0:00:04 > 0:00:07Imagine some alien civilisation observing Earth
0:00:07 > 0:00:10for the last 100,000 years.
0:00:10 > 0:00:12The emergence of artificial light
0:00:12 > 0:00:16would be the single most dramatic change in our planet's appearance.
0:00:20 > 0:00:24But who are the people that took us out of the dark
0:00:24 > 0:00:25and into the light?
0:00:26 > 0:00:28OK, there we have a spout!
0:00:29 > 0:00:33An 18th-century skipper discovers a source of light in a whale.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37- They put a kid inside the whale's head?- Right.
0:00:39 > 0:00:44There's a social do-gooder who illuminates the plight of the poor.
0:00:44 > 0:00:46He actually set fire to the tenements
0:00:46 > 0:00:48he was trying to photograph.
0:00:48 > 0:00:53And a French sci-fi fan playing with gases hits the jackpot.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56He decides to pass a current of electricity through them.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58ELECTRICTY CRACKLES
0:00:59 > 0:01:03These are classic examples of the kind of people
0:01:03 > 0:01:05who actually made the modern world -
0:01:05 > 0:01:07people you've probably never heard of.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14These are hobbyists, garage inventors, obsessive tinkerers...
0:01:16 > 0:01:18..ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24The thing I love about these pioneers of light
0:01:24 > 0:01:27is that they didn't just make our world a brighter place,
0:01:27 > 0:01:32but they also set in motion an amazing chain reaction of ideas.
0:01:34 > 0:01:39Creating innovations that go on to affect every aspect of our lives...
0:01:39 > 0:01:40CAR HORNS TOOT
0:01:40 > 0:01:43..from manufacturing and architecture...
0:01:46 > 0:01:48..to homewares and entertainment.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54I want to show how these seemingly unconnected worlds are linked
0:01:54 > 0:01:57by the unsung heroes of light.
0:02:03 > 0:02:08All my career I've been fascinated by ideas and innovation,
0:02:08 > 0:02:10from writing books about the great British innovators
0:02:10 > 0:02:13of the Enlightenment or the Industrial Revolution
0:02:13 > 0:02:17to my work with Silicon Valley start-ups, and what I've learned
0:02:17 > 0:02:20about innovation is that the experiences of the past
0:02:20 > 0:02:23are still the best road map for our future,
0:02:23 > 0:02:28and that's why I want to tell you the story of How We Got To Now.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48My exploration into the chance encounters
0:02:48 > 0:02:50and unexpected discoveries
0:02:50 > 0:02:54that would bring light to the world begins...
0:02:54 > 0:02:56in the bath.
0:03:01 > 0:03:05We live in such a bright and artificially lit world,
0:03:05 > 0:03:09for many of us, there's a desire to return
0:03:09 > 0:03:11back to a low-light environment.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14And that's why when we want to relax,
0:03:14 > 0:03:18we surround ourselves now with an ancient technology,
0:03:18 > 0:03:20the humble candle.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26Candles provide the simplest form of artificial light
0:03:26 > 0:03:29and we've been making them for thousands of years.
0:03:29 > 0:03:31Despite their ancient origins,
0:03:31 > 0:03:36today they lie at the heart of a multi-billion-dollar industry.
0:03:36 > 0:03:38But that wasn't always the case.
0:03:40 > 0:03:45Today's sweet-smelling aromatherapy candles are symbols of luxury,
0:03:45 > 0:03:47but just a few centuries ago,
0:03:47 > 0:03:50candles would have had the opposite effect.
0:03:50 > 0:03:54Ordinary people made their own candles in an arduous process
0:03:54 > 0:03:57that involved rendering rancid animal fat,
0:03:57 > 0:04:01and when they finally lit them up indoors, they filled the rooms
0:04:01 > 0:04:03with smoke and noxious fumes.
0:04:05 > 0:04:07But all this was going to change.
0:04:07 > 0:04:11To create a light that was both clean and bright
0:04:11 > 0:04:15would take a chance encounter in the most unlikely of places.
0:04:21 > 0:04:25Back in 1659, here on the island of Nantucket,
0:04:25 > 0:04:27off the coast of Massachusetts,
0:04:27 > 0:04:31a group of English settlers set up a small farming community.
0:04:31 > 0:04:35But it was out at sea they would make their name
0:04:35 > 0:04:36in the story of light.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39- Morning.- Good morning, how are you?
0:04:39 > 0:04:42- Very good.- Welcome aboard. - Thank you very much.
0:04:42 > 0:04:48The farmers would soon discover a new source of artificial light.
0:04:48 > 0:04:52It may sound completely bonkers, but it lay within the body of a whale.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57What's the likelihood that we're going to see something?
0:04:57 > 0:04:59You never know, it's a big ocean out there and, er,
0:04:59 > 0:05:03depending on how well, you know, it's always good to have a lot of eyes
0:05:03 > 0:05:06concentrating on the horizon, looking for spouts.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10Whales were very common in this area, coming here
0:05:10 > 0:05:13to feed in the nutrient-rich waters.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15Today they're a much rarer sight,
0:05:15 > 0:05:18so whale watchers are a superstitious bunch.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23There's a ritual here that the whale spotters like to use
0:05:23 > 0:05:25to encourage the whale to come out.
0:05:25 > 0:05:30They throw a blue M&M into the sea
0:05:30 > 0:05:34to elicit the appearance of the mighty beast.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37So I'm going to do this, this is actually a historic tradition.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40I believe there is a scene in Moby Dick where they do this.
0:05:40 > 0:05:41All right, here we go.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47All right. Show yourselves!
0:06:00 > 0:06:02OK, there, we have a spout.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05Yeah, I see it! Look at that, there it is.
0:06:05 > 0:06:06Big puffy plume
0:06:06 > 0:06:08off the surface of the water.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10- I see the spout again. - Yeah, very good.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13- Now you got the hang of it. - I could have been a whaler!
0:06:14 > 0:06:16They have massive lungs.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19- Yeah, look at that. - Vapour erupts from their lungs.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27Can you tell what kind of whale it is?
0:06:27 > 0:06:30- Yeah, in this case we can tell it's a humpback whale.- Really?
0:06:30 > 0:06:33This individual is more than likely feeding.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36Here it is diving. Watch the tail flukes go up,
0:06:36 > 0:06:38- and down underwater. - That is spectacular.
0:06:43 > 0:06:47Before long, the settlers start hunting whales like this humpback,
0:06:47 > 0:06:51creating one of America's first global industries.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54The prize was the whale's blubber,
0:06:54 > 0:06:57which could be used in everything from soap and cosmetics
0:06:57 > 0:06:59to lubricants and medicines.
0:07:03 > 0:07:07But it took a crazy encounter by a legendary Nantucketer
0:07:07 > 0:07:10to bring a brand-new type of light to the world.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15On one fateful day in 1712,
0:07:15 > 0:07:22the story goes that a powerful nor'easter blew a Captain Hussey
0:07:22 > 0:07:26well out into the deep waters of the Atlantic, out in this direction,
0:07:26 > 0:07:29where he encountered a species of whale
0:07:29 > 0:07:35that had never been seen before, a giant leviathan of the deep -
0:07:35 > 0:07:36the sperm whale.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42Sperm whales are the largest of the toothed whales,
0:07:42 > 0:07:44growing to over 20 metres long.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48They can be fierce and dangerous animals.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53So what makes a sperm whale different
0:07:53 > 0:07:56from other species of whales?
