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[gear noises]
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This giant metal box
is one of the reasons
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why the modern world
changes as fast as it does.
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Because of this, people
living in Lima or Birmingham,
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or Chicago or anywhere,
can as easily
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all have the same
japanese model calculator,
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dress in french fashions,
use a telephone system
designed and built in Germany,
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get emergency medical equipment
when they need it,
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and eat fresh strawberries
in the winter.
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And they can do all that
because you can put 100 tons
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of anything
into this metal box;
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anything from
helicopters to hairdryers.
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Okay, you say,
what's new about that?
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Anybody
can fill a box.
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But this box will take
its 100 tons of anything,
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anywhere in the world
within 24 hours,
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because it's got wings
and a big hole in the front.
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It's the 747
air freighter,
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the biggest thing
like it in the world.
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And they're already talking
about building something
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five times as big.
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Now, it's not so much
that these things
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can move cargo around
at 600 miles an hour.
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It's the rate at which
they bring change to places;
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I mean, with one of these,
you can deliver
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the guts of an entire
factory in one day,
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and come back the next day
with another factory.
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High technology;
door to door.
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And, what for instance,
is that going to do
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to the developing countries,
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and to their
relationship with us?
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This is not the first time
a new kind of transport
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has changed things.
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The 747 is uncannily
like another freighter
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built to do exactly
the same job, 400 years ago;
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and anything you can say
about the 747,
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you could say about it.
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Built by the richest nation
in the world
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to operate on
international routes,
to bring in bulk cargos
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that could be split up
and re-exported,
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nothing radically new
about its design,
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just very efficient,
low operating costs,
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automated
control systems,
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a very small crew working
in a very small cabin,
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high up above the hold.
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And yet, that first freighter,
400 years ago,
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built with those same
characteristics,
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changed the world.
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You see, if you're sitting
drinking coffee
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with sugar in it,
smoking,
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and you've got
a bank account
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or a mortgage on your house,
and you're insured,
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thank that other freighter,
400 years ago.
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This little ship called
De Liefde, that helped
to make Holland
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the riches country
in the world.
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By the mid 17th century,
these dutch merchants
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were bringing shiploads
of tobacco,
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sugar, pepper, silks;
you name it,
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into Europe by the ton
because they were trading
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from Archangel
to Cape Town,
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Brazil
to Nagasaki.
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Holland was the warehouse
of Europe,
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and everybody wanted
some of the goodies.
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Putting your money
in Amsterdam
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was like having a swiss bank
account today.
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Of course, the dutch made it
easy to get credit,
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safe investment, big profits;
and above all,
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you made a deal
with the dutch,
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and you knew
they'd deliver, literally.
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This is Hoorn, a little port
in northern Holland
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where the dutch developed
that first regular
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express service to almost
anywhere in Europe.
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See, back in 1595,
these ship builders here
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had realized,
unlike anybody else,
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that nobody was going to get
very rich out of cargo delivery
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unless they solved
one basic problem.
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Look at this Brueghel:
see the problem?
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That galleon,
everybody used them,
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great for fighting,
otherwise useless;
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I mean, just to put
the sails up and down,
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you needed a dozen of people.
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and they cost,
so get rid of them.
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Okay, look at that deck
or that crew accommodation,
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taking valuable deck space
you could pile up with cargo,
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and if you're not a warship,
why do you need the gun decks for?
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In terms of cargo space,
that's what the galleon gave you.
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Ludicrous,
so here's what they did,
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they built as near a square hull
as they could, for maximum space.
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Remember the 747?
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And like it, they put a very
small crew cabin on top,
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running the control surfaces
with the help of automation;
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in this case,
block and tackle.
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Like the 747, nothing radical
about the design,
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just the most efficient
cargo ship in the world.
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De Liefde made the dutch rich
because it took imports
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from across the oceans,
and delivered them
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all around Europe,
practically door to door.
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And with that kind of service,
how could you lose?
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This little ship went over
very big with everybody,
except the english.
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Everywhere they went,
they bumped into these guys.
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The Dutch East India Company,
who got everywhere
the english wanted to go,
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and got there first.
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So, the english decided
to take over, by going dutch.
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They found a way to share
the cost of sending out ships
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to bring home
the goodies.
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They set up a way
you could register
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how much land you had,
get a mortgage on it,
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and then go to one of the new
coffee houses in London,
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and buy yourself
a pice of the action.
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And, to handle the money,
the bank of England;
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That started literally,
over a cup of coffee.
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In these places,
you could trade anything
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from ships, to girls,
to land in America.
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But the deal
that made England great,
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was this idea.
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Kidnap africans, sell them
in Barbados for sugar,
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sell that in America
for tobacco,
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and make yourself a million.
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With this amount of stuff
pouring into the country,
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and more and more ships
spending up to a year
away from home,
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on voyages to India
or Africa, America,
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it is inevitable that
somebody should turn
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to the business of insurance,
because after all,
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what's the point of putting
all your money
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into a venture
if the ship goes down,
and you lose the lot?
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So in 1688, a man
called Edward Lloyd
set up a new coffee house,
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where you could go
and get insurance.
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And THIS is what that
coffee house finally became:
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the biggest insurance
organization in the world,
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Lloyd's of London.
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Lloyd's made more
and more voyages possible
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because they regularized
the business of insurance,
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and because
they paid up promptly,
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even on mystery losses
like that one.
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They were able to do that
because of the system
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they introduced
right from the start,
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of categorizing ships.
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Look, this is one of
their earliest secret books,
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and in here, they include
details of the ship,
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and they classify the hull
according to its soundness,
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by the letters
A, E, I, O, or U;
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and its equipment
as either G-good,
M-middling, or B-bad.
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Take a look
at this little ship,
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which must have cost
at a bit to insure.
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She's The Maria:
captain Nicholas Toknefs
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leaving hull for Norway,
140 tons, single deck,
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build in Norway, hull U-dreadful,
equipment B-bad.
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Wonder how long she lasted.
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But it was this business
of ships' hulls
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that was to lead
to a major invention
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that you very probably
have in your house today.
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Let me tell you why.
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As the ships travelled more
and more in tropical waters,
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their wooden hulls were
attacked more and more
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by a tiny worm
that lived in those waters.
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And the only protection
against that worm,
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was to cover the bottom
of the hull
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with a mixture
of pitch and tar,
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okay; except that in 1700,
in the Baltic,
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where most of the pitch
and tar came from,
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Sweden and Finland
got themselves into a war.
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And the price of the stuff
went through the roof.
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Fortunately, there was one other
source of supply available.
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And the english owned it.
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But it was 4.000 miles away.
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The plan was to offer
the american colonists
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prize money
to make tar and pitch,
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so a) you'd get
what you needed,
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and b) keep them so busy,
they wouldn't have time
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to set up industries
to compete with Britain.
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And especially
in the southern states,
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like the Carolinas,
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they'd need extra manpower
to produce the stuff.
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So you'd also be able
to sell them what they needed
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to chop trees down,
african slaves.
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Why chop trees?
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Well, that's how
you make pitch, with pine trees,
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which you buried
in deep pits and roasted.
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The tar in the wood
bubbled out
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and, so did turpentine;
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run off the turpentine
into barrels,
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shovel the tar
out of the pits later on,
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and you're in business.
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So, the british fleet was saved,
covered in american pitch,
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re-sailed on to greater
and greater profits,
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at the expense of the american
colonies, to be sure.
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But, who cared about them?
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Well, in 1776, tired of being
ripped off like this,
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they did, and so -
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and that, disastrously, was the end
of cheap american pitch;
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which is why
our story takes us next
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to a picturesque little
village in Scotland,
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just outside Edinburgh.
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00:10:40,937 --> 00:10:43,601
[bagpipers]
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00:10:47,952 --> 00:10:51,035
This is Culross, or
to the locals, Cooross;
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00:10:51,035 --> 00:10:53,142
and at the time
of the pitch crisis,
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00:10:53,142 --> 00:10:54,668
it belonged to
the Cochrane family,
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00:10:54,668 --> 00:10:56,065
earls of Dundonald.
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Anyway, by the time of
american independence,
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00:11:01,706 --> 00:11:03,987
the next in line
to rule the local peasants,
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was a character called
Archibald Cochrane,
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00:11:06,198 --> 00:11:08,910
9th earl
and dismal failure.
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00:11:10,325 --> 00:11:12,883
For about 100 years,
the previous earls
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00:11:12,883 --> 00:11:16,068
had backed the wrong king,
or the wrong horse.
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00:11:16,508 --> 00:11:20,418
So that when Archibald
inherited the title in 1778,
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there wasn't much left
except the very small estate
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00:11:22,861 --> 00:11:25,728
here at Culross, and a couple
of tin pot coal mines.
