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 3384: Alien Life Forms
Episode: 3384 Further thoughts about the search for extra-terrestrial life. Today, Alien life forms.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1595: Alfred Stieglitz
Episode: 1595 In which Alfred Stieglitz and 291 anticipate Modern. Today, Stieglitz and photography, art and reality.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1594: The Mad Scientist
Episode: 1594 The Mad Scientist -- he keeps coming back. Today, the mad scientist.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1593: LST-325
Episode: 1593 The LST-325: Thirty old men and an old ship become young again. Today, the LST-325.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2608: Maria Telkes
Episode: 2608 Maria Telkes: Solar Energy Pioneer. Today, here comes the sun.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3383: Mr. Herschel’s Millstone
Episode: 3383 Mr. Herschel’s Milky Way “millstone”. Today, an early Milky Way model.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3382: Disorder
Episode: 3382 Thoughts about coping with the disorder in our lives and the disorder in our world. Today, disorder.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3381: Shuttle-Carrier N905NA
Episode: 3381 The last ride of NASA’s Shuttle carrier, N905NA. Today, the last Shuttle-carrier.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1592: Specialized Language
Episode: 1592 In which we use fancy words instead of simple ones. Today, the quotidian denominator.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1591: Completed Technologies
Episode: 1591 Baroque violins and the notion of a completed technology. Today, let's talk about complete technologies.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1590: The Great Wall of China
Episode: 1590 The Great Wall of China -- a long and checquered history. Today, a 2300-year-old wall.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2606 More Beautiful Books
Episode: 2606 More Beautiful Books: revisiting books by the foot. Today, the measure of a book.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2901: Cybernetics
Episode: 2901 Norbert Wiener and Cybernetics. Today, let's talk about Norbert Wiener and cybernetics.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2888: Strength Through Joy Car
Episode: 2888 The Strength Through Joy Car: Hitler's Volkswagen and American Consumer Culture. Today, the "strength through joy" car.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1589: Pluto (The Planet)
Episode: 1589 Pluto: We finally reach the outer fringe of the Solar System. Today, we discover Pluto.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1588: Nieuport 17
Episode: 1588 The Nieuport 17, early harbinger of the finished WW-I fighter. Today, a case history of technological change.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1587: Early Warplanes
Episode: 1587 In which airplanes gradually learn to wage war. Today, we turn plowshares into swords.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1586: Topsell’s Beasts
Episode: 1586 Topsell's history of four-footed beasts and serpents. Today, a zoology book.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2603: Correlation
Episode: 2603 Correlation and Risk: When more egg baskets don't help. Today, eggs and baskets.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2893: The Magic on Batteries
Episode: 2893 How the batteries work; The electrodes and electrolytes; The Wonders of Electrochemistry. Today, the magic of batteries.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3380: Ergodicity
Episode: 3380 What underlies a term from physics: Ergodic (or Ergodicity). Today, let us steal a word from physics.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3379: Gestalt
Episode: 3379 A look at the overarching meaning of the word “Gestalt.” Today, a curious word: Gestalt.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1585: Dissonance
Episode: 1585 In which the elephant Prathida teaches me about dissonance and Christmas. Today, dissonance, elephants, and the holiday season.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1584: Hugo Distler
Episode: 1584 Hugo Distler: Beleaguered pioneer of twentieth century music. Today, the brief moment of a musical genius.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1583: Glide Bombs
Episode: 1583 Glide Bombs and the unrevealed Rohna disaster. Today, the weapon we didn't know about.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2599: Strange Attractors and Imagery
Episode: 2599 The Art of Attraction: Imagery from Strange Attractors. Today, the art of attraction.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2670: Expanding the Human Environment
Episode: 2670 The Expanded Human Habitat: Our Solar System as a Defining Environment. Today, we expand the notion of environment.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3378: Hrotsvitha
Episode: 3378 Tenth century author, Hrotsvitha, brought back to life in the sixteenth century. Today, meet Hrotsvitha.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1582: Llewellen M. K. Boelter
Episode: 1582 L. M. K. Boelter and engineering education at its best. Today, a great teacher.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1581: One Good Turn
Episode: 1581 The screwdriver: Thoughts on greatness and invisibility. Today, the screwdriver.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1580: Su-Sung’s Clock
