Madman Entertainment
R4 DVD
Richard
Hammond’s Engineering Connections is one of the best documentary series I have
ever seen and this is no exaggeration. If there was a test to ascertain the documentary
with highest concentration of content while still being great entertainment,
Engineering Connections would win hands down. It is a deceptively simple yet
ultimately satisfying package. Take a piece of technology and use it as a “thematic
device” to explore all the different technologies which have been used in its
construction. Each technology is
examined from historical, scientific and engineering perspectives and to stop
our interest flagging include all manner of experiments, many of them of the “mad”
Top Gear type ! They haven’t chosen The Hamster for nothing.
By
choosing Richard Hammond the producers have really made a superb choice. Rather
than having a dry lecture format where facts are pushed down the viewer’s throats,
we join Richard Hammond on a quest to understand these amazing structures. We participate
in the documentary, learning along the way. We are not talked down-to but neither
is the content “dumbed down” or reduced to a lowest common denominator as in so
many “made for Cable TV” American documentaries. We are challenged to think about all sorts of
subjects we would have never considered before while being entertained and even
amused.
The
structures chosen are: the Airbus, the largest Airliner ever to exist; the
Taipei Tower, one of the tallest buildings on Earth; the gigantic Troll A
Platform and the strongest telescope ever made, the WM Keck Observatory. Each
one of these awe inspiring achievements are used as gateways to explore all
sorts of scientific, historical and technological achievements.
If
we take the Keck Observatory as an example. As we consider what a masterful achievement
this gigantic observatory is, we examine just some of the technological advances
which were required to allow its construction. To keep the giant mirror cool
requires the expert use of refrigeration, so Hammond introduces us to the
history of refrigeration and discusses how it works, including experiments
along the way. Since the mirror is so large (and made up of many small mirrors)
they all must stay perfectly aligned, so we are introduced to the Theremin. The
Theremin was a strange and unusual musical device which was original devised as
a spy gadget but its founder found it more successful as one of the world’s
first electronic musical instruments. Since it also sensed disturbances in
electrical fields, a refined version is central to the success of the mirror in
the Keck observatory sensing even minute variations between the many smaller
mirrors which are aligned to make up its surface. Of course with a mirror of such size it must
be kept absolutely clean and while it uses a sub atomic particle blaster, this
evolved from the design of a sandblaster, of which we also learn quite a bit.
The
Keck Observatory episode is a great example of how an amazing achievement is
used to explore a range of scientific and engineering feats, all with the
humour of Richard Hammond guiding us along the way. We not only get to
experience the beauty and majesty of an awesome Observatory but learn how it’s
amazing mirror was made and the technological advancements which were required
to make it.
The
Taipei 101 skyscraper is another example as we are led into all manner of explorations
from the strength of Bamboo to the nature of a bridge, from seat belts to
sports cars. We even come to appreciate how the basic design of a turbo in a
sports car can be adapted into the lift technology of a super skyscraper. We
travel from the mines of 18th century England learning about the
technology to keep them from flooding to the techniques used in making the earliest
skyscrapers of Chicago.
When
it comes to the Troll A platform we come to appreciate how even a simple join
can cause a structure to disintegrate. Accordingly these giant structures are
built in one piece requiring amazing feats of concrete pouring. We also learn
about the dangers of repetitive sounds (with a neat experiment showing the breaking
of a glass using a reoccurring note from an electric guitar) and how resonance
must always be considered with sea platforms.
In
my mind this series herald the future of documentary filmmaking, combining a
high level of content with carefully constructed experiments, historical content
and science. This series teaches us so much without ever really seeming to be
educational, the information is imparted as part of trying to understand the
construction we are exploring. It exquisitely balances entertainment with informative
content but does so with flair and a sense of humour. Whoever wrote the series
should receive an award as it really is such a intelligent way to answer so
many different scientific and engineering questions with the context of an one
story arc i.e. the construction in question.
Certainly
this would have been a very expensive documentary to make, hence there are only
four episodes in the series, but since each one is nearly an hour long there is
an amazing amount of content. You will go away from each episode wanting to
learn more.
All
we can hope is that this is a taste of what is to come and there will be another
series.
Reviews
appear on the Synergy website with a single cover image. In the digital and
print edition, reviews appear with multiple images. We recommend you download the free digital edition (or buy the print edition) to get the most from Synergy Magazine.
This
review will appear in Volume 2 No.4
(2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.
If
you came to this page directly (and missed our menu), click here
to go to the front page of Synergy Magazine Website or click the following
link http://www.synergy-magazine.com