Engines of Our Ingenuity

Episode: 3341 How Warren McCulloch and Walter Pitts laid the foundation for current AI research.  Today, the origin of artificial neural networks.

Episode: 3340 We look at the curious mechanics behind scissors.  Today, let's look at scissors.

Episode: 1473 Two unsinkable ships: the Titanic and the Great Eastern.  Today, a story of two ships. One sank. One didn't.

Episode: 1472 New uses for huge numbers.  Today, big numbers find new meaning.

Episode: 1471 Some thoughts about immigrants, depression, suicide & Jamestown.  Today, a story about Jamestown and self-destruction.

Episode: 1470 Occam's razor and engineering design.  Today, we cut with Occam's razor.

Episode: 2533 On Table Legs and Flat Surfaces.  Today, the power of three.

Episode: 2763 The legacy of Steve Jobs, who simplified computers and computing devices.  Today, the man who made it simple.

Episode: 3339 Cradling the Body: The Eames Lounge Chair, Leg Splint, and Good Design.  The Eames Lounge Chair and Leg Splint

Episode: 3338 An old Century Magazine tries to predict future warfare.  Today, we predict warcraft.

Episode: 1469 The hourglass: the poor man's clock, the poor man's metaphor.  Today, let's look at the hourglass.

Episode: 1468 The evolution of the bicycle.  Today, let's talk about bicycles and freedom.

Episode: 2529 Comparing Fingerprints: What's Involved and What can go Wrong.  Today, who dunnit?

Episode: 3337  Claude Bernard's important medical science, horrifically achieved.  Today, let's meet a problematic scientist.

Episode: 2018 The Chamberlen family secret: the invention of forceps.  Today, guest historian Cathy Patterson reveals family secrets.

Episode: 3007 Samuel Gragg's Unusual Chair.  Today we look at an elastic Chair.

Episode: 3336 The evolution and potential demise of the lowly Nickel.  Today, let us spend the lowly nickel.

Episode: 1467 Napoleon Bonaparte and Iron in France.  Today, Napoleon builds iron monuments.

Episode: 1466 An old botany book for young girls changes scientific thinking.  Today, a young student forms a scientific theory.

Episode #3335 Learning to fly non-stop from coast to coast in America.  Today, we fly across America.

Episode: 2527 Alphonse Bertillon: Measuring the Man.  Today, the measure of a man.

Episode: 3244 Bias and Diversity in Photography and Face Recognition Software.  Today, bodies, in beautiful black and white.

Episode: 2909 Hydrogen Fuel Cell Providing Renewable Energy, A Comparison of Hydrogen Fuel Cell and Lithium Ion Battery.  Today, a neat way to get energy.

Episode: 1465 In which random statistical clusters look significant.  Today, we flip six heads in a row.

Episode: 1464 Trying to teach technologies that were novel for us, but not our students.  Today, a thought about technological change and learning.

Episode: 1463 An old pig iron smelter in the New Hampshire underbrush.  Today, an old iron works hidden in the tall grass.

Episode: 1462 Jedidiah Morse, geographer and Samuel F. B. Morse's father.  Today, Jedidiah Morse's geography.

Episode: 2523 Georges-Eugene Haussmann Reshapes Paris.  Today, a city redone.

Episode: 3334 In Praise of Humble Lint.  Today highlighting a former fabric byproduct.

Episode: 2818 The Pompeian Paradox and Fiorelli's Body Casts.  Today, the Pompeian paradox.

Episode: 1461 George Everett Hale and BIG telescopes.  Today, we look through some really big telescopes.

Episode: 1460 The little-known Japanese art of Chindogu.  Today, the odd Japanese art of Chindogu.

Episode: 1459 A tongue-tied attempt to say what teaching is.  Today, teaching and ambiguity.

Episode: 1458 The brief bright day of the electric trolley in Houston.  Today, let's ride the Houston trolley.

Episode: 2520 Hybrid Electric Car Technology.  Today, we hit the brakes.

Episode: 2815 The spread of ideas in social networks.  Today, let's talk about engineered social networks.

Episode: 2638 Artificial Gravity for Human Spaceflight; What is Gained, What is Lost.  Today, astronaut Michael Barratt discusses the pros and cons of artificial gravity.

Episode: 1457 Eratosthenes's 2200 year old calculation of Earth's size.  Today, we measure the earth.

Episode: 1456 In which paper goes from China to Europe by way of Samarkand.  Today, paper makes a long journey.

Episode: 1455 A brief history of dentistry and pain.  Today, we drill teeth.

Episode: 1454 The sometimes astonishing results of juxtaposing contradictory ideas.  Today, a thought about juxtaposition and contradictions.

Episode: 2517 Rebecca Clarke: Violist, Composer, Woman.  Today, a woman in conflict.