0:02:36 > 0:02:40Every day is another step into the press-button age.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42The pushing of buttons regulates your water supply.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45You can even water your garden automatically.
0:02:45 > 0:02:47Almost everything you want done, in fact,
0:02:47 > 0:02:50can be performed at the turn of a knob or the push of a button,
0:02:50 > 0:02:52inside the home or out of it.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01Whether it's an improvement on yesterday's iron
0:03:01 > 0:03:04or a pocket radio with valves the size of shirt buttons,
0:03:04 > 0:03:06almost everything we touch
0:03:06 > 0:03:09is another manifestation of the automatic era.
0:03:09 > 0:03:11BIG BAND MUSIC PLAYS
0:03:13 > 0:03:16Today's new gadget is tomorrow's commonplace,
0:03:16 > 0:03:20soon to be taken as much for granted, say, as our daily milk.
0:03:21 > 0:03:25Milk is now another highly mechanised industry,
0:03:25 > 0:03:27operating at the touch of a switch,
0:03:27 > 0:03:30right through to its delivery to your door.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33As for the biscuit you take with your morning tea,
0:03:33 > 0:03:35now, that really is a press-button product.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38It starts its life in this huge automatic mixer,
0:03:38 > 0:03:40which signals when it's ready to make a fresh batch
0:03:40 > 0:03:42and a mechanical brain sets to work
0:03:42 > 0:03:46piping the precise amount of every ingredient to the mixer.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49It's conveyed, rolled, cut into shapes,
0:03:49 > 0:03:51baked, coated, cooled, wrapped and weighed again,
0:03:51 > 0:03:53all automatically, in a vast factory
0:03:53 > 0:03:57where machinery seems to have taken over from man almost entirely.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09But the industry we take most for granted of all
0:04:09 > 0:04:13is the one behind that ordinary light switch - electricity itself,
0:04:13 > 0:04:15the lifeblood of the press-button age.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19It feeds our automatic brains, works the projector showing this film,
0:04:19 > 0:04:22spreads light in our darkening streets.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25It has to keep working all the time, adjusting its supply
0:04:25 > 0:04:29to the varying calls of a whole country busily pushing buttons.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51The Berkeley Nuclear Power Station, on the banks of the River Severn,
0:04:51 > 0:04:54is one of the world's first two generating stations
0:04:54 > 0:04:57to produce commercial power from nuclear energy.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00With its sister station Bradwell in Essex,
0:05:00 > 0:05:03Berkeley takes the everyday business of generating electricity
0:05:03 > 0:05:06into the strange, awesome world of atomic physics.
0:05:08 > 0:05:12Uranium rods do the job that coal or oil do in an ordinary power station.
0:05:13 > 0:05:17Here are the turbine generators, all perfectly conventional -
0:05:17 > 0:05:20only the source of the heat is different.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25All the while, stringent precautions go on to protect the staff
0:05:25 > 0:05:28and to protect the reactor from the outside world.
0:05:28 > 0:05:32This sensitive giant, a sun imprisoned in steel and concrete.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39This man has the simplest and safest of jobs -
0:05:39 > 0:05:42he handles uranium in bulk, all perfectly harmless
0:05:42 > 0:05:46until the elements challenge each other deep down in the reactor,
0:05:46 > 0:05:49and the broiling chain reaction starts.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53From the store to the fuel preparation room.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56Here is a uranium rod covered in magnesium.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59It's an inch thick. It's less than two feet long.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02It's the key to the miracle of the world we live in.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04And off it goes to the loading machine,
0:06:04 > 0:06:08and so on its way to one of the station's two reactors.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11The rods can stay down in the reactor for up to three years,
0:06:11 > 0:06:15and all the time, they're being steadily replaced.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18These rods are not just too hot to handle -
0:06:18 > 0:06:20that would be the understatement of the century.
0:06:20 > 0:06:24They are first to be plunged into a cooling bath called a pond,
0:06:24 > 0:06:26where they will languish for about three months,
0:06:26 > 0:06:29during which time they will be studied.
0:06:33 > 0:06:35The modern nuclear power station worker
0:06:35 > 0:06:38goes through his precautionary cleansing routines.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40If he'd had a dose of radiation,
0:06:40 > 0:06:43this Geiger counter would really rouse the whole department
0:06:43 > 0:06:45with the sound of bells. It doesn't.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52A big thermonuclear reactor is at least as safe as an Atlantic liner
0:06:52 > 0:06:56but regulations demand that the check and double check never cease.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59500 people look after the whole operation,
0:06:59 > 0:07:01from doorman to chief scientist.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16There is a great surge upwards in the demand for power.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20More and more stations will be built to meet the demand.
