Shows / Engines of Our Ingenuity
Engines of Our Ingenuity
The story of technological progress is one of drama and intrigue, sudden insight and plain hard work. Let’s explore technology’s spectacular failures and many magnificent success stories.
This content is in service of Houston Public Media’s education mission and is sponsored by the University of Houston. It is not a product of our news team.
Episodes
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2646: On Being the Right Size
Episode: 2646 J. B. S. Haldane's "On Being the Right Size." Today, on being the right size.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3427: The Battery That Rusts
Episode: 3427 Batteries which can use iron oxidation to store and discharge electricity. Today, we examine how a process of nature can be harnessed to store…
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3426: Roller Skates
Episode: 3426 Roller skates come of age. Today, roller skates.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3425: Civilisation
Episode: 3425 The rather abrupt coming-of-age of history told on television. Today, Civilisation.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1647: Houston Traffic, 1924
Episode: 1647 In which we study traffic problems in Houston, TX, in 1924. Today, Houston's traffic in 1924.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1646: Who Did What By When?
Episode: 1646 Thinking about who had done what by what age. Today, who did what by when?
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1645: Pi
Episode: 1645 Figuring out the value of Pi. Today, let's talk about π -- and not the kind you eat.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3424: Anne Nott Brigman
Episode: 3424 Anne Brigman brings a wild new dimension to the early years of photography. Today, Anne Brigman’s photographs.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3423: Protocols Throughout History
Episode: 3423 Protocols: From diplomatic procedures to computer communications standards. Today, we examine how protocols have shaped communication throughout…
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3422: Women Soldiers
Episode: 3422 Women soldiers in the Civil War. How did that work? Today, woman soldiers in the Civil War.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3421: Wigwam Burners
Episode: 3421 Wigwam burners and the dying breath of the mighty Douglas Fir tree. Today, wigwam burners.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1644: Hufeland on Infants
Episode: 1644 An 18th-century doctor helps great-grandmother raise grandpa. Today, we raise a nineteenth-century child.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1643: Athanasius Kircher
Episode: 1643 In which Athanasius Kircher softens the 17th-C scientific revolution. Today, -- after Galileo.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1642: Halley’s Comet
Episode: 1642 Reflections upon Halley's, and other, Comets. Today, a comet approaches.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3420: Dams
Episode: 3420 A look at power-producing dams and their safe use. Today, hydroelectric power.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3419: A Better Spacesuit
Episode: 3419 NASA’s 21st Century Space Suit. Today, building a better spacesuit.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3418: King and Mboya
Episode: 3418 Martin Luther King Jr., Tom Mboya, and their joint legacy. Today, two talks.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1641: Aaron Montgomery Ward
Episode: 1641 Aaron Montgomery Ward and the catalog that didn't belong in a store. Today, meet Montgomery Ward.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1640: Learning Electricity
Episode: 1640 Learning electricity and learning about technological revolutions. Today, we become electrified.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1639: Flying to the Edge of Air
Episode: 1639 Helios, NASA's high-flying almost-satellite. Today, let us ride Helios' golden chariot.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2644: Camping and Creature Comforts
Episode: 2644 Camping and Creature Comforts. Today, taking it with you.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3416: Flying on Mars
Episode: 3416 Viewing Mars from the Air. Today, flying on Mars.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3415: Dorothea Erxleben
Episode: 3415 Germany’s first woman doctor has some hard advice for her fellow doctors. Today, a new look at Dorothea Erxleben.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3414: Bone Music
Episode: 3414 In which bootleg music rides on X-rays. Today, Bone Music.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1638: Floating Airports
Episode: 1638 Floating airports: How to fly the ocean in 1930. Today, let us hop across the ocean.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1637: Natural Magic
Episode: 1637 In which science and magic struggle to become separate pursuits. Today, let's practice Natural Magic.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1636: Of Books and Learning
Episode: 1636 Of books and learning in nineteenth-century America. Today, thoughts on books and learning.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2643: P ≠ NP (or is it?)
