The BEST episodes of Modern Marvels

#1 - Hoover Dam

Season 6 - Episode 17 - Aired 7/12/1999

Venture into the Southwestern Desert for the complete story of one of the seven engineering wonders of the world -- Hoover Dam. From the blueprints to reality, this is the story of the ingenuity and manpower that literally moved a river and sculpted a mountain of concrete.

#2 - World's Fair: Visions of the Future

Season 5 - Episode 5 - Aired 9/24/1998

A look at the expositions known as "World's Fairs," which have served as showcases for entertainment, cultural events and new technology.

#3 - The Spitfire

Season 8 - Episode 28 - Aired 8/16/2001

The Supermarine Spitfire is a revolutionary fighter plane.

#4 - More Gadgets

Season 8 - Episode 25 - Aired 6/27/2001

A salute to the tools and toys that have stood the test of time--from the Zippo lighter to the Palm Pilot. As we focus on the technology behind familiar gadgets, we see the subtle ways they have changed our lives.

#5 - Bombs

Season 6 - Episode 11 - Aired 5/13/1999

One of the most feared and powerful weapons in any nation's arsenal. From the use of diseased carcasses flung over castle walls to Greek Fire to today's smart bombs, we review the evolution of bombs.

#6 - Crash Testing

Season 6 - Episode 20 - Aired 8/9/1999

Delve into the secretive, but hugely important, multi-billion-dollar industry of product testing where wrinkles get ironed out and goods are stripped of the marketing and hype to see if they actually work.

#7 - Rocks

Season 14 - Episode 41 - Aired 12/3/2007

From the Stone Age, to the Space Age, we've built our world from rocks. With moon rocks located at NASA's Johnson Space Center.

#8 - Weather Prediction

Season 5 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/7/1998

A study of the discoveries, inventions, and technological advances that have helped us understand and predict weather accurately. From simple observations made by primitive humans, to early instruments such as thermometers and barometers, to Doppler radar and satellite imaging, we'll see how man has tried to harness weather.

#9 - Work Clothes

Season 8 - Episode 39 - Aired 10/17/2001

From the riveted blue jeans of the old ’49ers working the gold mines of California to the million-dollar suits astronauts wear in outer space, we see how “dressing for success” often means being able to get the job done. With the right work clothes, people have been able to go anywhere and do any job.

#10 - Carbon

Season 15 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/14/2008

Carbon is the chemical basis of all known life and yet this simple element is also the foundation of modern technology. Carbon burns hotter, cuts deeper, insulates more thoroughly and absorbs more fully than any other material. See why carbon is the key both in heavy-duty industries, as well as in tools like the graphite pencil, the charcoal water filter, and the diamond saw blade.

#11 - Medical Imaging: The Voyage Inward

Season 5 - Episode 8 - Aired 10/28/1998

Medical imaging, the technology that allows us to see inside the human body, is full of amazing stories. Learn how X-rays were discovered in 1895, completely by accident; how ultrasound was developed to locate enemy submarines; and how the CAT Scan might never have been built if it weren't for The Beatles!

#12 - Earth Movers 2

Season 6 - Episode 27 - Aired 10/13/1999

#13 - Lead

Season 15 - Episode 29 - Aired 10/9/2008

A versatile yet toxic metal, lead has served mankind for 6,000 years.

#14 - Salt Mines

Season 6 - Episode 12 - Aired 5/19/1999

Discover more about this priceless commodity essential to our very survival. It has over 14,000 uses from de-icing our roads to softening our water.

#15 - Firefighting! Extreme Conditions

Season 5 - Episode 14 - Aired 12/8/1998

The most extreme raging fires and the firefighters who tame them. Meet “Hell Fighters” who fight raging oil well fires and “smoke jumpers” who parachute into forest fires. Also, see how NASA guards against the very real risk of a fire aboard a space vessel.

#16 - Statue of Liberty

Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 2/12/1995

It started as an idea at a French dinner party and became the symbol of the free world. The story of France's gift to the U.S. reveals a 20-year struggle to design and build the world's largest monument--using paper-thin copper sheets.

#17 - The Great Bridge: 8 Miles of Steel

Season 12 - Episode 8 - Aired 2/23/2005

San Francisco's Oakland Bay Bridge stands as an incredible feat of engineering against the nearly impossible. Once chosen as one of the seven engineering wonders of the modern world, it features an unique double suspension structure in its west end. Join us as we cross this triumph of construction, while we visit its past and look to its future.

#18 - Lake Pontchartrain Causeway

Season 10 - Episode 53 - Aired 10/15/2003

In the land of Mardi Gras, jambalaya, and zydeco, exits an engineering marvel called the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway that seems to go on forever. Two ribbons of concrete span the largest inland body of water in Louisiana, and at nearly 23.87 and 23.88 miles long, these two spans form the world's longest automobile bridge. At midpoint--12 miles out--water surrounds travelers who are unable to see either shoreline. The bridge is so long, it actually transverses 1/1000th of the earth's circumference!

#19 - Motors

Season 9 - Episode 10 - Aired 3/19/2002

The electric motor.

#20 - Mail Delivery: Erasing the Miles

Season 5 - Episode 17 - Aired 12/23/1998

Behind the scenes of the world's largest communication agency to show how the mail gets through. Learn how the Post Office has changed through the years and get an up-close look at the technology on which the modern Post Office relies.

#21 - Battle Gear

Season 8 - Episode 21 - Aired 6/19/2001

From battle armor to bubble gum, you might be surprised by what soldiers have carried into battle--and what they'll carry in future wars.

#22 - Spy Technology

Season 6 - Episode 6 - Aired 3/15/1999

Tracing the evolution of the tools of espionage over the past century, from drop boxes and rudimentary codes to the tiny, high-tech devices that are already far more prevalent than most people imagine.

#23 - Engineering Disasters 12

Season 11 - Episode 53 - Aired 11/9/2004

In Milwaukee, 104 died after drinking contaminated tap water. At Texas A&M, a tradition turned tragic when a pile of bonfire logs collapsed onto its builders. Thousands of US soldiers expired in known WWII deathtraps--Sherman Tanks. In 1973, 14 men working on a 26-story building died when supports were removed from wet concrete. And in 1993, Denver's "dream" airport became a nightmare when its baggage-handling system ran amok. Aided by computer graphics, catastrophe footage, and visits to the locations today, MIT scientists, Center for Disease Control experts, WWII vets, bonfire builders, and construction engineers explain these tragedies and measures taken to prevent them in future.

#24 - Extreme Aircraft

Season 11 - Episode 30 - Aired 8/25/2004

Join us for a supersonic look at some of the most cutting-edge aircraft ever developed--from the X-1 that first broke the sound barrier to the X-43 Scramjet that recently flew at Mach 7. These extreme aircraft have made their mark on aeronautical history, and sometimes on political history as well. The U-2 and SR-71 spy planes played a crucial role in the Cold War, and now Lockheed Martin's top-secret "Skunkworks" division is touting the new "air dominance" fighter plane-- the F/A-22 Raptor.

#25 - Plumbing: The Arteries of Civilization

Season 5 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/2/1998

Each day, billions of gallons of water flow through cities into homes and back out again in a confusing mess of pipes, pumps, and fixtures. The history of plumbing is a tale crucial to our survival--supplying ourselves with fresh water and disposing of human waste. From ancient solutions to the future, we'll plumb plumbing's depths.