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 1846: Tallest, Longest
April 03, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.73 MBEpisode: 1846 Tallest and longest, bridges and skyscrapers, human energy and human hubris. Today, the tallest and the longest.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3032: Lamaze
April 02, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.77 MBEpisode: 3032 How Lamaze Found Its Way to the US. Today, from Russia with love.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2204: Rocks, Air, and Memory
April 01, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 2204 Earthquakes and Volcanoes remember, while hurricanes forget. Today, our guest, geologist Peter Copeland tells us about rocks, air and memory.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3232: Exploration by Presence and Proxy
March 31, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.94 MBEpisode: 3232 Man vs. Machine in the Exploration of Space. Today, exploring by presence and proxy.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1847: Who Are We?
March 29, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 1847 Who are we? We are, at least, a collection of cells. Today, who are we?
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1844: Horizontal Society
March 27, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 1844 The Horizontal Society -- revealed in an acrostic. Today, the horizontal society.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3031: Mary Beale
March 26, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 3031 Mary Beale As Told By Ellen Clayton. Today, a ray of light.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1702: Tricks of Memory
March 25, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.68 MBEpisode: 1702 Memory and meaning: How actors remember all those lines. Today, our guest, Seattle actor Megan Cole, talks about memory and meaning.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3231: Sputnik Educates America
March 24, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.86 MBEpisode: 3231 Sputnik and the New American Education. Today, a satellite shocks American education.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1843: Multivalued Universes
March 23, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 1843 So many possible universes consistent with what we see! Today, single — or multi — valued universes.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1842: First Man in Space
March 22, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 1842 Who was first in space? It depends on what you call space. Today, the first man in space.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1840: Questions and Ignorance
March 20, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.73 MBEpisode: 1840 In praise of asking ignorance-based questions. Today, a new take on ignorance.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3030: Pi Music
March 19, 2020 05:01 - 4 minutes - 2.27 MBEpisode: 3030 Pi Music and Human Creativity. Today, music to the ears.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2367: Georgie Clark
March 18, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.76 MBEpisode: 2367 Georgie Clark and the invention of white-water rafting. Today, let's go whitewater rafting.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3230: From Close-Up to Selfie
March 17, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.89 MBEpisode: 3230 How close-ups offer social and psychological benefits that selfies do not. Today, psychology of the close-up.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1839: William Henry Fox Talbot
March 16, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.73 MBEpisode: 1839 Accentuate the negative: William Henry Fox Talbot. Today, let us accentuate the negative.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1841: Music, Music, Music!
March 15, 2020 05:01 - 4 minutes - 1.95 MBEpisode: 1841 "All I want is Loving you and Music,Music, Music!" Today, music, music, music!
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1838: Riding the Wave
March 13, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 1838 The speed of waves: light and sound -- oceans and galactic gas. Today, let us ride the waves.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3028: Robert Grosseteste’s Big Bang
March 12, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 3028 Grosseteste's Big Bang. Today, a medieval big bang.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2977: Thomas Jefferson and The Maison Carree
March 11, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.77 MBEpisode: 2977 Thomas Jefferson, the Maison Carree and the Virginia State Capitol. Today, Thomas Jefferson in love.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3229: The Mathematics of HIV Infections
March 10, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.86 MBEpisode: 3229 The Mathematics of HIV Infections. Today, we talk about the mathematics of HIV infections and treatment.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1836: Pulp Fiction Art
March 09, 2020 05:01 - 3 minutes - 1.73 MBEpisode: 1836 Pulp Fiction Cover Art: In which the picture precedes and follows the story. Today, can we tell a book by its cover?
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1837: Distances in Space
March 08, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 1837 Distances in space: the meaning of inconceivable. Today, how far is the moon?
