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 1960: Inventing Speed
December 11, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.73 MBEpisode: 1960 Speed: the grand nineteenth-century invention. Today, we invent speed.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3099: A Case for Three Dimensions
December 10, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.81 MBEpisode: 3099 Gravity and the Importance of Three Physical Dimensions. Today, a case for three.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2809: A Goblin Book
December 09, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 2809 Laurence Housman designs an edition of Christina Rossetti's poem Goblin Market. Today, Goblins, sisterly love, and a masterpiece of book design.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3244: Bias in Face Recognition Software
December 08, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.88 MBEpisode: 3244 Bias and Diversity in Photography and Face Recognition Software. Today, bodies, in beautiful black and white.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1967: Félix Tournachon–Nadar
December 06, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 1967 Of clouds and birds: Meet Felix Tournachon -- Nadar. Today, birds vs. clouds.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1959: Tyndall, Mayer, & Forebearance
December 04, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 1959 In which John Tyndall cuts through conflict to recognize both Mayer and Joule. Today, a nineteenth-century message for our times.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3097: Fire In the Kitchen
December 03, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.73 MBEpisode: 3097 Cooking with Fire in the Colonial Period and Now. Today, fire in the kitchen.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2801: The MTT
December 02, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 2801 The Maria Theresa Thaler. Today, the almighty Thaler.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3098: Reading, Radio, and Video
December 01, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.81 MBEpisode: 3098 The Different Experiences of Reading, Radio, and Video. Today, eyes and ears.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1963: Planet Vulcan
November 29, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.78 MBEpisode: 1963 In which the planet Vulcan vanishes in a non-Newtonian world. Today, I discover a new planet.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1958: Lazare & Sadi Carnot
November 27, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 1958 Lazare Carnot, Sadi Carnot, and learning about energy. Today, meet Lazare and Sadi Carnot.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3096: Philosophical Learning
November 26, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 3096 The Learning Value of Philosophy. Today, getting ahead in the world.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2844: Railroad “Done”
November 25, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.66 MBEpisode: 2844 The American Transcontinental Railroad; The Greatest Technological Achievement of 19th Century. Today, the railroad is “Done”.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3094: Lobster
November 24, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.76 MBEpisode: 3094 Lobster. Today, the lobster.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1806: Disaster
November 23, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.76 MBEpisode: 1806 A brief look at the history of catastrophe. Today, disaster.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1962: Recoil Propulsion
November 22, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 1962 Rockets, jets, and other (inherently fast) recoil propulsion systems. Today, jets and rockets.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1957: DNA Tracking
November 20, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 1957 Looking for eighty-million-year old Adam and Eve. Today, where did we come from?
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3093: Math as Storytelling
November 19, 2020 06:01 - 4 minutes - 1.91 MBEpisode: 3093 How Mathematicians Tell Stories. Today, math and storytelling.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2674: The Royal Navy Surgeon
November 18, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 2674 The Royal Navy Surgeon; Taking Medicine to Sea in the Age of Sail. Today, the Royal Navy Surgeon.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3091: Soil Spectroscopy
November 17, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 3091 Soil Spectroscopy in Africa. Today, we see the light.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1712: Nightingale’s Graph
November 16, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.71 MBThe Engines of Our Ingenuity Episode #1712 Nightingale's Graph
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1955: Stahl, Phlogiston, and Anima
November 15, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 1955 Stahl, Phlogiston, Anima, and Understanding. Today, heat as substance.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1954: Knowing It All
November 13, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 1954 Knowing it all -- or at least wanting to. Today, we try to know everything, all at once.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3089: Steve Sasson and the Digital Camera
November 12, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.72 MBEpisode: 3089 Steve Sasson and the Digital Camera. Today, the image of things that came.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2597: History and Math
November 11, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.76 MBEpisode: 2597 Mathematical models of historical events. Today, let’s see what mathematics tells us about history.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3088: David Henderson Houston
November 10, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.72 MBEpisode: 3088 David Henderson Houston and the Roll Film Camera. Today, a patent ahead of its time.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1601: Dirt
November 09, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.81 MBEpisode: 1601 Mother dirt. Today, let's play in the dirt.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1956: William Cleghorn
November 08, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.72 MBEpisode: 1956 The forgotten William Cleghorn and his forgotten caloric. Today, a historical footnote.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1953: How Can We Use Steam?
