0:00:05 > 0:00:08Hello and welcome to The Genius Of Invention.
0:00:08 > 0:00:09I'm Michael Mosley.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14I'll be exploring some of the greatest inventions in history
0:00:14 > 0:00:18and the geniuses behind them.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21I'll be joined by industrial archaeologist Dr Cassie Newland
0:00:21 > 0:00:24and professor of engineering Mark Miodownik.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28And together, we'll be uncovering the story of invention
0:00:28 > 0:00:31and Britain's role in shaping the modern world.
0:00:39 > 0:00:43The screens you're looking at now, the lights in your house,
0:00:43 > 0:00:46none of it would be possible without the brilliant minds
0:00:46 > 0:00:50who learned how to unleash the secrets of power itself.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55In this programme, we'll be looking at three key inventions
0:00:55 > 0:00:59that represent pivotal moments in our growing love affair with power,
0:00:59 > 0:01:04which helped us to produce it, control it and consume it.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15The story of power begins with the steam engine.
0:01:15 > 0:01:21The ability to take heat energy and turn it into usable, useful power
0:01:21 > 0:01:23has transformed our lives.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25The genius of the steam engine is that it was based
0:01:25 > 0:01:28on simple scientific principles,
0:01:28 > 0:01:30as Professor Mark Miodownik explains.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36This is a working model of the first ever steam engine.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38The engine that changed the world, and quite rightly,
0:01:38 > 0:01:40the first invention in our series.
0:01:40 > 0:01:42Now, in the 18th and 19th centuries,
0:01:42 > 0:01:45when people were thinking about using steam, they thought,
0:01:45 > 0:01:49"Well, just get a lot of steam and get it to rotate something."
0:01:49 > 0:01:52But when that's metal and heavy, you have to have very high pressure,
0:01:52 > 0:01:54but when they tried working on those principles,
0:01:54 > 0:01:57what they found is that when you get very high-pressure steam,
0:01:57 > 0:01:59it basically just blows everything up.
0:01:59 > 0:02:01They didn't have the materials to make it work.
0:02:01 > 0:02:02People died left, right and centre.
0:02:02 > 0:02:04So that was a dead end,
0:02:04 > 0:02:06and they didn't really know where to go forward
0:02:06 > 0:02:08until there was a bit of genius.
0:02:08 > 0:02:13The first ever practical engine was powered by steam,
0:02:13 > 0:02:15but not in the way you might expect.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18It uses steam the wrong way.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24When you heat water, it turns from a liquid into a vapour,
0:02:24 > 0:02:26which will expand to replace the air in the vessel.
0:02:27 > 0:02:32But if you seal that vessel and add cold water to condense the steam,
0:02:32 > 0:02:37it will return to liquid form and leave behind a vacuum.
0:02:37 > 0:02:41What happens next is the force behind all early steam engines.
0:02:44 > 0:02:46I want to show you a demo showing how using steam the wrong way
0:02:46 > 0:02:49was actually the right way.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51This is a normal oil drum.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54And we've filled it with steam, and I'm going to destroy it
0:02:54 > 0:02:56to show the principle behind the steam engine.
0:02:56 > 0:02:58the thing is, we've got steam in here,
0:02:58 > 0:03:00but although it's coming out at quite a rate there,
0:03:00 > 0:03:03inside it's the pressure around us, it's the same pressure as air.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06But that isn't such an appreciable pressure.
0:03:06 > 0:03:08You've got a sky full of air on your shoulders,
0:03:08 > 0:03:11that's like having a ton pushing down on you.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14Why, when you've got a ton weight hanging on your shoulders,
0:03:14 > 0:03:15aren't you crushed?
0:03:15 > 0:03:18Yeah, OK, well, that's true, but it's also in your lungs pushing out,
0:03:18 > 0:03:20it's also around you pushing up,
0:03:20 > 0:03:23so you've got it from all directions, and so it all evenly breaks down.
0:03:23 > 0:03:25Now, what we're going to try is saying,
0:03:25 > 0:03:28if you've got the pressure of the steam inside and the air outside,
0:03:28 > 0:03:31what if you mess around with that equilibrium?
0:03:31 > 0:03:33How much force does that generate?