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00:11:26,681 --> 00:11:28,756
Still, you've got to
give him his due;
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00:11:28,756 --> 00:11:30,375
Archibald Cochrane
was a real trier.
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00:11:30,734 --> 00:11:32,844
He decided to recoup
the family fortunes
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00:11:32,844 --> 00:11:34,777
by going into
the invention business;
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00:11:34,918 --> 00:11:36,684
all he needed
was a little cash.
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00:11:37,892 --> 00:11:40,074
He threw himself
enthusiastically into everything,
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00:11:40,671 --> 00:11:42,657
like three marriages,
and seven children.
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00:11:43,406 --> 00:11:45,045
The trouble was,
he tended to throw himself
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00:11:45,045 --> 00:11:46,735
enthusiastically
in the wrong direction,
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00:11:46,995 --> 00:11:49,974
because, although Archibald
was very long on bright ideas.
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00:11:50,132 --> 00:11:52,082
He was rather short
on business sense.
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00:11:52,242 --> 00:11:53,581
And, everything he tried,
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00:11:53,581 --> 00:11:57,281
like new ways of making sailcloth,
new ways of making gum,
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00:11:57,281 --> 00:11:59,296
new ways of making
bread from potatoes,
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00:11:59,772 --> 00:12:02,575
either failed disastrously
or if they worked,
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00:12:02,575 --> 00:12:04,810
it turned out afterwards that
he hadn't read the fine print.
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00:12:05,966 --> 00:12:07,845
But the thing
that really blew it all
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00:12:07,845 --> 00:12:11,226
was our hero's plan to save
England from the pitch crisis.
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00:12:12,166 --> 00:12:14,147
It was an idea that other
people had tried before,
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00:12:14,147 --> 00:12:16,334
but oddly enough, with Archibald,
it actually worked.
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00:12:17,030 --> 00:12:20,496
This was his prototype:
the idea was you put coal
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00:12:20,496 --> 00:12:23,882
inside a copper kettle,
and you heat up the coal
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00:12:23,917 --> 00:12:27,017
and vapors come out,
and you distil the vapors,
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00:12:27,017 --> 00:12:33,598
and the condensation that you
end up with, turns out as coal tar.
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00:12:34,697 --> 00:12:37,417
Well, Archibald
begged and borrowed
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00:12:37,417 --> 00:12:39,783
and practically stole,
to finance a number of ovens,
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00:12:39,783 --> 00:12:41,562
like this one here
on the estate at Culross,
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00:12:42,089 --> 00:12:44,272
in order to produce the stuff
on a commercial scale.
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00:12:44,272 --> 00:12:47,224
And in 1781, he hightailed it
down to London,
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00:12:47,224 --> 00:12:50,325
and he said to the royal navy,
"yes, you can now paint
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00:12:50,325 --> 00:12:52,300
the bottom of your ships
with coal tar."
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00:12:52,552 --> 00:12:55,555
And they said, "no, we can't,
we have just decided
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00:12:55,555 --> 00:12:58,614
to cover the bottom of 'em
with that - copper."
241
00:12:58,755 --> 00:13:02,926
That's when 'copper bottom'
came to mean what it does today,
a safe investment.
242
00:13:04,752 --> 00:13:07,179
But, the saddest thing
about the seedy
243
00:13:07,179 --> 00:13:10,186
9th earl of Dundonald was,
something has happened here
244
00:13:10,186 --> 00:13:11,414
that might have made him
a millionaire
245
00:13:11,414 --> 00:13:12,865
instead of going off
as he did,
246
00:13:12,865 --> 00:13:15,142
to die in poverty
in a slum in Paris.
247
00:13:16,012 --> 00:13:18,789
It was something
about which typically,
he entirely missed the point.
248
00:13:19,176 --> 00:13:21,381
It was something he told
his friend, James Watt about,
249
00:13:21,381 --> 00:13:23,358
and James Watt was
apparently uninterested,
250
00:13:23,358 --> 00:13:27,173
apparently uninterested,
because what Archibald told him
251
00:13:27,173 --> 00:13:29,418
was that one day,
one of the these ovens here
252
00:13:29,418 --> 00:13:33,961
sprang a leak, and vapors came out,
and as Archibald approaches it
253
00:13:33,961 --> 00:13:37,195
with a light to find out
what was up, guess what?
254
00:13:43,778 --> 00:13:45,865
Now, these were the days
of the great british
255
00:13:45,865 --> 00:13:47,105
cotton factory boom;
256
00:13:47,464 --> 00:13:48,778
working day and night
they were.
257
00:13:49,197 --> 00:13:52,230
And at night, if you put cotton
and candlelight together,
258
00:13:52,230 --> 00:13:54,598
you got more illumination
than the factory needed.
259
00:13:55,176 --> 00:13:57,411
Cotton rolls were going up
in flames everywhere,
260
00:13:57,411 --> 00:13:59,063
and the owners
were desperate
261
00:13:59,063 --> 00:14:01,000
for some kind of
safer lighting.
262
00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:05,118
In 1792, a scotman called
Murdock said he'd invented it.
263
00:14:05,118 --> 00:14:08,462
"You heat coal up", he said,
"and set light to the vapors
264
00:14:08,462 --> 00:14:11,757
the coal gives off,
and you get this."
265
00:14:16,178 --> 00:14:17,370
Idea sounds familiar?
266
00:14:17,370 --> 00:14:21,403
It's what Dundonald told James Watt;
who wasn't interested, remember?
267
00:14:21,558 --> 00:14:23,113
Guess who Murdock worked for?
268
00:14:23,497 --> 00:14:24,315
James Watt.
269
00:14:24,707 --> 00:14:26,208
Murdock's
factory gas lamps
270
00:14:26,208 --> 00:14:28,664
made him illumination's
leading light.
271
00:14:28,664 --> 00:14:29,832
[applause]
272
00:14:31,771 --> 00:14:32,507
But not for long.
273
00:14:32,806 --> 00:14:35,891
Most mortals on Earth
with smoke live in strife,
274
00:14:35,891 --> 00:14:38,492
and many of beauty
is smothered alive;
275
00:14:38,492 --> 00:14:41,586
great London itself,
the emporium of the world,
276
00:14:41,586 --> 00:14:44,918
with clouds of black smoke
is constantly furled,
277
00:14:44,918 --> 00:14:48,597
smoke begot chimneys,
chimneys beget smoke,
278
00:14:48,597 --> 00:14:53,873
soot, fires and filth,
all prevented by coke.
279
00:14:53,873 --> 00:14:54,703
[applause]
280
00:14:55,241 --> 00:14:59,877
If you turned up to the London
Lyceum theater lecture in 1803,
281
00:14:59,877 --> 00:15:01,396
that's the kind of
garbage you got;
282
00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:03,653
written by one of the more
ludicrous promoters
283
00:15:03,653 --> 00:15:06,715
of technology ever known;
the flashing,
284
00:15:06,715 --> 00:15:09,455
the incompetent,
the semi-illiterate,
285
00:15:09,455 --> 00:15:12,045
Mr. Friedrich Albrecht Wintzer,
286
00:15:12,157 --> 00:15:13,938
a german gent
who turned up in England
287
00:15:13,938 --> 00:15:16,016
with the plan to light
the entire country by gas,
288
00:15:16,601 --> 00:15:19,037
and who changed his name
to Fred Albert Winsor,
289
00:15:19,037 --> 00:15:21,188
the better to mingle with
the business community,
290
00:15:21,802 --> 00:15:23,935
his english never did
improve too much.
291
00:15:23,935 --> 00:15:26,370
He used to say that the idea
of lighting Englad by gas
292
00:15:26,879 --> 00:15:29,269
struck him like
an electric spark -
293
00:15:31,272 --> 00:15:33,892
anyway, his lectures,
which amazed the crowds,
294
00:15:33,892 --> 00:15:36,614
were for the purpose of
financing his grand plan;
295
00:15:36,749 --> 00:15:40,665
to set up the imperial patriotic
national light and heat company.
296
00:15:41,480 --> 00:15:44,802
Put 50 pound in and you get
6.000 pounds out;
297
00:15:44,955 --> 00:15:48,784
mind you, all most of his audience
got was a headache
from the escaping gas,
298
00:15:48,784 --> 00:15:52,306
as he turned on his amazing
burners of varying shapes,
299
00:15:52,306 --> 00:15:55,633
sizes, and designs,
and dazzled the onlookers.
300
00:15:55,777 --> 00:16:00,437
All, he claimed,
invented by himself,
never mind Murdock.
301
00:16:00,587 --> 00:16:02,815
Mind you, behind
the showbiz chicanery,
302
00:16:02,815 --> 00:16:05,196
he had seen something
that Murdock hadn't.
