Breakthrough: The Ideas That Changed the World
Take a mind-blowing journey through human history, told through six iconic inventions that modern people take for granted, and see how science, invention, and technology built on one another to change everything.
Genre: Documentary, History
Cast:Jim Al-Khalili , Danielle George , James Meigs , Tiera Fletcher , Alice Roberts , Richard Garriott , Saul David , Derrick Pitts , Brandon Mikesell , Shini Somara , Danny Forster , Rodney Brooks , Brett Salmon , Nadya Mason , Robert Hurford , David Lentick , Dan Coe , Liang Zhipeng
S1.E1 ∙ The Telescope
Meet the brilliant minds throughout history, from Galileo to Edwin Hubble, responsible for creating the telescope. Today, their invention allows humanity to reach the furthest limits of seeing - 13 billion light-years out.
S1.E2 ∙ The Airplane
Take to the sky with the dreamers whose work gave humans the ability to fly. From Leonardo da Vinci's "flying machines" to the modern commercial plane, without these inventions, we may have never left the ground.
S1.E3 ∙ The Robot
Learn how robots were first conceptualized in ancient Rome and see how their use has evolved over the centuries, from the calculator to the Roomba. Then, take a sneak peek at what future robots will be able to do.
S1.E4 ∙ The Car
Go for a ride through the 9,000-year history of the car, from its roots in dogsleds to Henry Ford's affordable and assembly line-built Model T, and meet the scientists working on the next generation of self-driving automobiles.
S1.E5 ∙ The Rocket
Learn the explosive history of the rocket, from its origin in ancient China, to its use as a weapon of war, to how adding hydrogen allowed it to carry astronauts all the way to the moon.
S1.E6 ∙ The Smartphone
The history leading to the smartphone is a journey through Roman fire signals, Morse code, Marconi's wireless, Bell's telephone, Lamarr's spread-spectrum signaling, to Apple's 2007 iPhone and forward to brainwave-controlled smartphones.