0:07:56 > 0:07:58Well, first, they have teeth,
0:07:58 > 0:08:01so they're off shore, they're diving deep
0:08:01 > 0:08:05and they're huge animals, so to use those teeth,
0:08:05 > 0:08:09they're using them on very large animals like giant squid.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12Legend has it that Hussey would soon discover
0:08:12 > 0:08:17these whales contained a unique type of oil, not found in other species.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20And it was this oil that would go on to play a key role
0:08:20 > 0:08:22in the story of light.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26But first, he had to risk life and limb to catch one.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31When a whale was spotted, they would lower the whale boats,
0:08:31 > 0:08:34they would get in and they would start rowing, six men in this boat.
0:08:34 > 0:08:36When they get very close to the whale,
0:08:36 > 0:08:38then the harpooner takes up his harpoon, which looks like this.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41You want to get very close to the whale, you can't throw it too far.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44OK, so you're just, like, ten feet from this giant beast?
0:08:44 > 0:08:46- Or maybe even closer.- Wow.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49And then you just take up that harpoon and you try to...
0:08:49 > 0:08:52- spear it.- So you're kind of hooking it?- Yes.- Right, right.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54So, now the whale takes off swimming,
0:08:54 > 0:08:56because he's been struck by this harpoon, and the line,
0:08:56 > 0:08:59which is in this tub, is now paying out very fast
0:08:59 > 0:09:03and you are racing across the ocean on the Nantucket sleigh ride.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05And then eventually the whale gets tired,
0:09:05 > 0:09:08cos he's pulling this heavy boat with six men in it behind him,
0:09:08 > 0:09:09and when he starts to tire,
0:09:09 > 0:09:13they'll pull in on the line again, get close to the whale again,
0:09:13 > 0:09:17and now the officer might be in the bow, and he has a lance.
0:09:17 > 0:09:18And you're just stabbing?
0:09:18 > 0:09:21You're stabbing, so you stab probably several times
0:09:21 > 0:09:25and turn it around, do as much damage as you can.
0:09:25 > 0:09:27That would've been some ride.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31At the peak of the whaling industry,
0:09:31 > 0:09:35over 5,000 sperm whales were slaughtered each year.
0:09:35 > 0:09:37Once they'd caught and killed one,
0:09:37 > 0:09:40the carcass was processed out at sea.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44It was here the whalers uncovered something truly bizarre
0:09:44 > 0:09:46that changed the course of history.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52When they hacked their way into this creature's massive head,
0:09:52 > 0:09:55they found something they had never seen before -
0:09:55 > 0:09:59a vast reservoir of an oily substance,
0:09:59 > 0:10:01over hundreds of gallons of it.
0:10:02 > 0:10:06They called it spermaceti because of its resemblance to seminal fluid.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09Before long, spermaceti oil
0:10:09 > 0:10:13would become one of the most valuable substances on the planet.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21Extracting the spermaceti oil is a revolting and laborious business.
0:10:23 > 0:10:25They made a hole in the top of the head
0:10:25 > 0:10:28and then they lower the youngest, smallest person on board,
0:10:28 > 0:10:31who's probably a 14-year-old cabin boy, into the head of the whale.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34They put a kid inside the whale's head.
0:10:34 > 0:10:36Right. He comes out with a bucket more of oil.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39- This whale's been dead for days, probably, right?- Probably, yeah.
0:10:39 > 0:10:41It must have smelled appalling.
0:10:41 > 0:10:42It did.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49It didn't take long for some bright spark to see
0:10:49 > 0:10:51if the spermaceti oil would burn.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55And this triggers a revolution in artificial light.
0:10:57 > 0:11:02Spermaceti oil burns with an unusually white bright light
0:11:02 > 0:11:05without odour or smoke.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08It's actually twice as bright as a traditional candle.
0:11:08 > 0:11:09It's a simple design, really.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12Just a wick suspended in a reservoir of oil.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15But spermaceti lamps and candles
0:11:15 > 0:11:18quickly became the most prized form of artificial light
0:11:18 > 0:11:20in Europe and in America.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27The demand for spermaceti oil goes through the roof,
0:11:27 > 0:11:30pouring millions of dollars into the American economy.
0:11:31 > 0:11:33Eager to protect their profits,
0:11:33 > 0:11:37the Nantucket tradesmen come up with a brand-new business idea
0:11:37 > 0:11:41and it's a practice still used throughout the world today.
0:11:43 > 0:11:48By the late 1700s, spermaceti processing factories
0:11:48 > 0:11:52have sprouted up all over Nantucket and even into the mainland.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55And the owners get together
0:11:55 > 0:11:59and form the United Company Of Spermaceti Chandlers.
0:11:59 > 0:12:01And the organisation gives them the power
0:12:01 > 0:12:04to keep newcomers from entering the market
0:12:04 > 0:12:07and it also enables them to keep Nantucket whalers
0:12:07 > 0:12:10from artificially raising the price of oil.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13It's one of the first examples of monopolies
0:12:13 > 0:12:15and price-fixing on record.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22Spermaceti oil not only transforms the way we light our world,
0:12:22 > 0:12:26it helps create innovations in the most surprising of places.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33It's by the light of spermaceti lamps
0:12:33 > 0:12:37that great authors like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson
0:12:37 > 0:12:39and Jane Austen write their greatest works.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46During the 1800s, it's spermaceti oil
0:12:46 > 0:12:48that lubes the steam engines and locomotives
0:12:48 > 0:12:51of the Industrial Revolution.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55And it was still used in the gear boxes
0:12:55 > 0:12:59of American automatic cars up until 1972.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05And because it stays liquid even at sub-zero temperatures,
0:13:05 > 0:13:10an urban myth took root that it was used in the Apollo 11 mission
0:13:10 > 0:13:11to land on the moon.
0:13:22 > 0:13:26Once we had bright lights, like spermaceti lamps,
0:13:26 > 0:13:28there's an immediate impact on our lives.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32It meant we didn't go to bed at sundown.
0:13:32 > 0:13:36We could stay up longer, do our chores later into the evening
0:13:36 > 0:13:38and even read a book at bedtime.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42But, it's not all good news.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46All this extra light messes with our sleep.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57- Having trouble sleeping, Steven? - You know, it's funny, I am.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00It's weird. Can you explain why this is?
0:14:00 > 0:14:02- It's actually quite natural.- Really?
0:14:02 > 0:14:05Yeah. Until the advent of artificial lighting,
0:14:05 > 0:14:08people all over the world, rich and poor, north and south,
0:14:08 > 0:14:11they tended to sleep in two phases each night.
0:14:11 > 0:14:13They referred to their first sleep and their second sleep.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15And so they'd sleep for how long?
0:14:15 > 0:14:18People would sleep for a number of hours
0:14:18 > 0:14:20and then wake up some time around midnight,
0:14:20 > 0:14:22usually for an hour or two.
0:14:22 > 0:14:23And what would they do during that time?
0:14:23 > 0:14:26Well, according to records, some people broke the law.
0:14:26 > 0:14:28It was an opportunity to get up and pilfer from the neighbours.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31I like a good pilfering in the middle of the night.
0:14:31 > 0:14:32Yeah. People relieved themselves.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35They looked after children or livestock.
0:14:35 > 0:14:37Without being too explicit about this,
0:14:37 > 0:14:40the advice was, do not conceive a child before your first sleep,
0:14:40 > 0:14:42when you're both exhausted from the day's labour.
0:14:42 > 0:14:44Wait until between the first and second sleep,
0:14:44 > 0:14:46when you're already rested.
0:14:46 > 0:14:48That's the ideal time to conceive a healthy child.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51With artificial lighting, the fact we could stay up later
0:14:51 > 0:14:56meant our natural two-sleep pattern was squeezed into one single sleep.
0:14:58 > 0:14:59TOILET FLUSHES
0:15:01 > 0:15:05But now, many of us suffer from insomnia.
0:15:05 > 0:15:07It's not unnatural to wake up in the middle of the night.
