Ancient Tools and Technology: Episode 5

Today we are obsessed with the latest cutting edge technology to simplify our busy lives, but how did we get here? From a rock in the hand of our ancestors millions of years ago to the sleek smartphones that now run our lives, this episode charts the ground-breaking developments that led us to a technologically sophisticated society. As civilisations grew in complexity over thousands of years, so too did the tools used to navigate daily life. Unravel the threads of our technological history; from a stone hammered into the first tool to a mediaeval combination lock and how ancient woven textiles held the key to modern programming. Follow computing’s remarkable journey from the first automated loom, to mechanical engines built to solve calculations and the code-breaking computer that won the second world war.