Episode: 2643 P ≠ NP (or is it?): an important problem in complexity theory. Today, an educated guess.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3413: Finishing a Pilot’s Story
Episode: 3413 Finishing a pilot’s story. Today, finishing a pilot's story.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3412: Bipedalism’s Message
Episode: 3412 In which we humans (and birds) depend upon being unstable – and thinking unstably. Today, we walk on two legs.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3411: Roland Garros
Episode: 3411 Roland Garros: Airplane pioneer, inventor, and almost combat air ace. Today, meet Roland Garros.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1635: The Sign of the Barber’s Pole
Episode: 1635 At the Sign of the Barber Pole: of barbers and barber-surgeons. Today, reflections in a barbershop.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1635: The Sign of the Barber Pole
Episode: 1635 At the Sign of the Barber Pole: of barbers and barber-surgeons. Today, reflections in a barbershop.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1634: Daedalus
Episode: 1634 Flying the Aegean Sea in Daedalus' slipstream. Today, we mix a magic drink for Daedalus and Icarus.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1633: Studying Calculus
Episode: 1633 In which a Cambridge don doubts his own calculus teaching. Today, a mathematician misses the point.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2642: Structured Data
Episode: 2642 The Importance of Structuring Data. Today, putting it all together.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3092: Description of Arts and Crafts
Episode: 3092 Descriptions of Arts and Crafts. Today, saving arts and crafts.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3410: Fragile History
Episode: 3410 Some thoughts on how history must get written with vastly incomplete information. Today, fragile history.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3409: Pickelhaube
Episode: 3409 We trace the long life of a silly helmet. Today, a puzzling headpiece.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1632: The Sunken Monitor
Episode: 1632 Rediscovering the sunken Union Monitor. Today, we find the first modern warship -- on the ocean floor.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1631: Borrowing a One
Episode: 1631 Learning to subtract 49 from 62: more than meets the eye. Today, what is 49 from 62?
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1630: Creating Nature
Episode: 1630 In which we ponder a very subjective notion of reality. Today, nature changes before our eyes.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2460: The Singing Nun
Episode: 2460 In praise of the City: A fine piece of the natural world. Today, another look at form and function.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2955: The Friendship Paradox
Episode: 2955 The Friendship Paradox: Why Your Friends Are More Popular Than You Are. Today, let's talk about your friends.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3408: When Molecules Bump
Episode: 3408 When Molecules Bump. Today, a historical injustice.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3407: Who Wrote the Song?
Episode: 3407 In which we forget that John Jacob Niles gave us some of our best-loved music. Today, who wrote the song?
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1629: Resisting Change
Episode: 1629 An old book tells about textile engineering and conservatism. Today, we resist change.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1628: The First Red Cross Ambulance
Episode: 1628 The first red cross ambulance. Today, we care for wounded soldiers.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1627: The Medical Genius
Episode: 1627 A shocking look at medications in 1892 shows us how far we've come. Today, we measure how far we've come.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2639: The Space Needle
Episode: 2639 The Seattle World's Fair and the Space Needle. Today, a landmark in the clouds.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2927: Dual Inheritance Theory
Episode: 2927 Dual Inheritance Theory: How our Genes and our Culture are co-evolving. Today, let's talk about cultural complexity.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2999: Hannibal’s Grand Strategy
Episode: 2999 Hannibal's Grand Strategy: Genius or Failure? Today, Hannibal at the gates.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3406: Short Subjects
Episode: 3406 About the Short Subjects that we see, and that we once saw, before the movie we came to see. Today, short subjects.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1626: The Yellow River
Episode: 1626 Using China's Yellow River to contemplate a flood. Today, a look at flooding.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1625: Elisha Gray and Miracles
Episode: 1625 Telephone inventor Elisha Gray talks about miracles. Today, a telephone inventor talks about miracles.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1624: Garrett Morgan
Episode: 1624 Garrett A. Morgan: Black American inventor. Today, thoughts about traffic lights, gas masks, and hair straighteners.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2636: Admiral Michael Mullin and Mathematics
Episode: 2636 Admiral Michael Mullen and Mathematics. Today, leading the charge.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2851: Unplanned Obsolescence
Episode: 2851 The Lake Breeze Fan: Unplanned Obsolescence. Today, invention and obsolescence.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3404: Correspondence Schools
Episode: 3404 The rise and fall of ICS, The International Correspondence School. Today, International Correspondence Schools.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1623: Joel Dorman and Ester Steele
Episode: 1623 The textbooks of J. Dorman and Esther Steele. Today, we meet two very special teachers.