303
00:16:05,675 --> 00:16:06,564
Look -
304
00:16:09,778 --> 00:16:11,904
this is the kiln
where the coal gets cooked;
305
00:16:12,932 --> 00:16:14,866
down here is where
the tar condenses;
306
00:16:15,743 --> 00:16:19,835
and the gas is contained
in here, recognize it?
307
00:16:19,973 --> 00:16:22,351
It's a gasometer, because
Winsor recognized
308
00:16:22,351 --> 00:16:23,689
that if you're going
to do it, do it big;
309
00:16:23,826 --> 00:16:26,924
Supply a whole town,
not just an individual factory;
310
00:16:27,059 --> 00:16:28,686
and that's why
he got his money.
311
00:16:29,108 --> 00:16:33,296
So, in 1812,
the company got its charter,
and away they went.
312
00:16:34,165 --> 00:16:36,905
But Winsor's greatest hour
was supposed to be
313
00:16:36,905 --> 00:16:39,713
the great chinese
gas pagoda show.
314
00:16:43,824 --> 00:16:45,767
Now, you won't believe this,
but here's the pagoda
315
00:16:45,767 --> 00:16:49,162
with 10.000 leaky gaz jets, right?
So, what do they do?
316
00:16:49,537 --> 00:16:50,405
Lit fireworks!
317
00:16:52,799 --> 00:16:53,963
Want to guess
what happened next?
318
00:16:59,966 --> 00:17:03,125
Well, with the crowned heads
of Europe watching this fiasco,
319
00:17:03,125 --> 00:17:04,827
Winsor got a bit of
a royal roasting,
320
00:17:04,827 --> 00:17:07,307
but gas had - if you'll
forgive the phrase -
321
00:17:07,307 --> 00:17:08,901
fired
the public imagination.
322
00:17:08,901 --> 00:17:11,764
And within six years,
the country's major cities
323
00:17:11,764 --> 00:17:12,891
had gas-lit streets.
324
00:17:13,257 --> 00:17:15,436
Suddenly, people started
going out to parties
325
00:17:15,436 --> 00:17:17,483
in the evening,
through brightly lit streets,
326
00:17:17,483 --> 00:17:20,981
free from crime, or to
the new workers institutes,
327
00:17:20,981 --> 00:17:23,117
where poor people
who'd never gone to school
328
00:17:23,117 --> 00:17:24,716
were taught to read and write;
329
00:17:24,860 --> 00:17:28,767
all because of the original need
to cover ships' bottoms with tar.
330
00:17:36,973 --> 00:17:39,118
Now, gas making produced a lot of tar,
331
00:17:39,290 --> 00:17:42,501
and as you'll recall
nobody wanted that for
ship's bottoms anymore,
332
00:17:42,501 --> 00:17:44,318
because they'd switched
to copper bottoming.
333
00:17:49,084 --> 00:17:51,856
So, in London,
they conveniently got rid
of the muck,
334
00:17:51,856 --> 00:17:54,542
by nipping out at night and
pouring it into the Thames.
335
00:17:54,542 --> 00:17:56,585
and since there was
a lot of ammonia
336
00:17:56,585 --> 00:17:59,196
in among the coal tar,
and ammonia stink,
337
00:17:59,196 --> 00:18:01,350
the Thames were suddenly
short on fish,
338
00:18:01,350 --> 00:18:03,101
and long on pole.
339
00:18:12,096 --> 00:18:14,681
Now, so is Glasgow,
smelly I mean;
340
00:18:14,681 --> 00:18:20,397
they had a gasworks too
and tons of useless muck,
until in 1819,
341
00:18:20,397 --> 00:18:22,913
enter an optimist
looking for useless muck.
342
00:18:35,514 --> 00:18:38,136
Our mysterious muck hunter
made colors,
343
00:18:38,136 --> 00:18:40,888
and as part of his ingredients,
he needed the ammonia,
344
00:18:40,888 --> 00:18:44,087
which was mixed with the coal tar
which the gas makers needed,
345
00:18:44,087 --> 00:18:45,011
like a hole in the head.
346
00:18:46,291 --> 00:18:48,949
He was welcomed with
all the delirium we reserve
347
00:18:48,949 --> 00:18:51,272
for somebody who comes to
unblock your toilet.
348
00:18:54,706 --> 00:18:57,132
The more he saw of the process
that made the sticky tar,
349
00:18:57,132 --> 00:18:59,534
the more he realized
he had a fortune on his hands,
350
00:18:59,534 --> 00:19:01,375
as long he didn't get it
on his hands.
351
00:19:12,230 --> 00:19:14,284
Now, although
he didn't realize it,
352
00:19:14,284 --> 00:19:16,315
as he gazed entranced
at the gallons
353
00:19:16,315 --> 00:19:18,515
of free liquid money
that would be all his,
354
00:19:18,515 --> 00:19:21,203
once he'd extracted
his ammonia from the tar,
355
00:19:21,203 --> 00:19:23,077
what was he going to do
with the leftovers?
356
00:19:24,449 --> 00:19:27,230
Never mind; he had to have
the magic muck.
357
00:19:32,735 --> 00:19:34,716
Well, when he'd got
his ammonia out,
358
00:19:34,716 --> 00:19:36,103
he fiddled around a bit,
359
00:19:36,103 --> 00:19:38,410
and extracted another liquid
called naphtha.
360
00:19:38,575 --> 00:19:40,864
And it was while dropping
things in naphtha,
361
00:19:40,864 --> 00:19:43,328
that he made the discovery for
which he's remembered today,
362
00:19:43,328 --> 00:19:44,771
every time it rains.
363
00:19:44,878 --> 00:19:48,739
Because, in 1819, he found that
it would dissolve something
364
00:19:48,739 --> 00:19:50,307
that was just beginning
to come into the country
365
00:19:50,307 --> 00:19:52,274
from South America: rubber.
366
00:19:52,424 --> 00:19:56,341
By 1823, he'd worked out what
to do with the rubber solution.
367
00:19:56,809 --> 00:19:58,056
Spread it
on a layer of cloth
368
00:19:58,056 --> 00:20:00,904
and stick another layer
of cloth on top.
369
00:20:03,366 --> 00:20:06,196
Made the cloth waterproff,
called it after his own name;
370
00:20:06,721 --> 00:20:08,541
Yes, The Macintosh.
371
00:20:18,191 --> 00:20:20,920
In 1826, Macintosh joined
up with another guy
372
00:20:20,920 --> 00:20:23,124
who was into rubber,
called Hancock,
373
00:20:23,272 --> 00:20:25,026
and together,
they began delivering
374
00:20:25,026 --> 00:20:27,127
waterproof everything
all over the country.
375
00:20:27,571 --> 00:20:30,505
And in Britain,
where it rains a lot,
how could he lose?
376
00:20:31,043 --> 00:20:33,724
Well, they could if they had to
go relying on South America.
377
00:20:34,201 --> 00:20:36,594
Hancock wanted british
rubber plantations,
378
00:20:36,594 --> 00:20:39,185
so he started cultivating
the right people.
379
00:20:39,652 --> 00:20:42,169
If anybody was able
to grow rubber seeds,
380
00:20:42,169 --> 00:20:45,136
and organize plantations in the
british far eastern colonies,
381
00:20:45,136 --> 00:20:47,270
Kew Botanical Gradens
in London was.
382
00:20:47,270 --> 00:20:49,482
The matter was vital
to Britain.
383
00:20:49,482 --> 00:20:52,091
All Hancock wanted
was that they understand
384
00:20:52,091 --> 00:20:55,389
the critical connection between
patriotism and rubber goods.
385
00:20:56,395 --> 00:21:03,440
One pair rubber shoes -
one breast bottle -
386
00:21:05,533 --> 00:21:14,671
one pair of false teeth -
one rubber cushion -
387
00:21:14,798 --> 00:21:16,972
(narrator)
Unfortunately, the middle
of the 19th century
388
00:21:16,972 --> 00:21:19,128
was the wrongest possible time
to interest these guys
389
00:21:19,128 --> 00:21:22,162
in rubber; they had something
far more important in mind,
390
00:21:22,162 --> 00:21:23,002
from the far east.
391
00:21:32,775 --> 00:21:36,193
You see, at the time, when a lot
of people were being sent
392
00:21:36,193 --> 00:21:39,087
to the ends of the Earth,
when the average brit
393
00:21:39,087 --> 00:21:41,561
got to a place like this,
the island of Penang,
394
00:21:41,561 --> 00:21:44,167
off the coast of Malaysia,
395
00:21:44,167 --> 00:21:46,975
he really cared
a good deal less about culture
396
00:21:46,975 --> 00:21:49,603
and things like that -
temple of the 10.000 buddhas -
397
00:21:49,603 --> 00:21:53,665
than he did about the stuff
that surrounded it: the jungle,
398
00:21:54,127 --> 00:21:56,900
out of which the british were
hacking themselves an empire,
399
00:21:57,544 --> 00:21:59,236
and getting themselves
in quite a sweat,
400
00:21:59,369 --> 00:22:02,951
and, not just because of
the steamy climate.