0:15:07 > 0:15:09So the insomnia, in a way,
0:15:09 > 0:15:13is our body kind of reverting back to that older rhythm?
0:15:13 > 0:15:17Yeah. The exposure to artificial light has physiological effects.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20We are going to fall back and wake up every now and then in the middle of the night
0:15:20 > 0:15:22and there's just nothing wrong with it.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25One of the things that concerns me, as an historian of sleep,
0:15:25 > 0:15:28is the attempt by pharmaceutical companies to convince people that,
0:15:28 > 0:15:31any time you're awake in the middle of the night,
0:15:31 > 0:15:32there's something wrong with you
0:15:32 > 0:15:34and you need a medication to deal with that.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38That is really a falsification of the human experience of sleep.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40All right, I feel a lot better about my insomnia.
0:15:40 > 0:15:42I'm going to try and get a little more shuteye.
0:15:42 > 0:15:44Perfectly natural.
0:15:44 > 0:15:46All right. Will you turn off the light?
0:15:50 > 0:15:54By the 1800s, our fascination with artificial light
0:15:54 > 0:15:58had created a melting pot of inventions and ideas.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01But before you shout out "light bulb",
0:16:01 > 0:16:03there's one other dazzling innovation
0:16:03 > 0:16:05I want to explore from this time period.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08And it would, once again, change the course of history.
0:16:10 > 0:16:14The very poor were increasingly living
0:16:14 > 0:16:17in the dark slums of America's growing cities.
0:16:17 > 0:16:23One man made it his mission to shine light on their wretched lives.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26It would take a flash of inspiration
0:16:26 > 0:16:29for the next step in the journey of light...
0:16:37 > 0:16:39That man is journalist Jacob Riis.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44In the late 1800s, here in New York City,
0:16:44 > 0:16:47Riis would write a new chapter in the story of light.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50He creates a source of light so bright,
0:16:50 > 0:16:53it allows him to capture an image and change people's minds.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00Riis is investigating a slum district
0:17:00 > 0:17:04called Five Points in Manhattan's Lower East Side.
0:17:04 > 0:17:08It's home to poor immigrants, who'd come chasing the American Dream.
0:17:11 > 0:17:16With half a million people living in just 15,000 tenement buildings,
0:17:16 > 0:17:18neighbourhoods like Five Points
0:17:18 > 0:17:21are among the most densely populated places on Earth.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25Riis is himself an immigrant
0:17:25 > 0:17:29and so the squalor he finds here appals him.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32He starts taking late-night walks
0:17:32 > 0:17:36through the back alleys and streets of Five Points,
0:17:36 > 0:17:38peering into the lives of the people there.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45These cramped, dark, unsanitary hovels
0:17:45 > 0:17:48are cesspits for disease and squalor,
0:17:48 > 0:17:52far removed from the day-to-day lives of most Americans.
0:17:54 > 0:17:56Here's Riis in his own words -
0:17:56 > 0:17:59"The sights I saw there gripped my heart
0:17:59 > 0:18:02"until I felt that I must tell of them,
0:18:02 > 0:18:06"or burst, or turn anarchist or something."
0:18:12 > 0:18:15Riis bangs out reports for newspapers and magazines,
0:18:15 > 0:18:19but his words fail to arouse public interest.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21He wants to share with Middle America
0:18:21 > 0:18:24the lives of real people from the slums.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26Maybe a photograph would help?
0:18:28 > 0:18:32Photography, at this point, is an experimental technology.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35Each photograph required a single plate
0:18:35 > 0:18:39and that could be expensive and they weren't very sensitive,
0:18:39 > 0:18:43so exposure times were extremely long, even in good light.
0:18:43 > 0:18:45So this is Riis's big problem.
0:18:46 > 0:18:50He wants to photograph inside the tenement apartments,
0:18:50 > 0:18:52but they're simply too dark.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59What he needs is a bright, portable light source.
0:19:04 > 0:19:06Throughout the 1800s,
0:19:06 > 0:19:09photographers try all sorts of ways to light their photos.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16A breakthrough comes with a metal called magnesium.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20All you really have to do is set it on fire.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22As you can see, it generates a bright light,
0:19:22 > 0:19:24but it's not very stable and the fumes are really unpleasant.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30But then, in 1887, two pyromaniacs from Germany
0:19:30 > 0:19:33grind up the magnesium and add it to gunpowder.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37This produces an explosive solution.
0:19:41 > 0:19:43They call it "blitzlichtpulver",
0:19:43 > 0:19:45literally, "flashlight powder".
0:19:47 > 0:19:51Riis notices a small four-line article in his morning paper
0:19:51 > 0:19:55all about this new flash photography phenomenon from Germany.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59News of blitzlicht has crossed the Atlantic.
0:20:00 > 0:20:02Could this be the innovation Riis has been waiting for?
0:20:08 > 0:20:12Riis heads back down into the dark tenement hovels,
0:20:12 > 0:20:16now armed with the blitzlicht flash powder.
0:20:16 > 0:20:19He wants to try to light up his night-time images.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23But it's a tricky and dangerous process.
0:20:26 > 0:20:28All right, so what do we need to do to light this thing up?
0:20:28 > 0:20:31- I'm kind of excited and terrified. - Well, we need a flashgun.
0:20:33 > 0:20:34So, this is a flashgun?
0:20:34 > 0:20:37- This is a flashgun right here. - It sounds dangerous already.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40It is dangerous, of course, in the wrong hands.
0:20:40 > 0:20:42We're going to put the cap inside.
0:20:42 > 0:20:43Don't push that button.
0:20:43 > 0:20:44OK.
0:20:44 > 0:20:45I won't, I promise!
0:20:45 > 0:20:47Now, this is black powder.
0:20:47 > 0:20:48Black powder is a form of gunpowder.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51My kids would love this. If this is what you needed to take photographs,
0:20:51 > 0:20:53they'd take photographs all day long.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55They just like blowing things up.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58In order to get more a white flash, we add magnesium.
0:20:59 > 0:21:03Keep feeling like this is about to blow up in my face.
0:21:03 > 0:21:05So, that's the magnesium.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07That's what's going to give the white light.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10The powder underneath really kind of propels it.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13Should get you some protective garment here.
0:21:13 > 0:21:15Not that it protects you all that much.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18- But at least it's one layer that will burn.- OK, yeah.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21Nothing can go wrong now I've got an apron on!
0:21:21 > 0:21:23I look like some kind of deranged butcher.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26And I'd like you to put this sleeve on.
0:21:26 > 0:21:27Again, one more layer.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30Right. Oh, yes! Nothing will get through this thin layer of cotton!
0:21:30 > 0:21:34- Oh, it's amazing. It will only burn the cotton and not you.- OK.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36- Hold it up above your head.- Right.
0:21:36 > 0:21:38If it's above your head and the wind is blowing that way,
0:21:38 > 0:21:41- you won't burn your hair. - Oh, I see. Right.
0:21:41 > 0:21:43- It's going to be up about like that. - Yeah.
0:21:43 > 0:21:44- Keep it level.- Right.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46So, that's it! So, now you're ready to fire.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53Riis wants to photograph the people in the tenements
0:21:53 > 0:21:55unposed and spontaneous,
0:21:55 > 0:21:59so he sets off unannounced into the slums after midnight.
0:21:59 > 0:22:03And you can imagine how surprising it must have been for these people
0:22:03 > 0:22:06when a stranger walks into their home and sets off a small explosion.
0:22:20 > 0:22:24Many of the occupants are left dazed and confused.
0:22:24 > 0:22:26One account recalls -
0:22:26 > 0:22:30"A blinding flash, the patter of retreating footsteps
0:22:30 > 0:22:33"and the mysterious visitors were gone."
0:22:38 > 0:22:40You can see how it was dangerous work.
