how we got to now
from about page on site:
About How We Got To Now
How We Got To Now with Steven Johnson reveals the story behind the remarkable ideas that made modern life possible; the unsung heroes that brought them into the world – and the unexpected and bizarre consequences each of these innovations has triggered.
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“Clean” – Premieres Wednesday, October 15, 2014, 9:00p.m. – 10:00p.m. ET (Check local listings)
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“Time” – Premieres Wednesday, October 15, 2014, 10:00p.m. – 11:00p.m. ET (Check local listings)
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“Glass” – Premieres Wednesday, October 22, 2014, 10:00p.m. – 11:00p.m. ET (Check local listings)
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“Light” – Premieres Wednesday, October 29, 2014, 10:00p.m. – 11:00p.m. ET (Check local listings)
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“Cold” – Premieres Wednesday, November 2, 2014, 10:00p.m. – 11:00p.m. ET (Check local listings)
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“Sound” – Premieres Wednesday, November 12, 2014, 10:00p.m. – 11:00p.m. ET (Check local listings)
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Whether Steven is washing windows on the top floor of a skyscraper or drinking beer at 8am in order to better understand the health choices of a 19th century philosopher, he wants to delve into the intense rivalries, terrible failures and moments of heroic achievement of the men and women who have made the modern world. These are hobbyists and garage inventors, ordinary characters who’ve done extraordinary things…and yet have remained almost entirely unknown.
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love how Steven is showing us the adjacent possible..
his book of same title:
book links to amazon
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Steven interviewed by Jon:
http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/xejra0/steven-johnson
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find/follow how we got to now:
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how we get to next
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notes from series:
oct 15 2014 – debuting on pbs – how we got to now..
we make our ideas and they make us in return..
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how we got to now: http://video.pbs.org/program/how-we-got-now/
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episode 1: clean
chicago lifted by jackscrews (formerly used to lift rail cars) – 1860 – an entire block – by over 6000 jacksrews
1831-1860 – cholera killed more than 140000 people in britain (still kills 100000 worldwide every yr) – cholera not in the air – but in the water – snow – to prove theory has to take a huge gamble w/own life – most influential maps ever produced.. data of deaths
made break through without knowing what it was in water that kills us –
water parks – bacterial breeding ground – 72 degree water – chlorine – lethal to microscopic bacteria – use too much and lethal to humans – so very hard to sell this idea
new tech often overwhelms old infrastructures – 19th cent – it was toilets – rather than today’s iphones – result – huge influx of dirty water – solution came from a seemingly unremarkable guy – never became rich or famous – but his work transformed america –
1908 – nj water company – leal gets the opportunity to test out chlorine – in total secrecy – leal doses the drinking water supply with potentially lethal chlorine – 200000 people – 3 months after experiment – called into court – and judge is shocked – w/in a few years – chlorination of drinking water in us is rolled out – infant mortality in america is almost halved – so saving lives but also transforming how we have fun – a whole generation learns how to swim – private pools in 1960s.. – then w/drought – become skateboard spaces – one of 20th centuries most unlikely heroes.
annie murray – bleach for home – invented new industry – no longer just health – but clean becomes big business – whoa. then came soap opera – sponsored by soap – today cleaning industry worth 80 billion
some are saying cleaner world relating to explosion of asthma and allergies
cleanest place on planet – texas instrument microchip fabrication plant – to enter – soap is too dirty – many have fragrance et al –
dust can be so damaging – because the chips are less than a tenth of a single micron. a speck of household dust would be comparable to mt everest landing on street of manhattan
so digital revolution can only happen because we’re able to think about cleanliness…
mastering clean at the smallest scale. – from almost 200 yrs ago – wanting to keep our streets clean of dirt.
bringing clean water to every one on earth – one of the great challenges of the 21st cent
snow’s time – little more than 2% lived in cities, today more than half do. urbanization of planet would have never happened.. w/o these unlikely people.. inventors of the modern world.
nicely done Steven Johnson. grazie
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episode 2: time
150 yrs ago – 100s of town using their own time.. fixed by a railway clerk and a cobblers son,.. hobbiests… set in motion a chain reaction of ideas..
living on modern submarine as far removed from the natural time rhythms – no sun – 18 hour clock – disrupting time.. but truth is – most of us are living on artificial time..