0:03:33 > 0:03:35And the result is a lot, presumably.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37A lot. THEY LAUGH
0:03:37 > 0:03:39- Now, your job is to turn off the steam.- OK.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42And Cassie, your job is to turn on a spray of water,
0:03:42 > 0:03:44- which is going to cool the steam.- OK.
0:03:44 > 0:03:46And my job is to direct you over here. THEY LAUGH
0:03:46 > 0:03:47From way back there? OK.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49Have you ever done this before?
0:03:49 > 0:03:51I've done this before, but on a smaller scale,
0:03:51 > 0:03:54on a tin can, and it works beautifully. THEY LAUGH
0:03:54 > 0:03:55How quickly?
0:03:55 > 0:03:58- In quick succession. OK, ready? - Yeah.- Go.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02- THEY LAUGH - Right.
0:04:02 > 0:04:03EXPLOSION
0:04:03 > 0:04:05THEY LAUGH
0:04:08 > 0:04:10Now that is absolutely astonishing.
0:04:10 > 0:04:12You really weren't expecting the force to be that great,
0:04:12 > 0:04:16it just crumpled this steel as if it was just a toy.
0:04:16 > 0:04:17And that's just atmospheric pressure.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20Yeah, this is just the pressure of the room crumpling in,
0:04:20 > 0:04:22so we've created a vacuum in there by putting the steam in there,
0:04:22 > 0:04:26then turning off the valve, and then Cassie sprayed some water in there,
0:04:26 > 0:04:28that condensed the steam, created a vacuum,
0:04:28 > 0:04:30and the rest of the room did the rest.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32- THEY LAUGH - Incredible.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35That demonstrates it's exactly the same force that was harnessed
0:04:35 > 0:04:37in the first steam engine.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40Now, its full name was the Atmospheric Steam Engine,
0:04:40 > 0:04:44and it was invented in 1712 by a blacksmith from Dartmouth
0:04:44 > 0:04:46called Thomas Newcomen.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50For thousands of years,
0:04:50 > 0:04:54people have looked for a reliable source of power.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58And this giant machine is the engine that finally cracked it.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01All it needed was heat from coal,
0:05:01 > 0:05:04which created steam,
0:05:04 > 0:05:06which condensed to leave a vacuum,
0:05:06 > 0:05:09and the weight of the atmosphere did the rest.
0:05:10 > 0:05:12Finally we had a mechanical process
0:05:12 > 0:05:16where you could put energy in and get work out.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20The world was about to change more in the next 200 years
0:05:20 > 0:05:22than it had in the previous thousand.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24But not initially that fast.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30Now, you might imagine that once somebody had designed and built
0:05:30 > 0:05:31a working steam engine,
0:05:31 > 0:05:33that lots of other people would come in and tinker,
0:05:33 > 0:05:34try and improve it,
0:05:34 > 0:05:38and in fact dream up all sorts of other uses for it.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42But for over 50 years, there was only one type of steam engine
0:05:42 > 0:05:48in the world, and it did one deeply unglamorous, albeit useful thing.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51Pumping water out of mines.
0:05:51 > 0:05:53'They say necessity is the mother of invention.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55'And in the case of the steam engine,
0:05:55 > 0:05:59'necessity wasn't some grand dream of bringing power to the world.
0:05:59 > 0:06:03'It was the result of a simple economic desire.
0:06:03 > 0:06:07'To extract coal and ores from deeper and deeper mines.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10'To do that, they needed a really good pump.'
0:06:11 > 0:06:14I must admit, I have never been down a mine as wet as this.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17It's literally pouring out the ceiling.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20How deep are we at the moment?
0:06:20 > 0:06:22Er...we must be about 150, 160 feet down.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25And when you go down further, you get more and more water?
0:06:25 > 0:06:26You get more and more water, yes.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28You can absolutely see the problem they had.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30What did they do about it?
0:06:30 > 0:06:33They actually had to bail it out, or "wind" it out.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36So a very labour-intensive process.
0:06:36 > 0:06:42But manpower and horses couldn't drain all this water fast enough.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45Enter local blacksmith, Thomas Newcomen.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47You may never have heard of him,
0:06:47 > 0:06:50and there are no surviving pictures,
0:06:50 > 0:06:54yet he built the world's first practical steam engine,
0:06:54 > 0:06:57and transformed the mining industry.
