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 2452: Kitchen Gadgetry
4/24/2025
Episode: 2452 Gadgets in the American Kitchen. Today, gadgets galore.
Duration:00:03:49
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2268: The Lucifer Effect
4/23/2025
Episode: 2268 The Lucifer Effect: From Stanford University to Abu Ghraib. Today, our guest, UH journalist Michael Berryhill, looks at the Lucifer effect.
Duration:00:03:50
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2557: The Google Ranking System
4/22/2025
Episode: 2557 Linear algebra, the mathematics behind Google's ranking algorithm. Today, let's talk about how Google ranks your search results.
Duration:00:03:49
The Engines of our Ingenuity 1358: William Minor and the OED
4/21/2025
Episode: 1358 William Minor helping us to understand language from an insane asylum. Today, a great dictionary and an asylum for the criminally insane.
Duration:00:03:43
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1357: Testing Airplane Propellers
4/20/2025
Episode: 1357 An airplane propeller test facility, twelve years before the Wright Brothers. Today, we test airplane propellers, 12 years before the Wright brothers flew.
Duration:00:03:41
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1356: Betting on Science
4/19/2025
Episode: 1356 Betting on science. It's been going on for a long time. Today, let's bet on science.
Duration:00:03:44
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1355: George Squire
4/18/2025
Episode: 1355 Major General George Squire, Muzak, and struggling to be generous. Today, a story about altruism and Muzak.
Duration:00:03:45
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2450: A Musical Tradition
4/17/2025
Episode: 2450 A Musical Transition: The Beatles 1965-1967. Today, a great music group changes.
Duration:00:03:52
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2419: Perfecting Coffee
4/16/2025
Episode: 2419 Peter Schlumbohm and the invention of modern coffee-making techniques. Today, a chemist and his coffee.
Duration:00:03:51
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3310: Romantic Nature
4/15/2025
Episode: 3310 Nature, Romanticism, and the Poetry of John Clare. Today, we look closely at Romantic nature.
Duration:00:03:50
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3311: Aerial Warfare in 1918
4/14/2025
Episode: 3311 A 1918 National Geographic Magazine makes propaganda as it reports WW-I aerial warfare. Today, Aerial warfare in another century.
Duration:00:03:52
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1353: Small Towns
4/13/2025
Episode: 1353 In which we visit a small town. Today, let's visit a small town.
Duration:00:03:45
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1351: M & Mme Blanchard
4/12/2025
Episode: 1351 Balloonists Jean-Pierre and Marie Blanchard, the first barnstormers. Today, we join George Washington at a balloon ascent.
Duration:00:03:39
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1350: Amerigo Vespucci
4/11/2025
Episode: 1350 Vespucci and the naming of America. Today, we name America.
Duration:00:03:43
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2447: Simple But Brilliant
4/10/2025
Episode: 2447 The Special Theory of Relativity in Einstein's Own Words. Today, simple but brilliant.
Duration:00:03:50
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2010: George McJunkin and Ales Hrdlicka
4/9/2025
Episode: 2010 George McJunkin and Ales Hrdlicka: Who discovered the Clovis culture? Today, guest historian Cathy Patterson looks at an unlikely anthropologist.
Duration:00:03:50
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2780: Mail Plane to History Maker
4/8/2025
Episode: 2780 Mail Plane to History Maker. Today, a very odd design feature.
Duration:00:03:40
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1349: Short-Lived Technologies
4/7/2025
Episode: 1349 Short-lived, but dramatic technologies. Today, technologies that last only a little while.
Duration:00:03:41
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1348: Castel Del Monte
4/6/2025
Episode: 1348 Castel del Monte: in which Frederick II plays with geometry. Today, we wonder why a castle was built.
Duration:00:03:45
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1347: Inventing Money
4/5/2025
Episode: 1347 The invention of money: an abstraction of goods and services. Today, a history of money.
Duration:00:03:44