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Series 2

Mail Order Catalogue

Montgomery Ward鈥檚 catalogue: once ranked among the most influential books in US history.

• 14 mins

Series 2

Bricks

Bricks: used for tens of thousands of years and still such a vital building technology.

• 14 mins

Series 2

Spreadsheet

The digital spreadsheet: a technology which took the world of accountancy by storm.

• 14 mins

Series 2

Recycling

The idea recycling is a moral obligation, as well as an economic one, is relatively new.

• 14 mins

Series 2

Pencil

The pencil claims to be a miracle product of the free market, but is that true?

• 14 mins

Series 2

Bicycle

Has the bicycle had its day? Or is it a technology whose best years lie ahead?

• 14 mins

Series 2

Dwarf Wheat

Norman Borlaug averted famine predictions by tinkering with the genetic design of wheat.

• 14 mins

Series 2

Like button

Facebook鈥檚 ubiquitous 'like' button can reveal a treasure trove of potential insights.

• 14 mins

Series 2

Blockchain

Blockchain: a digital technology that some say could become as disruptive as the internet.

• 14 mins

Series 2

Factory

Have factories been a force for improving the conditions of ordinary workers?

• 14 mins

Series 2

Cubesat

Satellites were once the length of a bus. Now they鈥檙e roughly the size of a Beanie Baby.

• 14 mins

Series 2

Rubber

Natural rubber still goes mostly into tyres, and its production still causes controversy.

• 14 mins

Series 2

Postage Stamp

Rowland Hill went from disgruntled user to radical reformer of Britain鈥檚 postal system.

• 14 mins

Series 2

RFID

Is RFID introducing an 'internet of things'? Or are its glory days behind it?

• 14 mins

Series 2

Fire

Has fire created not only the economy, but also modern humans?

• 14 mins

Series 2

Cassava

What does cassava teach us about the hidden social forces that support a modern economy?

• 14 mins

Series 2

Solar Photovoltaics

Solar power: an old technology now more advanced and disruptive to the oil energy order.

• 14 mins

Series 2

Chatbot

Have computers finally passed the Turing test, convincing us they themselves are human?

• 14 mins

Series 2

Oil

The price of oil is arguably the most important price in the world economy.

• 14 mins

Series 2

Interchangeable Parts

Interchangeable parts revolutionised the world of engineering.

• 14 mins

Series 2

Canned Food

What does canned food have in common with Silicon Valley? More than you might think.

• 14 mins

Series 2

Interface Message Processor

The Interface Message Processor: the most important hunk of silicon you鈥檝e never heard of.

• 14 mins

Series 2

Prohibition

The idea of the 鈥渞ational criminal鈥� helps explain why Prohibition was so widely flouted.

• 14 mins

Series 2

Bonsack Machine

One historian of the cigarette industry reckons it invented much of modern marketing.

• 14 mins

Series 2

GPS

GPS is sometimes called the 鈥渋nvisible utility鈥�. What would happen if it stopped working?

• 14 mins

Series 2

Vickrey Turnstile

The electromechanical Vickrey Turnstile worked well in theory, but was never built.

• 14 mins

Series 2

Glasses

How many people on earth need glasses and don鈥檛 have them? An eye-popping 2.5 billion.

• 14 mins

Series 2

Wedgwood

Josiah Wedgwood鈥檚 pottery was a precursor to the 鈥渢rickle-down鈥� theory of fashion.

• 14 mins

Series 2

SWIFT

How a system for sending sensitive financial data securely may have created a new problem.

• 14 mins

Series 2

Fundraising Appeal

Charity has become big business 鈥� but what鈥檚 the best way to elicit donations?

• 14 mins