricky procedure largely carried out by hand under the constant threat of accidental explosions. Gunpowder production was as dirty as it was dangerous. To make saltpetre, workers mixed rotting vegetable waste and animal (or human!) excreta together in large beds and waited for nitrates to form as a white powder, which was later refined.
2. The Computer
In Victorian times 'computers' were people who added up rows of figures. Now they are mechanical wonders - without them we couldn't fly planes, drive cars or even run our dishwashers. We need them, but will they ever get smart enough to take over? Jeremy tells the remarkable story of the computer's evolution from man with pencil to android with sub-machine gun. It's an epic spanning three centuries, a tale of passion, espionage and suicide – and it's far from over. Jeremy discovers that the threat from computers lies not with Schwarzenegger's Terminator but from a much more devastating computer - Armageddon. The computer might yet change the world in a way that none of us are expecting.
3. The Jet Engine
When Sir Frank Whittle was developing his revolutionary jet engines during the 1940s, he needed robust but lightweight airframes to attach them to. Aluminium was the answer. Modern aviation could not have developed without this versatile, light and durable metal. The raw form of aluminium, bauxite, was first discovered in 1807 by Sir Humphry Davy (who also invented the famous miner's safety lamp) but it took years for scientists to develop it into a usable metal. By the late 19th century, aluminium was being used to make airship frames. By the 1920s, the first all-aluminium aircraft were flying.
4. The Telephone
At the time of Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Watson's first successful telephone transmission in 1875, the only wires strong enough to be strung over long distances were made of iron. Iron wires had been used for telegraph systems but they were unsuitable for long-distance telephone links. But, in 1877, an American, Thomas Doolittle, developed a method of manufacturing copper wires strong enough to be strung between telegraph poles. Copper's superior conductivity preserved the integrity of the telephone signal to an extent that iron could not. The age of mass communications was born.
5. The Television
Television would never have developed without the cathode ray tube (CRT). It was invented by a German, Karl Ferdinand Braun, in 1897. A CRT is a glass vacuum tube with a narrow neck that flares into a flat "screen" at one end. The inside surface of the screen is covered with a phosphorescent layer. Electrons are fired at high voltage along the tube, illuminating when they hit the phosphorescent layer. Refined versions of this basic tube were at the heart of millions of TVs, radars and computer monitors manufactured in the 20th century.
Cast
Jeremy Clarkson
Presenter
More Like This
KinnPorsche: The Series
Porsche agrees to guard mafia heir Kinn for his family's sake, but fighting off danger soon turns into fighting his own feelings.
Pyrus: Alletiders Nisse
Six Feet Under
When death is your business, what is your life? For the Fisher family, the world outside of their family-owned funeral home continues to be at least as challenging as—and far less predictable than—the one inside.
Lovey Dovey
When two brothers fall for two sisters, they quickly realize the age differences between them are too big to ignore.
Somewhere Somehow
Kee, a cool tsundere, and Peem, a mischievous rich girl, become inseparable friends. No one knows the truth, though, that really, they've been secretly in love with one another since high school. From handmade pork floss, a gear necklace as a token of love, to an accidental first kiss, hearts will be racing. But love is never so easy, and fate plays its tricks. The two are separated and it will be seven years before they meet again... as boss and employee.
Wisting
Empathetic, meticulous and relentless - the only thing to escape Larvik detective William Wisting in his hunt for Norway's most notorious criminals is a happy family life. And when two mysterious deaths interrupt Wisting's Christmas, it is the beginning of a showdown with the deadliest killer of them all.
Miss King
The daughter of a genius shogi player channels the pain of her father's abandonment and her mother's death to become an elite competitor.
Home School
When children are unwanted by their parents, they are sent to the best boarding school in the country: Home School. However, Home School seems more like a prison than a school with its strict rules and regulations. Its curriculum is unique.
Wake Up
After taking the blame for a patient death, an anesthesiologist battling psychiatric trauma fights to stay afloat in the corrupt hospital system.
Tenkai Knights
Tenkai Knights is a 2013 Japanese-Canadian-American anime series, produced by Shogakukan Productions and Spin Master. Initial reports, according to Anime News Network, indicated the series was being animated by Bones, according to an entry on Studio Wanpack's Blog back in May 2013, although has been since removed. While the series was broadcast on Cartoon Network in the United States in August 2013, there is no word as to when the series will air in Japan.
This World Can't Tear Me Down
When an old friend returns to the neighborhood, Zerocalcare wants to help him find his place back in the world. But what's the right thing to do?
Voice in the Rain
Rarin is an upcoming fashion designer; her creativity is inspired by a mysterious male voice that only she can hear and only when it rains. The voice belongs to Tanthai, a gorgeous model and actor she is about to work with during the upcoming rainy season who hates the voice he has been hearing. Amid many distractions, they choose to follow their hearts and discover that nothing is louder than the sound of their love for each other.
If It's with You
When high school student Amane transfers to a school in Enoshima, he meets Ryuji, a kind-hearted classmate, and the two begin to grow closer and more attracted to each other. Will Amane, who has a hard time falling in love, change because of Ryuji?
Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt
Federation troops and Zeon forces carry out a fierce battle in the Thunderbolt Sector in what was once Side 4 "Mua". The Thunderbolt Sector is a shoal zone composed of the debris of destroyed space colonies, named for the electrical discharges from the metal debris. MS pilot Io Flemming is among the Federation soldiers who are dispatched to the area, where Zeon sniper Daryl Lorenz awaits them on the battlefield.
The Flash
When a bolt of lightning crashes through a police crime lab, a mix of electrically charged substances bathes chemist Barry Allen, transforming him into the fastest man alive--The Flash.
LOL: Last One Laughing Thailand
Oat Pramote and C Siwat host 10 of the biggest Thai comedians in a community mall for 6 hours. To eliminate their fellow comedians, they can do anything to make each other laugh, except laugh themselves. With 1 million baht on the line for a charity of their choice, who will be the Last One Laughing?
Downton Abbey
A chronicle of the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the post-Edwardian era—with great events in history having an effect on their lives and on the British social hierarchy.
Reviews
No reviews available yet.