0:07:20 > 0:07:22Seven of them will be nuclear.
0:07:22 > 0:07:24Not cheap, costly to lay down,
0:07:24 > 0:07:28but carrying in them, bedded down in deep layers of protective concrete,
0:07:28 > 0:07:29the very sun in fury.
0:07:48 > 0:07:52The forces of law and order are continually devising new weapons.
0:07:52 > 0:07:56The watchman in this Bond Street store, armed only with a truncheon,
0:07:56 > 0:07:58may look no match for an armed bandit.
0:08:00 > 0:08:01But watch that switch.
0:08:01 > 0:08:05It operates radio waves that set off the shop's alarm system.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08Modern science is making life harder
0:08:08 > 0:08:11for lawbreakers of every description.
0:08:11 > 0:08:15That dome on the left sends out sound waves that cannot be heard,
0:08:15 > 0:08:18but if anyone interrupted them, they'd send out a signal.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21This projector puts out invisible rays that do the same thing
0:08:21 > 0:08:23if anyone crosses them.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33Recognise that number, 999?
0:08:33 > 0:08:36When the call goes through, this is what they'll hear at the other end.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40'Police, Scotland Yard. Calling Scotland Yard.
0:08:40 > 0:08:46'Burglars have entered the premises of J Smith and Son.'
0:09:04 > 0:09:05Alpha Lima 3 from 794,
0:09:05 > 0:09:11can I have the assistance of traffic control at Kensington High Street, junction with Old Church Street?
0:09:11 > 0:09:13The Ministry of Transport's traffic experiment,
0:09:13 > 0:09:17which uses closed circuit cameras at six strategic points,
0:09:17 > 0:09:19relies on the radio link with the police on the spot.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23The Greater London Council is extending this scheme to the whole of London.
0:10:04 > 0:10:06This is ERNIE,
0:10:06 > 0:10:10the computer who selects the prize-winning premium savings bonds.
0:10:10 > 0:10:12ERNIE is a masterpiece of scientific random,
0:10:12 > 0:10:16the most impartial picker of numbers out of a hat in existence.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29And if you have the luck to hear from ERNIE,
0:10:29 > 0:10:32it's said to be quite an enjoyable experience.
0:10:35 > 0:10:37In this electronic age,
0:10:37 > 0:10:40computers are rapidly becoming man's best friend.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43To look at, they're about as exciting as filing cabinets.
0:10:43 > 0:10:47Inside, a jungle of circuits, along which eager electric pulses
0:10:47 > 0:10:50can solve mathematical problems at the speed of light.
0:10:50 > 0:10:52Computer simply means reckoner.
0:10:52 > 0:10:56Since the beginning of time, nature's built-in computers have
0:10:56 > 0:11:00played a vital part in reckoning with life and solving its problems.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03This little animal has a problem - he wants a meal.
0:11:03 > 0:11:05His computer's answer?
0:11:05 > 0:11:08Over there, quick! Steady, got it!
0:11:09 > 0:11:11From chameleon to car driver.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13What goes on in his computer?
0:11:13 > 0:11:16The experts would say that a steady visual feedback
0:11:16 > 0:11:19is being reviewed against background of the driver's experience,
0:11:19 > 0:11:22and reissued as adjustments to his performance.
0:11:22 > 0:11:24Are those people going to board that bus?
0:11:24 > 0:11:26Yes, so he brakes.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29Early in life, he meets his first supplementary computer -
0:11:29 > 0:11:31the simplest form of adding machine.
0:11:33 > 0:11:35But later, he may need something like this
0:11:35 > 0:11:38to enable him to work out the complex calculations in his job,
0:11:38 > 0:11:41some of which no human brain could tackle.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44You have to put information in before you can get any out,
0:11:44 > 0:11:47and it goes in in the form of figures and instructions.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50They're coded onto punched tape or punched cards,
0:11:50 > 0:11:53which are fed into what is called the memory unit.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55It can take hours, days, or even months,
0:11:55 > 0:11:57according to the size of the problem,
0:11:57 > 0:12:01to work out all the instructions to be fed into the computer,
0:12:01 > 0:12:04but once this has been done, it can produce in a flash
0:12:04 > 0:12:06the answers to the calculations it's asked to make.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15The skill and precision which go into building a computer
0:12:15 > 0:12:17explain its high cost.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19How much does it cost?
0:12:19 > 0:12:21Well, Manchester University has installed
0:12:21 > 0:12:24a British-made monster costing over £2 million.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26It's said to be the world's most advanced.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29It can take half a million instructions per second.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54Yesterday, the valve-operated computer was cumbersome.
0:12:54 > 0:12:58Today, it shares with the radio the transistor look.
0:12:58 > 0:13:00Tomorrow, especially in space machinery,
0:13:00 > 0:13:02where every cubic inch is vital,
0:13:02 > 0:13:06computers and their component parts will shrink still more.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26This shows the shrinking process of one particular component
0:13:26 > 0:13:28from man-size to electronic jewellery.
0:13:32 > 0:13:34But that's almost big by comparison.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37For here are nine transistors mounted on a pin's head.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40This is a world where sizes can be compared with
0:13:40 > 0:13:42the thickness of a human hair.
0:13:57 > 0:13:58These are the telephone girls,
0:13:58 > 0:14:01the operators with the pretty, faceless voices
0:14:01 > 0:14:04that are such an important part of daily life,
0:14:04 > 0:14:06the girls we never see.
0:14:06 > 0:14:0920 years ago, there were 35,000 of them in Britain.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12They handled 200 million calls a month.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15Today, there are nearly three times as many calls,
0:14:15 > 0:14:18but nothing like three times as many operators.
0:14:18 > 0:14:22For, month by month, Britain's telephone service
0:14:22 > 0:14:24becomes more and more automatic.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27The latest triumph of the skills of the design engineers
0:14:27 > 0:14:29is the Post Office Tower in central London.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31This ultra-modern stalagmite
0:14:31 > 0:14:34is the main telephone and TV junction of the country.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39Its feelers are its microwave aerials, precisely positioned
0:14:39 > 0:14:43to pick up signals from the linking stations in the national network.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55This 85-foot diameter dish aerial at Goonhilly Down near Land's End
0:14:55 > 0:14:59is the British end of the system by which television pictures
0:14:59 > 0:15:02can be sent across the Atlantic via the satellite Telstar.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06Information giving the exact position of the 170lb satellite,
0:15:06 > 0:15:09as it orbits the globe 500 to 2,000 miles high,
0:15:09 > 0:15:12is fed into Goonhilly from the United States.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14A computer, or electrical brain,
0:15:14 > 0:15:17converts this data into angles and rate of passing,
0:15:17 > 0:15:20and automatically positions the dish aerial
0:15:20 > 0:15:22for the arrival of Telstar over the horizon.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25The satellite will take 30 minutes to pass.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28Its position must be tracked to one 50th of a second
0:15:28 > 0:15:29to get the best reception.
0:15:33 > 0:15:35Zero second approaches,
0:15:35 > 0:15:38when picture and sound come through simultaneously.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40The satellite has been picked up,
0:15:40 > 0:15:45slowly the aerial starts tracking it, and the picture comes through.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00Goonhilly then relays it to London
0:16:00 > 0:16:03for television viewers in Britain and throughout Europe.
0:16:03 > 0:16:07At the tower itself, the country's main television switchboard
0:16:07 > 0:16:10looks very different from the rows of plugs on the boards of old.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13Here, the programmes are monitored before being beamed
0:16:13 > 0:16:16to various parts of the BBC and commercial networks.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23This sort of work goes on ceaselessly,
0:16:23 > 0:16:25and the traffic gets heavier year by year.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30Maybe, years from now, the laser beam may be able to carry
0:16:30 > 0:16:34far more traffic than can be contained even at the tower today.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37The future of telecommunications may belong to it.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40When that day comes, the signal box, with its head in the clouds,
0:16:40 > 0:16:42will be there, ready to cope.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57It's no longer a matter of eating out, but eating high,
0:16:57 > 0:17:01and, for background, a constantly shifting view of London
0:17:01 > 0:17:03and its surrounding counties.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06Here, you satisfy your appetite 520 feet high,
0:17:06 > 0:17:10with a pigeon's eye view of the capital that's a revelation,
0:17:10 > 0:17:13even to Londoners who thought they knew their own city.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27Crossing from the stationary to the moving part of the restaurant
0:17:27 > 0:17:28presents no problems,
0:17:28 > 0:17:31but for waiters it's sometimes puzzle find-the-customers,
0:17:31 > 0:17:34whose table has moved since the waiter took their order.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40Orders are transferred to the restaurant two floors down
0:17:40 > 0:17:44in miniature high-speed lifts set in the central area of the Tower.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51On average, 4,500 people a day take the vertical ride
0:17:51 > 0:17:54to the three observation galleries just beneath the restaurant.