0:22:40 > 0:22:45Riis actually nearly blinded himself once and, on several occasions,
0:22:45 > 0:22:47he actually set fire to the tenements
0:22:47 > 0:22:48he was trying to photograph.
0:22:52 > 0:22:56Riis said, "Our party carried terror wherever it went."
0:22:59 > 0:23:01But, at least, he gets his photographs.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08With a set of images lit by flash,
0:23:08 > 0:23:12Riis publishes his photos in a book called How The Other Half Lives.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15He then goes on a nationwide lecture trip,
0:23:15 > 0:23:17projecting his photographs to audiences
0:23:17 > 0:23:19using another light device,
0:23:19 > 0:23:22a newly-devised type of magic lantern.
0:23:24 > 0:23:26Jacob Riis would have loved this, right?
0:23:26 > 0:23:29Yeah, I mean, it's really special to be able to project his work
0:23:29 > 0:23:31this large, this bright,
0:23:31 > 0:23:33because, you know, he would use a magic lantern
0:23:33 > 0:23:35- which has a candle inside.- Right.
0:23:35 > 0:23:37A candle is essentially one lumen,
0:23:37 > 0:23:39so he would project his work with one lumen.
0:23:39 > 0:23:41Today, we have 12,000 lumens.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46It's so intense to be here,
0:23:46 > 0:23:47to see these images of this neighbourhood
0:23:47 > 0:23:49basically projected up on the screen.
0:23:49 > 0:23:50It's like we've created
0:23:50 > 0:23:53the world's most depressing PowerPoint presentation.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57- Yeah.- People are walking by and shocked at these images.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02But I love the idea of also public projection.
0:24:02 > 0:24:04You see a lot of surprised faces around here.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07Everybody is walking about, people are taking pictures.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09It's art like this, video art and photography,
0:24:09 > 0:24:11seldom seen on large scales like this.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17Thanks to the innovations of flash photography
0:24:17 > 0:24:19and the magic lantern,
0:24:19 > 0:24:23Riis takes this previously invisible group of people
0:24:23 > 0:24:25and makes them visible on a mass scale.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30It sets in motion a dramatic change in public opinion,
0:24:30 > 0:24:33triggering one of the great movements of social reform
0:24:33 > 0:24:34in American history.
0:24:41 > 0:24:42Thanks to Riis,
0:24:42 > 0:24:46many of the city's worst tenement buildings are torn down.
0:24:46 > 0:24:48A decade of improvements follows
0:24:48 > 0:24:51with sewers, garbage collection and indoor plumbing.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01Riis used his images to share his vision
0:25:01 > 0:25:03and change the way we see the world.
0:25:03 > 0:25:08One century comes up with a way to capture images in a dimly-lit room
0:25:08 > 0:25:10and, by the next century,
0:25:10 > 0:25:13it has transformed the lives of city dwellers everywhere.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21While the photographer's flash could light a room
0:25:21 > 0:25:23for a short, blinding moment,
0:25:23 > 0:25:26people at this time still relied on candles and lamps
0:25:26 > 0:25:28to light their way after dark.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34The buzz now was to create a continuous and bright light
0:25:34 > 0:25:36at the flick of a switch.
0:25:37 > 0:25:41It was time for the first ever light-bulb moment...
0:25:43 > 0:25:47So, how many people does it take to invent a light bulb?
0:25:47 > 0:25:48You know the answer. One, right?
0:25:48 > 0:25:51Thomas Alva Edison.
0:25:51 > 0:25:53Well, that's not exactly true.
0:25:58 > 0:26:00Decades before Edison took an interest,
0:26:00 > 0:26:03inventors from across Europe and America
0:26:03 > 0:26:05had experimented with and patented
0:26:05 > 0:26:08a range of designs for electric light bulbs.
0:26:12 > 0:26:14But the problem with these early bulbs?
0:26:15 > 0:26:17They didn't last that long.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26It wasn't until 1878,
0:26:26 > 0:26:29almost 40 years after the first patented light bulb,
0:26:29 > 0:26:32that the stage is set for the grand entrance
0:26:32 > 0:26:34of Thomas Edison.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41Edison is already a media sensation.
0:26:42 > 0:26:43What do you think?
0:26:43 > 0:26:47I've got a little Edison impersonation business on the side.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49He was dubbed a wizard
0:26:49 > 0:26:54for being the first person to record a voice on a phonograph.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58Now, he sets his mind to the problem of electric light.
0:26:58 > 0:27:02And the first thing he does is buy up an existing Canadian patent.
0:27:02 > 0:27:04Here's Edison in his own words -
0:27:04 > 0:27:08"I am not impressed by the great names and reputations
0:27:08 > 0:27:12"of those who might be trying to beat me to an invention.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15"It's their ideas that appeal to me.
0:27:15 > 0:27:17"I am quite correctly described as
0:27:17 > 0:27:20"'more of a sponge than an inventor.'"
0:27:23 > 0:27:27This might not sound like the normal inventor mind-set.
0:27:27 > 0:27:29But, by buying up patents,
0:27:29 > 0:27:33Edison could build on other people's already existing designs.
0:27:37 > 0:27:39People think that, by filing a patent,
0:27:39 > 0:27:41they're going to be automatically rich,
0:27:41 > 0:27:42they're going to make a lot of money.
0:27:42 > 0:27:47But most patents end up being worth absolutely nothing.
0:27:47 > 0:27:49It's the idea behind it that's important.
0:27:49 > 0:27:51In the case of the light bulb,
0:27:51 > 0:27:53there are, you know, dozens of patents -
0:27:53 > 0:27:55people patenting parts of the invention,
0:27:55 > 0:27:57people patenting the whole thing.
0:27:57 > 0:27:59Many people have good ideas
0:27:59 > 0:28:03that can contribute to the development of a major idea.
0:28:03 > 0:28:06But they don't have all of the vision,
0:28:06 > 0:28:08all the skill set necessary to do that.
0:28:08 > 0:28:11So, a smart person with a bigger vision
0:28:11 > 0:28:14will come along and buy up that portfolio of patents
0:28:14 > 0:28:16and then use them to their advantage.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19That's not uncommon in today's technology world.
0:28:23 > 0:28:25With his newly-purchased patent,
0:28:25 > 0:28:28Edison reckons it will only take him a few weeks
0:28:28 > 0:28:30to create a long-lasting light bulb.
0:28:33 > 0:28:35But it's much harder than he thought.
0:28:35 > 0:28:37So, what does he do?
0:28:39 > 0:28:43Edison is a master of what we now call "vapourware",
0:28:43 > 0:28:48announcing a non-existent product in order to scare off competitors.
0:28:48 > 0:28:50Basically, he lies.
0:28:53 > 0:28:55Edison announces to the press
0:28:55 > 0:28:57that he's succeeded in inventing
0:28:57 > 0:29:00the first long-life electric light bulb
0:29:00 > 0:29:03and encourages journalists to come see it.
0:29:04 > 0:29:08Edison invites each reporter, one by one,
0:29:08 > 0:29:09into a booth,
0:29:09 > 0:29:14where he showcases his miraculous new invention
0:29:14 > 0:29:17and discusses the merits of his design.
0:29:17 > 0:29:19But only for a few minutes, max.
0:29:19 > 0:29:22Just long enough to ensure the bulb doesn't blow.
0:29:22 > 0:29:27And then he ushers the reporter out of the booth
0:29:27 > 0:29:30and then he goes in and screws in a new light bulb
0:29:30 > 0:29:32and brings the next guy in.
0:29:32 > 0:29:36When asked how long his light bulb will last,
0:29:36 > 0:29:38he answers confidently, "Forever!"
0:29:38 > 0:29:39LIGHT BULB SMASHES
0:29:39 > 0:29:41Almost!
