Fire, Coal, and Oil

Description

Early hunter-gatherers rubbed two sticks together and created fire. By cooking our food and increasing its nutrition, our brains expanded—making us the most intelligent species on the planet. This documentary highlights human ingenuity in the ongoing search for new energy sources. Charcoal enabled iron production; coal powered the steam engine, driving industrialization and urbanization; whale oil lit 19th century street lamps; oil and the internal combustion engine altered American lifestyles; and World War II brought about nuclear energy and the atomic bomb. The next challenge will be to harness solar power on a massive scale.

Runtime

22 min 0 sec

Series

Subjects

Database

Films on Demand

Direct Link

Similar Films

30, The Wound That Never Heals
The Accountant of Auschwitz
Mister Moon
The Chinese Embassy in the U.S., The Power Game-Chiang Kai-shek and His Families (in Mandarin)
Gala Day
Snowballs (1901)
Vienna, Austria. Death’s City
Bath, England. Hot Springs for High Society
The Pilgrims’ Road to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. The Way of St. James
Eat It, Drink It, Smoke It
Life is Strange
Never Forget, The Legacy of Dictatorships
Speed
Workforce Leaving Salt's Works in Saltaire (1900)
FedFlix. The Winds of Change—Army in Action, Episode I