0:06:57 > 0:07:03His first engine was installed at a coal mine near Birmingham in 1712.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05It completed 12 strokes a minute,
0:07:05 > 0:07:08each stroke lifting 10 gallons of water.
0:07:09 > 0:07:13Within 20 years, over 100 of his engines had been installed
0:07:13 > 0:07:15at mines all over the country.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18Now, the Newcomen engine allowed miners
0:07:18 > 0:07:21to go deeper and deeper underground,
0:07:21 > 0:07:24but the trouble was, it was monstrously inefficient.
0:07:24 > 0:07:26It consumed a huge amount of coal,
0:07:26 > 0:07:30and coal was very difficult and expensive to transport.
0:07:30 > 0:07:32It transformed the mining industry,
0:07:32 > 0:07:35but it was never going to power an industrial revolution.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41The story of how the Atmospheric Steam Engine
0:07:41 > 0:07:46came to drive a revolution is the story of inventiveness itself.
0:07:46 > 0:07:50The profound desire to make things work better.
0:07:50 > 0:07:55The atmospheric engine was nothing like anything that had come before,
0:07:55 > 0:07:58and Newcomen's version of it reigned supreme for decades.
0:07:58 > 0:08:02When it was replaced, it was by an innovation that was so radical,
0:08:02 > 0:08:06it was almost like a completely different machine.
0:08:06 > 0:08:11And the man behind this innovation was James Gaius Watt.
0:08:12 > 0:08:18In 1763, James Watt, a mechanical instrument maker in Glasgow,
0:08:18 > 0:08:23was asked to repair a model of the by now world-famous Newcomen engine
0:08:23 > 0:08:26that was being used in the university to instruct students.
0:08:27 > 0:08:33He first thought of it as just a model, almost like a plaything toy.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37But gradually, by investigating the different elements of it
0:08:37 > 0:08:40in more and more detail, taking it apart,
0:08:40 > 0:08:45creating alternatives to the various aspects of the model,
0:08:45 > 0:08:49he began almost to think of it as a kind of scientific experiment,
0:08:49 > 0:08:52a composite scientific experiment.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54Something that could perhaps be developed
0:08:54 > 0:08:58in order to create power from steam in a better way.
0:08:58 > 0:09:03This drive to make the engine more efficient obsessed Watt.
0:09:03 > 0:09:08Finally, in 1765, he had a simple but brilliant idea.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14Now, this is an extract from a letter he wrote
0:09:14 > 0:09:17describing his eureka moment.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20"I was thinking upon the engine at the time,
0:09:20 > 0:09:21"and had gone as far as the herd's house,
0:09:21 > 0:09:26"when the idea came into my mind that if a communication were made
0:09:26 > 0:09:28"between the cylinder and an exhausted vessel,
0:09:28 > 0:09:30"steam would rush into it,
0:09:30 > 0:09:34"and might be there condensed without cooling the cylinder."
0:09:34 > 0:09:35I like this bit.
0:09:35 > 0:09:37"I had not walked further than the golf course
0:09:37 > 0:09:40"when the whole thing was arranged in my mind."
0:09:40 > 0:09:42It was as easy as that.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50With the idea burning brightly in his mind,
0:09:50 > 0:09:54Watt went off and had this made.
0:09:54 > 0:09:59It's a separate condenser, and this is actually the first, the original.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02Now, this allowed Watt to build steam engines
0:10:02 > 0:10:04that were more powerful, more efficient,
0:10:04 > 0:10:07more portable than anything that had been seen before.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12Watt's separate condenser worked on the same principles
0:10:12 > 0:10:14as Newcomen's engine, but it removed the need
0:10:14 > 0:10:17to repeatedly heat and cool the same cylinder,
0:10:17 > 0:10:20which saved a lot of energy.
0:10:20 > 0:10:22It was so efficient and so popular
0:10:22 > 0:10:25that it made James Watt a very rich man
0:10:25 > 0:10:27and revolutionised industry.
