Engines of Our Ingenuity
Houston PR
The 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.
Location:
Houston, TX
Networks:
Houston PR
Description:
The 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.
Language:
English
Episodes
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2456: Ode To Kodachrome
8/19/2025
Episode: 2456 The invention and history of Kodachrome film. Today, photographic memory.
Duration:00:03:52
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3326: Aeroplane Structures
8/18/2025
Episode: 3326 An old book on airplane structures reveals its secrets. Today, we build old aeroplanes.
Duration:00:03:50
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1423: The Day I Met Einstein
8/17/2025
Episode: 1423 An encounter with Einstein. Today, a young man lets history slip by him.
Duration:00:03:43
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1422: Alexandria
8/16/2025
Episode: 1422 Technology in Alexandria, ca. 200 BC. Today, a 2200-year-old age of invention.
Duration:00:03:40
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3325: Machines That Forgot to Fail
8/15/2025
Episode: 3325 Machines That Forgot How to Fail: An AI Guest’s Perspective on Reliability. Today, our guest, ChatGPT, talks about machines that forgot to fail.
Duration:00:03:38
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2495: Creativity Within Limits
8/14/2025
Episode: 2495 Creativity Within Limits: Rules as a Source of Creativity. Today, bounded creativity.
Duration:00:03:57
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3236: The Humble Index Card
8/13/2025
Episode: 3236 Analysis, Creativity, and the Humble Index Card. Today, the humble index card.
Duration:00:03:44
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3324: Flying Blind
8/12/2025
Episode: 3324 Jimmy Doolittle, Inventor of Instrument Flying. Today, flying blind.
Duration:00:03:37
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3323: Biting Words
8/11/2025
Episode: 3323 We learn a new way of speaking in the 1930s. Today, biting words.
Duration:00:03:53
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1421: Rocket Boys
8/10/2025
Episode: 1421 The Rocket Boys, a moving story of adolescence and engineering. Today, a book with a surprising subtext.
Duration:00:03:39
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1420: The Erie Canal
8/9/2025
Episode: 1420 The Erie Canal. Today, we ride 568 feet uphill in a barge.
Duration:00:03:33
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1419: Another Look as the Plague
8/8/2025
Episode: 1419 Another way of looking at the 14th century Plague. Today, population reduction by disaster.
Duration:00:03:44
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3322: Very Fast Trains
8/7/2025
Episode: 3322 Some Thoughts on the Future of High-Speed Rail. Today, very fast trains.
Duration:00:03:50
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2824: A Brass Catalogue
8/6/2025
Episode: 2824 An 18th-century catalogue of brass objects, an early approach to marketing, and decorative drawer handles. Today, we look at a mysterious catalogue.
Duration:00:03:48
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2628: The Edge of Space
8/5/2025
Episode: 2628 When traveling into space, how do you know you're there? Today, astronaut Michael Barratt asks, where exactly is the border of space?
Duration:00:03:48
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1418: The Influence of War
8/4/2025
Episode: 1418 Does war influence technological evolution? Some surprising facts. Today, we wonder how war influences technology.
Duration:00:03:45
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1417: A Metaphor Collapses
8/3/2025
Episode: 1417 In which the medieval clock metaphor finally collapses. Today, a metaphor dies.
Duration:00:03:42
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1416: Technology on Hold
8/2/2025
Episode: 1416 Technology on Hold: ideas that return after a long time. Today, technology on hold.
Duration:00:03:40
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1415: Right Hand / Left Hand
8/1/2025
Episode: 1415 Right and left handedness: some new ideas about origins. Today, why do you write with your right hand?
Duration:00:03:43
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2495: Creativity Within Limits
7/31/2025
Episode: 2495 Creativity Within Limits: Rules as a Source of Creativity. Today, bounded creativity.
Duration:00:03:57