Revolutions: Smartphone

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Revolutions: The Ideas that Changed the World

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Factual: Science & Nature: Science & Technology

The amazing story of how we made the modern world, told through six fantastic inventions.

In a major new series for BBC Four, Jim Al-Khalili takes a mind-blowing science-led journey through human history to explore the incredible story behind six remarkable inventions.

‘It takes more than one mind to change the world’ - Jim Al-Khalili
In this major new landmark series for BBC Four co-produced by PBS, Jim Al-Khalili explores the extraordinary story of six remarkable inventions: The Aeroplane, The Car, The Rocket, The Smartphone, The Telescope, The Robot. They are familiar, yet hidden within them are thousands of years of thought, struggle, sacrifice, determination and insight.

The series is littered with visionaries. We peer into their original notebooks and sketches, use state of the art experiments, ground breaking drama and CGI to shed new light on the discoveries of well-known icons, like Galilei Galileo and Leonardo Da Vinci; lesser known individuals like female pioneers, Ada Lovelace and Bertha Benz; many, like the medieval scholar, Ibn al-Haytham, most viewers will have never heard of.

Each episode explores little-known stories and is packed with incredible ideas: Like the beginnings of robotics 2,000 years ago or the Hollywood
starlet and inventor who, while trying to defeat the Nazis, made today’s mobile network possible. We see time and again where a completely
chance discovery leads to an application that no-one was expecting.
The result is a mind-blowing science-led journey through human history, full of unintended consequences and incredible connections. It reveals how science, invention and technology build on one another to change everything. Mostly, it celebrates the achievements of the some of the greatest minds in human history.


BBC Four HD

Jim Al-Khalili

Saul David

Nadya Mason

Jim Meigs

Danielle George

Tan Le

Philippe Kahn

Iain Riddick

Ben Bowie

Sean Smith

Revolutions: The Ideas that Changed the World: Series 1: The Smartphone

Factual

The Smartphone

Series 1

BBC Four - Revolutions: The Ideas that Changed the World, Series 1, The Smartphone

Jim Al-Khalili uncovers the intriguing story of the smartphone, from Roman times to today.

Jim Al-Khalili uncovers the fascinating story of the smartphone. It would take a Hollywood star, a missed vacation and a Roman siege to give us the device that defines our age.

Jim Al-Khalili and a team of experts investigate the fascinating story of the smartphone. It took a Hollywood star, a missed holiday and a Roman siege to give us the device that connects us all.

In 133BC, Greek tutor Polybius updates the method the Roman army uses to communicate. His system uses fire to spell out words. It is the world’s first encrypted communications system.

In 1825, Samuel Morse is far away from home when he receives a letter telling him that his wife is dying. By the time he gets back, she is already buried. Determined to find a faster way to communicate, Morse learns about electricity. His invention sends pulses of current down a wire and records them at the other end - in morse code. But how do you send the human voice along a wire? We trace the legal shenanigans surrounding the invention of the telephone, including the courts that finally decide in Alexander Graham Bell’s favour. 

In 1894, Guglielmo Marconi hears how electrical sparks can cause something to travel invisibly through thin air. Marconi uses this principle to send ‘radio’ messages. 

During World War Two, the need for secure communications leads to the forerunner of the first digital communication system, but it is not until the invention of the microchip by a bored employee at Texas Instruments that the device can be made small enough to carry in a pocket.

The cell phone’s success triggers a new problem – a lack of network capacity. Enter a system conceived by 1940s Hollwood actress Hedy Lamarr. Inspired by a pianola, her design sends information over several frequencies called spread spectrum. In the 1990s, the idea increases network capacity 20-fold. It is called 2G. Then, with the internet, phones are used for more than just voice calls; they can send messages and pictures too. A new generation of smartphones will soon connect us just by thinking - the ultimate interface with the world.


Revolutions: The Ideas that Changed the World: Series 1

Knowledge, arts, music and culture from the UK and the world.

BBC Four reflects arts, music and culture with an ambitious range of intellectually and culturally enriching programmes, taking an expert and in-depth approach to its subjects.

The amazing story of how we made the modern world, told through six fantastic inventions. Dramatic, exciting and full of bizarre twists and surprising turns.

‘It takes more than one mind to change the world’

In this major new series for BBC Four, co-produced by PBS, Jim Al-Khalili explores the extraordinary story of six remarkable inventions: the aeroplane, the car, the rocket, the smartphone, the telescope and the robot. All are familiar, yet hidden within them are thousands of years of thought, struggle, sacrifice, determination and insight.

The series also reminds us of both the visionaries we are all familiar with and those that many viewers will discover for the first time: Galileo Galilei, Leonardo da Vinci, female pioneers Ada Lovelace and Bertha Benz, and medieval scholar Ibn al-Haytham, to name but a few. We peer into their original notebooks and sketches, and use state-of-the-art experiments, groundbreaking drama and CGI to shed new light on their discoveries.

Each episode explores little-known stories and is packed with incredible ideas, from the beginnings of robotics 2,000 years ago to the Hollywood starlet and inventor who, while trying to defeat the Nazis, made today’s mobile network possible. We see time and again how a completely chance discovery led to an application that no-one was expecting. 

The result is a mind-blowing, science-led journey through human history, full of unintended consequences and incredible connections. It celebrates the achievements of the some of the greatest minds in human history and reveals how science, invention and technology build on one another to change everything.


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