0:10:36 > 0:10:41The building of the first proper steam engine by Thomas Newcomen
0:10:41 > 0:10:43utterly transformed the mining industry.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46And when James Watt improved on his design,
0:10:46 > 0:10:49suddenly steam engines were everywhere.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51Cassie Newland has been to Lancashire
0:10:51 > 0:10:55to see how the steam engine transformed an entire way of life.
0:10:57 > 0:10:59Newcomen's engine used so much coal,
0:10:59 > 0:11:02it was only really cost-effective at a coal mine.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05But once Watt started improving his engine,
0:11:05 > 0:11:07making it much more efficient
0:11:07 > 0:11:09and increasing the type of work it could do,
0:11:09 > 0:11:11it was poised to radicalise industry.
0:11:14 > 0:11:18Now, for the first time, we could use it to power other machines.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23This is Queen Street Mill in Burnley.
0:11:23 > 0:11:25It's home to over 300 power looms,
0:11:25 > 0:11:28and it's one of the first factories in the world.
0:11:28 > 0:11:30MACHINES CLATTER
0:11:32 > 0:11:36They may seem noisy and antiquated, but in the 19th century,
0:11:36 > 0:11:39these machines powered a revolution in Lancashire,
0:11:39 > 0:11:41transforming it into one of the greatest industrial centres
0:11:41 > 0:11:44on the planet.
0:11:44 > 0:11:48Until the late 18th century, weaving was a cottage industry.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52Men, women and children all working from home or in small groups,
0:11:52 > 0:11:55using hand-powered equipment.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58'All that changed with the advent of powered machinery.
0:11:58 > 0:12:02'Huge numbers of machines could be tethered to the same engine.'
0:12:02 > 0:12:05Power had finally brought us industrialisation.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11People were no longer the providers of energy.
0:12:11 > 0:12:13Instead, they now operated the machines
0:12:13 > 0:12:15that could do it far more efficiently.
0:12:17 > 0:12:22'By 1860, Lancashire produced half the cotton in the world.'
0:12:22 > 0:12:25But the steam engine did more than just boost profits
0:12:25 > 0:12:27and increase production.
0:12:27 > 0:12:31For the first time, it took work outside of the family home.
0:12:31 > 0:12:33It effectively invented the job.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37So what are conditions like for the hand loom weavers
0:12:37 > 0:12:38arriving in these factories?
0:12:38 > 0:12:40Women and children who'd worked together before,
0:12:40 > 0:12:44but as family units, in the factory,
0:12:44 > 0:12:46become just parts of a labour force.
0:12:46 > 0:12:48Also there's a much greater division of labour,
0:12:48 > 0:12:53so the whole of the work process becomes routinised.
0:12:53 > 0:12:57On the wider scale, steam must have brought more benefits.
0:12:57 > 0:13:01All the products that are pouring out of these factories are cheaper,
0:13:01 > 0:13:03and working people can afford to buy them.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06And of course, all the time, their pay does go up,
0:13:06 > 0:13:08and there's regular work as well,
0:13:08 > 0:13:11and people are able to buy all kinds of new products.
0:13:11 > 0:13:16The wider impact of steam power is that it powers a factory system
0:13:16 > 0:13:19that is delivering cheaper products
0:13:19 > 0:13:21that can be sold all around the world.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24By 1870, Britain's the richest, most powerful country
0:13:24 > 0:13:26the world has ever known.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28The workshop of the world.
0:13:29 > 0:13:35Britain's worldwide success was thanks to its heroes of invention.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39For all the early hardships, steam still leaves us a lasting legacy.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42From the genius of Watt's steam condenser,
0:13:42 > 0:13:45we get engines which not only drive an industrial revolution,
0:13:45 > 0:13:47but a social revolution too.
0:13:56 > 0:14:00In the 18th century, Thomas Newcomen and James Watt
0:14:00 > 0:14:02discovered how to harness the power of steam
0:14:02 > 0:14:04and use it to drive machinery.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06The steam engine powered the Industrial Revolution
0:14:06 > 0:14:11and made Britain a world leader, but it had its limits.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14If power was to become more accessible to everyone,
0:14:14 > 0:14:18then someone had to find a way of transforming mechanical energy
0:14:18 > 0:14:22into a form of energy that was frankly more useful.
