In 1939 a group of eccentric inventors were brought together by Winston Churchill. They fought the Nazis with British bulldog spirit and ingenuity. Churchill’s Toyshop, Discovery 2015
1856 when Henry Bessemer invented a process for producing mass-produced steel. Mark Williams, Industrial Revelations s1e7: Cutting Edge, Discovery 2002
The steam engine – invented in England in the early eighteenth century and perfected by James Watt. Michael Wood, The Great British Story 7/8: A People’s History: Industry & Empire, BBC 2012
‘The man who discovered how to power the world ... was James Watt, and his steam engine was to drive the industrial revolution.’ Genius of Britain II: A Roomful of Brilliant Minds, James Dyson, Channel 4 2012
The answer was to cool and condense the steam in a separate chamber outside the main cylinder. ibid.
Watt’s monsters throbbed day and night. ibid.
James Watt’s invention changed the world ... This was the start of the Industrial Revolution. ibid.
We are Innovators. Inventors. We transformed the resources of our planet into new powers. Mankind conquers Nature. But as Life accelerates, new perils and our greatest triumphs. On an unforgiving planet. One species learns to harness its bounty. To survive thrive and conquer. This is our story. The story of all of us. Mankind: The Story of All of Us XI
Our history looms large over us shaping our present and our future. We accept the great moments and ideas detailed in history books as a matter of fact. But what if our understanding of historical events isn’t actually all that accurate. As time passes our perception of history can become foggier, less reliable. History’s Greatest Myths s1e1: Inventions and Discoveries, History 2013
Transformative discoveries and inventions often seem as if they have emerged into our society fully formed, filling a space that was empty only moments earlier and quickly becoming the fabric of our daily lives. This perception drives prevailing myths about inventors and their inventions. Yet how history remembers these inventors is often embellished by clever marketing, propaganda, cloudy recollections, and at worst, out and out theft. ibid.
The notion that Edison solely invented the light bulb is a myth that has endured. ibid.
Four years after publishing her research, [Rosalind] Franklin tragically died at the age of 37 from Ovarian cancer before her contemporaries [Crick & Watson] won their Nobel Prize. ibid.
Imagine a magic carpet developed in secret by the United States’ military. How about a cage for babies that hangs from a 20-storey building. Or giant killer robots powered by facial expressions. Has the human drive to create new technology opened a Pandora’s Box? The UnBelievable with Dan Aykroyd s1e5: Outlandish Inventions, History 2024
The digital era was shaped by a handful of truly great inventions that changed our lives … One of those inventions was ours. One that changed the way we looked at the world for ever. But no-one knows our story. We were cheated out of it by Google. But we’re going to change that now. The Billion Dollar Code I, Netflix 2021
The only thing I was really good at was programming. ibid.
The complete mapping of the world on computer. ibid.
Computers can change your life for ever. Access to information must be free. ibid.
Let’s be realistic, we were all a little mad. ibid.
Everyone that day at the conference wanted to visit their home town. ibid.
So when did Google release Google Earth? So eleven years later. ibid. deposition rehearsal
How can Terravision and Google Earth be absolutely so identical? ibid.
After Kyoto we had caught the attention of the press. The Billion Dollar Code II
There was no hierarchy any more. Everyone had the same goal: write the best program there ever was. ibid.
Brian and Juri they wouldn’t be stopped … Brian and Juris were soulmates. ibid. deposition rehearsal
Suddenly we were a proper company. ibid.
Everything will be done on the internet in the future. ibid.
Imagine if you could also travel through time. ibid.
They are copying us … Brian Anderson has developed has developed a demo program that looks exactly like Terravision. Doesn’t it? He’s collaborating with Google. And now they’re making a PC program. They call it Google Earth. ibid.
‘Don’t be evil’ [Google slogan] became evil. ibid.
The only thing that matters is if the jury wants to believe them. ibid.
Why don’t you just try for $5 million? ibid. Brian
‘Without Terravision there would be no Google Earth.’ ibid.
Google has no interest in collaborating with you. ibid. Google patent lawyer
Do you know why the criminals are? It’s your employers who are. These are the criminals. Just like all the corporations are. The trillion-dollar market they have control over. Who hoard their users’ data and then they sell it to the highest bidder! Who manipulate elections. Who deceive people like me without even being brought to justice for their actions. These are the criminals! ibid. soliloquy
Suddenly we were a proper company. ibid.
Everything will be done on the internet in the future. ibid.
Imagine if you could also travel through time. ibid.
They are copying us … Brian Anderson has developed has developed a demo program that looks exactly like Terravision. Doesn’t it? He’s collaborating with Google. And now they’re making a PC program. They call it Google Earth. Ibid
‘Don’t be evil’ [Google slogan] became evil. ibid.
The only thing that matters is if the jury wants to believe them. ibid.
Why don’t you just try for $5 million? ibid. Brian
‘Without Terravision there would be no Google Earth.’ ibid.
Google has no interest in collaborating with you. ibid. Google patent lawyer
Do you know why the criminals are? It’s your employers who are. These are the criminals. Just like all the corporations are. The trillion-dollar market they have control over. Who hoard their users’ data and then they sell it to the highest bidder! Who manipulate elections. Who deceive people like me without even being brought to justice for their actions. These are the criminals! ibid. soliloquy