Season 4

2006 · 10 episodes

Episodes

1Bread, Beer and SaltWith industrialisation, there were more mouths in towns and cities to feed and fewer men left to work the land. So how did food production keep up?
2Building EuropeHow did the building trade keep up with the demand for materials during the expansion of the Industrial Revolution, and what do oranges have to do with it?
3The CityCities were traditionally developed around water until the railway age expanded their boundaries. As the population grew, how did they cope?
4Cotton, Linen and RopeFor centuries craftsmen and women turned natural fibres into clothes. Ronald Topp explores what happened when machines began to replace manual labour.
5Eiffel's TowerEiffel was the world's greatest exponent of the use of iron in construction, creating the his famous Tower in 1889. How did engineering in iron reach such heights?
6Exploding EnginesRonald Top examines the beginnings of motor cars. Benz and Daimler were early pioneers, but prior to that there were attempts at steam-powered road vehicles.
7High FliersFlight has always been humanity's dream. Ronald Top discovers that thanks to some paper thrown onto a fire, a duck, a cock and a sheep, it was made possible.
8Perfect PorcelainRonald Topp investigates the new techniques and ways of working that turned local potteries into an international industry.
9Steaming up the AlpsRonald Top examines how railways conquered the mountains, with a little help from George Stevenson. He's in the Alps to see how funicular railways work.
10Swedish WaterwaysWaterways are flourishing in Europe, but how is it that a system designed for 17th-century trade is still viable in the 21st? Ronald Topp finds out.