0:14:22 > 0:14:27To do that required a particularly impressive genius,
0:14:27 > 0:14:28as Mark has been finding out.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34Newcomen and Watt were both engineers.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38They achieved incredible things because they understood machinery -
0:14:38 > 0:14:42how to make large pieces of metal move and create work.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45Our next inventor couldn't be more different.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47His speciality was pure science,
0:14:47 > 0:14:50and he was about to uncover the mysteries of a universal force
0:14:50 > 0:14:53that would radicalise our relationship with power.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58I'm at the Royal Institution in London,
0:14:58 > 0:15:01and this is its most celebrated member, Michael Faraday.
0:15:02 > 0:15:08In the 1820s, he carried out a series of revolutionary experiments here.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12It was around this time that he started experimenting in the area
0:15:12 > 0:15:15that would define his career - electricity.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20But just as Watt had been inspired by Newcomen's groundbreaking work,
0:15:20 > 0:15:24Faraday's incredible discoveries could never have happened
0:15:24 > 0:15:25without the work of others.
0:15:26 > 0:15:28This is the world's first battery,
0:15:28 > 0:15:33and it was invented by Alessandro Luigi Volta in 1800.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37This is a model of the original battery,
0:15:37 > 0:15:42and it consists of discs of copper and zinc, alternately spaced,
0:15:42 > 0:15:46separated by paper which has been dipped in acid.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50And we've assembled some of these alternate plates here.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52If I put this top plate on, of zinc,
0:15:52 > 0:15:54it should produce an electric current
0:15:54 > 0:15:57because of the reaction between the metals and the acid,
0:15:57 > 0:16:00and that, we've wired up to this little electric hamster,
0:16:00 > 0:16:01and that hamster should go.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03If all goes to plan.
0:16:03 > 0:16:04HE CHUCKLES
0:16:04 > 0:16:05It stuttered along.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08And that was the problem with these early batteries -
0:16:08 > 0:16:11the power only lasted for as long as the reaction was sustained.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16Across Europe, scientists were experimenting with Volta's battery,
0:16:16 > 0:16:19and in 1821,
0:16:19 > 0:16:24Hans Christian Oersted uncovered some very unusual behaviour.
0:16:24 > 0:16:25While preparing for a lecture,
0:16:25 > 0:16:29Oersted noticed that when he connected a copper wire to a battery
0:16:29 > 0:16:33and held it near a compass, the needle moves.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35That may not seem much now,
0:16:35 > 0:16:37but that's the beginning of electromagnetism,
0:16:37 > 0:16:40the first demonstration that electricity and magnetism
0:16:40 > 0:16:41can create motion.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46Faraday used these two critical discoveries
0:16:46 > 0:16:49to tap into the universe's very own power system.
0:16:51 > 0:16:53Here in his workshop at the Royal Institution,
0:16:53 > 0:16:57Faraday showed that electricity, magnetism and motion
0:16:57 > 0:16:59are all firmly linked.
0:16:59 > 0:17:03Just a year after Oersted's discovery, Faraday designed this.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07There's wire that goes into a pool of mercury
0:17:07 > 0:17:09to which a magnet is attached.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12And when you pass a current through that wire, watch what happens.
0:17:12 > 0:17:14HE CHUCKLES
0:17:14 > 0:17:18Believe it or not, this is the world's first electric motor.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23Ten years passed, and with proof that magnetism and electricity
0:17:23 > 0:17:28could drive motion, Faraday made an incredible intellectual leap.
0:17:29 > 0:17:34If electricity and magnetism can create motion, Faraday thought,
0:17:34 > 0:17:36could the reverse be true?
0:17:36 > 0:17:39Could motion and magnetism create electricity?
0:17:41 > 0:17:45Well, he answered that emphatically with this rudimentary device.
0:17:45 > 0:17:47This pole in the middle is a magnet.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51And there's a tube here, which he's wrapped round with copper wire
0:17:51 > 0:17:54and covered it with cloth, and attached two small lights.
0:17:54 > 0:17:58Now, watch what happens when I move the coil through the magnetic field.
0:17:58 > 0:17:59HE CHUCKLES
0:17:59 > 0:18:02I know it looks ridiculous, but what's happening is quite amazing -
0:18:02 > 0:18:03the light is lighting up.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06And that means that electricity is being generated in the coil
0:18:06 > 0:18:09by just moving through the magnetic field.