0:29:45 > 0:29:49But now Edison has to make good on his blatant lie.
0:29:51 > 0:29:53Rather than work alone,
0:29:53 > 0:29:55Edison employs the brightest minds of the time.
0:29:57 > 0:29:59He calls them his "muckers"
0:29:59 > 0:30:02and sets up the world's first research and development lab.
0:30:07 > 0:30:10On top of that, he creates a new business model.
0:30:10 > 0:30:13To give his staff an extra incentive,
0:30:13 > 0:30:16he awards them with shares in the company.
0:30:16 > 0:30:19You want as many people, creative, motivated people
0:30:19 > 0:30:21on your team as possible.
0:30:21 > 0:30:27Because people often think it was Steve Jobs who created Apple,
0:30:27 > 0:30:30or it was Bill Gates who created Microsoft.
0:30:30 > 0:30:33It was a team of people contributing to that idea
0:30:33 > 0:30:36and you want those people to be motivated and have some ownership,
0:30:36 > 0:30:39because they'll then do their best work for you and for themselves.
0:30:39 > 0:30:42There's a sense of, if the company does well, everybody does well.
0:30:42 > 0:30:46Any good manager will tell you, the way you motivate people
0:30:46 > 0:30:47is to give them ownership.
0:30:47 > 0:30:49They may not come up with the idea or the answer
0:30:49 > 0:30:52that you thought they were going to come up with,
0:30:52 > 0:30:53but they may come up with a better one.
0:30:53 > 0:30:57And because they own it, they feel, "Oh, this is really exciting."
0:31:02 > 0:31:05The team try out over 6,000 different materials
0:31:05 > 0:31:07for the light-bulb filament.
0:31:07 > 0:31:11Edison is even inspired by his old fishing rod
0:31:11 > 0:31:14and gets his muckers to experiment with stuff like bamboo.
0:31:14 > 0:31:19Edison becomes convinced that bamboo is the answer,
0:31:19 > 0:31:22so he sends his men all around the world, one guy goes to Brazil,
0:31:22 > 0:31:25one guy goes to Cuba and dies of yellow fever,
0:31:25 > 0:31:28until, finally, one of his men in Japan
0:31:28 > 0:31:30finds the perfect bamboo for the job.
0:31:35 > 0:31:37It takes almost two years,
0:31:37 > 0:31:40but they finally manage to create a long-lasting light bulb
0:31:40 > 0:31:44which burns for an incredible 1,200 hours.
0:31:47 > 0:31:52The first public display of Edison's incandescent light
0:31:52 > 0:31:55happens on New Year's Eve, 1879.
0:31:56 > 0:31:57Edison said,
0:31:57 > 0:32:01"The electric light has caused me the greatest amount of study
0:32:01 > 0:32:04"and required the most elaborate experiments."
0:32:04 > 0:32:07Edison's light bulb is not so much a single invention
0:32:07 > 0:32:12as it is a collection of small, but ingenious improvements.
0:32:18 > 0:32:22By 1880, electric light bulbs go into mass production.
0:32:22 > 0:32:26Edison announces that lighting our homes now comes cheap.
0:32:28 > 0:32:31With spermaceti oil lamps, we got just seven hours of light
0:32:31 > 0:32:33for an average day's wage.
0:32:33 > 0:32:37But with electric bulbs, it was 1,200 hours for the same money.
0:32:44 > 0:32:47Edison created a new kind of workspace
0:32:47 > 0:32:51that would prove crucial to the next century's businesses,
0:32:51 > 0:32:55the modern corporate research and development lab.
0:32:55 > 0:32:58And on top of that, he inaugurated a tradition
0:32:58 > 0:33:01that would be widely adopted by the technology sector,
0:33:01 > 0:33:06paying their employees in shares and not just in cash.
0:33:07 > 0:33:12In a sense, Edison didn't just invent technology.
0:33:12 > 0:33:15He also invented a system of inventing
0:33:15 > 0:33:18that would drive 20th century innovation.
0:33:22 > 0:33:25It took a while for electric light bulbs to take off,
0:33:25 > 0:33:29because most homes didn't have a source of electricity.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32But as our cities slowly began to crackle with power,
0:33:32 > 0:33:35Edison's influence spreads far and wide.
0:33:41 > 0:33:45Edison's light bulbs radically change our work life,
0:33:45 > 0:33:49creating the first 24-hour factories and the innovation of shiftwork.
0:33:49 > 0:33:53This massively increases productivity right across the globe.
0:33:58 > 0:34:01Electric streetlights cause a drop in crime
0:34:01 > 0:34:04and open the night to the entertainment industry,
0:34:04 > 0:34:06from music halls to the movies.
0:34:09 > 0:34:12And with our homes now bathed in electric light,
0:34:12 > 0:34:15it opens the door to other electrical appliances.
0:34:15 > 0:34:18The washing machine, the vacuum cleaner, the food mixer
0:34:18 > 0:34:20transform the role of women,
0:34:20 > 0:34:23halving the hours a housewife spends on chores,
0:34:23 > 0:34:26allowing many to enter the national workforce.
0:34:32 > 0:34:35While Edison and his R&D team light our homes
0:34:35 > 0:34:38and bring the world into the age of electricity,
0:34:38 > 0:34:42there's one arena Edison actually failed to tackle in his lifetime.
0:34:44 > 0:34:45CHEERING
0:34:47 > 0:34:50And that was to bring light to sports.
0:34:51 > 0:34:56Until the 1930s, professional sporting events like baseball games
0:34:56 > 0:34:59were actually relatively small-scale affairs.
0:34:59 > 0:35:01The games had to be played during daylight hours,
0:35:01 > 0:35:03usually during the work week,
0:35:03 > 0:35:05which meant that a big professional baseball game
0:35:05 > 0:35:09might only attract an audience of a few thousand people.
0:35:10 > 0:35:14To increase numbers, games would have to be played after work.
0:35:14 > 0:35:16But that's when it got dark.
0:35:20 > 0:35:25In his old age, Edison dreamed of lighting up large spaces like this,
0:35:25 > 0:35:27but it's not a simple task.
0:35:27 > 0:35:32One of the biggest challenges is there are players all over the field,
0:35:32 > 0:35:34the game is very omnidirectional,
0:35:34 > 0:35:36you never know which way they're going to turn.
0:35:36 > 0:35:38I mean, what made it so difficult?
0:35:38 > 0:35:40We have to put lights all around the field
0:35:40 > 0:35:42to make sure that we minimise shadows
0:35:42 > 0:35:45and we have to make sure we put them in the appropriate place
0:35:45 > 0:35:48to not put them in offending zones of the batters and the players,
0:35:48 > 0:35:50so they truly don't get blinded by light.
0:35:57 > 0:36:01The man credited with the solution is RJ Swackhammer,
0:36:01 > 0:36:05a lighting designer for Edison's company, General Electric.
0:36:09 > 0:36:12It wasn't so much a technological innovation
0:36:12 > 0:36:15as more the precise placement of floodlights,
0:36:15 > 0:36:17plus narrow-beamed spotlights
0:36:17 > 0:36:19around the irregular-shaped field,
0:36:19 > 0:36:22creating an even distribution of light.
0:36:24 > 0:36:28In May 1935, the first major league baseball game
0:36:28 > 0:36:29played under lights
0:36:29 > 0:36:32was the Cincinnati Reds versus the Philadelphia Phillies,
0:36:32 > 0:36:36with an evening crowd of over 20,000 people.
0:36:37 > 0:36:39So, we're here at home plate.
0:36:39 > 0:36:40We've got the lights on.
0:36:40 > 0:36:42So, I feel like I'm pretty well-lit.
0:36:42 > 0:36:45What is it about the lighting that is so special on me here?
