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 2557: The Google Ranking Algorithm
August 05, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 2557 Linear algebra, the mathematics behind Google's ranking algorithm. Today, let’s talk about how Google ranks your search results.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2535: Times Tables
August 04, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.77 MBEpisode: 2535 The base of a number system: times tables and memorization. Today, go forth and multiply.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1014: War on Disease
August 03, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.64 MBEpisode: 1014 Making war on disease: a tricky business. Today, total war proves to be a dangerous business.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1917: Etienne Jules Marey
August 02, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.77 MBEpisode: 1917 In which Etienne Jules Marey tries to copy the animals. Today, we try to build machines that work like animals.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1914: Cal Rodgers and Vin Fiz
July 31, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 1914 Cal Rodgers and the great Vin Fiz trans-America flight. Today, we fly across America -- for the first time.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3239: The Materialism Controversy
July 30, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.82 MBEpisode: 3239 A Materialist Controversy Inspired by the Human Body. Today, a never-ending feud.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1913: Inventing the Street
July 27, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 1913 The medieval invention of the city street. Today, we invent the city street.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1911: Submarines in 1915
July 26, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 1911 In which we invent the submarine to create world peace. Today, we invent the submarine to create world peace.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1910: ‘Abbas Ibn Firnas
July 24, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 1910 Ibn Firnas and an airplane in Andalusia. Today, an airplane in Andalusia.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2533: The Power of Three
July 23, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 2533 On Table Legs and Flat Surfaces. Today, the power of three.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2529: Comparing Fingerprints
July 21, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 2529 Comparing Fingerprints: What's Involved and What can go Wrong. Today, who dunnit?
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1908: Blombos Cave
July 20, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.73 MBEpisode: 1908 In which Blombos Cave triples the length of the Upper Paleolithic Era. Today, let's visit Blombos Cave.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1909: What’s the Problem?
July 19, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 1909 Where does the technical/scientific literacy problem really lie? Today, we ask, "What's the problem?"
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1907: Earlier Than We Think
July 17, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 1907 It is Earlier Than We Think. The road ahead is longer than we thought. Today, it is earlier than we think.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2527: Alphonse Bertillon
July 16, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 2527 Alphonse Bertillon: Measuring the Man. Today, the measure of a man.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2010: George McJunkin & Aleš Hrdlicka
July 15, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 2010 George McJunkin and Aleš Hrdlicka: Who discovered the Clovis culture? Today, guest historian Cathy Patterson looks at an unlikely anthropologist.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3237: Copland’s Fanfare
July 14, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.77 MBEpisode: 3237 Aaron Copland composes an uncommonly fine fanfare. Today, an uncommonly fine fanfare.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1905: La Tapisserie de Bayeux
July 13, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 1905 The Bayeux Tapestry, a comic book history of 11th-century France. Today, the Bayeux Tapestry.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1906: Cats in Ancient Cyprus
July 12, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 1906 A cat in Cyprus -- five thousand years too soon. Today, a cat in Cyprus.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1904: The Wilkes Expedition
July 10, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 1904 Wilkes five-year Odyssey -- beauty and turmoil. Today, Wilkes' journey.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2523: Georges-Eugène Haussman
July 09, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 2523 Georges-Eugène Haussmann Reshapes Paris. Today, a city redone.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1902: Heat in the Shadow of Rouen
July 06, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 1902 Heat in the Shadow of Rouen Cathedral. Today, heat and cold in Rouen.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1903: Flubber
July 05, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 1903 Flubber: A story of persistence and reincarnation. Today, Flubber.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1901: The Timber Square Set
July 03, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 1901 Philipp Deidesheimer and the remarkable timber square set. Today, the timber square set.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2520: Hybrid Electric Car Technology
July 02, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 2520 Hybrid Electric Car Technology. Today, we hit the brakes.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2505: Wild America
July 01, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 2505 Roger Tory Peterson and James Fisher's Wild America. Today, a legendary road trip.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2517: Rebecca Clarke
June 30, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.76 MBEpisode: 2517 Rebecca Clarke: Violist, Composer, Woman. Today, a woman in conflict.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1900: 1900 — The Year
June 29, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.73 MBEpisode: 1900 1900 -- the year: as seen in Century Magazine. Today, 1900 -- the year.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1899: Kurt Gödel
June 28, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 1899 Kurt Gödel: A mathematician brings us down to earth. Today, a mathematician brings us down to earth.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1898: Pierre Gassendi
June 26, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 1898 What happened after Galileo? Pierre Gassendi happened! Today, what happened after Galileo?