0:18:09 > 0:18:15What Faraday had created here is the world's first electricity generator.
0:18:15 > 0:18:17Where work was once created by physical force
0:18:17 > 0:18:22of cylinders, gears and pistons, now all we had to do was move a magnet.
0:18:22 > 0:18:26And from that process, out flowed the incredible force of electricity.
0:18:28 > 0:18:32And while we owe a huge debt to Faraday and his eureka moment,
0:18:32 > 0:18:34spare a thought for Volta and Oersted,
0:18:34 > 0:18:35without whose building blocks
0:18:35 > 0:18:38we might be living in a very different world now.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41They did for Faraday what Thomas Newcomen did for James Watt -
0:18:41 > 0:18:46provided the foundation for some truly genius inventions.
0:18:58 > 0:19:00In the early 19th century,
0:19:00 > 0:19:03the pioneering work of the scientist Michael Faraday
0:19:03 > 0:19:05unleashed the power of electricity,
0:19:05 > 0:19:09and led to the invention of the world's first generator.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12But how did we get from Michael Faraday's table-top experiments
0:19:12 > 0:19:14to the giant power stations
0:19:14 > 0:19:18and the nationwide electrical distribution systems
0:19:18 > 0:19:19that we have today?
0:19:21 > 0:19:26The ability to put energy in and get work out had transformed industry.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29We could have power whenever we wanted it.
0:19:29 > 0:19:31As long as the engine came with it.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36But Faraday's experiments eventually made it possible
0:19:36 > 0:19:39to separate the power from the engine.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41Electricity can travel hundreds of miles
0:19:41 > 0:19:43from where it is first generated.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46Power can be released at the flick of a switch,
0:19:46 > 0:19:51and using it in huge quantities has become part of our daily lives.
0:19:51 > 0:19:55But wind back the clock 130 years to, say, the 1880s,
0:19:55 > 0:19:58and it is a very different world.
0:19:58 > 0:20:03There are no slick electronic gadgets or big screens.
0:20:03 > 0:20:08So what on earth did the Victorians need electricity for?
0:20:09 > 0:20:12It all started in the rather unlikely surroundings
0:20:12 > 0:20:14of the Savoy Theatre.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17'Going to the theatre in the 19th century
0:20:17 > 0:20:19'was not a particularly enjoyable experience.'
0:20:19 > 0:20:23Because the whole thing was lit by gas lamps, it was hot,
0:20:23 > 0:20:26it was stuffy, and it was incredibly smelly.
0:20:26 > 0:20:32On October 10th, 1881, the audience came to see a new production
0:20:32 > 0:20:35of Gilbert and Sullivan's opera, Patience.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39It was a groundbreaking evening in more ways than one.
0:20:39 > 0:20:40Lights on.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44As the actors strode out onto the stage that evening,
0:20:44 > 0:20:48they were lit for the first time ever by electric power.
0:20:48 > 0:20:49The Savoy Theatre in London
0:20:49 > 0:20:52became the first public building in the world
0:20:52 > 0:20:56to fully exploit the wonders of electricity.
0:20:57 > 0:21:02The lightbulb was invented by Joseph Swan and Thomas Edison.
0:21:02 > 0:21:03This basic human need for light
0:21:03 > 0:21:08created the world's first electricity-hungry product.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10Edison was a better businessman than Swan,
0:21:10 > 0:21:13and he realised there was serious money to be made,
0:21:13 > 0:21:16not just from producing lightbulbs,
0:21:16 > 0:21:20but also selling the electricity needed to power the lightbulbs.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23Now, the Savoy Theatre had its own generators,
0:21:23 > 0:21:27but this was hardly a practical solution for most people.
0:21:28 > 0:21:29Edison's brilliant idea
0:21:29 > 0:21:32was to remove the need for a personal generator,
0:21:32 > 0:21:35and centralise the source of power.
0:21:35 > 0:21:38He proclaimed, "We will make electricity so cheap
0:21:38 > 0:21:41"that only the rich will burn candles."
0:21:41 > 0:21:43In 1882, Holborn Viaduct in London
0:21:43 > 0:21:47became the site of the world's first public power station.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52The Holborn Viaduct is currently having something of a makeover,
0:21:52 > 0:21:56but back in 1881, when they were putting in the power station,
0:21:56 > 0:21:58you would barely have noticed.