0:36:45 > 0:36:46Light's hitting every side of you
0:36:46 > 0:36:50so, no matter where the people sit, no matter where the cameras stand,
0:36:50 > 0:36:52you're rendered with light on all sides.
0:36:52 > 0:36:54That also helps if you're a batter.
0:36:54 > 0:36:58You can see the ball being lit from left, right, forward and back.
0:36:58 > 0:36:59You can see how it's turning
0:36:59 > 0:37:02and whether or not you should swing low, high, left or right.
0:37:02 > 0:37:05And how much power is driving this whole spectacle right now?
0:37:05 > 0:37:07This is one megawatt.
0:37:07 > 0:37:08One million watts,
0:37:08 > 0:37:10which costs about 100 an hour to run,
0:37:10 > 0:37:13where, compared to your typical house, is about 100 per month.
0:37:15 > 0:37:18Despite the obvious advantages of lights,
0:37:18 > 0:37:22not everyone was convinced about lighting stadiums.
0:37:22 > 0:37:24The president of one club announced,
0:37:24 > 0:37:28"There is no chance night baseball is going to become popular.
0:37:28 > 0:37:33"The game was meant to be played in the Lord's own sunshine."
0:37:33 > 0:37:34CHEERING
0:37:39 > 0:37:41But soon, sports stadiums across the country
0:37:41 > 0:37:43and around the world
0:37:43 > 0:37:45are being fitted with lights.
0:37:49 > 0:37:54The simple ability to play at night had some surprising consequences.
0:37:54 > 0:37:58Lighting up stadiums effectively brought sports to the masses
0:37:58 > 0:38:00on a global scale.
0:38:00 > 0:38:03And it helped create the national pastime of spectator sports,
0:38:03 > 0:38:06from baseball, to football, to basketball,
0:38:06 > 0:38:08all the way to monster trucks.
0:38:08 > 0:38:10And it turned sports
0:38:10 > 0:38:13into a multibillion dollar entertainment industry.
0:38:17 > 0:38:19Artificial light may have started out
0:38:19 > 0:38:22as a way for us to illuminate our dark world,
0:38:22 > 0:38:26but we now had the power to use it just for fun.
0:38:26 > 0:38:28Garage inventors could now create lights
0:38:28 > 0:38:31just to bring colour and excitement to our cities.
0:38:43 > 0:38:46If there's one place on earth that's famous for its lights,
0:38:46 > 0:38:48it's Las Vegas.
0:38:54 > 0:38:57The city is lit up like a Christmas tree.
0:38:57 > 0:39:01And everywhere you look, the vibrant glow of neon.
0:39:08 > 0:39:11Now, the marriage of Sin City to its gaudy neon lights
0:39:11 > 0:39:14came about by a chance encounter
0:39:14 > 0:39:17with the work of a crazy French scientist.
0:39:20 > 0:39:22That man was Georges Claude.
0:39:23 > 0:39:25Claude is a chemist by trade,
0:39:25 > 0:39:29but he cares less for academic studies and more for fantasy books.
0:39:30 > 0:39:32Claude is an avid reader
0:39:32 > 0:39:35of the early science fiction novels of Jules Verne,
0:39:35 > 0:39:40whose tales of adventure open his mind to new possibilities.
0:39:43 > 0:39:46In 1902, working in Paris,
0:39:46 > 0:39:49Claude makes an accidental discovery
0:39:49 > 0:39:52while studying the composition of air.
0:40:00 > 0:40:04Air was known to contain around 78% nitrogen,
0:40:04 > 0:40:06plus 21% oxygen
0:40:06 > 0:40:08and 1% "other".
0:40:10 > 0:40:14It's in these "other" gases where Claude's thirst for mystery
0:40:14 > 0:40:16and his eye for a buck
0:40:16 > 0:40:18collide in spectacular fashion.
0:40:21 > 0:40:25So, Claude has got all these extra strange gases lying around.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28And so, like any self-respecting mad scientist,
0:40:28 > 0:40:32he decides to pass a current of electricity through them.
0:40:32 > 0:40:36And one of those gases lights up a vivid shade of red.
0:40:37 > 0:40:39That gas turns out to be neon.
0:40:42 > 0:40:45Neon gas, itself, was not a new discovery,
0:40:45 > 0:40:48but it had been mostly ignored by other scientists.
0:40:48 > 0:40:52The fact it glows brightly when you pass electricity through it
0:40:52 > 0:40:54gives Claude an idea -
0:40:54 > 0:40:58he invents and patents the first neon tube light.
0:41:07 > 0:41:11Claude decides to set up a stall in the streets of Paris
0:41:11 > 0:41:14to showcase his amazing new electric light.
0:41:16 > 0:41:18Neon, people!
0:41:18 > 0:41:20Lots of neon!
0:41:23 > 0:41:25Word spreads all around the world and, before long,
0:41:25 > 0:41:27the orders are coming in.
0:41:27 > 0:41:29And Claude can't meet the demand.
0:41:32 > 0:41:33Look at this glowing colour!
0:41:33 > 0:41:35You can make signs from it!
0:41:36 > 0:41:41And so, to protect his invention and bring his product to the market,
0:41:41 > 0:41:44he decides to embrace a new business model,
0:41:44 > 0:41:45the franchise.
0:41:47 > 0:41:50Franchises, and the trade secrets they protect,
0:41:50 > 0:41:52dominate the world of commerce today.
0:41:52 > 0:41:56It's how some of the very best ideas go global.
0:41:59 > 0:42:02I get chills any time I talk about franchises.
0:42:02 > 0:42:05- Really?- I do! - Thank God we have you on the show!
0:42:05 > 0:42:07You may be the only person in the world.
0:42:07 > 0:42:08Well, I get chills about it
0:42:08 > 0:42:12because it's one entrepreneur saying to another entrepreneur,
0:42:12 > 0:42:17"You don't have the money to do this big company. Buy into my idea.
0:42:17 > 0:42:20"Put a little money down, start your own business
0:42:20 > 0:42:23"and then pay me the equivalent of a royalty over a period of time."
0:42:23 > 0:42:27When I was growing up, you had all of these black men,
0:42:27 > 0:42:29who just had ideas,
0:42:29 > 0:42:31but they couldn't get the capital from the banks.
0:42:31 > 0:42:33But yet, they pooled together all their money
0:42:33 > 0:42:37to buy a McDonald's franchise or to buy a Buick franchise,
0:42:37 > 0:42:39or a GM franchise
0:42:39 > 0:42:41and, by opening up that,
0:42:41 > 0:42:44they built wealth in the community, put their kids through school,
0:42:44 > 0:42:48employed the community and the wealth just spread.
0:42:48 > 0:42:50That's was the most impassioned speech
0:42:50 > 0:42:51about franchises I've ever heard.
0:42:51 > 0:42:55I find franchises to be great business models,
0:42:55 > 0:42:58when the underlying idea of it
0:42:58 > 0:43:00is so powerful that it captures the imagination
0:43:00 > 0:43:03of an entire community, if not a nation.
0:43:07 > 0:43:10Back in 1920s Las Vegas,
0:43:10 > 0:43:13Claude's neon light franchise was picked up
0:43:13 > 0:43:17by an entrepreneurial sign writer called Tom Young.
0:43:21 > 0:43:26Young's electric sign company still keeps Las Vegas alight to this day.
0:43:26 > 0:43:28I caught up with his grandson, Jeff.
0:43:30 > 0:43:33So, what brought your grandfather to Vegas?
0:43:33 > 0:43:35My grandfather was born in England
0:43:35 > 0:43:37and immigrated as a young man
0:43:37 > 0:43:39to Utah and was a hand letterer,
0:43:39 > 0:43:40was his trade.