401
00:22:13,646 --> 00:22:14,780
Let me explain.
402
00:22:15,992 --> 00:22:22,769
You see, this place
is absolutely full of
nutmeg plantations.
403
00:22:23,500 --> 00:22:30,226
Here's a nutmeg tree; see,
nutmegs were one of the reasons
404
00:22:30,226 --> 00:22:32,079
why europeans came out here
to the far east
405
00:22:32,079 --> 00:22:33,629
in the first place;
to look for spices,
406
00:22:33,629 --> 00:22:36,983
oh, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger,
pepper; that stuff.
407
00:22:37,119 --> 00:22:42,860
And, by 1852, the brits out here
were doing really rather well,
408
00:22:42,860 --> 00:22:46,913
thanks to cheap local labor
and all those raw materials
409
00:22:46,913 --> 00:22:48,812
lying around in places
like India, and Ceylon,
410
00:22:48,812 --> 00:22:51,929
and Malaysia, and various other
imperial hotspots.
411
00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:56,779
Now, most of the imperial
goodies came from plantations,
412
00:22:56,779 --> 00:22:59,060
and if you want to get
a plantation going,
413
00:22:59,060 --> 00:23:00,517
you've got to do
one thing first;
414
00:23:00,867 --> 00:23:03,091
You've got to
hack the jungle down.
415
00:23:17,847 --> 00:23:21,007
Now, what that gives you,
apart from a heart attack,
416
00:23:21,665 --> 00:23:23,611
is a lot of clear ground
to do your planting,
417
00:23:23,611 --> 00:23:27,411
and a lot of water
exposed to sunlight.
418
00:23:27,503 --> 00:23:31,209
So, you get your sugar or your
cotton plantation going,
419
00:23:31,209 --> 00:23:36,302
and the anopheles mosquito
gets a warm and wonderfull place
420
00:23:36,302 --> 00:23:41,196
to do its reproductive thing,
because its babies love warm water;
421
00:23:41,196 --> 00:23:43,033
and that's just
what you've given them.
422
00:23:45,032 --> 00:23:48,701
Now, the anopheles mosquito
is a simple soul;
423
00:23:48,979 --> 00:23:51,422
the most it wants out of life
is to be able to give you,
424
00:23:51,422 --> 00:23:52,519
and me, malaria;
425
00:23:52,656 --> 00:23:55,139
and the feverish sweats
that go with it.
426
00:23:55,298 --> 00:23:58,469
And by 1852,
that's just what it was doing;
427
00:23:58,386 --> 00:24:00,681
all over the British
Imperial Far East.
428
00:24:11,181 --> 00:24:13,712
Now, that gave everybody
a bit of problem
429
00:24:13,856 --> 00:24:16,530
because you try
running the trains on time,
430
00:24:16,677 --> 00:24:21,511
or, keeping the army on its feet
or the thousand and one other things
431
00:24:21,511 --> 00:24:23,267
that the imperial
administration demands,
432
00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:26,294
with malaria everywhere;
and you've got a job.
433
00:24:26,916 --> 00:24:29,787
Life expectancy out here
was about half
434
00:24:29,787 --> 00:24:30,752
what it was back in England,
435
00:24:30,752 --> 00:24:33,140
because although you may not
die from malaria,
436
00:24:33,272 --> 00:24:34,603
it'll weaken you to the point
437
00:24:34,603 --> 00:24:36,490
where you'll get die from
practically anything else.
438
00:24:36,624 --> 00:24:39,791
So the stiff upper lip,
the colonial service chaps,
439
00:24:39,791 --> 00:24:41,161
are dropping like flies;
440
00:24:41,521 --> 00:24:43,292
if that's the right phrase
to use.
441
00:24:44,202 --> 00:24:45,470
[train hooting]
442
00:24:50,794 --> 00:24:54,650
Now, about all you could do
to help to prevent malaria
443
00:24:55,700 --> 00:24:58,083
was to try to get down
out of the jungle,
444
00:24:58,083 --> 00:25:01,125
to get regular supplies of
a rather nasty white powder
445
00:25:01,125 --> 00:25:04,385
like that, made from
the bark of a tree
446
00:25:04,385 --> 00:25:05,594
called the Cinchona.
447
00:25:06,172 --> 00:25:09,385
Now, rather unfortunately,
the Cinchona was only grown
448
00:25:09,385 --> 00:25:11,847
in South America and Java;
449
00:25:12,281 --> 00:25:14,419
Neither of which belonged
to the british.
450
00:25:14,752 --> 00:25:16,518
So, the british
colonial government
451
00:25:16,518 --> 00:25:18,717
was paying through the nose
for this stuff;
452
00:25:19,024 --> 00:25:20,902
very bad fall.
453
00:25:27,009 --> 00:25:29,174
Still, every cloud
has its silver lining;
454
00:25:29,174 --> 00:25:31,427
and at least one good thing
was to come out of the mess.
455
00:25:32,125 --> 00:25:35,767
You see, they used to put
the powder into water
456
00:25:35,767 --> 00:25:37,320
that had a bit of sugar
in it for taste,
457
00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:38,974
and they got themselves
quinine water
458
00:25:38,974 --> 00:25:41,032
because that white powder
was quinine.
459
00:25:42,378 --> 00:25:44,986
Still tasted pretty foul,
until somebody
460
00:25:44,986 --> 00:25:47,528
had the bright idea,
putting a drop of gin in it.
461
00:25:49,435 --> 00:25:53,120
And that's why the gin
and tonic was invented;
medicinal purposes.
462
00:25:54,417 --> 00:25:56,424
Well,
back to the problem -
463
00:25:57,140 --> 00:26:00,378
in 1852, the governor general
of India,
464
00:26:00,378 --> 00:26:03,377
sent a rather stiff note
back home, saying:
465
00:26:03,377 --> 00:26:04,987
"Now, look here,
my botanists tell me
466
00:26:04,987 --> 00:26:07,275
that we ought to be able
to grow cinchona here."
467
00:26:08,897 --> 00:26:11,780
And that's why the experts
at Kew gardens in London
468
00:26:11,780 --> 00:26:14,365
turned down the rubber
plantation idea, remember?
469
00:26:14,505 --> 00:26:16,619
They were working themselves
into a lather
470
00:26:16,619 --> 00:26:18,975
about the feverish far east,
and the fact that
471
00:26:20,899 --> 00:26:21,598
if they didn't manage to come up
with a healthy cinchona plant,
472
00:26:21,598 --> 00:26:23,662
they could take off to India
and stick in the ground,
473
00:26:23,662 --> 00:26:26,376
so the governor general
would get what he asked for;
474
00:26:26,376 --> 00:26:29,388
they'd be, so to speak,
in the manure.
475
00:26:36,887 --> 00:26:39,826
The trouble was, the more
they learnt about cinchona,
476
00:26:39,826 --> 00:26:42,339
the less likely it looked
to survive a transplant;
477
00:26:42,339 --> 00:26:44,459
heart failure
all round.
478
00:26:44,524 --> 00:26:45,986
And then,
out of the blue,
479
00:26:45,986 --> 00:26:47,870
the new Royal College
of chemistry
480
00:26:47,870 --> 00:26:50,795
suggested having a go at
making quinine, artificially.
481
00:26:52,762 --> 00:26:55,901
So, a young 18-year-old
called Willian Perkin
482
00:26:55,901 --> 00:26:57,037
was asked to get on with it.
483
00:26:57,371 --> 00:27:01,638
And, in 1856, he was playing around
with a byproduct of our old friend,
484
00:27:01,638 --> 00:27:04,897
coal tar, when he came up with
a load of muck that very definitely
485
00:27:04,897 --> 00:27:06,852
wasn't the quinine
he was trying to make.
486
00:27:06,852 --> 00:27:09,996
It was very close,
only a few molecules different,
487
00:27:09,996 --> 00:27:12,485
but everybody should have
that kind of accident.
488
00:27:12,969 --> 00:27:15,188
Because, when Willian Perkin
chucked this muck away
489
00:27:15,188 --> 00:27:17,583
into some water,
he got very rich;
490
00:27:18,676 --> 00:27:26,469
and the world got -
the first artifical dye.
491
00:27:41,708 --> 00:27:45,638
Perkin's new mauve was
an instant and raving success.
492
00:27:45,778 --> 00:27:48,230
By the great
exhibition of 1862,
493
00:27:48,230 --> 00:27:49,651
most of the huffing
and puffing
494
00:27:49,651 --> 00:27:51,564
wasn't coming
from the machine on show;
495
00:27:51,893 --> 00:27:55,600
it was from the reporters
who'd seen the new color miracle
from coal tar.
