How We Got to Now is a new PBS series with Steven Johnson explaining how six inventions and innovations transformed the future to create our world.

They are:

REFRIGERATION – How our mastery of “cold on demand” helped give birth to at least four million babies, created the golden age of Hollywood and unlocked the secrets of the universe.

CLEAN – How our battle against dirt created the sidewalk, the swimming pool, the flat screen and the iPhone.

LIGHT – How our quest to harness light changed our genetic make-up, gave birth to Times Square, Las Vegas, video downloads and an artificial sun.

SOUND – How the journey to harness sound created the modern world of instant communication, but also helped put thousands of planes in the sky, changed the face of warfare and created a new way for teenagers to rebel.

TIME – How our journey to calculate time helped create international trade and travel, victory for the North in the Civil War, GPS and understanding of the origins of human life.

            SIGHT – How our quest to see better helped us see the world differently, whether right in front of our noses with the birth of eyeglasses or far beyond our visible universe with the creation of the telescope.