Engines of Our Ingenuity

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2585: Measuring Race Times

23 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 2585 The technology of timing races.  Today, who won that race?

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2942: Hilton Hotels in Space

22 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 2942 Hilton Hotels in Space.  Today, we reach for the stars.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2638: Artificial Gravity

21 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 2638 Artificial Gravity for Human Spaceflight; What is Gained, What is Lost.  Today, astronaut Michael Barratt discusses the pros and cons o...

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1560: Narrow Perception

20 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1560 In which we 'look' at the world through a narrow slit.  Today, we look at the world through a narrow slit.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1559: The Oldest Technology

19 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1559 Music-making: the first technology.  Today, we look for the oldest technology.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1558: We O’ercome by Art

18 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1558 Mastered by nature, we o'ercome by art - then as now.  Today, an old debate in a new arena.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1556: The Manual Arts

17 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1556 In which we run out of manual arts teachers for our schools.  Today, let's work with our hands.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2583: Children and Their Goals

16 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 2583 Children and their Goals.  Today, president, pope, astronaut.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3253: Machine Learning

15 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 3253 Teaching Computers to Think.  Today, Teaching a Computer.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3166: Spoonerisms

14 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 3166 Spoonerisms and Their Unwilling Namesake.  Today, spooning in speakerisms.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1554: Scientific Instruments

13 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1554 In which new science yields new instruments: 1500 to 1950.  Today, a new class of machines and new viewpoint.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1553: In Vacuo

12 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1553 Galileo, Torricelli, von Guericke, and the idea of a vacuum.  Today, we invent vacuum.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1552: Global Warming Again

11 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1552 The ocean - the wild card in global warming.  Today, we wonder how things are really heating up.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1551: Inventing the Piano

10 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1551 In which Gary Larson tells us the piano was invented earlier than we thought.  oday, a lesson in invention from the Far Side.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2578: Water Towers

09 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 2578 The Wonders of Water Towers.  Today, water flows downhill.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2864: Bayes’ Theorem

08 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 2864 The theorem of Reverend Bayes.  Today, let's talk about uncertainty and an 18th century Presbyterian minister.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3247: The Prouste Questionnaire

07 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 3247 Proust, Turing, and the Measure of Humanity.  Today, we go from Turing to Proust.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1550: Finding the Book

06 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1550 Making a book of The Engines of Our Ingenuity.  Today, we wonder how to make a book.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1549: Comptus Rendus, 1836

05 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1549 Compte Rendus, 1836: a snapshot of science at high tide.  Today, we read modern science when it was first being made.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1547: Ripe for Revolution

04 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1547 Mystery at the threshhold of the Twentieth Century.  Today, let's reclaim mystery.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1546: Max Jakob

03 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1546 Max Jakob: a breath of fresh air in a new land.  Today, a great engineer escapes the Holocaust.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2576: Screw Caps for Wine

02 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 2576 Are screw caps good for wine?  Today, a turn of the screw.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2687: What Lives Within Us

01 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 2687 Getting to know the organisms that live on and in the human body.  Today, what lives within us.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3367: Scientific American’s Blunder

31 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 3367 In which Scientific American Magazine gets wrong, the airflow during singing.  Today, Scientific American gets it wrong.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3366: Bottle Cap

30 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 3366 The throw-away bottle cap: More than it seems to be.  Today, we invent the bottle cap.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1545: English Balloons

29 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1545 The English and 18th century ballooning.  Today, we ride the first hot-air balloons in England.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1544: Electric Light Opera

28 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1544 An operetta about electric lights, written before Edison's light bulb.  Today, an electric-light opera.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1543: Ceredi’s Pump

27 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1543 Archimedes' pump, rediscovered by Ceredi, heralds the new science.  Today, meet the person who reinvented Archimedes' pump.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2575: Prime Numbers

26 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 2575 The illustrious history of Prime Numbers.  Today, some numbers for the ages.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3228: Computer Safety

25 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 3228 Designing safe computer controls.  Today, flying by computer.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3365: 1906 Shop Notes

24 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 3365  A 1906 set of Shop Notes offers a lesson in technological change.  Today, a manual tells us more than it means to.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1542: Francis Bacon

22 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1542 In which Francis Bacon pushes a strict Aristotelian Agenda.  Today, science tries to find its way.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1541: History and Horseshoe Nails

21 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1541 Do 'Horseshoe Nails' really alter human history?  Today, we ask if horseshoe nails are real.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1540: The Ironclad Turtle

20 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1540 The Korean Turtle Boat - the first ironclad.  Today, we meet a turtle with an iron shell.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2572: Melville and Anna Bissell

