The Best Episodes of Modern Marvels Season 8

#1 Fan Favorite
9.0/10(12 votes)
#1 - Lighthouses
S8:E114/11/2001
From the earliest known lighthouses, such as the Pharos of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, to modern-day automated buoys and solar-powered lantern rooms, this history of lighthouses is rich with personal stories of lighthouse keepers, daring construction efforts, and ingenious optical discoveries. Today, as lighthouses are usurped by more efficient aids to navigation, these elegant structures are being converted to bed-and-breakfast inns and environmental retreats.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
Be the first to start the conversation for this episode
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
9.0/10(13 votes)
#2 - Saloons
S8:E216/27/2001
From a computerized liquor-dispensing system in modern L.A., to a ladle and a tin cup in an 1850′s mining camp, MODERN MARVELS investigates the history and technology of the American saloon.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
Be the first to start the conversation for this episode
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
8.5/10(12 votes)
#3 - The World Trade Center
S8:E196/25/2001
An historical look at the technological engineering of the World Trade Center. The special was completed and the interviews took place before the tragic events of September 11, 2001. Rather than remake the program to reflect the horrors of that day, our program stands as an historical record to the wonder it once was–from the construction of this technological feat to the daily working of its complex system. The program offers some of the last interior footage of the Twin Towers.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
Be the first to start the conversation for this episode
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
8.5/10(15 votes)
#4 - Drive-Thru
S8:E3511/13/2001
Join us for a ride through the history of car-culture commerce from the first gas station to the drive-thru funeral parlors and wedding chapels of today. We chronicle the birth of the first drive-in restaurants that paved the way for a billion-dollar fast-food dynasty, and feature many lesser-known drive-thru venues, such as dry cleaners, flu-shot clinics, liquor stands, and drug stores. And we’ll take a journey to the future to see what products might be passing through the drive-thru of tomorrow.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
Be the first to start the conversation for this episode
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
8.4/10(25 votes)
#5 - West Point
S8:E279/11/2001
For nearly 200 years, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, has trained students in the art of war. Located 50 miles north of New York City, its 25 buildings overlook the Hudson River on a 16,000-acre government reserve. During the Revolutionary War, West Point stood guard over the river, protecting it with artillery and a 136-ton chain! From humble beginnings, the academy grew with the nation, as each war forced changes to keep pace with America’s expanding world responsibilities.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
Be the first to start the conversation for this episode
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
8.3/10(17 votes)
#6 - International Airports II
S8:E155/21/2001
In this history of international airports, we focus on several airports to illustrate the developments and technology of their construction and operation, beginning with Miami’s Dinner Key and including New York City’s LaGuardia and JFK, London’s Gatwick, Dulles near Washington, D.C., Los Angeles’ LAX, Denver International, Japan’s Kansai, and Korea’s new Inchon. It all began on a farmer’s field near a flat beach–the next step may see them expand into interplanetary platforms!
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
Be the first to start the conversation for this episode
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown

TRENDING NOW

The 20 BEST Episodes of Modern Marvels

READ

8.3/10(17 votes)
#7 - Los Angeles
S8:E3711/29/2001
Unruly and eclectic, Los Angeles is home to an array of engineering and construction marvels that rivals any city in the world. No single word can sum up the L.A. experience, but the five marvels we profile give a sense of the breadth and scope of the city’s achievements: the new Red Line Subway system that barrels through a mountain range; the freeway system; Los Angeles Colisseum, built in 1923; the billion-dollar Getty Center that houses the family’s artwork; and Disneyland, the first theme park.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
Be the first to start the conversation for this episode
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
8.2/10(25 votes)
#8 - The M-16
S8:E176/11/2001
The most powerful assault rifle ever used in combat, the M-16 became the symbol of our lost war–Vietnam–and can easily be called America’s most unloved gun. Yet, 30 years after its introduction, it stands as a potent icon of U.S. military strength worldwide. We’ll explain how it almost ended up on the scrap heap!
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
Be the first to start the conversation for this episode
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
8.2/10(19 votes)
#9 - The St. Louis Arch
S8:E4012/4/2001
It is a majestic structure that rises boldly over the Mississippi river–40,000 tons of steel and concrete that create the biggest arch of its kind in the world. Nothing like it had ever been built before, nor attempted since. We’ll see how its simple and elegant form results from remarkable achievements in construction and engineering.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
Be the first to start the conversation for this episode
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
8.1/10(18 votes)
#10 - Work Clothes
S8:E3110/16/2001
From the riveted blue jeans of the old ’49ers, working the gold mines of California, to the million-dollar suits astronauts wear in outer space, we see how “dressing for success” often means being able to get the job done. With the right work clothes, people have been able to go anywhere and do any job.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
Be the first to start the conversation for this episode
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
8.0/10(15 votes)
#11 - Cattle Ranches
S8:E237/25/2001
From the 19th century’s legendary cattle drives to the million-acre ranch kingdoms that sprang to life with the end of the Open Range to 21st-century techniques that include artificial insemination, embryo transplants, and genetic engineering, we review the history of cattle ranching. We’ll ride herd with modern cowboys as they twirl ropes and brand calves, and look to the cattle ranch of the future, where cloning will produce the ideal meat-producing steer with a consistently juicy, low-fat carcass.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
Be the first to start the conversation for this episode
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
7.9/10(80 votes)
#12 - Hardware Stores
S8:E206/26/2001
Modern Marvels explores the evolution and future of the things that hold our world together. From the blacksmith to the Home Depot, it’s the story of nails, screws, mollybolts, duct tape, and super glue. We will visit one of the oldest hardware stores in America, Placerville True Value and wander the aisles of the mega-giants like Home Depot and OSH Hardware. This program chronicles the rise of the hardware “Big Box” super stores and how the mom and pop, local hardware stores, still manage to survive.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
Be the first to start the conversation for this episode
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
7.9/10(18 votes)
#13 - War Games
S8:E3410/24/2001
Modern Marvels looks at how army maneuvers have changed from simple “hide and seek” games to extremely complex and sophisticated operations that use computer simulations.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
Be the first to start the conversation for this episode
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
7.8/10(18 votes)
#14 - Hadrian's Wall
S8:E93/12/2001
Leonard Nimoy hosts half hour documentaries which explore unusual natural and supernatural phenomena. In this episode, he takes a look at Hadrian’s Wall.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
Be the first to start the conversation for this episode
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
7.8/10(14 votes)
#15 - Engineering Disasters 3.
S8:E135/7/2001
When design flaws fell projects, the cost is often exacted in lives as we see in this look at engineering disasters. Why did the Tower of Pisa begin to lean by as much as 17 feet; what caused the first nuclear accident in 1961 in Idaho; what killed three Soyuz 11 cosmonauts aboard the world's first orbiting space station; how did a winter storm destroy the Air Force's Texas Tower Radar Station, killing 28; and what errors led to NASA's loss of the Mars Climate Orbiter and the Mars Polar Lander?
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
Be the first to start the conversation for this episode
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
7.8/10(18 votes)
#16 - Quarries.
S8:E289/18/2001
Dynamite explodes hills to bits, drills divide sheer stone walls, 400,000-pound blocks are pulled from pits by giant cranes, and men work around the clock to wrest rock out of the earth. Not diamonds or gold…rock, the raw material of civilization! Without rock, modern society wouldn't exist. Roads, sewers, dams, bridges, buildings, paint, glue, make-up, antacids, and even chewing gum need crushed stone. From ancient days to the present, we explore the evolution of quarrying techniques.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
Be the first to start the conversation for this episode
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
7.8/10(24 votes)
#17 - Diamond Mines
S8:E299/19/2001
Half a mile below the earth’s surface, men mine for rough diamonds–a pure carbon substance. Brilliant when cut and polished, they are marketed as the most precious gem in the world. From the earliest mines of the 4th century BC to today’s technological wonders in South Africa, we explore the history and technology of the diamond mine.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
Be the first to start the conversation for this episode
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
7.8/10(12 votes)
#18 - Times Square
S8:E3611/27/2001
The Crossroads of the World, New York City’s Times Square is the screaming marketplace of our culture and time. It’s urban life pushed to the limit–the most electrified, visceral, crowded, and vibrant area in the world’s most dynamic city. A unique district that forever changes its face, it sank into crime and sleaze in the 1970s, only to rehabilitate in the ’90s into a dubious family entertainment paradise. Join us for a trip to America’s Town Square at the intersection of Broadway and 7th Avenue.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
Be the first to start the conversation for this episode
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
7.7/10(28 votes)
#19 - Battle Gear.
S8:E11/8/2001
From battle armor to bubble gum, you might be surprised by what soldiers have carried into battle–and what they'll carry in future wars. In this look at the development of weapons–from the Roman soldier's gladius to the M16 assault rifle to infrared scopes and biological weapons protection–we also discover the evolution of body armor–from knights to Kelvar-protected "Land Warriors". And we'll also find out what the "Future Warrior" will look like.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
Be the first to start the conversation for this episode
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
7.7/10(20 votes)
#20 - Construction Machines
S8:E83/1/2001
Feel the earth move under your feet and dig into the fascinating story of earthmoving equipment–from the simple spade to today’s powerful steam shovels. Meet legendary giants like John Deere, Jerome Case, and the founders of Caterpillar, who helped forge America’s monolithic construction industry. Ride on specialized behemoth dump trucks, delve below sea level to view dredging equipment, and leave the planet altogether to explore earthmoving space equipment in this 2-hour special presentation.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
Be the first to start the conversation for this episode
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
7.7/10(20 votes)
#21 - Monster Trucks.
S8:E103/19/2001
Ride shotgun in our rollicking history of the Monster Truck, and meet the father of the mythic beast, Bob Chandler, whose EM Bigfoot /EM gave birth to the sport in a cornfield years ago! Weighing 10,000 pounds, the behemoths entertain using brute force. Thrill to breathtaking stunts in California, Indiana, and Florida, as mounted cameras demonstrate the shakes, rattles, and rolls drivers experience; and meet the men who race these mechanical mammoths in one of the world's fastest-growing motorsports.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
Be the first to start the conversation for this episode
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
7.5/10(14 votes)
#22 - Chemical And Biological Weapons
S8:E145/14/2001
This episode of Modern Marvels examines the history and technology of chemical and biological warfare, which can be traced back at least four-thousand years, to the wars of ancient India, when soldiers used toxic fumes against their enemies.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
Be the first to start the conversation for this episode
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
7.5/10(19 votes)
#23 - Nuclear Subs
S8:E258/28/2001
The most priceless jewels in the arsenals of a handful of countries, some nuclear submarines carry more firepower than all the bombs dropped in history. Since the 1950s, these lethal steel sharks have been a cornerstone of U.S. defense policy. The Cold War launched an underwater race for supremacy with the Soviet Union. The result: engineering miracles, which roam 70% of the earth’s surface, providing deterrence to enemies, intelligence about adversaries, and an abiding sense of dread.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
Be the first to start the conversation for this episode
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
7.3/10(19 votes)
#24 - Glass
S8:E3811/30/2001
Glass may be our most versatile material. It sheathes skyscrapers, contains liquids, aids vision, allows communication at unimaginable speeds, and yet remains a medium for artistic expression. We see how, when man learned that heating certain rocks and minerals together could produce glass, this remarkably transparent yet strong material began working its way into our culture and everyday life. As we look to its future, we learn that the only limit to what glass may do is our ability to imagine it!
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
Be the first to start the conversation for this episode
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
7.2/10(26 votes)
#25 - Codes.
S8:E166/8/2001
Whenever a culture reaches a level of sophistication in literacy, science, and language, codes spring up spontaneously. As the social life of a community increases in complexity, the demands for private communication between two or more people inevitably lead to cryptology–a system of secret symbolic messages. We explore the rich history of communicating with secret symbols–from Egyptian hieroglyphics to Caesar's encrypted directives, from WWI and WWII codebreakers to cyberspace.
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown
Be the first to start the conversation for this episode
Director:Unknown
Writer:Unknown