Documentaries 12 x 43’/52’

Facts for your success Discover the greatest scientific inventions which revolutionized our life Victories and failures High gloss documentary series with latest CGI technology his groundbreaking series of one-hour documen- 1. BREAKTHROUGH AT THE CAPE TO HELL T taries explores some of the great scientific inven- With the caravel Prince Henry The Navigator was the first to tions, discoveries and achievements of the last cen- succeed in rounding the Cape Bojador, the much feared turies. They were obsessed with an idea in the pursuit of “Gateway to Hell” on the west coast of Africa. Thereafter, which they recklessly risked all their possessions – and nothing was ever the same again, the heyday of the discovers often life and limb as well. Over the centuries these bril- and slave traders could begin… liant souls came up with inventions and discoveries that revolutionised the history of our planet. 2. THE EMPIRE STRIKES 6. THE ELECTRICITY WAR The culverin – this highly accurate heavy cannon with its These days we take it absolutely for granted that electricity is explosive load revolutionised the art of naval warfare. A available in every home. But there was a bitter struggle for Tyrolean bell founder’s secret recipe taught the Spaniards to many years before George Westinghouse’s alternating cur- know fear. Following victory against the mighty Spanish rent, which can be transmitted over long distances, achieved Armada in 1588, the British Empire acquired dominance of dominance over Thomas Edison’s direct current system. the seas… 7. DUEL IN THE DARKNESS 3. DECISION AT LONGITUDE X At night and within a fog, on land, sea and air, radar technol- The H4 chronometer – this novel timepiece created by the ogy provides us with eyes to recognise friend and foe alike. English horologist John Harrison lent navigation at sea a total- Today it is impossible to imagine our lives without radar, as ly new dimension and enabled ships to determine their posi- used in both civilian and military applications. tion reliably according to degrees of latitude and longitude. 8. THE BATTLE FOR THE BLACK FORMULA 4. LAST CHANCE TRANSATLANTIC Charles Goodyear was absolutely obsessed with the idea that Deep-sea cable – on a summer morning in 1866 the job is raw rubber could be of service to mankind. He spent his done. The “Great Eastern” has accomplished her task and entire fortune in a desperate attempt to make his dream sunk several thousand kilometres of cable in the Atlantic. come true, risking his health as well, but finally, after experi- From that time on, the Old World could communicate with the menting for decades, he uncovered the secret of rubber man- New World in just a few minutes via the “Victorian Internet”. ufacture… A new era of communications has dawned… 9. THE REWARD OF DESTRUCTION 5. ATTACK FROM THE DEEP Stockholm in the mid 19th century. Striving to harness the They were among the most fiendish weapons in the Second power of nitro-glycerine, Alfred Nobel labours obsessively World War: submarines. Horace Hunley invested all his ener- and overcomes many setbacks until he finally succeeds in gy and fortune in the idea of a manned submarine and has producing a reliable explosive: dynamite… succeeded in opening up a new chapter in the history of both naval warfare and deep-sea exploration. 10. BREAKTHROUGH AT SUEZ tre-long tunnel, the longest in the world, to link Boston and Is Ferdinand de Lesseps mad? Is he a megalomaniac and the American West by rail. The tunnel, which will bore dreamer? People may think whatever they want, but the through the heart of the Appalachian Mountains, is hailed as wily, smooth-talking diplomat is convinced that the the greatest adventure of engineering history. Mediterranean and the Red Sea can be linked by a canal across the Isthmus of Suez. More than a vital shipping link 12. RACE OF GIANTS between East and West, it is a revolution in canal construc- He is one of those larger-than-life self-made men so typical of tion that continues to inspire innovations among today’s the late 19th and early 20th centuries: Claudius Dornier, a engineers. German who ushered in one of the most adventurous chap- ters in the history of aviation. Dornier’s dream finally comes 11. TRIUMPH OVER HELL MOUNTAIN true in 1931: powered by twelve colossal propellers, his It is a bold plan that Alvah Crocker, a successful New England mighty “Do-X” crosses the Atlantic to New York. A milestone businessman and politician, proposes to the Massachusetts in aeronautics, it paves the way for regular transcontinental

legislature in 1848: the construction of a nearly eight-kilome- flights and the development of civil aviation. | 09.04 ZDF Enterprises

Documentaries Address ZDF Enterprises Format 12 x 42’/52’ Distribution & Investments Lise-Meitner-Strasse 9 Produced by Engstfeld Filmproduktion for ZDF D-55129 Mainz in cooperation with ZDF Enterprises Arte, Discovery Channel Contact [email protected] A film by Günter Myrell, Axel Engstfeld, www.zdf-enterprises.de Christian Twente and others Phone:+49 (0) 6131 - 991 281 Copyright ZDF/ZDF Enterprises Fax: +49 (0) 6131 - 991 259