on BBC4 9:00pm Monday 2 Apri
Season 1. Episode 1 of 3. New series. In the first of three films telling the story of how mankind's knowledge of materials and their properties aided the development of civilisation, scientist Mark Miodownik charts how humans learned to use metals to their advantage. He explores early techniques for extracting copper from rocks, and explains how alloys such as steel rapidly expanded the range of tools, weapons and machines that mankind could create. He also analyses metals at an atomic level to reveal their more surprising properties, and discovers how crystals can be grown to survive in extreme environments - including the inside of a jet engine
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