Engines of Our Ingenuity
1,199 episodes - English - Latest episode: 13 days ago - ★★★★★ - 165 ratingsThe 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.
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Episodes
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2201: A Big Volcano
March 25, 2022 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 2201 Mount Toba: the worst volcano and the worst human catastrophe. Today, a very big volcano.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2766: Pedometers
March 24, 2022 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 2766 Do Wrist Mounted Pedometers Really Work? Today, an investigation.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2764: New Math
March 22, 2022 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 2764 The New Math Movement. Today, a revolutionary idea — that failed.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2200: Smart Birds
March 21, 2022 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.76 MBEpisode: 2200 Jays who are smarter than you'd ever have thought. Today, smart birds.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2199: Who Were the Irish?
March 20, 2022 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 2199 Who were the Irish long ago? Today, when the Irish were Egyptians.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2198: Ahead of Its Time
March 18, 2022 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 2198 Getting ready to invent the airplane in 1901. Today, a journal tries to read the tea leaves.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2760: No Math
March 17, 2022 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 2760 Mathematics and the Early 1900s Progressive Education Movement. Today, doing away with math.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2197: Liszt and Petrarch
March 14, 2022 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 2197 Liszt, Petrarch, and St. Augustine. Today, Liszt and Petrarch.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2196: The Future Among Us
March 13, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.76 MBEpisode: 2196 In which the future we seek to know is already among us. Today, the future is among us.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2195: How Far the Moon?
March 11, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 2195 Earth, Moon, and their inertial dance through the Heavens. Today, we keep track of the moon.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2759: Traffic Flow
March 10, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.87 MBEpisode: 2759 Engineering efficient traffic flow. Today, point A to point B.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2955: Friendship Paradox
March 09, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.76 MBEpisode: 2955 The Friendship Paradox: Why Your Friends Are More Popular Than You Are. Today, let's talk about your friends.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2763: Steve Jobs, Simplifier
March 08, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 2763 The legacy of Steve Jobs, who simplified computers and computing devices. Today, the man who made it simple.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2194: John Smeaton
March 07, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 2194 John Smeaton: an engineer for all seasons. Today, the engineer who did everything.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2192: Franklin and Balloons
March 06, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 2192 Benjamin Franklin stirs up the new technology of flight. Today, Ben Franklin assesses a newborn child.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2191: Steam Boilers
March 04, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 2191 The steam boiler as neglected part of steam engine development. Today, steam boilers for the new steam engines.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2756: Miss Columbia
March 03, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.73 MBEpisode: 2756 Miss Columbia, American Icon. Today, Mr. or Miss?
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2755: Tire Pressure
March 01, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.77 MBEpisode: 2755 Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems. Today, under pressure.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2189: Tom Benoist
February 28, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.76 MBEpisode: 2189 Tom Benoist and the first commercial airline. Today, we invent the airline.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2187: Last Survivors
February 27, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.76 MBEpisode: 2187 In which last Survivors connect then with now. Today, the last survivors.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2184: The Aeroplane Speaks
February 25, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 2184 The Aeroplane Speaks: A 1917 book plays counterpoint to war. Today, the airplane speaks.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2753: Henry Gantt
February 24, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 2753 Henry Laurence Gantt. Today, we chart new territory.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2973: And There Were None
February 23, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 2973 The Lady of Mysteries Agatha Christie; The Famous Detectives Miss Marple and Hercule Piorot. Today, the lady of mysteries.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3075: Thucydides, Democracy, and Hope
February 22, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.76 MBEpisode: 3075 Thucydides, Democracy, and Hope. Today, the problem of hope.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2186: Lost Beauties
February 20, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 2186 Lost beauty of old words: nostalgia thwarted a flood of new books. Today, language slips away from us.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3225: Abe Lincoln, Inventor
February 18, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.86 MBEpisode: 3225 Abraham Lincoln invents a boat which can free itself from sandbars. Today, Abe Lincoln, inventor.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2748: Land Grant Colleges
February 17, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 2748 Land Grant Colleges and the Morrill Acts. Today, college for all.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2182: Believing in Magic
February 14, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.77 MBEpisode: 2182 Wondering why we believe in so much magic. Today, we believe magic.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2181: Bergmann and Almásy
February 13, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.76 MBEpisode: 2181 In which a car salesman becomes a camel driver and rewrites archaeology. Today, two car salesmen rewrite history.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2180: Hollow Earth
February 11, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.76 MBEpisode: 2180 The strange longevity of the Hollow Earth hypothesis. Today, the Hollow Earth.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2747: TED
February 10, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 2747 Ted: A different kind of conference. Today, ideas worth spreading.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3077: The Battle of Navarino
February 09, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.66 MBEpisode: 3077 When is a Victory not a Victory? The Battle of Navarino. Today, we ask: when is a victory not a victory?
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3266: New Year Fireworks
February 08, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.88 MBEpisode: 3266 Fireworks, Firecrackers, and Lunar New Year. Today, we ring the new year in with a bang.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2179: Science Breakthroughs of 2006
February 07, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.76 MBEpisode: 2179 Science magazine's list of Breakthroughs in 2006. Today, the big science news of 2006.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2178: Liaison Airplanes in WW-II
February 06, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.76 MBEpisode: 2178 Liaison airplane in WW-II: modest swords made from plowshares. Today, peacetime airplanes at war.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2177: Clifton Fadiman
February 04, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.73 MBEpisode: 2177 Clifton Fadiman and the cult of cultivation. Today, we worship words.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2176: Hoaxes and Surprises
January 31, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.77 MBEpisode: 2176 Hoaxes: can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. Today, we walk a fine line.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2174: A Toy Factory
January 30, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.77 MBEpisode: 2174 The home as a toy factory. Today, toys for us kids to play with.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2172: Forgetting and Remembering
January 28, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.76 MBEpisode: 2172 Forgetting the past, and then seeing it resurrected. Today, we remember what we'd forgotten.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2743: Book Club
January 27, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 2743 The changing book club. Today, a club.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3157: Martin Luther King Jr.
January 24, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.76 MBEpisode: 3157 Martin Luther King Jr's. remarkable means. Today, a preacher teaches us about invention.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2171: Paper Bags
January 23, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.76 MBEpisode: 2171 Margaret Knight, origami, and a machine to make paper bags. Today, flexible origami and paper bags.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2170: Back of an Envelope
January 21, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 2170 In which Fermi guesses the number of piano tuners in Chicago. Today, we ask, How many piano tuners in Chicago?
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2741: Ice King
January 20, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 2741 Frederic Tudor: Ice King. Today, ice heads south.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3056: The Truth About Ingenuity
January 18, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.68 MBEpisode: 3056 Truth About Ingenuity. Today, the truth about ingenuity.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2169: Wave Power
January 17, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.76 MBEpisode: 2169 Energy from the sea -- harnessing waves and tides. Today, power from the waves.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2167: Proof
January 16, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 2167 Proof and Belief: Are they related? Today, proof and belief.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2166: Fitch’s Circle
January 14, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.76 MBEpisode: 2166 John Fitch, a steamboat builder surrounded by the early makers of America. Today, a host of creative people hovers over a steamboat.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2738: Sarah Bernhardt
January 13, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 2738 Sarah Bernhardt on and off the stage. Today, talent or celebrity?
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2751: Mrs. Wilson of the Mayo Clinic
January 11, 2022 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.81 MBEpisode: 2751 Mrs. Maud Mellish Wilson, architect of the Mayo Clinic's style of medical writing. Today, we look at a woman who made medical history.