0:17:54 > 0:17:56There's priority in the lifts
0:17:56 > 0:17:58for diners on the way up to the restaurant,
0:17:58 > 0:18:04and if the attendants' specially designed uniform caps make them look like space flight conductors,
0:18:04 > 0:18:06well, that's just what they are!
0:18:06 > 0:18:09These high-speed lifts climb at 1,000 feet a minute,
0:18:09 > 0:18:11and if you're not used to vertical take-off,
0:18:11 > 0:18:13there's always a first time.
0:18:22 > 0:18:24Up here in this world of panorama,
0:18:24 > 0:18:27the clear view depends as much on these men as on the weather.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30Keeping the Tower's windows clean is a big job,
0:18:30 > 0:18:32with 50,000 square feet of glass to look after,
0:18:32 > 0:18:36and the window cleaner turns the restaurant's rotation to advantage.
0:18:36 > 0:18:40He has the triple-glazed windows come round to him.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10The hovercraft shook the world when it made its first public appearance.
0:19:10 > 0:19:14And for the inventor, ex-boat builder Christopher Cockerell,
0:19:14 > 0:19:15part of a dream had come true.
0:19:16 > 0:19:21I started working on the idea in my boat yard on the Norfolk Broads.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24Messing about with boats soon made me think that there must be
0:19:24 > 0:19:28some less wasteful way than just pushing them through the water.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30A motorboat creates a lot of wash,
0:19:30 > 0:19:33and this all represents power going to waste.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36I tried various methods of achieving a film of air between
0:19:36 > 0:19:39the bottom of the boat and the water,
0:19:39 > 0:19:41so that the boat could glide on air.
0:19:41 > 0:19:43In the end I thought of a solution,
0:19:43 > 0:19:46and I made up a simple model out of a couple of tins.
0:19:49 > 0:19:52It worked, and showed that one could get a thrust using the tins,
0:19:52 > 0:19:55much greater than the thrust from an ordinary jet.
0:19:55 > 0:20:00At last, it was taken up by the National Research Development Corporation
0:20:00 > 0:20:01and things began to happen.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04In short time, Saunders Roe were hard at it,
0:20:04 > 0:20:08designing an experimental craft with everyone working at top speed.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11Soon, models began to appear.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14These were tested in the tanks and over grass.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22These models led to the four-tonne experimental hovercraft.
0:20:24 > 0:20:26Well, this is the hovercraft.
0:20:26 > 0:20:31I'm Peter Lamb, chief test pilot for Saunders Roe, who built her.
0:20:33 > 0:20:35It's quite a simple machine.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38A fan in the chimney on top is driven by an engine,
0:20:38 > 0:20:41and blows air out of the jets underneath.
0:20:41 > 0:20:46To drive the car forward, the air is blown out backwards,
0:20:46 > 0:20:49and to drive the craft backwards, or to act as a brake,
0:20:49 > 0:20:51the air is blown out forwards.
0:20:53 > 0:20:54I operate it like this.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57The rudders are in the jets.
0:20:57 > 0:21:01There are little flaps which are moved to keep her level.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05The first flight was certainly an experience.
0:21:14 > 0:21:16A crowd of press photographers came along to watch.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19They didn't know what to expect at first, but they soon got used to
0:21:19 > 0:21:22the idea of four tonnes of ironmongery floating on air.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28We went the whole hog that day, and later,
0:21:28 > 0:21:30tried her in the water for the first time.
0:21:30 > 0:21:32Would she rise?
0:21:32 > 0:21:35I started the engine and, a moment later, we were poised,
0:21:35 > 0:21:38hovering 15 inches above the sea.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40At first, I couldn't see much from the cockpit
0:21:40 > 0:21:42but, under way, vision improved.
