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 1052: Of Wasps Making Paper
3/14/2025
Episode: 1052 In which wasps teach us to make paper from wood. Today, wasps try to teach us to make paper.
Duration:00:03:40
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2434: Physics of Metaphysics
3/13/2025
Episode: 2434 Understanding the Relationship Between Physics and Metaphysics.
Duration:00:03:50
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2696: Winged Words
3/12/2025
Episode: 2696 Winged Words: The Homeric Epics as Oral Poetry. Today, classicist Casey Dué listens to the Homeric epics.
Duration:00:03:48
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1051: A Conservation Lab
3/10/2025
Episode: 1051 A Conservation Laboratory keeps vanishing arts alive. Today, we ask: Just what is a conservator conserving?
Duration:00:03:29
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1049: Hugh Miller
3/9/2025
Episode: 1049 Hugh Miller: a fundamentalist radicalizes 19th century geology. Today, a 19th-century geologist struggles with the creation of the earth.
Duration:00:03:37
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1048: The Medieval Twentieth Century
3/8/2025
Episode: 1048 Medieval machines in a 20th century hydraulics text. Today, two 20th-century thinkers look at the end of an era. One sees it. One does not.
Duration:00:03:28
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1047: Who Writes Our Story?
3/7/2025
Episode: 1047 In which I question the dubious practice of ghost-writing. Today, we ask, "Who writes our story?"
Duration:00:03:31
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2432: Engineering, Football, and a Good Prank
3/6/2025
Episode: 2432 Engineering, Football, and What Makes a Good Prank. Today, engineering, football, and a good prank.
Duration:00:03:50
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2841: Imagine the Big Bangs
3/5/2025
Episode: 2841 Multiple Big Bangs and Multiple Universes; The Fantastical Multi-Reality of Multiverse. Today, we imagine the Big Bangs.
Duration:00:03:32
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3238: Whitewashing
3/4/2025
Episode: 3238 Whitewash, as Metaphor and Practice. Today, whitewashing.
Duration:00:03:48
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1046: The Mind of Faraday
3/3/2025
Episode: 1046 The mind of Faraday and the merging of science and religion. Today, a look inside the mind of a surprising scientist.
Duration:00:03:34
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1045: Of Sport and Design
3/2/2025
Episode: 1045 A lesson in engineering design on the sports pages. Today, lessons in modern design from the sports pages.
Duration:00:03:34
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1338: The Last Masts
3/1/2025
Episode: 1338 The century-long retention of masts and sails on steamships. Today, we wonder about sails on steam-powered ships.
Duration:00:03:42
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1337: Frankenstein
2/28/2025
Episode: 1337 Frankenstein -- the monster of our obsessiveness. Today, we consider a favorite nightmare.
Duration:00:03:44
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2429: The Birth of Betty Crocker
2/27/2025
Episode: 2429 The Birth of Betty Crocker. Today, America's First Lady of Food.
Duration:00:03:50
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3309: Shortwave Radio
2/26/2025
Episode: 3309 Shortwave Radio, the Original Information Super Highway. Today, we listen to the world.
Duration:00:03:44
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3308: Board Games
2/25/2025
Episode: 3308 Why do we play board games? Today, board games as models of the world.
Duration:00:03:52
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1336: Big Diesel Engines
2/24/2025
Episode: 1336 In which Diesel engines violate their own metaphor. Today, a new breed of Diesel engines fights an old metaphor.
Duration:00:03:39
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1335: Airships
2/23/2025
Episode: 1335 Santos-Dumas, Zeppelin, and the great airships. Today, we ride airships.
Duration:00:03:45
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1334: Stone/Iron-Age Europe
2/22/2025
Episode: 1334 Watching Europe go from the Stone Age to the Iron Age. Today, a story of wood, copper and iron.
Duration:00:03:43