BBC - Connections (1978) - Episode 6: Thunder in the Skies
BBC - Connections (1978) - Episode 6: Thunder in the Skies
AVI/DivX MPEG-4 1749.6 kbps | 624x464, 30 fps | AC-3, 48 kHz, 224 kbps | English | 49:23 | 730 Mb
AVI/DivX MPEG-4 1749.6 kbps | 624x464, 30 fps | AC-3, 48 kHz, 224 kbps | English | 49:23 | 730 Mb
Connections is a documentary television series created, written and presented by science historian James Burke. It took an interdisciplinary approach to the history of science and invention and demonstrated how various discoveries, scientific achievements, and historical world events were built from one another successively in an interconnected way to bring about particular aspects of modern technology. The series was noted for Burke's crisp and enthusiastic presentation (and dry humour), historical re-enactments, and intricate working models.
Episode 6: "Thunder in the Skies" implicates the Little Ice Age (ca. 1250–1300 AD) in the invention of the chimney, as well as knitting, buttons, wainscoting, wall tapestries, wall plastering, glass windows (Hardwick Hall [1597] has "more glass than wall"), and the practice of privacy for sleeping and sex. The genealogy of the steam engine is then examined: Thomas Newcomen's engine for pumping water out of mines (1712); Abraham Darby's cheap iron from coke, James Watt's addition of a second condensing cylinder (for cooling) to the engine (1763); John Wilkinson's improving of cannon boring (for the French military) and cylinder making (for Watt; 1773–75). Wilkinson's brother-in-law, Joseph Priestley, investigated gases, leading Alessandro Volta to invent "bad air" (marsh gas) detectors and ignitors. Meanwhile, Edwin Drake discovered oil (in Pennsylvania), allowing Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach (in Bad Cannstatt) to replace town gas with gasoline as fuel for auto engines (1883). They also invented (in 1892) the carburetor (inspired by the medical atomizers, which also developed from Priestley's work) and a new ignition system inspired by Volta's "bad air" detection spark gun. Finally, piano-maker Wilhelm Kress unsuccessfully attempted (1901) to fly the first seaplane on an Austrian lake using the new gasoline engine..
Screenshots:
BBC - Connections (1978) - Episode 6: Thunder in the Skies
BBC - Connections (1978) - Episode 6: Thunder in the Skies
Episode 1: The Trigger Effect
Episode 2: Death in the Morning
Episode 3: Distant Voices
Episode 4: Faith In Numbers
Episode 5: The Wheel of Fortune
Links are interchangeable