Episode: 1580 Su-Sung's wonderful eleventh-century water clock. Today, Su-Sung's wonderful clock.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1579: The Hidden Wright Brothers
Episode: 1579 Five years before we found out about the Wright Brothers! Today, we gradually learn about the Wright Brothers' flight.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2598: The Three Body Problem
Episode: 2598 Henri Poincaré, the three body problem, and chaos. Today, three bodies.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3377: Burning Zinc
Episode: 3377 An 1880 article seeks to anticipate the creation of electric power, beginning with Zinc. Today, we burn Zinc.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3376: Staples
Episode: 3376 In which our common desk stapler earns its name. Today, Let’s talk about staples.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3298: Optic Yellow
Episode: 3298 Gender, Color, and Dichotomy in Tennis. Today, we take sides in tennis.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1578: Seaplanes
Episode: 1578 The brief day of the great flying boats. Today, we ask what ever became of flying boats.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1577: The Monte Hall Problem
Episode: 1577 The Monty Hall Problem and the unexpected value of information. Today, we learn not to turn our back on information.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1576: The Wind
Episode: 1576 The wind and its technologies in the ancient mind. Today, wind and the medieval mind.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2596: Golf Club Grooves
Episode: 2596 Golf Club Grooves: How small changes in technology can cause controversy. Today's episode is brought to you by the letters U and V.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3375: Poetry
Episode: 3375 The complex relationship among language, speech, music, and poetry. Today, what is Poetry?
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3374: Board Game Design
Episode 3374: Monte Carlo simulations and board game design. Today, Monte Carlo simulations and board games.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1575: Fields and Continua
Episode: 1575 Fields and continua: A secret art of engineering. Today, a look at a secret abstraction.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1573: Donatello in Time
Episode: 1573 Donatello: Of his age or for all time? Today, we ask: Of an age, or of all time?
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1572: High-Pressure Steam Engines
Episode: 1572 High-pressure steam engines and transportation. Today, the first locomotive.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1571: Oz and Electricity
Episode: 1571 In which the author of Oz contemplates electricity. Today, Dorothy, Kansas, and the new forces of electricity.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2594: Ptolemy’s Geographia
Episode: 2594 Mapping the World: Ptolemy's Geographia. Today, a man and a map.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3029: Model Citizen
Episode: 3029 Model Citizen. Today, lets talk about models.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2081: A Monstrosity and a Skeptic
Episode: 2081 A Monstrosity, a Skeptic, and a new view of the 16th century. Today, guest historian Cathy Patterson gives birth to a cat.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3373: Thomas Campion
Episode: 3373 Today we meet Thomas Campion: medical doctor, and a great poet and composer. Today, let’s meet Thomas Campion.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1570: A New Light Bulb
Episode: 1570 GE, light bulbs, and the product-driven innovation cycle. Today, we talk about light bulbs and product innovation.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1569: Alkahest
Episode: 1569 Alkahest, the universal solvent. Today, we look for the universal solvent.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1568: The Age of the Earth
Episode: 1568 Lord Kelvin's miscalculation of the age of the earth. Today, a Victorian scientist miscalculates the age of the earth.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2591: Instant Runoff Voting
Episode: 2591 Instant runoff voting and the Academy Awards. Today, what's best?
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2885: Big Numbers
Episode: 2885 Very Large Numbers. Today, let's talk about very large numbers.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3372: Gaslighting
Episode: 3372 Rhetoric, Objectivity, and Gaslighting. Today, we flip the switch on “gaslight.”
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3371: Mary Colter
Episode: 3371 The creative work and relative anonymity of Mary Coulter, and her Native American architecturally themed designs. Today, meet Mary Colter.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1567: Christopher Wren, Physician
Episode: 1567 Christopher Wren: a great architect first learns medicine. Today, an unexpected student of medicine.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1566: Glottochronology
Episode: 1566 Glottochronology: In which language decays like carbon-14. Today, a new word for you: glottochronology.
- Engines of Our Ingenuity
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1565: Hysplex
Episode: 1565 Using the hysplex to start an ancient Greek foot race. Today, we learn how to start a foot race.