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2513: Our Teachers
June 25, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 2513 The Importance of Teachers in Shaping our Lives. Today, remembering our teachers.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2553: Complexity and Emergence
June 24, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 2553 Emergence and complexity in virtual and living systems. Today, let’s talk about emergence.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2510: Reason in All Things
June 23, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 2510 Reason in all things: Augustine, Galileo, Collins, The Human Genome, and God. Today, Augustine, Galileo, and the human genome.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1894: Of Accuracy and Story-Telling
June 22, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 1894 Accuracy and story-telling -- a learning experience in four acts. Today, accuracy and story-telling.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1893: Satyendranath Rose
June 21, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 1893 Satyendranath Bose, quantum physics pioneer and Indian hero. Today, Satyendranath Bose.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1892: A Tolerance for Ambiguity
June 19, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 1892 The Science Times and the need to cultivate our tolerance for ambiguity. Today, a tolerance for ambiguity.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2507: The Unsung Engineer
June 18, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 2507 The Unsung Engineer: The Mechanical Arts in Diderot and D'Alembert's Encyclopaedie. Today, celebrating the mechanical arts.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2419: Perfecting Coffee
June 17, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.76 MBEpisode: 2419 Peter Schlumbohm and the invention of modern coffee-making techniques. Today, a chemist and his coffee.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2503: Rod Serling
June 16, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.77 MBEngines: 2503 Story-Teller Rod Serling and the Twilight Zone. Today, a story — submitted for your approval.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1891: Earth, Air, Fire, & Water
June 15, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 1891 Earth, Air, Fire, & Water -- Love & Hate. Today, Earth, Air, Fire, and Water.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1890: Riding the Wrong Horse
June 14, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 1890 The Picture Play, a new technology immediately displaced by the movies. Today, we ride the wrong horse.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1889: Dolly Shepherd
June 12, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.73 MBEpisode: 1889 Dolly Shepherd, her mother, and her daughter: pioneering parachuting. Today, three women parachutists.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2501: Nietzsche, Strauss, Kubrick, and a Trilogy of Metaphor
June 11, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.78 MBEpisode: 2501: Nietzsche, Strauss, Kubrick, and a Trilogy of Metaphor. Today, a story — in three parts.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2499: Texas Germans
June 10, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 2499 Frederick Law Olmsted and the Texas Germans. Today, Texas auf Deutsch.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2495: Creativity Within Limits
June 09, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.81 MBEpisode: 2495 Creativity Within Limits: Rules as a Source of Creativity. Today, bounded creativity.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1887: Ernest K. Gann
June 08, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 1887 Ernest K. Gann: pioneer and portrayer of American flight. Today, Ernest Gann.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1888: Henry Winstanley
June 07, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 1888 In which Henry Winstanley wishes for the perfect storm -- and gets it. Today, we learn to be careful what we wish for.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1886: Key West Railway
June 05, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 1886 Building the Key West Railway: Building Florida. Today, we ride the Keys.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2493: Child’s Play
June 04, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 2493 Child's Play: the role of play in education. Today, child’s play.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2838: The Mysterious Small
June 03, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.76 MBEpisode: 2838 The World of Small Dimensions; Nano-Dimensions and Pico-Times. Today, we explore Small.