496
00:27:56,008 --> 00:27:58,644
They, and the thousand of
others who came to the show,
497
00:27:58,644 --> 00:28:00,908
went away
harrumphing pompously
498
00:28:00,908 --> 00:28:02,579
about how Britain
was going to become
499
00:28:02,579 --> 00:28:05,022
the greatest color exporting
country in the world.
500
00:28:05,790 --> 00:28:09,279
In 1862, most of these
well fed, complacent,
501
00:28:09,279 --> 00:28:11,711
middle class victorians
regarded themselves,
502
00:28:11,711 --> 00:28:14,118
and their country,
as the rightful guardians
503
00:28:14,118 --> 00:28:15,979
of anybody on Earth,
they could muscle in on,
504
00:28:15,979 --> 00:28:20,132
militarily or economically, to save
them from themselves, of course.
505
00:28:20,547 --> 00:28:23,564
The new artificial dye
was just one more example
506
00:28:23,564 --> 00:28:25,732
of how british genius
was that much better
507
00:28:25,732 --> 00:28:26,648
than any other variety.
508
00:28:26,808 --> 00:28:29,695
That's what made
Great Britain - Great.
509
00:28:40,758 --> 00:28:43,009
Unfortunately, when it came
to putting money
510
00:28:43,009 --> 00:28:45,773
into the new color chemistry,
the investors preferred
511
00:28:45,773 --> 00:28:47,849
the easier profits to be had
from the colonies.
512
00:28:47,992 --> 00:28:49,692
There was no point
in taking risks
513
00:28:49,692 --> 00:28:52,251
with the new instant science
nobody knew about.
514
00:28:52,251 --> 00:28:55,399
Most of the investors didn't
even know what chemistry was.
515
00:28:58,326 --> 00:29:00,175
And, as for actually
training chemists,
516
00:29:00,175 --> 00:29:02,120
well, i mean, that was quite
out of the question.
517
00:29:02,257 --> 00:29:04,497
I mean, a chap
who went to university,
518
00:29:04,497 --> 00:29:06,006
just didn't do
that sort of thing;
519
00:29:06,146 --> 00:29:08,015
to have actually trained
for a career,
520
00:29:08,149 --> 00:29:10,455
would have been
unspeakably lower class.
521
00:29:11,169 --> 00:29:14,490
That's why Perkin's teacher
in London had been a german.
522
00:29:15,149 --> 00:29:18,277
See, they were awfully good
at the rather sordid business
523
00:29:18,277 --> 00:29:21,170
of opening universities
and technical schools,
524
00:29:21,170 --> 00:29:23,596
and actually letting
anybody in on merit;
525
00:29:23,750 --> 00:29:25,390
Never mind
their family background.
526
00:29:25,888 --> 00:29:27,962
And, they actually
encouraged links
527
00:29:27,962 --> 00:29:30,496
between university and industry;
the kind of thing
528
00:29:30,496 --> 00:29:32,534
that made the early victorian
intellectual mind -
529
00:29:32,534 --> 00:29:33,806
boggle;
530
00:29:34,484 --> 00:29:37,675
So, let me ask you
what you think the british did,
531
00:29:37,675 --> 00:29:39,741
with that head start
that William Perkin
532
00:29:39,741 --> 00:29:41,217
had given them
in color chemistry,
533
00:29:41,217 --> 00:29:42,651
ahead of all their rivals;
534
00:29:42,973 --> 00:29:45,871
a clear opportunity to grab
and hang on to a lead
535
00:29:45,906 --> 00:29:48,022
in one of the most profitable
new industries
536
00:29:48,057 --> 00:29:48,841
for a hundred years.
537
00:29:49,379 --> 00:29:55,227
Yes; they blew it.
538
00:29:57,001 --> 00:29:59,094
And you know who put them
in the shade;
539
00:29:59,094 --> 00:30:02,738
the wrong kind;
the germans did.
540
00:30:17,279 --> 00:30:21,665
By 1870, in color chemistry,
the germans were calling the tune,
541
00:30:22,016 --> 00:30:25,296
and the great german
chemical industries
were going full blast.
542
00:30:25,734 --> 00:30:29,101
BASF, Hoechst,
Agfa, Bayer;
543
00:30:29,435 --> 00:30:31,472
thanks to their
university contacts,
544
00:30:31,472 --> 00:30:33,625
they were turning up
dozens of colors a year.
545
00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:35,909
Suddenly, it was
a colorful world;
546
00:30:36,188 --> 00:30:38,141
and every time
they looked at coal tar,
547
00:30:38,141 --> 00:30:41,549
there was another color
to write home about;
on color postcards.
548
00:30:41,549 --> 00:30:45,301
See, the germans had realized
what the british hadn't;
549
00:30:45,881 --> 00:30:48,626
that there was a great deal
more to color than color.
550
00:30:48,626 --> 00:30:51,137
There was all that chemical
knowledge you learned
551
00:30:51,137 --> 00:30:53,816
from making orange,
or blue or green, or whatever.
552
00:30:53,952 --> 00:30:57,796
So, by the 1870s, they were
selling color everywhere;
553
00:30:57,796 --> 00:30:58,860
and when I say color,
554
00:30:58,860 --> 00:31:01,499
i mean pretty well every color
in the rainbow.
555
00:31:03,186 --> 00:31:07,846
Now, all this success with color
went right to the germans' heads.
556
00:31:08,146 --> 00:31:09,335
Suddenly, there was
nothing to be,
557
00:31:09,335 --> 00:31:11,380
but a true
dyed in the wool german;
558
00:31:11,674 --> 00:31:14,705
their composers
even wrote colorful tunes.
559
00:31:15,812 --> 00:31:18,864
Here's a catcht little number
that I think you'll find
560
00:31:18,864 --> 00:31:22,904
will set your feet tapping,
or your fingers itching,
561
00:31:22,904 --> 00:31:24,881
or your head throbbing,
or something.
562
00:31:26,509 --> 00:31:43,054
[piano music, singing]
563
00:31:43,602 --> 00:31:45,783
Can't think why this piece
isn't better known
564
00:31:45,783 --> 00:31:49,392
in the concert repertiore;
well, maybe I can.
565
00:32:02,847 --> 00:32:05,312
Well, back to the story;
one of the germans'
566
00:32:05,312 --> 00:32:07,079
biggest hits
was this particular green
567
00:32:07,079 --> 00:32:09,384
which a crafty
french silk dyer
568
00:32:09,384 --> 00:32:11,842
got the empress Jeanne
to wear to the opera.
569
00:32:12,143 --> 00:32:15,032
Knockout success;
everybody wanted it.
570
00:32:21,594 --> 00:32:23,812
And, if this program's
giving you a headache,
571
00:32:23,812 --> 00:32:25,589
thank the german
color industry.
572
00:32:25,977 --> 00:32:27,912
Painkillers came out
of their labs too.
573
00:32:27,912 --> 00:32:31,706
Success after success,
and then, out of nowhere,
574
00:32:31,706 --> 00:32:34,157
came something that looked
as if it would stop
575
00:32:34,157 --> 00:32:36,397
the german industrial
machine - dead.
576
00:33:06,296 --> 00:33:08,511
This is one of those stories
that doesn't make sense
577
00:33:08,511 --> 00:33:09,854
even when you've
heard it twice.
578
00:33:09,854 --> 00:33:11,166
Let me try it on you.
579
00:33:13,754 --> 00:33:16,513
Combine harvester, invented by
an american, McCormick,
580
00:33:16,513 --> 00:33:18,993
a few years before
that german color business.
581
00:33:19,487 --> 00:33:23,047
Because of it, by the 1870s,
America has got wheat
582
00:33:23,047 --> 00:33:25,362
coming out of its ears,
so the price drops,
583
00:33:25,362 --> 00:33:27,521
they're practically
giving bread away.
584
00:33:28,118 --> 00:33:29,042
Good idea, no?
585
00:33:29,042 --> 00:33:32,832
No; see, in Germany,
they eat this;
586
00:33:32,832 --> 00:33:35,247
black rye bread
grown in Prussia
587
00:33:35,247 --> 00:33:37,887
by a bunch of aristocrats
called the Junkers;
588
00:33:38,296 --> 00:33:41,525
very big deal people,
the Junkers;
589
00:33:41,525 --> 00:33:43,230
they've got the government
in their pockets.
590
00:33:44,089 --> 00:33:47,914
So, none of that cheap american
wheat gets into Germany,
591
00:33:47,914 --> 00:33:50,741
where the population is roketing,
and they need food.
592
00:33:51,045 --> 00:33:54,208
Okay, everybody
can eat rye; uh huh.
593
00:33:54,471 --> 00:33:57,456
The Junkers are exporting
it all, to make money.