19 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 2572 Melville and Anna Bissell and the Carpet Sweeper.  Today, a husband and wife engineer success.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3363: Reinforcement Learning

18 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 3363 Richard Sutton and reinforcement learning.  Today, reinforcement learning.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3362: The Engineering Magazine

17 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 3362 A 1914 Engineering Magazine teaches us much about the evolution of our technology.  Today, a revealing old magazine.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3361: Ravens in Thin Air

16 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 3361 The versatile, intelligent, Raven has much to teach us.  Today, ravens in thin air.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1539: Boundary Layers

15 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1539 In which a thin layer of fluid determines whether an airplane flies.  Today, a wind blows by us.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1538: The Face of a Century

14 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1538 In which the various centuries show their faces.  Today, we ask what a century looks like.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1537: Life on the Moon

13 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1537 John Wilkins talks about life on the Moon, in 1638.  Today, life on the moon.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2570: Celebrating Human Ingenuity

12 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 2570 Celebrating Human Ingenuity.  Today, a story in two parts.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3360: Fender Rhodes

11 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 3360 The incomparable sound of the legendary Fender Rhodes.  Today we consider "The legendary Fender Rhodes".

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3359: Darwin-Wedgwood

10 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 3359 An very special lineage: Charles Darwin: Grandson of Josiah Wedgwood and Erasmus Darwin.  Today, Charles Darwin’s grandparents.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3358: Onesiphore Pecqueur

09 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 3358 Onesiphore Pecqueur and the invention of your car’s differential gears.  Today, let us meet Onesiphore Pecqueur.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1535: Inventing the Clock

07 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1535 The mechanical clock as tactile philosophy.  Today, we invent the mechanical clock.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1534: Acceleration

06 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1534 Making sense of the slippery concept of acceleration.  Today, let's think about falling.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2563: Isaac Asimov

05 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 2563 The Prolific Isaac Asimov.  Today, science or fiction?

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3357: Backpropagation

04 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 3357 Backpropagation: The idea that powers modern AI.  Today, backpropagation, the trick behind modern AI.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3356: Calligraphic Art

03 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 3356 A form of decorative calligraphic art emerges from penmanship instruction at 19th century business colleges.  Today, when handwriting b...

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3355: Tin Cans

02 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 3355 The rise of the lowly and ubiquitous Tin Can, and its various openers.  Today, let us make tin cans.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1533: The Triple Nickel

01 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1533 The Triple Nickel: the first Black paratroopers become smoke jumpers.  Today, a secret WW-II battle.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1532: Typewriters

28 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1532 The invention and selling of the typewriter.  Today, the typewriter teaches us its purpose.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1531: Only a Theory

27 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1531 On restoring the word theory.  Today, let's theorize.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2562: Paul Samuelson and the textbook Economics

26 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 2562 Paul Samuelson and the textbook Economics.  Today, a book that helped educate the world.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3354: Wharton Esherick

25 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 3354 Wharton Esherick's finely-crafted furniture, objects, and art enliven the studio building he designed and constructed.  Today, building...

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3266: New Year Fireworks

24 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 3266 Fireworks, Firecrackers, and Lunar New Year.  Today, we ring the new year in with a bang.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3353: Sandrin

23 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 3353 An example showing how music, like other technologies, evolves.  Today, a lesson from an old song.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1530: The Medieval Mason

22 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1530 Medieval masons and the mischief of success.  Today, we meet a medieval mason.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1529: Osborne Reynolds

21 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1529 Osborne Reynolds: of sand Reynolds Numbers.  Today, a great Victorian engineer.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1527: Polio and Clean Water

20 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1527 How Clean Water triggered the Great Polio Epidemics.  Today, we wonder where polio came from.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2559: Going, Going, Gone!

19 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 2559 Going, Going, Gone! A look at auctions.  Today, going, going, gone!

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2035: The Gunpowder Plot

18 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 2035 The Gunpowder Plot: Terrorism little-changed in four hundred years.  Today, historian Cathy Patterson asks us to "Remember, remember, t...

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2739: Hall

17 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 2739 Evolution of the Hall from Anglo-Saxon times to the present.  Today, a room without a view.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1526: Learning to Talk

16 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1526 Learning speech: the Paleolithic technological explosion.  Today, we learn to talk.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1525: Liberty Ships

15 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1525 Liberty ships: an amateur takes over the trade.  Today, an amateur builds ships.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1524: The Great Peshtigo Fire

14 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1524 The other great fire of 1871: Peshtigo, Wisconsin.  Today, the other great fire.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1523: Lighthouses and Cabooses

13 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1523 On saying goodbye to lighthouses and cabooses.  Today, we say goodbye to lighthouses and cabooses.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2556: Hilbert and Euclid’s Elements

12 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 2556 Euclid's Elements, David Hilbert, and modern notions of mathematical abstraction.  Today, making a point.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3352: A Taste of Orange

11 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 3352 A Taste of Orange.  Today we are "Tasting Orange".

