Superb series of reenactments.

I just finished the last one of the 7 episodes, I was able to view them via Netflix streaming. What a fine series that is both educational and entertaining.

Each has a disclaimer that some events are fiction, presented to enhance the entertainment. Plus nobody knows exactly what happened or what was said at times not specifically recorded back in those days, much of it in the 1800s. Still, with the number of noted historians also participating and commenting I figure the stories are substantially accurate. While I was generally aware of all of them I learned a lot by viewing each one.

Following are my own takes on each segment, may contain mild SPOILERS for those sensitive to that sort of thing.

In "Hearst vs. Pulitzer" we see that Pulitzer, an immigrant, was motivated by an interest in getting the truth out to the readership, while Hearst was a spoiled rich kid who just wanted to make his mark. Motivated by what he saw Pulitzer doing in New York, after turning the small San Francisco newspaper into a success, he went to New York to compete, to defeat Pulitzer, by hiring away his best staff, by undercutting his newspaper cost, and by focusing on the sensational. Eventually they both had to cooperate but turned news media towards what it remains today.

In "Oppenheimer vs. Heisenburg" we see the race to build a nuclear bomb that would change the outcome of WW2. Heisenberg was working for the Germans, Oppenheimer for the Americans. Each was aware of the great energy involved, as stated by Einstein's E = m x c x c, but Oppenheimer's team won the race, and the bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the war.

In "Wright Brothers vs. Curtiss" we see how the Wrights actually flew first and stymied by the patents, Curtiss had to develop new flying technology, some of it still in use today. The Wrights refused to partner with Curtiss and his more powerful engines and never were a factor as aviation blossomed.

In "Farnsworth vs. Sarnoff" we see how a 15-yr-old high school student and farm boy, Farnsworth, actually first conceived of the idea of television, and as an adult made the first working version. But Sarnoff of wealthy and powerful RCA used legal challenges to stymie Farnsworth until RCA's designers could develop a TV that didn't infringe on patents, a classic case of the rich and powerful getting their way, and in this case formed NBC.

In "Colt vs. Wesson" we see how the two gun makers each started to develop a revolver pistol about the same time in the 1800s. Both were successful by slightly different routes. Colt's big invention was to develop assembly lines for manufacturing instead of just making one weapon at a time. Wesson was instrumental in developing self- contained ammunition.

In "Space Race" we see how at the end of WW2 the Americans captured most of the German V2 rocket technology, but Russia got some also. Russia put up the first satellite in 1957, and then the first man in space, but the Americans, scared to be beaten, put the first men on the Moon in 1969.

In "Jobs vs. Gates" we see how each man came along when computers were first being made smaller and affordable for individual use. Gates was a software whiz, Jobs was a visionary for new equipment and applications. Each went on to build companies that became giants of the industry via quite different but symbiotic routes.

In "Edison vs. Tesla" the greatest pure inventor of all time is pitted against the man who had the vision for a more efficient, more versatile way to generate and use electricity, alternating current. Edison rejected Tesla's ideas, driving him away and towards Westinghouse. Ultimately Edison's direct current approach found very limited ongoing uses while Tesla's alternating current has become the standard.


..*.. TxMike ..*..
Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes not.