0:21:58 > 0:22:00They didn't have to dig up the roads -
0:22:00 > 0:22:04they just slung some cables along at rooftop height.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07And the generating plant itself -
0:22:07 > 0:22:12well, that was assembled in the basement of Edison's London office.
0:22:12 > 0:22:17Edison's power station owed a huge debt to both Watt and Faraday.
0:22:17 > 0:22:23A 125 horsepower steam engine drove a 27-tonne generator called Jumbo.
0:22:23 > 0:22:29Finally, the workout had been separated from the imaging in.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32Domestic demand for power could now take off.
0:22:32 > 0:22:37It was a modest beginning, and there were serious problems ahead.
0:22:37 > 0:22:41But the days of flickering gaslight were clearly numbered,
0:22:41 > 0:22:45and a golden age of electricity had begun.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58After Michael Faraday discovered the power of electromagnetism
0:22:58 > 0:23:03and the lightbulb was invented, the age of electricity was born.
0:23:03 > 0:23:07As society began to understand electricity's potential,
0:23:07 > 0:23:08demand soared.
0:23:08 > 0:23:10They needed a lot more of it,
0:23:10 > 0:23:13but existing systems just weren't up to the job.
0:23:13 > 0:23:17It would take another genius to solve this particular problem,
0:23:17 > 0:23:19as Mark has been finding out.
0:23:23 > 0:23:27Faraday's electrical dynamo was a pioneering breakthrough,
0:23:27 > 0:23:29'but it was limited by the engines that powered it.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32'Early steam engines vibrated violently
0:23:32 > 0:23:35'and broke down on an almost daily basis.'
0:23:35 > 0:23:39It was clear that what was needed was a better, more reliable engine.
0:23:41 > 0:23:46In 1883, Charles Parsons was in charge of the electrical generators
0:23:46 > 0:23:48at Clarke, Chapman and Co.
0:23:48 > 0:23:50Like every generator in the world,
0:23:50 > 0:23:53they were powered by a reciprocating steam engine.
0:23:53 > 0:23:57Vertical motion converted into rotary motion.
0:23:57 > 0:24:01To Parsons, the inefficiencies of this two-step engine were obvious.
0:24:01 > 0:24:03He wanted a one-step version.
0:24:04 > 0:24:08Parsons knew it wouldn't be with a steam-driven piston engine.
0:24:08 > 0:24:10He needed a pure rotary motion,
0:24:10 > 0:24:12without the vibration that would damage and shake the windows
0:24:12 > 0:24:15of the building surrounding.
0:24:15 > 0:24:16He turned to the turbine.
0:24:17 > 0:24:22The essential theory of a turbine is thousands of years old.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26In a windmill, the energy of the wind works directly on the rotating parts
0:24:26 > 0:24:29to create useful mechanical work.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32Parsons' plan was to replace wind with high-pressure steam.
0:24:34 > 0:24:36He was going to blast steam at the turbine,
0:24:36 > 0:24:39causing it to rotate and spin an electrical dynamo.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42there was scope to produce a lot of power.
0:24:42 > 0:24:46Existing turbine designs were not powerful or fast enough
0:24:46 > 0:24:48to generate electricity.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51The obvious solution was to increase the amount of energy in,
0:24:51 > 0:24:55but the metals available couldn't withstand the increased force.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58So just adding more steam wasn't going to work.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02It took a genius of invention to think differently.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07This is Charles Parsons' original factory in Newcastle,
0:25:07 > 0:25:08now run by Siemens,
0:25:08 > 0:25:11'and they still make turbines here.'
0:25:13 > 0:25:15So, Geoff, what did Parsons do?
0:25:15 > 0:25:17The energy that's available in steam
0:25:17 > 0:25:20is much higher than you have with windmill and air,
0:25:20 > 0:25:23so he had to somehow control the efficiency
0:25:23 > 0:25:26and control the stresses of the whole process.
0:25:26 > 0:25:30So what he did was, rather than just use a single set of blades,
0:25:30 > 0:25:33he decided if you had more than one wheel,
0:25:33 > 0:25:36you could share the energy out between the two,
0:25:36 > 0:25:38and the process would be more efficient
0:25:38 > 0:25:40without the danger of overloading.