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3350: Pickering’s Harem

10 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 3350 Today honoring a special group of women scientists.  Pickering’s Harem.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3351: Crossbow

09 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 3351 The curious struggle of the Crossbow.  History is full of instances where armies cling to outmoded weapons.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1522: Fifty Years in the Future

08 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1522 A 1950 prediction of technology in the year 2000.  Today, we go fifty years into the future.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1521: John P. Parker

07 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1521 John P. Parker, slave, freedom-fighter, inventor, and businessman.  Today, we follow a slave out of slavery.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1520: Automobile Drag Coefficients

06 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1520 In which automobile makers gradually learn aerodynamics.  Today, aerodynamics and automobiles.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2555: Google Books

05 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 2555 The brave new world of digitizing books for the Web.  Today, this old book.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2862: Randomness

04 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 2862 Randomness out of Nothingness.  Today, let's talk about how to pick random numbers out of thin air.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3349: Inhuman Distances

03 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 3349 The Inhuman Distances of the Speed of Light.  Today, inhuman distances.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1519: Seeing Around the Corner

02 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1519 Learning to acquire knowledge and create it at the same time.  Today, we wonder where knowledge comes from.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1518: Looking for Reality

01 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1518 A concern about computers and the redefinition of reality.  Today, we try to tell fact from fiction.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1517: A Tripartite Bridge

31 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1517 The very odd bridge that Roebling almost built.  Today, a strange bridge.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1516: Saving the Lore

30 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1516 In which we must save the lore as well as the plants.  Today, we have to save more than the endangered plants.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2554: Slogans and Jingles

29 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 2554 The Creativity of Slogans and Jingles.  Today, "think different."

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3090: Friedrich Richard Petri

28 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 3090 Friedrich Richard Petri.  Today, drawing the frontier.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2881: Racial Mythologies: Günther vs. Huxley

27 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 2881 Racial Mythologies: Hans Günther vs. Julian Huxley on the Concept of Race.  Today, poison in the library.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1515: Oxygen

26 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1515 The would-be discovery of oxygen and scientific revolution.  Today, let's try to find out who discovered oxygen.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1514: The Resistence Movement

25 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1514 The resistance movement: a look at ongoing evolution.  Today, we watch creatures evolving around us.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1513: The Accidental Creationist

24 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1513 The Accidental Creationist: In which science changes with the telling of it.  Today, the problem of telling about science.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1512: The Corner Store

23 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1512 The corner store: a retail outlet that is lost but not forgotten.  Today, let's buy candy at the corner store.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2552: Frederick the Great, Patron of the Arts

22 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 2552 Frederick the Great, Patron of the Arts.  Today, what made Frederick great?

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2836: Bumping Into Signs

21 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 2836 Bumping into Signs: Emergent Semiotic Spaces.  Today, signs of the times.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2243: Organizing for Disaster

20 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 2243 Organizing for disaster: One place where New Orleans did it right.  Today, our guest, UH journalist Michael Berryhill, prepares for a r...

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1511: Lotus and High-Tech

19 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1511 In which the lotus blossom gives a lesson in engineering design.  Today, lotus petals and high-tech.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1510: Thomas Sopwith

18 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1510 Thomas Sopwith's hundredth birthday.  Today, we meet the oldest airplane designer.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1509: Roads, Canals, and Railways

17 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1509 Late 18th century competition among roads, canals and railways.  Today, we look at roads, canals, and railways.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1508: Alchemy

16 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1508 The alchemists and chemistry before the middle 19th century.  Today, we remember alchemy.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2550: Napoleon’s Theorem

15 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 2550 Could Napoleon have proved Napoleon's Theorem?  Today, did he, or didn't he?

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3244: Bias in Face Recognition Software

14 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 3244 Bias and Diversity in Photography and Face Recognition Software.  Today, bodies, in beautiful black and white.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1856: Form and Feeling

13 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1856 Form and feeling, a necessary partnership.  Today, our guest. Seattle actor Megan Cole, considers a necessary partnership.

The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1507: Lighter Than Air

12 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Episode: 1507 Rediscovering lighter-than-air flight.  Today, do you suppose you'll ever get to ride in a dirigible?