0:43:40 > 0:43:43And early on, he was travelling through this area
0:43:43 > 0:43:44to see family in California
0:43:44 > 0:43:47and started selling signs in Las Vegas.
0:43:47 > 0:43:49How did he start thinking about really lighting up the signs?
0:43:49 > 0:43:52Light and energy were such a big part of this area
0:43:52 > 0:43:54because of the building of Hoover Dam.
0:43:54 > 0:43:55And he thought,
0:43:55 > 0:43:56all that electricity,
0:43:56 > 0:43:58there's going to be an opportunity down there
0:43:58 > 0:44:00to make some pretty bright signs.
0:44:05 > 0:44:10With the loan of 300, Young sets up a sign writing company.
0:44:10 > 0:44:14Later, he opens a branch in the still small town of Las Vegas.
0:44:22 > 0:44:26Tom Young brings a completely new aesthetic and scale to sign writing.
0:44:26 > 0:44:29And, at its heart, is neon lighting.
0:44:34 > 0:44:37These are some of the biggest signs in the world here.
0:44:37 > 0:44:39These I-beams were just massive
0:44:39 > 0:44:42because it was supporting a 260-foot display.
0:44:43 > 0:44:45Our plastic fabrication is back in this area.
0:44:47 > 0:44:51We actually just shipped out a giant flamingo that's going downtown.
0:44:51 > 0:44:53The scale is much bigger here
0:44:53 > 0:44:55than you'll get anywhere else in the world.
0:44:55 > 0:44:58Caesars at 165 feet.
0:44:58 > 0:45:00Mandalay, Mirage, Bellagio.
0:45:00 > 0:45:02We've had involvement with every casino
0:45:02 > 0:45:04that you can think of in Las Vegas.
0:45:04 > 0:45:07This is our glass room. I'll take you in there and show you.
0:45:07 > 0:45:09By using different colour glass tubes
0:45:09 > 0:45:11and even different gases,
0:45:11 > 0:45:13Young creates a rainbow of bright colours.
0:45:15 > 0:45:18So, for someone like you grandfather in 1920,
0:45:18 > 0:45:23what is it about neon that seemed so immediately useful?
0:45:23 > 0:45:26Well, at the time, light bulbs, you could turn them on and off.
0:45:26 > 0:45:30But they didn't really have colour and you couldn't bend them.
0:45:30 > 0:45:31You get a tube of glass
0:45:31 > 0:45:36and you can bend it virtually in any shape in virtually any colour.
0:45:36 > 0:45:38And there was just nothing like that anywhere
0:45:38 > 0:45:41and so it just took off like wildfire.
0:45:47 > 0:45:50It's a remarkable story of how different ideas and skills
0:45:50 > 0:45:53came together to create something brand new.
0:45:55 > 0:45:58A new technology from France
0:45:58 > 0:46:02collides with an immigrant sign designer from England
0:46:02 > 0:46:04in the middle of the American southwest.
0:46:05 > 0:46:10Young realises that neon isn't just about light.
0:46:10 > 0:46:12It could also be used to make words.
0:46:12 > 0:46:15It's one of those chance encounters
0:46:15 > 0:46:19that will ultimately transform the look of an entire city.
0:46:24 > 0:46:28Neon light becomes the ultimate way to advertise.
0:46:28 > 0:46:31Hotels and casinos use it to lure people in.
0:46:31 > 0:46:35The giant neon displays are even seen as a new form of art.
0:46:38 > 0:46:42These lights inspire a generation of architects
0:46:42 > 0:46:46to abandon the sterile, serious designs of modernism
0:46:46 > 0:46:51and embrace the playful, symbolic excess of the Las Vegas strip.
0:46:52 > 0:46:55This is how change happens.
0:46:55 > 0:46:58Scientists discover a new kind of gas,
0:46:58 > 0:47:00which creates an amazing business opportunity,
0:47:00 > 0:47:03which ultimately leads to a new artistic movement.
0:47:05 > 0:47:08And every step of that journey, neon lit the way.
0:47:12 > 0:47:15People like Young were now using light
0:47:15 > 0:47:18to send out a bold, bright message.
0:47:18 > 0:47:20But in the final chapter in the story of light,
0:47:20 > 0:47:23it would be used not for illumination, as such,
0:47:23 > 0:47:26more as an industrial tool.
0:47:26 > 0:47:30And this time, inspiration didn't come from scientists,
0:47:30 > 0:47:31but from science fiction.
0:47:33 > 0:47:37Just a minute, ladies and gentlemen, I think something is happening.
0:47:46 > 0:47:49From HG Wells in the 1800s,
0:47:49 > 0:47:52through to Flash Gordon and Superman in the 1930s,
0:47:52 > 0:47:56early sci-fi stories, comic strips and films
0:47:56 > 0:47:59often used beams of light to zap people.
0:48:04 > 0:48:08The innovation of what came to be called the laser
0:48:08 > 0:48:10didn't actually come about in the real world
0:48:10 > 0:48:13until the late 1950s and early '60s.
0:48:13 > 0:48:16Not for the first time, the science fiction writers
0:48:16 > 0:48:18were well ahead of the scientists.
0:48:21 > 0:48:24When the laser finally becomes reality,
0:48:24 > 0:48:28its first mainstream use isn't as a terrifying weapon,
0:48:28 > 0:48:31but as something a little less exciting...
0:48:34 > 0:48:36..scanning barcodes.
0:48:39 > 0:48:43Barcodes were invented back in the late '40s by two grad students,
0:48:43 > 0:48:46Bernard Silver and Norman Woodland.
0:48:46 > 0:48:47They'd overheard a shop owner
0:48:47 > 0:48:51wanting a way to read product information at the checkout.
0:48:51 > 0:48:53Well, you'll want one of this sort, sir. Sixpence a card.
0:48:53 > 0:48:55Sixpence, eh?
0:48:55 > 0:48:58To read the barcodes originally took a cumbersome device
0:48:58 > 0:49:00inspired by a movie projector
0:49:00 > 0:49:03and powered by a large 500-watt light bulb.
0:49:05 > 0:49:07But with the invention of the laser,
0:49:07 > 0:49:09a different kind of light was created.
0:49:09 > 0:49:13It's very pure, made from single colours of the spectrum
0:49:13 > 0:49:16and can be focused to a narrow beam.
0:49:17 > 0:49:21With a laser, small hand-held scanners were possible.
0:49:22 > 0:49:26OK, so it may not seem like the sexiest of innovations,
0:49:26 > 0:49:31but the ability to quickly and efficiently scan barcodes
0:49:31 > 0:49:34transformed retailing all around the world.
0:49:35 > 0:49:38Each transaction could be recorded and tracked
0:49:38 > 0:49:39into the supply chain,
0:49:39 > 0:49:42which meant that you never ran out of goods.
0:49:42 > 0:49:47Big retail outlets were able to maintain vast inventories of goods,
0:49:47 > 0:49:51which gave them a critical advantage over smaller mom and pop stores.
0:49:54 > 0:49:56With barcodes and laser scanners,
0:49:56 > 0:49:59retail outlets ballooned into the huge stores
0:49:59 > 0:50:02that now dominate shopping malls across the world.
0:50:03 > 0:50:06Lasers effectively changed the face of shopping.
0:50:09 > 0:50:13Today lasers have come to enable so much in our daily life.
0:50:15 > 0:50:17Lasers transform the music
0:50:17 > 0:50:21and movie industry with the innovation of CDs and DVDs.
0:50:22 > 0:50:25And they make an awesome stage show.
0:50:25 > 0:50:28High-power lasers are behind every journey we make.
0:50:28 > 0:50:32They revolutionise construction for transport, with laser cutting,
0:50:32 > 0:50:35drilling and welding used in building every car and aeroplane.