taken back 5 centuries.. the whole idea of split second timing/accuracy would have been as useful as a satellite dish. time was measured by daily tasks needed to work the land.. ie: i’ll see you in the milking of a cow
1583 – unknown student – galileo – 19 yrs old – attends prayers (next to leaning tower of pisa) – he gets distracted by swinging alter lamp – uses pulse as metronome, he’s nerding out on the physics of the pendulum.. his rebellious nature.. scholars were supposed to quote knowledge, not investigate it
then nothing happens for almost 60 yrs – because no one needed a clock. galileo goes on to be a genius.. parks this idea – until a new set of conditions comes along – that are backed up by a whole heap of cash – 1598 – life pension in duckets – to whoever finds a way to measure longitude
maritime navigation drove our seeking of time.. on sea – accurate measure of time huge – latitude by reading sun, but to figure out longitude – needed local time on ship and exact time they left port.. but w/no accurate clock on board – end up lost
telescope is new – and in 1610 – finds jupiter has own orbiting moon – staring at the heavens – reminds galileo of staring up in the cathedral… bingo – he realizes a pendulum could be used to regulate clocks..
revolutionary – but galileo doesn’t get to see it tested at sea… pendulum clocks..
w/in 15 years – first true pendulum clock.. also means better health care via measuring pulses..
john harrison – solves longitude problem – maritime trade now flourishes.. charles darwin on board of first trip to islands to fix time
but most people still didn’t need that accuracy till mid 18th cent.. 1760 – expertise helps to create steam engines, etc.. ie: the industrial revolution.. and our experience of time changes forever…
disruption to our body clocks – gives way to coffee and tea..
watches as status symbols – hard to gain control over own time
middle of 19th cent – meticulous ness of the workings of a watch was something else
aaron dennison – thinks up time saving for his dad’s shoe shop. then age 27 has his own watch shop. 1840 causes a storm of controversy saying that clocks will be made by machinery – public calls him the lunatic of boston. in the face of ridicule he sticks to vision. he sees guns being made faster and cheaper by parts. so from shoes and guns – revolutionary idea to piecemeal watches via machines..
outbreak of civil war – brings dennison a new business idea.. despite his boss telling him not to work on anything new. but while boss is away on honeymoon – he works on soldier’s watch at $13 – break out hit.. 160000 are sold. even abraham lincoln has one. watch becomes first must have high tech gadget.
with more people with watches – we start to synchronize our goings on. particularly with war. people buy watches for kids to enhance chances in life. cooking books, team sports, .. efficiency improved.
but the more we start to own our own time.. they start to own us.
130 yrs ago – decide that whole nations need to get on same clock. air traffic control. how did we get there?
150 yrs ago – via a man who went head to head with public opinion – railroad transforming america.. but creates unexpected problem.. railroads connecting towns with own individual times. 1880s each town using own local time. each differing by the minute. also each railroad (50 of them) had their own time.
allen – introduces idea of time zones – fierce opposition to the prospect of change… needed to stick to truth as written by sun, moon, stars. after 7 month battle – he triumphs – nov 18, 1883, the day of two noons. 1st ever 12pm est. america goes from 100s of times to just 4. just a few weeks later – he writes – adoption of standard of time is an event that is likely to be noted.
next year – whole world is tied into time zones – now closer to fellow citizens through broadcasting.
shaving clocks down to smaller and smaller increments.. combine to speed up our lives. the better we get at measuring time the less we seem to have it.
then. atomic physics. yet an environment that encourages people to think big. oct 1967.. change very defn of time itself. the astronomical time no longer accurate enough. trade time base from large to smallest – the age of atomic time. today we measure time by tracking the behavior of atoms.
atomic time confirmed that the earth’s rotation is slowing down. and showed that it’s not always consistent. leap second was added to the clock. people are saying too destructive – a 1 sec jump … airline, computer, et al.. shows how dependent the world has become on time system
since 1972 – 25 leap seconds have been added to our lives. now so accurate only drifts by a second every 5 billion years.
gps satellites as giant clocks in orbit… using differences in time.. phone calculates exact distance. getting us from a to b. gps – for money – for cheaper food from robotic farming.. gps tech dependent on electrons dancing around an atom
also – not just where to go – but where we’ve come from..
san andreas fault et al via a different kind of clock via – marie curie – studying radio activity – rocks could be clocks.. not ticking by seconds but by millenials
climate change – predicting future
400 yrs from galileo to now.. the modern clock has never been just about time. it’s made the world a smaller and more connected place..
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be you. 