The BEST episodes of Modern Marvels season 8

#1 - 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.

#2 - Construction Machines

Season 8 - Episode 29 - Aired 8/17/2001

Feel the earth move under your feet and dig into the fascinating story of earthmoving equipment. Ride on specialized behemoth dump trucks, delve below sea level to view dredging equipment, and leave the planet altogether to explore earthmoving space equipment in this 2-hour special presentation.

#3 - The Spitfire

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

The Supermarine Spitfire is a revolutionary fighter plane.

#4 - Power Plants

Season 8 - Episode 20 - Aired 6/16/2001

Mankind controls the environment in a variety of ways--whether by capturing the force of a river, harnessing the power in coal or oil, controlling a nuclear reaction, or transforming the light of the sun into electricity. Join us for an electrifying hour as we review the foundation for all of this--power plants.

#5 - 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.

#6 - The Secret Life of the Crash Test Dummy

Season 8 - Episode 36 - Aired 9/25/2001

A history of the history of crash test dummies. Beginning at the use of crash test dummies in airplane crash simulations to the newest automobile crash test dummies.

#7 - Apollo 13

Season 8 - Episode 5 - Aired 1/22/2001

When an oxygen tank exploded in the command module of Apollo 13, the prospects for the three astronauts aboard were exceedingly grim. But they defied the odds.

#8 - Nuclear Subs

Season 8 - Episode 31 - Aired 8/28/2001

The most priceless jewels in the arsenals of a handful of countries, some nuclear submarines carry more firepower than all the bombs dropped in history. Engineering miracles, which roam 70% of the earth's surface, providing deterrence to enemies, intelligence about adversaries, and an abiding sense of dread.

#9 - The House Part 2

Season 8 - Episode 38 - Aired 10/15/2001

#10 - The House Part 1

Season 8 - Episode 37 - Aired 10/15/2001

#11 - Saloons

Season 8 - Episode 27 - Aired 7/25/2001

From a ladle and tin cup in an 1850s mining camp and Civil War tent saloons to Prohibition-era speakeasies, we investigate the history of the American saloon.

#12 - World Trade Center

Season 8 - Episode 24 - Aired 6/25/2001

For a time, its towers were the tallest buildings on Earth. The World Trade Center, an engineering marvel, came to symbolize American prosperity and strength. Recalling a more innocent era, this new production from The History Channel – filmed just months before the towers’ tragic demise – charts the history of their construction, revealing the controversies, decisions, and innovations that surrounded the project. Includes interviews with the engineers, architects, politicians, and contractors who dreamed, designed, and built the complex.

#13 - Chemical and Biological Weapons

Season 8 - Episode 15 - Aired 5/7/2001

The history and technology of chemical and biological weapons going back at least 4,000 years.

#14 - Engineering Disasters 3

Season 8 - Episode 13 - Aired 4/16/2001

When design flaws fell projects, the cost is often exacted in lives. Why did the Tower of Pisa begin to lean by as much as 17 feet; what caused the first nuclear accident in 1961; what killed three Soyuz 11 cosmonauts aboard the world's first orbiting space station; how did a winter storm destroy the Air Force's Texas Tower Radar Station; and what errors led to NASA's loss of the Mars Climate Orbiter and the Mars Polar Lander?

#15 - Computers

Season 8 - Episode 12 - Aired 4/11/2001

The development of computers from Charles Babbage's mechanical computers first used in the 1890 U. S. Census, to the computers developed during WW2 to break the German Enigma code--from transistor computers, integrated circuits and microcomputers used for the space race to the moon, to networked computers sharing data around the globe.

#16 - Survival Tech

Season 8 - Episode 6 - Aired 1/29/2001

In an historic survey of man's adaptation to killer environmental conditions, we travel to the desert, the Arctic, the sea, jungle, and space, charting the body's physiological responses to extreme circumstances such as frostbite, heatstroke, and hypothermia.

#17 - 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.

#18 - West Point

Season 8 - Episode 33 - Aired 9/11/2001

For nearly 200 years, the U.S. Military Academy® at West Point, New York, has trained students in the art of war. From humble beginnings, the Academy® grew with the nation, as each war forced changes to keep pace with America’s expanding world responsibilities.

#19 - Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel

Season 8 - Episode 7 - Aired 2/7/2001

Named one of the seven engineering wonders of the modern age, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel connects Virginia proper with its easternmost landmass. Stretching 17 miles across the historic Chesapeake Bay, the structure represents a man-made boundary between the Bay and the Atlantic.

#20 - Diamond Mines

Season 8 - Episode 35 - Aired 9/19/2001

From the earliest mines of the 4th century BC to today's technological wonders in South Africa, we explore the history and technology of the diamond mine.

#21 - Home Tech

Season 8 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/3/2001

From the outhouse to the smart house, our lives have improved drastically in the last 150 years. Convenience and comfort have always been considerations in home design.

#22 - Bunkers

Season 8 - Episode 40 - Aired 10/23/2001

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.

#23 - U-Boats

Season 8 - Episode 4 - Aired 1/20/2001

They prowled the chilly depths of the ocean. Like wolves they hunted in packs and picked off prey, and unleashed a special brand of mayhem on allied ships. They put a chock hold on England and nearly starved her into submission, twice in one century.

#24 - Battleships: Then and Now

Season 8 - Episode 14 - Aired 4/21/2001

#25 - Proving Grounds

Season 8 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/8/2001

Where can you fire a missile without scaring the neighbors? Or lift millions of pounds in pursuit of a couple of ounces of gold? On a proving ground, of course, where performance is the only thing that matters.