594
00:33:58,538 --> 00:34:01,677
Now, let me see
if that confuses you
595
00:34:01,677 --> 00:34:02,968
as much as it confuses me.
596
00:34:03,490 --> 00:34:06,792
You've got lots of rye,
but you export it,
597
00:34:06,792 --> 00:34:08,620
so you're short of food;
never mind.
598
00:34:08,620 --> 00:34:12,844
Foreign wheat is cheap,
so you don't import it;
599
00:34:12,844 --> 00:34:14,803
that's what a thought
I said.
600
00:34:14,951 --> 00:34:17,532
But, that's what they did;
so in desperation,
601
00:34:17,532 --> 00:34:21,073
somebody started trying to boost
wheat growing in Germany.
602
00:34:21,498 --> 00:34:23,931
And when they did, they ran
slap bang into a brick wall;
603
00:34:24,479 --> 00:34:27,101
no fertilizer, they had to
bring it in from Chile,
604
00:34:27,101 --> 00:34:28,439
at colossal expense.
605
00:34:28,439 --> 00:34:30,610
And they just didn't have
that kind of bread.
606
00:34:31,113 --> 00:34:33,314
What am i saying; they didn't
have any kind of bread.
607
00:34:36,961 --> 00:34:39,087
What happens next,
involves the curious way
608
00:34:39,087 --> 00:34:41,321
things sometimes get
kind of half done
609
00:34:41,321 --> 00:34:44,111
and left hanging in midair,
till they're picked up
610
00:34:44,111 --> 00:34:45,784
and used later on,
when the time is right.
611
00:34:45,784 --> 00:34:48,930
So, if you're ready for
a bit of that, here goes;
612
00:34:48,930 --> 00:34:52,388
Germany was in a fix, because
she'd got no fertilizer.
613
00:34:58,040 --> 00:35:01,451
By the 1890s down on the farm,
things were pretty desperate.
614
00:35:01,612 --> 00:35:03,559
Industry might be making
loads of money
615
00:35:03,559 --> 00:35:05,567
but all of it was going
on imported food
616
00:35:05,567 --> 00:35:07,636
and especially,
fertilizer.
617
00:35:08,992 --> 00:35:11,467
The way the fertilizer
problem got linked
618
00:35:12,115 --> 00:35:14,984
and because of that, caused
many more things to happen
619
00:35:14,984 --> 00:35:16,282
than just increased
food production
620
00:35:16,644 --> 00:35:18,246
is a bit of
a chemistry lesson,
621
00:35:18,411 --> 00:35:20,057
although it does have
a sting in the tail.
622
00:35:20,057 --> 00:35:23,359
So, i hope you'll forgive me
if i give it to you rather straight.
623
00:35:23,528 --> 00:35:27,406
About 1900, thanks
to their experience
624
00:35:27,406 --> 00:35:28,850
making all those
fantastic colors,
625
00:35:28,850 --> 00:35:32,115
german chemists were among
the best in the world.
626
00:35:32,467 --> 00:35:35,087
And, one of them was a fellow
called Fritz Haber,
627
00:35:35,087 --> 00:35:39,011
who decided
quite consciously,
to try and make
fertilizer.
628
00:35:39,950 --> 00:35:40,932
And, this is what
he ended up with;
629
00:35:41,816 --> 00:35:43,635
although it's -
in reality,
630
00:35:43,635 --> 00:35:45,140
it would be
on a vast industrial scale;
631
00:35:45,755 --> 00:35:46,648
this is what he did.
632
00:35:46,992 --> 00:35:50,231
In that long vessel there,
he made very high pressure;
633
00:35:50,231 --> 00:35:52,070
200 times
normal air pressure,
634
00:35:52,070 --> 00:35:54,977
and the temperature of about
600 degrees centigrade.
635
00:35:55,154 --> 00:35:56,285
And into that vessel,
636
00:35:56,285 --> 00:35:58,728
he sent a mixture
of hydrogen and nitrogen,
637
00:35:59,401 --> 00:36:00,998
and as the gases
went through the vessel,
638
00:36:01,420 --> 00:36:03,969
they passed through a mesh
made of a particular
639
00:36:03,969 --> 00:36:06,323
kind of metal that would
cause the gases to react,
640
00:36:06,323 --> 00:36:07,843
and produce ammonia;
641
00:36:08,062 --> 00:36:09,469
and that's what comes out
at the bottom end.
642
00:36:09,469 --> 00:36:11,061
Now, all the rest
of this equipment
643
00:36:11,061 --> 00:36:14,697
is for cleaning and filtering,
and making the ammonia pure.
644
00:36:15,004 --> 00:36:16,740
Okay, there's one more
stage to go.
645
00:36:18,875 --> 00:36:21,656
You make the ammonia gas,
and you put it
646
00:36:21,656 --> 00:36:23,179
into another hot oven,
this one;
647
00:36:23,179 --> 00:36:25,099
only this time,
you put it in with air.
648
00:36:25,450 --> 00:36:28,383
And, as the gases come though,
once again they go
649
00:36:28,383 --> 00:36:30,121
through a wire mesh,
here's some.
650
00:36:30,121 --> 00:36:32,255
and that causes the gases
to react.
651
00:36:32,255 --> 00:36:33,836
And this time,
what goes out the other end
652
00:36:33,836 --> 00:36:35,414
is nitrous oxide.
653
00:36:35,865 --> 00:36:38,238
Now, if you mix
nitrous oxide with water,
654
00:36:38,238 --> 00:36:39,796
you get nitric acid;
655
00:36:39,796 --> 00:36:41,994
and if you mix nitric acid
then with soda,
656
00:36:41,994 --> 00:36:43,684
you get sodium nitrate;
657
00:36:43,684 --> 00:36:45,999
and sodium nitrate
is a fertilizer.
658
00:36:47,356 --> 00:36:51,753
By 1909, Fritz Haber
and a colleague he worked
659
00:36:51,753 --> 00:36:53,055
on this with, called Carl Bosch,
660
00:36:53,055 --> 00:36:55,096
which is why it's called
the Haber-Bosch process;
661
00:36:56,212 --> 00:36:57,901
well, they were in a position
to build factories
662
00:36:57,901 --> 00:37:00,174
that would produce
thousands of tons of
fertilizer a year.
663
00:37:00,998 --> 00:37:02,589
Great idea,
the Haber-Bosch process;
664
00:37:03,137 --> 00:37:04,376
Never got anywhere,
of course,
665
00:37:04,376 --> 00:37:06,856
because this is one of those
galling moments in history
666
00:37:06,856 --> 00:37:09,088
when some other fella
working somewhere else,
667
00:37:09,088 --> 00:37:10,828
on something totally
unconnected with this,
668
00:37:10,828 --> 00:37:13,702
has himself an accident
and ruins everything.
669
00:37:20,990 --> 00:37:23,363
The accident happened here,
in gay Paris,
670
00:37:23,363 --> 00:37:25,513
which is where the other fellow was,
at the time,
671
00:37:25,513 --> 00:37:27,424
where everybody
was whopping it up,
672
00:37:27,424 --> 00:37:29,285
having themselves
the gay 90s.
673
00:37:33,952 --> 00:37:36,153
Then, as now of course,
diamonds
674
00:37:36,153 --> 00:37:37,389
were a girl's
best insurance,
675
00:37:37,389 --> 00:37:39,946
not that our boring friend,
Henri Moissan,
676
00:37:39,946 --> 00:37:41,856
is interested in girls,
though like them,
677
00:37:41,856 --> 00:37:44,173
he is interested
in the sparklers.
678
00:37:44,682 --> 00:37:48,107
He wants to make artificial diamonds
for serious chemical reasons.
679
00:37:52,184 --> 00:37:54,354
And, while everybody else
gets up to the things
680
00:37:54,354 --> 00:37:55,623
people get up to,
Paris,
681
00:37:55,623 --> 00:37:59,023
Moissan is throwing
various things into
an electric furnace.
682
00:37:59,327 --> 00:38:02,256
Things are getting very hot,
but Moissan is obliged
683
00:38:02,256 --> 00:38:03,988
to announce,
sorry, no diamonds.
684
00:38:05,592 --> 00:38:08,542
Still, he perseveres,
and one day in 1895,
685
00:38:08,542 --> 00:38:10,841
back in his lab, he throws in
some lime and carbon
686
00:38:10,841 --> 00:38:13,533
and what does he get;
calcium carbide.
687
00:38:14,067 --> 00:38:15,367
this material here -
688
00:38:16,947 --> 00:38:18,181
Now, okay, he says,
and what can I do with that?
689
00:38:18,181 --> 00:38:19,474
And he strat fiddling
around with this.
690
00:38:19,474 --> 00:38:21,226
Nothing much happens
until one day,
691
00:38:22,259 --> 00:38:24,424
he dropped some water on it,
look what happens.