0:25:40 > 0:25:42STEAM HISSES
0:25:42 > 0:25:43'But there was a problem.'
0:25:43 > 0:25:46Any additional blades don't spin.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49So what actually happened was,
0:25:49 > 0:25:52as we put the air onto the first blades, it certainly pushed those,
0:25:52 > 0:25:56but the air actually came out of the blades at the angle of the blade,
0:25:56 > 0:25:59edge-on to the second wheel.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02So it wasn't able to push on the centre wheel as well.
0:26:02 > 0:26:03So he invented the stator.
0:26:03 > 0:26:07Parsons realised that you had to put something between the two wheels,
0:26:07 > 0:26:10to make the air direction change, so it approaches the second wheel...
0:26:10 > 0:26:12Deflected back in the air.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15..at the same angle as it approached the first.
0:26:15 > 0:26:16Yeah, let's see if it works.
0:26:16 > 0:26:18STEAM HISSES
0:26:19 > 0:26:21So now we've got the second wheel
0:26:21 > 0:26:23working just as well as the first wheel,
0:26:23 > 0:26:26cos what you've done is, you've created a turbine now,
0:26:26 > 0:26:30not a windmill, and it's extracting the energy.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33The simple idea of compounding rows of blades,
0:26:33 > 0:26:36each row designed to work with ever decreasing pressures,
0:26:36 > 0:26:40meant Parsons' turbine was able to extract far more energy
0:26:40 > 0:26:41from the same volume of steam.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46But when it comes to generating electricity,
0:26:46 > 0:26:49if you want to make more, you have to go faster.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52And Parsons' next problem was speed.
0:26:55 > 0:26:57If we look at the blades on a real turbine,
0:26:57 > 0:27:00we're going to see it's very similar to our model,
0:27:00 > 0:27:01but the blades are now curved.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04And the gap between the blades where the steam passes
0:27:04 > 0:27:05is getting narrower.
0:27:05 > 0:27:09So to go through a narrow gap, the steam has to go at a higher speed.
0:27:09 > 0:27:11- I've brought one of these along. - All right, OK.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14If I blow it with an open mouth... Yes...
0:27:14 > 0:27:15I can get it to go round a little bit,
0:27:15 > 0:27:18but if I just narrow my mouth, same lung capacity...
0:27:18 > 0:27:20HE BLOWS
0:27:20 > 0:27:22So, yeah, it goes round much faster.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25- So that's the same that's happening in the turbine blades.- Exactly.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27As the gap narrows, the speed of the steam goes faster.
0:27:27 > 0:27:28That's exactly right.
0:27:28 > 0:27:32'Nearly 130 years later, we're still making turbines
0:27:32 > 0:27:34'using exactly the same principles.'
0:27:35 > 0:27:40Before Parsons, power stations were operating under 500 revs per minute.
0:27:40 > 0:27:45His turbo generator could rotate at 4,800 revs per minute.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49Finally, we could produce far more electricity.
0:27:52 > 0:27:54He'd cracked it.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57In 1884, just a year after he'd started working on the problem,
0:27:57 > 0:27:59Parsons patented the compound turbine.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02And the first one was installed just up the road from here,
0:28:02 > 0:28:05lighting the streets and homes of Newcastle.
0:28:06 > 0:28:08He'd succeeded in creating a small and efficient,
0:28:08 > 0:28:11powerful rotary motion for the electrical dynamo,
0:28:11 > 0:28:14and it's that turbine design that's still in use today
0:28:14 > 0:28:16in power stations across the globe.
0:28:17 > 0:28:21Thomas Newcomen built the first practical steam engine,
0:28:21 > 0:28:23and James Watt improved it.
0:28:23 > 0:28:27Michael Faraday unleashed the secrets of electricity,
0:28:27 > 0:28:30and Charles Parsons showed how you can make huge amounts of it.
0:28:30 > 0:28:32In just 300 years,
0:28:32 > 0:28:37we've gone from six horsepower to six million horsepower.
0:28:37 > 0:28:39All thanks to British invention.
0:28:42 > 0:28:46Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd