Join us for a highly charged hour as we see why Alfred Nobel's invention of dynamite took on earthshattering dimensions as his product blasted out the natural resources that built our modern world.

Examines the history of radar, focusing on its role in the Allies' victory in WWII--from the Chain Home Network, rudimentary radar towers that ringed England's eastern coast, to the role of Boston's MIT in developing a smuggled English secret, the cavity of magnetron.

The ability to transmit sound in stereo transformed the music of life into a rich symphony of sound. For over 100 years, enthusiasts and scientists have worked to create the ideal listening experience. From Thomas Edison's early phonograph to today's digital revolution, we examine this multi-billion dollar business.

First there were balloons and blimps. Then, visionaries enlarged, reinforced, and motorized them and the airship was born. The biggest aircraft ever flown, they remain one of the most romantic aerial creations. In all, 161 rigid airships were built before spectacular crashes, including the Hindenburg, put an end to the era.

In less than a century, the world went from dirt tracks to highways, from propeller planes to space travel, from sailboats to supertankers. And in the process, we have created a glut of traffic on roadways, railways, airways, and seaways--traffic that must be controlled, managed, and regulated. We'll see how it's done.

Operating in the harsh environment of space, these eyes-in-the-sky remain the world's most precious cargo. From the futuristic visions of a British sci-fi writer to the creations of a German rocket designer for the Nazi war machine, we review the history of these marvels of the technological age.

From the earliest known lighthouses, such as the Pharos of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, to modern-day automated buoys and solar-powered lantern rooms, this history of lighthouses is rich with personal stories of lighthouse keepers, daring construction efforts, and ingenious optical discoveries. Today, as lighthouses are usurped by more efficient aids to navigation, these elegant structures are being converted to bed-and-breakfast...

From the earliest bunkers of WWI through the ultra-futuristic ones of tomorrow's wars, we trace the story of defensive fortifications. In the constant struggle to hold off ever more potent forms of attack, bunkers function in a variety of forms. Three mammoth block structures comprise a submarine bunker at Lorient, France, able to house 20 subs. We visit Churchill's Cabinet War Room and Hitler's Berlin bunker, as well as backyard Cold War bunkers...

An exploration of the intense competition, the romance, the success a nd disappointment that led to the miracle of long distance communicati on.

A look at the inventions that have revolutionized society as we know it. They began as behemoths which weighed over 2 tons!