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1835: Revisiting Stirrups
March 06, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 1835 Lynn White, Thomas Kuhn, Charles Darwin: Beginnings of great ideas. Today, stirrups revisited.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3027: Lees Ferry
March 05, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.77 MBEpisode: 3027 Crossing the Colorado River. Today, a country divided.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2808: The Encapsulation Story
March 04, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 2808 Plastic encapsulation of microchips, protection from environment and loads. Today, the encapsulation story.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3228: Computer Safety
March 03, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.78 MBEpisode: 3228 Designing safe computer controls. Today, flying by computer.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1834: A Billion Heartbeats
March 02, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.83 MBEpisode: 1834 In which all the beasts are allotted one billion heartbeats. Today, a billion heartbeats.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1830: Saturday Magazine
March 01, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.76 MBEpisode: 1830 Reading the 1836 Saturday Magazine. Today, an old magazine.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1829: Multiple Authors
February 28, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 1829 Multiple authors, multiple problems: Whose work is this? Today, whose work is this?
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3026: Grand Coulee Dam
February 27, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 3026 The Grand Coulee Dam. Today, inspired by nature.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3227: Gyros in the Energy Industry
February 26, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 2.06 MBEpisode: 3227 Gyros in the Energy Industry. Today, let's talk about gyroscopes in the energy industry.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3226: Spin Doctors
February 25, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.87 MBEpisode: 3226 A Novel Use of a Flight Training Centrifuge for Medical Intervention. Today, Spin Doctors.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1827: Florman and Smith College
February 24, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.73 MBEpisode: 1827 Samuel Florman, Smith College, and engineering -- in the late 1970s. Today, Samuel Florman at Smith College.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1826: Eccentric Circular Turning
February 23, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 1826 Of steel and art: Eccentric circular turning. Today, eccentric circular turning.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1825: Grandpa’s Automobile
February 21, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.71 MBEpisode: 1825 In which Grandpa learns not to play chicken with his Model T. Today, grandpa's first automobile.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3025: Walden
February 20, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 3025 Thoreau's Walden. Today, a book report.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1823: Zero
February 17, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 1823 Inventing zero. Today, we seek nothing.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1824: Texas Cognac
February 16, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 1824 Cognac grapes growing from Texas rootstocks. Today, we grow grapes.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1822: Michael W. O’Neill
February 14, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 1822 Michael W. O'Neill, and the world below the surface. Today, we go below the surface.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3024: Thomas Young, Polymath
February 13, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.77 MBEpisode: 3024 Thomas Young, Polymath. Today, a most interesting man.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2002: Patent History
February 12, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 2002 The almost-first patent: from stained glass to genetically modified mice. Today, guest historian Cathy Patterson with a story about patents.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3021: Was Einstein’s Work His Own
February 11, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.77 MBEpisode: 3021 Einstein's Authenticity. Today, was Einstein’s work his own?
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1821: Thinking About 1892
February 10, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.72 MBEpisode: 1821 Trying to see 1892, or ancient Rome, in our mind's eye. Today, we visit 1892.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1819: Four Women on Hempstead Plains
February 09, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 1819 In which four women gravitate skyward on Hempstead Plains, L.I. Today, four women gravitate skyward.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1815: Super Guppy
February 07, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 1815 Super Guppy: A most implausible and useful airplane. Today, an implausible airplane.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3020: Error Detection
February 06, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.76 MBEpisode: 3020 Credit Card Error Detection. Today, the math behind credit cards.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 2770: Building the Mustang
February 05, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MBEpisode: 2770 Developing the P-51 Mustang fighter. Today, our guest, NASA engineer Fitz Walker, remembers the P-51 Mustang.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 3017: Mechanical Philosophy
February 04, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.76 MBEpisode: 3017 Mechanical Philosophy. Today, we lay numbers out on a dial.
Engines of Our Ingenuity 1813: Raymonde de Laroche
February 03, 2020 06:01 - 3 minutes - 1.74 MBEpisode: 1813 Raymonde de Laroche, a brief bright flame. Today, the first woman pilot.