692
00:38:28,341 --> 00:38:29,750
Watch what comes out
the other end;
693
00:38:32,732 --> 00:38:34,840
That is acetylene gas
burning.
694
00:38:35,347 --> 00:38:36,449
Now, you put yourself
in their position;
695
00:38:36,449 --> 00:38:39,309
it's 1898, the price
of electricity is very high,
696
00:38:39,309 --> 00:38:41,240
town gas isn't very bright.
697
00:38:41,523 --> 00:38:43,820
Naturally, they thought
this was the new light
698
00:38:43,820 --> 00:38:44,548
of the future.
699
00:38:44,548 --> 00:38:46,412
A lot of people
put a lot of money into it.
700
00:38:46,412 --> 00:38:49,330
and by 1899, there were about
a quarter of a million
701
00:38:49,330 --> 00:38:51,810
acetylene gas jets
all over Germany alone.
702
00:38:51,845 --> 00:38:55,317
And then, in 1900, the price
of electricity dropped,
703
00:38:55,317 --> 00:38:57,175
and somebody came along
with a gas mantle
704
00:38:57,175 --> 00:38:58,783
to make town gas
much brighter.
705
00:38:58,783 --> 00:39:01,433
And the bottom dropped rights
out of the acetylene market.
706
00:39:01,697 --> 00:39:03,185
About all
that came out of the mess
707
00:39:03,185 --> 00:39:05,039
was the invention
of oxyacetylene welding,
708
00:39:05,039 --> 00:39:05,981
by a couple of frenchmen.
709
00:39:07,353 --> 00:39:09,679
However, all over Europe
there was now
710
00:39:09,679 --> 00:39:12,712
tons of the calcium carbide
that started the whole thing,
711
00:39:12,712 --> 00:39:17,419
lying around, worthless,
until along came two chemists,
712
00:39:17,419 --> 00:39:20,464
two dying chemists
called Karo and Frank,
713
00:39:20,464 --> 00:39:22,618
who decided they'd try
to see what they could make
714
00:39:22,618 --> 00:39:23,772
of this calcium carbide,
715
00:39:23,772 --> 00:39:25,271
and they did
lots of things to it.
716
00:39:25,271 --> 00:39:27,750
And, in one particular case,
they passed nitrogen gas
717
00:39:27,750 --> 00:39:30,212
over it in a very hot oven,
and when they took it
718
00:39:30,212 --> 00:39:32,239
back out again,
the nitrogen had gone
719
00:39:32,239 --> 00:39:35,495
into the calcium carbide,
and that was the result.
720
00:39:35,797 --> 00:39:37,960
Now that, contains
20% nitrogen,
721
00:39:37,960 --> 00:39:39,885
and you could put it
straight onto the fields
722
00:39:39,885 --> 00:39:40,976
and feed the plants.
723
00:39:40,976 --> 00:39:42,048
It's a fertilizer.
724
00:39:42,653 --> 00:39:44,186
The fertilizer
that Germany needed,
725
00:39:44,186 --> 00:39:45,979
at a price
Germany could afford to pay;
726
00:39:46,292 --> 00:39:49,476
at THAT was what knocked
the Haber-Bosch process
727
00:39:49,476 --> 00:39:50,645
right on the head.
728
00:39:53,955 --> 00:39:57,600
So now, everybody could eat again
and the Haber-Bosch process?
729
00:39:57,600 --> 00:39:59,994
Don't worry,
it'll be back.
730
00:40:03,951 --> 00:40:08,447
By now, Germany was on the way
to being a superpower with an
unbeatable chemical industry,
731
00:40:08,447 --> 00:40:11,494
and expertise in metal
she'd always had early on,
732
00:40:11,494 --> 00:40:12,888
making silly toys
and clocks.
733
00:40:13,561 --> 00:40:15,774
Now, thanks to the coalfields
in the Ruhr,
734
00:40:15,774 --> 00:40:17,641
she was moving into
the major league.
735
00:40:21,861 --> 00:40:24,095
with steel -
for weapons.
736
00:40:28,954 --> 00:40:31,103
In 30 years, Germany
went from being
737
00:40:31,103 --> 00:40:32,428
a backward
agricultural country
738
00:40:32,428 --> 00:40:34,423
to being able to build
projects like this;
739
00:40:34,423 --> 00:40:37,671
the monorail in the industrial
town of Wuppertal.
740
00:40:43,597 --> 00:40:45,538
When the monorail
opened in 1900,
741
00:40:45,538 --> 00:40:48,174
it symbolized the nationalist
ambitions of the man
742
00:40:48,174 --> 00:40:50,199
who'd ruled Germany
through her years of growth;
743
00:40:50,199 --> 00:40:51,494
Kaiser Wilhelm,
744
00:40:51,494 --> 00:40:53,992
who now saw his country
on the edge of greatness,
745
00:40:53,992 --> 00:40:56,365
thanks in part
to coal tar
746
00:40:56,365 --> 00:40:59,003
and the way german color
chemists had used it.
747
00:41:10,412 --> 00:41:13,138
How could poor old Dundonald
all those years before,
748
00:41:13,138 --> 00:41:16,655
have foreseen what cooking
bits of coal in a kettle
would lead to?
749
00:41:28,403 --> 00:41:29,528
And, you recall i said,
750
00:41:29,528 --> 00:41:33,248
the Haber-Bosch fertilizer
attempt would come back; now.
751
00:41:34,189 --> 00:41:37,222
The same year the Kaiser
opened the Wuppertal monorail;
752
00:41:37,222 --> 00:41:38,880
he also signed a bill
753
00:41:38,880 --> 00:41:41,042
that was to bring
Germany's destruction.
754
00:41:41,467 --> 00:41:44,410
The bill was to the finance
the construction of a bigger
755
00:41:44,410 --> 00:41:46,571
and better german navy,
and the reason was quite simple.
756
00:41:47,159 --> 00:41:49,288
If Germany was to take
her place in world markets,
757
00:41:49,288 --> 00:41:51,334
if she was to use
her industrial potential
758
00:41:51,334 --> 00:41:53,274
to her own advantage,
then she,
759
00:41:53,274 --> 00:41:55,835
like the other major powers,
had to have colonies.
760
00:41:56,470 --> 00:41:59,006
Now, the only thing that stood
in the way of those colonies
was a british navy.
761
00:41:59,425 --> 00:42:02,049
So, the germans built ships;
then, so did the british;
762
00:42:02,049 --> 00:42:03,990
and an arms race began
that was to end
763
00:42:03,990 --> 00:42:05,901
with the war in 1914.
764
00:42:06,753 --> 00:42:10,123
It's no accident that the first
major battle at sea,
765
00:42:10,123 --> 00:42:11,773
in that war, was off
the coast of Chile.
766
00:42:12,217 --> 00:42:14,481
You see, for decades,
the major powers,
767
00:42:14,481 --> 00:42:15,384
Germany included,
768
00:42:15,384 --> 00:42:17,976
had been using the vast
natural deposits
769
00:42:17,976 --> 00:42:20,873
of sodium nitrate
found on Chile's west coast.
770
00:42:21,269 --> 00:42:22,695
Sodium nitrate's
a fertilizer;
771
00:42:22,695 --> 00:42:25,372
but now, Germany needed
that sodium nitrate
772
00:42:25,372 --> 00:42:26,899
for an even more
desperate reason
773
00:42:26,899 --> 00:42:28,674
because, if you put
sodium nitrate
774
00:42:28,674 --> 00:42:31,669
together with sulfuric acid,
you get nitric acid.
775
00:42:31,669 --> 00:42:34,641
And nitric acid is essential
for making explosives.
776
00:42:35,107 --> 00:42:37,850
And the british had blockaded
the chilean supplies.
777
00:42:38,267 --> 00:42:40,995
So the germans in 1914,
had about one-year in stock,
778
00:42:40,995 --> 00:42:41,750
one year's supply.
779
00:42:41,750 --> 00:42:43,873
More had to be found
very urgently.
780
00:42:44,484 --> 00:42:46,988
Where else, but in
the Haber-Bosch process,
781
00:42:46,988 --> 00:42:49,509
the process that ended
by making sodium nitrate.
782
00:42:49,509 --> 00:42:52,062
Money was poured in
to building the factories
783
00:42:52,062 --> 00:42:54,040
that Germany needed if she
was to keep on fighting,
784
00:42:54,040 --> 00:42:55,235
which she did.
785
00:42:55,627 --> 00:42:58,846
As a result then, of the
original demand for fertilizer,
786
00:42:58,846 --> 00:43:01,416
the first world war
lasted four years,
787
00:43:01,416 --> 00:43:03,754
when it might well
have ended in less than one.
788
00:43:08,475 --> 00:43:11,547
That leaves only one thread
hanging in our story.
789
00:43:11,900 --> 00:43:14,009
What happened to
the acetylene, you remember?
