Distant Voices
James Burke looks for clues that lead to one of the modern world's most indispensable inventions.
He asks: What's the connection between the Battle of Hastings and the muck that the Chinese found in pigsties, or between the invention of the barometer and the pleasures of the Electrico-Celestial Bed - and how does the result of those connections help prevent World War III? '
Produced by MICK JACKSON and DAVID KENNARD