Episodes

9 episodes in this season

Evidence

Patterns

Investigation

Now Playing

Trial and Error

Context

Adaptation

Modeling

Theory

Prediction

The Search for Solutions

TV Series

19808.5

Documentary

Now playing

Trial and Error

Season 1 · Episode 4 · Jun 17, 1980

An interview with David Gordon Wilson of M.I.T. who talks of trial and error as a focused learning process; an interview with Paul MacCready, designer of a flying bicycle called the "Gossamer Condor," relates the process by which the final structure of the Condor was determined; Vincent J. Schaefer recounts his accidental discovery, in 1946, of a way to eliminate the supercooling of clouds which caused airplane wings to ice; a look at the Tour de France, where cyclists and designers continually experiment with ways to increase speed; a discussion of the work of German immunologist Paul Ehrlich, who, in 1901 discovered a cure for syphilis; a scientist who looks in the ocean for organisms, avoided by others, which may contain chemicals that fight disease; and another visit to the Human Powered Championship, including interviews with designers of unusual vehicles.

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The Search for Solutions

TV Series

19808.5

Documentary

Now playing

Trial and Error

Season 1 · Episode 4 · Jun 17, 1980

More details