Engines of Our Ingenuity

<p>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.</p> <p><em>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.</em></p>

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1286: The Prehistory of Motorcycles

Episode: 1286 A steam-powered motorcycle, invented well before its time.  Today, the motorcycle rides out of the Civil War.

11-24
03:38

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1285: Carriages

Episode: 1285 Carriages: A forgotten technology.  Today, let's ride a gig, or a hack, or a phaeton.

11-23
04:09

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1284: Mikhail Goldshtik

Episode: 1284 Mikhail Goldshtik: A death and a beginning.  Today, a creative legacy.

11-22
03:59

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2387: Plastics

Episode: 2387 Recycling Plastics.  Today, just one word.

11-21
03:50

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1983: Inventing the Newspaper

Episode: 1983 Inventing the newspaper in seventeenth-century England.  Today, our guest, historian Cathy Patterson reports on the invention of the newspaper.

11-20
04:03

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2502: Computer Proofs

Episode: 2502 Computer assisted proofs: How machines extend our mind's reach.  Today, let's ask how computers help us see mathematical truths.

11-19
04:04

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1282: Window Glass

Episode: 1282 The development of the seemingly uncomplicated window pane.  Today, we learn to make window panes.

11-18
04:11

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1281: A Window on the Huguenots

Episode: 1281 An old religious tract provides a window upon the Huguenots.  Today, an old book and a new look at creativity and dissent.

11-17
04:11

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1280: Visual Display of Information

Episode: 1280 On making data tell their story.  Today, let's figure out how to plot a graph.

11-16
03:55

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1279: Kater’s Applied Mechanics

Episode: 1279 Two Newtons, an old mechanics text, and the fight against slavery.  Today, a moving bit of marginalia.

11-15
04:09

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2384: Sway

Episode: 2384 Swaying wooden roller coasters.  Today, we sway.

11-14
04:20

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2487: Von Neuman, Computers, and Brains

Episode: 2487 John von Neumann's ideas on the similarities and differences of computers and brains.  Today, UH math professor Krešo Josić talks about brains, computers and John von Neumann.

11-13
04:24

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2143: Emma Lazarus

Episode: 2143 In which Emma Lazarus reinvents the Statue of Liberty.  Today, UH scholar Dorothy Baker tells us about Emma Lazarus.

11-12
03:54

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1278: Quonset Huts

Episode: 1278 The Quonset hut: a design with remarkable staying power.  Today, we build an instant house.

11-11
03:58

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1277: Railroads in Winter

Episode: 1277 Railroads in winter: finding our way through the snow.  Today, rails and snow.

11-10
03:58

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1276: A Feast of Lights

Episode: 1276 In which the art leads the mind how to cast light on nature.  Today, light calls up the creative muse.

11-09
03:52

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1275: An Old Company Town

Episode: 1275 Merthyr Tydfil, a window into the squalid conditions after the Industrial Revolution.  Today, let's visit Merthyr Tydfil.

11-08
04:11

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2361: Cellulosic Ethanol

Episode: 2361 Making ethanol from cellulose.  Today, we make moonshine.

11-07
04:21

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2279: Babies in Sideshows

Episode: 2279 In which medical people learn how to save babies on the boardwalk.  Today, our guest, medical historian Julie Anderson takes us to see premature babies at carnival sideshows.

11-06
04:06

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2356: College Yiddish vs Living Hebrew

Episode: 2356 Hebrew and Yiddish struggle for ascendancy after WW-II.  Today, scholar Richard Armstrong considers the world of language textbooks

11-05
04:21

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