Modern Marvels — Season 2
01 Balloons
Dec 16, 199444m
Join us for a buoyant trip through the history of balloon flight and a tribute to the fearless pilots and engineers brave enough to push the limits of balloon technology into the next weather front, or the next frontier. We’ll demonstrate their diversified applications and talk to pioneers who designed and flew them.
02 The Transcontinental Railroad
Jan 1, 199544m
With California finally part of the United States, two rail companies raced to connect the monied East and the promising West. Along the way, fortunes would be made, lives lost, and adversity overcome. This is the story of the largest, most expensive challenge of the 19th century.
03 Las Vegas
Jan 15, 199544m
Rising from a stretch of desert with nothing but remoteness to recommend it, Las Vegas became a glittering wonderland for dreamers. We’ll take a look at the forces that made Las Vegas a place unlike any on earth.
04 The Eiffel Tower
Jan 22, 199544m
To the people of France, and to citizens of the world, Gustav Eiffel’s 320-meter Tower is more than an unsurpassed technological and engineering wonder, conceived and built to astound the public at the 1889 Paris Exposition…it is a symbol of triumphant spirit, demonstrating how an innovative metal matrix can form a structure whose posture reinforces an aesthetic of glory.
05 Domed Stadiums
Feb 5, 199544m
The domed structure is one of the earliest forms of shelter–from African mud huts to frozen igloos to holy shrines and cathedrals. As a design concept, the shape represents the community under the canopy of heaven; as a technological device, the dome is the most efficient way of controlling an internal environment. And today, as we see here, engineers have enlarged and transformed the ancient concept to build some of the world’s most spectacular structures–domed sports stadiums.
06 Gothic Cathedrals
Mar 19, 199544m
Built of stone and glass, persistence and prayer, gothic cathedrals are an epiphany of imagination and an articulation of joy. Featured are such masterpieces as Chartres, Notre Dame and the National Cathedral in Washington D.C.
07 The Golden Gate Bridge
May 21, 199544m
More than 50 years after its construction, the Golden Gate remains one of the world’s greatest engineering marvels. It took 25-million man-hours and 80,000 miles of cable to complete. But the cost in human life proved even greater.
08 Ocean Liners
Jun 4, 199544m
With technological advances, our ancient struggle against the sea has turned into a luxurious holiday. Come aboard for a peek at the elegant life on these floating resorts.