0:50:39 > 0:50:42And laser light transforms global communications,
0:50:42 > 0:50:46as nearly every telephone call, e-mail and web search is now
0:50:46 > 0:50:50carried as pulses of light through a system of fibre optics.
0:50:54 > 0:50:58Science fiction might have given birth to the idea of lasers,
0:50:58 > 0:51:02but they're now an essential tool in scientific research.
0:51:02 > 0:51:06And if the old sci-fi fans might have been disappointed to see
0:51:06 > 0:51:08lasers used for barcode scanning,
0:51:08 > 0:51:10they'd be thrilled to see
0:51:10 > 0:51:12what scientists have planned for them next.
0:51:15 > 0:51:19This is the Lawrence Livermore National Ignition Facility
0:51:19 > 0:51:21near San Francisco.
0:51:21 > 0:51:24It's here that we can look into the future story of light.
0:51:26 > 0:51:29This is a high security facility.
0:51:29 > 0:51:32I've been scanned and swabbed and searched.
0:51:32 > 0:51:36But I'm here because inside this building, scientists have
0:51:36 > 0:51:41created the most powerful laser system on the planet
0:51:41 > 0:51:44and the hope is that they can use the light
0:51:44 > 0:51:46to create not a death ray,
0:51:46 > 0:51:51but instead a near limitless supply of clean energy.
0:51:55 > 0:51:59'The goal here is to use laser light to power nuclear fusion -
0:51:59 > 0:52:02'the same process that drives our sun and the stars.
0:52:05 > 0:52:07'The head man is Mike Dunne.'
0:52:09 > 0:52:10Fusion is the process that
0:52:10 > 0:52:12drives the sun, and all of the stars,
0:52:12 > 0:52:14it's the crushing together
0:52:14 > 0:52:16of matter at the very smallest scale,
0:52:16 > 0:52:17at the atomic scale.
0:52:17 > 0:52:20It combines the hydrogen together to get helium -
0:52:20 > 0:52:23and it releases energy in the same process.
0:52:23 > 0:52:26The objective of this facility is to try to reproduce,
0:52:26 > 0:52:29in miniature, what's happening at the centre of the sun.
0:52:29 > 0:52:33And how far along in the process towards that fusion goal
0:52:33 > 0:52:34would you say you are?
0:52:34 > 0:52:37We're still going through the experimental journey.
0:52:37 > 0:52:39In fact, today there's a major experiment under way to see
0:52:39 > 0:52:41if we can get to that next level.
0:52:45 > 0:52:47In the control room, the team of scientists
0:52:47 > 0:52:51and engineers are preparing to fire the laser system.
0:52:52 > 0:52:55When they flick the switch, a single pulse of low-power laser light
0:52:55 > 0:52:58is sent off through fibre optic cables.
0:53:01 > 0:53:04But then, in this cavernous room, it gets split up
0:53:04 > 0:53:07into 192 separate laser beams
0:53:07 > 0:53:12and their power is amplified four million billion times,
0:53:12 > 0:53:15reaching a total output of 500,000 gigawatts.
0:53:22 > 0:53:25The lasers then get routed down to the basement,
0:53:25 > 0:53:27to the fusion reaction chamber.
0:53:34 > 0:53:37You know how you see something that seems really futuristic,
0:53:37 > 0:53:39and you're like, "that looks like something from Star Trek" -
0:53:39 > 0:53:41it's like this actually WAS from Star Trek!
0:53:41 > 0:53:44This is the Engine Room of the Starship Enterprise!
0:53:44 > 0:53:45It's incredible.
0:53:45 > 0:53:48So this is the heart of the whole facility, where the...
0:53:48 > 0:53:50the laser beams come down from above.
0:53:50 > 0:53:54We focus each laser beam down to a tiny point in space,
0:53:54 > 0:53:57about the width of a human hair onto this fusion fuel.
0:53:59 > 0:54:01That red dot inside the fuel cell
0:54:01 > 0:54:03is a tiny droplet of frozen hydrogen.
0:54:06 > 0:54:09So we're shining 500,000 gigawatts' worth of power
0:54:09 > 0:54:11onto this tiny little pellet.
0:54:11 > 0:54:12What then happens next?
0:54:12 > 0:54:14The oven, this gold can,
0:54:14 > 0:54:17converts that optical light into X-ray light,
0:54:17 > 0:54:19and those X-rays crush the pellet
0:54:19 > 0:54:21and they crush it really fast.
0:54:21 > 0:54:23This is a million mile an hour implosion.
0:54:23 > 0:54:27The atoms themselves are forced together at such high pressures,
0:54:27 > 0:54:30you know, billions of atmosphere pressures
0:54:30 > 0:54:32that the atoms themselves bond together,
0:54:32 > 0:54:36and so we convert hydrogen into helium and give off lots
0:54:36 > 0:54:40of energy - you are now standing in front of the world's
0:54:40 > 0:54:42highest producing fusion device, you know,
0:54:42 > 0:54:44which would absorb into your body
0:54:44 > 0:54:48and, I'm afraid, you would not be walking out of there any time soon.
0:54:50 > 0:54:53Countdown started - T minus 270 seconds.
0:54:54 > 0:54:57Back in the control room, they're ready to fire.
0:55:03 > 0:55:06So, I can tell something very important is going on in here.
0:55:06 > 0:55:07You got all these computers,
0:55:07 > 0:55:10and not a single person is checking Facebook!
0:55:10 > 0:55:13System started, sequence ready - T minus 30.
0:55:18 > 0:55:19Mission alert.
0:55:20 > 0:55:22Copy.
0:55:24 > 0:55:27System show sequence running at T minus 10,
0:55:27 > 0:55:299, 8,
0:55:29 > 0:55:317, 6,
0:55:31 > 0:55:345, 4, 3,
0:55:34 > 0:55:362, 1.
0:55:41 > 0:55:43- We're still alive, so that's good. - That's a good sign!
0:55:43 > 0:55:46So what... What just happened?
0:55:46 > 0:55:50For an instant in time, about 100 trillionths of a second,
0:55:50 > 0:55:53we created, just over there, the hottest place in the solar system.
0:55:58 > 0:56:01This facility is still at the experimental stage.
0:56:01 > 0:56:05But someday, possibly very soon, the world could be
0:56:05 > 0:56:08powered by fusion energy created by laser light.
0:56:08 > 0:56:11The hope is that we can optimise this laser system
0:56:11 > 0:56:15and the fuel, to get more energy coming out of the fusion process,
0:56:15 > 0:56:17than the laser itself delivers.
0:56:17 > 0:56:18And, if you can harness that,
0:56:18 > 0:56:21then you've got an inherently clean, inherently safe
0:56:21 > 0:56:24form of energy that will last for, probably, a few million years.
0:56:34 > 0:56:39When you stand and look at this extraordinary machine,
0:56:39 > 0:56:42you really have to pause for a second and remind yourself that just
0:56:42 > 0:56:45200 years ago, the state of the art
0:56:45 > 0:56:49in artificial light involved cutting up a whale on the deck of a ship
0:56:49 > 0:56:52in the middle of the North Atlantic.
0:56:56 > 0:57:00Yet here we are today and we're creating miniature suns on Earth.
0:57:03 > 0:57:07This is the journey of light.
0:57:08 > 0:57:11And it started as this attempt to just read a book
0:57:11 > 0:57:12before we went to bed.
0:57:15 > 0:57:18And then it became a massive form of commerce and
0:57:18 > 0:57:20then it became a form of advertising
0:57:20 > 0:57:22and then it became a form of art.
0:57:22 > 0:57:24And now we're in this room
0:57:24 > 0:57:27trying to create the next chapter in the story of light.
0:57:30 > 0:57:35What started as just an attempt to illuminate our lives after dark
0:57:35 > 0:57:38now may be the future of energy.