November 06, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.82 MBEpisode: 1953 Learning to Use Steam in the Seventeenth Century. Today, we wonder how to make use of steam.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3087: Marie Curie – Mother
November 05, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.73 MBEpisode: 3087 Marie Curie and Her Children. Today, a most Curious mother.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3086: Elsie and Elmer
November 03, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.73 MBEpisode: 3086 Elise the Cow and Elmer the Bull. Today, a successful couple parts ways.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1527: Polio and Clean Water
November 02, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.7 MBEpisode: 1527 How Clean Water triggered the Great Polio Epidemics. Today, we wonder where polio came from.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1951: Poetry and Airplanes
November 01, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.79 MBEpisode: 1951 In which poets explain how the airplane matured. Today, poetry, flight, and childhood's end.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1946: Crocodile / Alligator
October 30, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 1946 Crocodiles and alligators: no tears, but a peculiar senstivity and intelligence. Today, the sensitive crocodile.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3085: Einstein and the Quantum
October 29, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.73 MBEpisode: 3085 Einstein's Bigger Deal. Today Einstein’s bigger deal.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1850: The Highest From of Humor
October 28, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.71 MBEpisode: 1850 In which a shaggy dog leads us to the PUNch line. Today, our guest, the Rev. John Price, meditates upon the highest form of humor.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3084: Leo Baekeland and Bakelite
October 27, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 3084 Leo Baekeland and Bakelite. Today, Bakelite.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1949: James Dwight Dana
October 25, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 1949 James Dwight Dana: a great, and nearly forgotten, American scientist. Today, America's Charles Darwin.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1945: Jeffries Wyman
October 23, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 1945 Jeffries Wyman: Science at its quiet best. Today, a quiet academic.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3083: Gail Borden
October 22, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.71 MBEpisode: 3083 Gail Borden and Condensed Milk. Today, maps, newspapers, politics, and condensed milk.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2841: Imagine the Big Bangs
October 21, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.61 MBEpisode: 2841 Multiple Big Bangs and Multiple Universes; The Fantastical Multi-Reality of Multiverse. Today, we imagine the Big Bangs.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3082: Charles Havelock Taylor
October 20, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.72 MBEpisode: 3082 Charles Havelock Taylor and Hydraulic Air Compression. Today, the power of observation.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1514: The Resistance Movement
October 19, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.69 MBEpisode: 1514 The resistance movement: a look at ongoing evolution. Today, we watch creatures evolving around us.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1944: Ruth Elder
October 18, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 1944 Ruth Elder: A forgotten activist on an old postcard. Today, an odd postcard.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1943: “Modern” Blacksmithing in 1902
October 16, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 1943 "Modern" Blacksmithing in 1902. Today, we learn blacksmithing.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2682: Technical English and Verbing Nouns
October 14, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 2682 Technical English and the Verbing of Nouns. Today, we verb a little.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3079: Rodolphe Lindt
October 13, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 3079 Rodolphe Lindt and Chocolate Conching. Today, smooth.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1490: Germs
October 12, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.63 MBEpisode: 1490 Germs, John Snow, and the Broad Street Well. Today, we talk about germs.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1942: The Power of Air and Steam
October 11, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 1942 Before the steam engine: seeing solidity in air and steam. Today, we just begin to invent the steam engine.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1938: Discovering Air
October 09, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 1938 Three M-names help us to understand air: Meeting the Zeitgiest. Today, we learn what air is made of.