790
00:43:14,461 --> 00:43:16,061
That was a bit of a flop,
except for this?
791
00:43:18,120 --> 00:43:21,014
Oxyacetylene welding; well
that turned out to be
792
00:43:21,014 --> 00:43:22,241
the most extraordinary
thing of all.
793
00:43:22,680 --> 00:43:26,668
In 1912, an obstinate german
chemist called Fritz Klaetke
794
00:43:26,668 --> 00:43:29,136
was still trying to do things
with acetylene.
795
00:43:29,515 --> 00:43:31,604
And one day, one of these
mixtures was sitting
796
00:43:31,604 --> 00:43:32,568
on a sunny window shelf,
797
00:43:32,568 --> 00:43:34,414
when it gradually
went thick and milky.
798
00:43:34,768 --> 00:43:36,009
Now, whatever it was,
799
00:43:36,009 --> 00:43:37,987
it wasn't what Klaetke
was looking for.
800
00:43:38,320 --> 00:43:40,354
And, being the kind of guy
who didn't like things
801
00:43:40,354 --> 00:43:43,339
to be left lying around,
down the drain it went.
802
00:43:48,274 --> 00:43:50,970
Poor old Klaetke; you know
what he said afterwards?
803
00:43:50,970 --> 00:43:53,325
He said, " I didn't think
it was much use to anyone."
804
00:43:53,674 --> 00:43:55,083
How wrong can you get?
805
00:43:58,835 --> 00:43:59,811
[revving of plane]
806
00:44:02,071 --> 00:44:04,866
27 years after Fritz Klaetke
had flushed away
807
00:44:04,866 --> 00:44:05,898
his useless sludge,
808
00:44:05,898 --> 00:44:08,457
at the 1939 world's fair
in New York,
809
00:44:08,457 --> 00:44:11,766
millions came to see
what other people had done
with that muck.
810
00:44:24,883 --> 00:44:27,240
You've already seen clues
to why Fritz Klaetke
811
00:44:27,240 --> 00:44:28,570
had boobed,
in this film.
812
00:44:29,026 --> 00:44:31,739
Shot in color by a lithuanian
visitor to the fair,
813
00:44:31,739 --> 00:44:34,722
and never screened till now,
showing the world
814
00:44:34,722 --> 00:44:36,986
on the first day
of a new era.
815
00:44:51,773 --> 00:44:54,154
The fair was the first
big public display
816
00:44:54,154 --> 00:44:56,724
of something we today,
cannot do without.
817
00:45:01,228 --> 00:45:03,105
One of the real crowd stoppers
at the fair
818
00:45:03,105 --> 00:45:05,387
was the DuPont pavilion,
a place where people
819
00:45:05,387 --> 00:45:08,310
stepped into the future,
into a flash gordon world,
820
00:45:08,310 --> 00:45:10,296
where chemistry
made scientific magic.
821
00:45:10,614 --> 00:45:13,549
And one of the most magical
things came from the stuff
822
00:45:13,549 --> 00:45:16,217
that Fritz Klaetke
had thrown away,
all those years before.
823
00:45:16,382 --> 00:45:19,243
If only he'd had his ingredients
a fraction different,
824
00:45:19,243 --> 00:45:21,322
he would have turned
his acetylene muck
825
00:45:21,322 --> 00:45:23,151
into a usable polymer;
826
00:45:23,298 --> 00:45:25,621
that's a bunch of
super giant molecules
827
00:45:25,621 --> 00:45:27,461
that can be turned into
an artificial substance.
828
00:45:27,914 --> 00:45:29,075
Now, why did it matter?
829
00:45:29,380 --> 00:45:33,788
Well, the first world war
gave both Germany and America
830
00:45:33,788 --> 00:45:35,994
a severe rubber shortage,
and they were desperate
831
00:45:35,994 --> 00:45:37,975
for a substitute;
and they found it.
832
00:45:38,404 --> 00:45:41,878
And then, in 1938, DuPont
came up with the most famous
833
00:45:41,878 --> 00:45:45,087
substitute of all; itself
made of super giant molecules
834
00:45:45,087 --> 00:45:47,836
that their man,
Wallace Carothers, had found.
835
00:45:48,664 --> 00:45:52,107
You know where;
in our old friend coal tar.
836
00:45:52,655 --> 00:45:54,374
And that's why DuPont
stopped the crowds;
837
00:45:54,374 --> 00:45:56,791
everybody was high
on substitutes.
838
00:46:07,000 --> 00:46:08,957
It was inevitable
that it was America
839
00:46:08,957 --> 00:46:10,984
that would take the lead
in making and using
840
00:46:10,984 --> 00:46:12,048
the new substitutes.
841
00:46:12,382 --> 00:46:15,569
There, more than enywhere else,
novelty meant progress.
842
00:46:15,814 --> 00:46:18,127
And at the rate these new
materials were making out
843
00:46:18,127 --> 00:46:22,215
from the test tube, paradoxically,
novelty was here to stay.
844
00:46:26,583 --> 00:46:29,103
You see what a strange trail
has brought us
845
00:46:29,103 --> 00:46:31,206
to the 1939 DuPont pavilion.
846
00:46:31,138 --> 00:46:33,943
It started around 1600
with the De Liefde,
847
00:46:33,943 --> 00:46:37,412
the dutch super ship that put
fat profits into overseas trade
848
00:46:37,412 --> 00:46:39,816
and sent the english
hurrying across the ocean
849
00:46:39,816 --> 00:46:42,718
to build an empire, on ships
that hand to be insured,
850
00:46:42,718 --> 00:46:45,712
and how Lloyd's of London
wouldn't insure those ships
851
00:46:45,712 --> 00:46:47,362
unless their hulls
were covered
852
00:46:47,362 --> 00:46:49,057
with a protective coating of tar.
853
00:46:49,546 --> 00:46:51,331
Tar, that came from America,
854
00:46:51,331 --> 00:46:54,606
until the american war
of independence stopped supply,
855
00:46:54,606 --> 00:46:56,817
forcing people like
the earl of Dundonald
856
00:46:56,817 --> 00:47:00,695
to look for the tar in coal,
and accidentally make gas;
857
00:47:00,695 --> 00:47:03,973
and how the coal tar sludge
that the gas makers
858
00:47:03,973 --> 00:47:06,150
were throwing away,
was picked up by MacIntosh,
859
00:47:06,150 --> 00:47:08,677
for his rubber products
that he couldn't get
860
00:47:08,677 --> 00:47:11,615
from the far east because
the imperial administration
861
00:47:11,615 --> 00:47:13,412
was too interested
in making quinine
862
00:47:13,412 --> 00:47:16,183
in order to fight malaria,
and how Perkin,
863
00:47:16,183 --> 00:47:17,790
looking for
artificial quinine,
864
00:47:17,790 --> 00:47:21,751
ended up with artificial dye
and boosted the german economy
865
00:47:21,751 --> 00:47:23,565
and its industries
to the point where
866
00:47:23,565 --> 00:47:24,762
the population rose
so high,
867
00:47:24,762 --> 00:47:27,589
it could only be fed
with the help of fertilizers
868
00:47:27,589 --> 00:47:29,698
produced through
the acetylene process,
869
00:47:29,698 --> 00:47:31,831
and how the other fertilizers
they tried
870
00:47:31,831 --> 00:47:34,474
made all the explosives
necessary to keep
871
00:47:34,474 --> 00:47:37,340
their artillery shells firing
right through world war I,
872
00:47:37,340 --> 00:47:40,085
a war which caused
the kind of shortages
873
00:47:40,085 --> 00:47:42,505
that forced them back to
acetylene for substitutes,
874
00:47:42,505 --> 00:47:44,136
and how finally,
875
00:47:44,136 --> 00:47:47,297
DuPont came up with
the greatest substitute of all;
876
00:47:47,798 --> 00:47:50,358
Initially they thought
of calling it dupereau,
877
00:47:50,358 --> 00:47:53,622
that stands for
"Dupont pulls a rabbit
out of a hat."
878
00:47:54,204 --> 00:47:56,374
Finally though,
they settled on nylon;
879
00:47:57,362 --> 00:48:00,441
and nylon opened the door
to our modern world;
880
00:48:00,909 --> 00:48:03,707
a world full of
substitute materials
881
00:48:03,707 --> 00:48:04,897
without which
we can't survive;
882
00:48:05,385 --> 00:48:07,953
a world which, because of
those substitute materials,
883
00:48:07,953 --> 00:48:12,176
changes everyday,
a world of plastic.
884
00:48:14,297 --> 00:48:16,917
Because of plastic,
that rate of change
885
00:48:16,917 --> 00:48:18,764
accelerates every year.
886
00:48:19,507 --> 00:48:21,985
It's fun,
but can we keep it up?