From the airplane to the DNA fingerprint, science, history and pop
culture come under the spotlight in this thrilling chronicle of the 20th
Century's greatest inventions. Go on a decade-by-decade voyage of
discovery through life-changing inventions; like the radio that made the
world smaller; the machine gun that made it more dangerous; or the
parking meter that made it more expensive. Meet the brilliant, often
quirky minds that brought the inventions to life, including the smartest
man on the planet and the high school dropout everyone took for a fool.
Witness the discovery and creation of billion-dollar inventions and
financial disasters - all players in the most innovative century the
world has ever known.
DVD 1: 1900s
- The first decade of the 1900s ushers in crucial inventions that will help
shape the rest of the century. Communication gets a boost as a voice is
transmitted wirelessly by radio for the first time. Shaving gets a new edge
with the appearance of the safety razor blade. The first air conditioner takes
the misery out of extreme heat and humidity. The vacuum cleaner stops rugs and
carpets from taking a beating, and two brothers, the Wright Borthers, apply
their skills as bicycle mechanics to build and fly the world's first airplane.
DVD 2: 1910s and 1920s - Saving lives and taking lives are the hallmarks of
the inventions of the 1910s. The umbrella supplies the inspiration for a new
device that lets airplane pilots parachute to safety. Sonar navigation comes to
the aid of ships at sea; and a garment manufacturer develops the first safety
hood to protect firefighters inside burning buildings. From charcoal to lightly
browned, the quest for perfect toast is finally realized. And, the Tommy Gun
unleashes the fearsome power of the machine gun. Mobsters, jazz, and turbulent
economic times mark the 1920s. Silent film makes the transition to the talkies
as sound comes to the silver screen. The refrigerator gets a makeover from the
smartest man in the world; and poverty inspires a desperate inventor to come up
with a winner called television. Criminals find that there's one less place to
hide with the invention of the lie detector. And, the Space Age is launched
when a rocketeer who refuses to give up finally unlocks the secret of liquid
fuel.
DVD 3: 1930s and 1940s - Though overshadowed by the Great Depression, there
is no shortage of ingenuity in the 1930s. The two-way radio gets miniaturized,
and the world's first portable walkie-talkie goe on the air. The electric
guitar changes popular music forever and commuters become a cash cow for cities
when the parking meter is introduced. Copying by hand and mimeographs go the
way of the Dodo with the invention of Xerography. The airplane gets a nimble
little brother in the air as the helicopter makes its debut. War is the driving
force behind much of the innovation in the 1940s. In a desperate attempt to
secure aerial supremacy, the British win the race to develop the jet engine.
Under the Reich, a German engineer builds what is now recognized as the world's
first true computer. In the United States, the microwave is born after a
self-taught inventor realizes that military equipment is responsible for
melting a chocolate bar in his pocket. A U.S. Air Force doctor is ordered to
stop experimenting on himself, and so he duplicates himself, giving us the
first crash test dummy. And, a sailor returns home and hits pay dirt with an
invention that finally brings cats in from the cold: kitty litter.
DVD 4: 1950s and 1960s - The 1950s heralds the end of vacuum tubes and the
rise of mobile technologies when two Japanese inventors shrink cabinet-size
radios down to something small enough to fit in your pocket. An intrepid crime
scene photographer puts boozy breath to work, busting drunk drivers with the
roadside breathalyzer. Aircraft crash investigators get a foolproof witness
that rides in a Black Box with the crew. A cushion of air opens the way for a
brand new land/sea hybrid that changes the face of transportation. And, the
space race officially begins when the Soviet Union launches a satellite they
call Sputnik. The 1960s is a decade of both cultural and technological change.
A weather satellite that can save lives by tracking weather patterns and
predicting hurricanes is launched into orbit. Robots begin to appear in the
workplace, taking over some menial tasks, freeing up workers to focus on more
complicated jobs. Home entertainment goes from the kitchen table to the TV
screen when the video game console is unveiled. The taser is introduced, giving
police forces a non-lethal way of using electricity to shut down the bad guys.
And, the United States finally wins the decade-long space race, taking a giant
step for mankind by landing astronauts on the moon.
DVD 5: 1970s and 1980s - The future comes to bomb disposal safety when a
remote-controlled robot takes the human equation out of the picture. The cell
phone moves from the car console to the hand when an engineer is inspired by a
science fiction series. Paper notes no longer blow off the desk in a breeze
when two scientists collide on a project and the Post-It is born. The hybrid
car is reborn as an answer to the concerns over fossil fuels and pollution
thanks to a tenacious inventor and the Environmental Protection Agency. The
invention of the digital camera is kept in the darkroom for 20 years. The 1980s
launch an unprecedented technological age that will continue into the next
century. DNA profiling begins changing crime scene investigations for all time.
Smokers find a helpful hand in kicking the habit through the nicotine patch.
Network computing gets a giant boost around the world with the advent of the
Internet. A teenager sees his future during a colonoscopy and develops the
capsule endoscopy. And, the MIR space station kicks off a new age of space
science.
DVD 6: 1990s
- A new telescope named Hubble lets us see even further into the universe,
revealing more of its majesty and mysteries. The wind up radio brings the
outside world to the smallest villages in Africa. The Neurotrophic Electrode
helps those with locked in syndrome get out through a computer interface. A
young software engineer's wife gives birth to his daughter while he develops
the camera phone in the waiting room. Pathfinder safely bounces to a stop on
Mars thanks to an airbag system that puts cars airbag system to shame.
