Engines of Our Ingenuity
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.
- Update frequency
- every day
- Average duration
- 3 minutes
- Episodes
- 170
- Years Active
- 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1422: Alexandria
Episode: 1422 Technology in Alexandria, ca. 200 BC. Today, a 2200-year-old age of invention.
00:03:40 |
Sat 16 Aug 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3325: Machines That Forgot to Fail
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.
00:03:38 |
Fri 15 Aug 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2495: Creativity Within Limits
Episode: 2495 Creativity Within Limits: Rules as a Source of Creativity. Today, bounded creativity.
00:03:57 |
Thu 14 Aug 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3236: The Humble Index Card
Episode: 3236 Analysis, Creativity, and the Humble Index Card. Today, the humble index card.
00:03:44 |
Wed 13 Aug 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3324: Flying Blind
Episode: 3324 Jimmy Doolittle, Inventor of Instrument Flying. Today, flying blind.
00:03:37 |
Tue 12 Aug 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3323: Biting Words
Episode: 3323 We learn a new way of speaking in the 1930s. Today, biting words.
00:03:53 |
Mon 11 Aug 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1421: Rocket Boys
Episode: 1421 The Rocket Boys, a moving story of adolescence and engineering. Today, a book with a surprising subtext.
00:03:39 |
Sun 10 Aug 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1420: The Erie Canal
Episode: 1420 The Erie Canal. Today, we ride 568 feet uphill in a barge.
00:03:33 |
Sat 09 Aug 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1419: Another Look as the Plague
Episode: 1419 Another way of looking at the 14th century Plague. Today, population reduction by disaster.
00:03:44 |
Fri 08 Aug 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3322: Very Fast Trains
Episode: 3322 Some Thoughts on the Future of High-Speed Rail. Today, very fast trains.
00:03:50 |
Thu 07 Aug 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2824: A Brass Catalogue
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.
00:03:48 |
Wed 06 Aug 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2628: The Edge of Space
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?
00:03:48 |
Tue 05 Aug 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1418: The Influence of War
Episode: 1418 Does war influence technological evolution? Some surprising facts. Today, we wonder how war influences technology.
00:03:45 |
Mon 04 Aug 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1417: A Metaphor Collapses
Episode: 1417 In which the medieval clock metaphor finally collapses. Today, a metaphor dies.
00:03:42 |
Sun 03 Aug 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1416: Technology on Hold
Episode: 1416 Technology on Hold: ideas that return after a long time. Today, technology on hold.
00:03:40 |
Sat 02 Aug 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1415: Right Hand / Left Hand
Episode: 1415 Right and left handedness: some new ideas about origins. Today, why do you write with your right hand?
00:03:43 |
Fri 01 Aug 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2495: Creativity Within Limits
Episode: 2495 Creativity Within Limits: Rules as a Source of Creativity. Today, bounded creativity.
00:03:57 |
Thu 31 Jul 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3243: The Water Illusion Machine
Episode: 3243 Hollywood's Heroic Water FX. Today, water effects.
00:03:50 |
Wed 30 Jul 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2810: The Concrete Revolution
Episode: 2810 The Concrete Revolution in Ancient Rome. Today, some concrete achievements.
00:03:49 |
Tue 29 Jul 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1414: Advertisements in 1869
Episode: 1414 Viewing America through advertisements in Appleton's magazine, 1869. Today, advertisements just after the Civil War.
00:03:43 |
Mon 28 Jul 2025
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