0:21:45 > 0:21:46Since our first test,
0:21:46 > 0:21:50I've been putting the hovercraft through her paces almost every day.
0:21:56 > 0:21:58Come aboard, we'll go for a trip.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03The engine makes a Dickens of a row, so I won't say much more.
0:22:34 > 0:22:36To us, the hovercraft is sure to come,
0:22:36 > 0:22:38but you mustn't think it will all come in a minute.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40There's a lot of work to be done.
0:22:40 > 0:22:45We started with two tins and now we have the Saunders Roe craft,
0:22:45 > 0:22:46and, one of these days,
0:22:46 > 0:22:49you'll be crossing the Channel on a cushion of air.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53Saturday the 25th of July, 1959 was the day on which
0:22:53 > 0:22:56Christopher Cockerell's prophecy began to come true.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00On this day, the hovercraft made its first successful crossing of the English Channel,
0:23:00 > 0:23:05skimming in a cloud of spray through the entrance to Dover harbour shortly after dawn.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11Holidaymakers had got up early to welcome the arrival.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14Here was a Channel crossing that had made history
0:23:14 > 0:23:17and perhaps opened the way to a new form of travel.
0:23:39 > 0:23:41And the spray flies!
0:23:43 > 0:23:47At 70 miles an hour, the VA3 rides three feet clear of the water,
0:23:47 > 0:23:49like a low-flying aeroplane.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52But compared with an aeroplane of the same weight,
0:23:52 > 0:23:56the hovercraft needs only a quarter of the power for the same speed.
0:23:56 > 0:23:58Ideal for sea trips up to 100 miles,
0:23:58 > 0:23:59the larger hovercraft of today
0:23:59 > 0:24:02would make excellent long-distance ferries.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05Passenger fares would work out at about thruppence a mile,
0:24:05 > 0:24:06the same as a bus.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40The hovercraft principle of lifting a vehicle on a cushion of air
0:24:40 > 0:24:42can be used in hundreds of different ways.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45One company has fitted it to a conventional vehicle
0:24:45 > 0:24:47for use over rough ground.
0:24:47 > 0:24:49If the going gets too rough or boggy,
0:24:49 > 0:24:53a fan is switched on to build up an air cushion underneath,
0:24:53 > 0:24:54so taking weight off the wheels.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00And here's the latest thing in wheelbarrows - the hover barrow.
0:25:00 > 0:25:01Just the slightest push,
0:25:01 > 0:25:04and it glides at a height of a few inches
0:25:04 > 0:25:06over mud, sand, snow or slush.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12Then, for family use, there's the hover scooter.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16This one was built for his own use by Mr Don Robertson
0:25:16 > 0:25:18at his Surrey home for as little as £250.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26If you feel like piloting a hovercraft yourself,
0:25:26 > 0:25:30you can always join the fast-growing amateur hovercraft movement,
0:25:30 > 0:25:33one of the enthusiasts of which is Lord Brassey.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38There's nothing like a hovercraft for avoiding traffic jams,
0:25:38 > 0:25:40and women drivers are welcome.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51Looking ahead to the future,
0:25:51 > 0:25:54we can expect to find hover rail trains like this,
0:25:54 > 0:25:56linking city centres to airports.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02The train lifts itself onto a cushion of air produced from jets,
0:26:02 > 0:26:04and then a rear thrust pushes it forward.
0:26:36 > 0:26:38Here's a plane that can do what no aircraft
0:26:38 > 0:26:40has ever been able to do before.
0:26:40 > 0:26:42It's as manoeuvrable as a fighter
0:26:42 > 0:26:46and can fly above the speed of sound at more than 700 miles per hour.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50Yet it can land and take off vertically just like a helicopter.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52It can even hover in flight,
0:26:52 > 0:26:55an astonishing performance by an aircraft which has
0:26:55 > 0:26:57introduced a new concept into flying.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05It's called the Kestrel,
0:27:05 > 0:27:07after the bird that can hover for minutes
0:27:07 > 0:27:09before swooping to attack its prey.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12This all-British plane is so revolutionary that
0:27:12 > 0:27:16a special international squadron was formed to assess its capabilities.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22While hovering, the Kestrel can turn in any direction
0:27:22 > 0:27:24and even go backwards,
0:27:24 > 0:27:27and yet it can climb faster than the modern jet fighter.
0:28:53 > 0:28:57Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd