"[ thunder rumbling ]" "[ thunder crashes ] [ rumbling continues ]" "[ bird caws ]" "[ tapping ]" "[ bird chirping ]" "[ wind whistling ]" "[ grunts ] [ grunts ]" "Unh!" "[ grunts ]" "[ panting ]" "[ shouts ]" "Yeehee!" "[ man shouting in native language ] [ growls ]" "[ man speaking ]" "Einstein: "imagination is more important than knowledge."" "Narrator: albert einstein considered imagination crucial" "To our quest for speed," "And I wouldn't want to disagree with him." "My name is james burke, and I'm going to examine" "Why the development of speed" "Has always been a case of mind over matter." "The science of speed has progressed" "Through a series of imaginative discoveries." "One idea leads to another." "Each time an invention is refined and improved," "It allows us to go that bit faster." "[ soft music plays ]" "[ horse neighs ]" "Let's see what the blacksmith's doing." "In 1839, a scottish blacksmith named kirkpatrick macmillan" "Took an invention that had been around for centuries " "The wheel -- and put a completely new spin on it." "What do you think he's making in there?" "I don't know." "Hmm?" "You lads, get away from there!" "What are you doing there?" "Like most inventions that allowed us to go faster," "This one was the work of a stubborn, independent dreamer." "Oh." "Whoa!" "Oh!" "Narrator:" "macmillan realized that his legs would generate more power" "If he put two swinging cranks" "On the rear wheel of a hobby horse." "He was using the principle of leverage to boost power." "[ scottish music plays ]" "I'm going too fast!" "I should have brakes!" "Pipers!" "Look out ahead!" "I cannot stop me contraption!" "Stand clear!" "Stand clear!" "[ bagpipe plays off-key ]" "Narrator:" "the first self-propelled bicycle" "Had no gears, no brakes, no rubber tires," "But it was a beginning." "How fast can it go?" "How fast?" "Well..." "What would you say to about... 10 miles in an hour?" "10 miles in an hour!" "The development of science" "Is like a relay race run through the centuries." "Each time we pass on the torch of imagination" "From one generation to the next," "We carry the original idea one stage further." "[ up-tempo music plays ]" "The top speed of the bicycle is limited by factors" "Like gravity, friction, and wind resistance." "In fact, achieving greater speed with any vehicle" "Is the triumph of imagination over the laws of physics." "[ man panting ]" "Narrator:" "this human-powered vehicle" "Is really a cycle in a fiberglass shell" "That's cleverly shaped to slice through the air" "With as little wind resistance as possible." "Although it's driven" "By the same energy source macmillan used " "Muscle power " "This lightweight, streamlined vehicle" "Can go six times as fast as the original bicycle." "Not bad." "But what if you want to go even faster?" "[ "I'm wild about horns on automobiles" plays ] [ engine rumbles ]" "Narrator:" "when it comes to speed, muscle is no match for machine." "The stanley steamer could breeze along at over a mile a minute," "Which frightened some skeptics." ""I mean, the air might rush by so fast," "The motorist wouldn't be able to breathe," they thought." "¶ ..." "You can't get a girl without one ¶" "¶ I'm wild about horns ¶" "¶ on automobiles that go... ¶" "By 1906," "A stanley steamer racing car reached 127 miles an hour," "But there was one problem." "Steam cars needed two separate systems " "One to make steam and the other to propel the car." "[ horn honks, donkey brays ]" "Hey, share the road!" "Ultimately, though, steam could not compete" "With a more effective invention " "The internal-combustion engine." "¶ ..." "I'm wild about horns ¶ [ horn honks ] ¶ on automobiles that go... ¶" "Although the internal-combustion engine" "Hasn't changed much over the years," "Little refinements have made cars faster and faster." "But as the speed of cars increased... [ horn blares ] so, too, did the dangers." "[ tires screeching ]" "¶ ..." "I get attention when they hear that call ¶" "¶ I'm wild about horns on automobiles that go... ¶" "In fact, those dangers were ignored" "By the hot rodders of the '30s and '40s," "Who were among the last who could push speed" "Simply for the fun of it." "[ upbeat jazz music plays ] [ tires screech ]" "The hot rodders souped up their engines," "And in the process," "They advanced the technology of speed." "But often, they pursued speed at the expense of safety." "Jeez!" "The throttle's stuck." "What?" "Is something wrong?" "Nothing major." "Look out!" "The car's broken!" "Get out of the way!" "¶ ..." "And then my heart stood still... ¶" "There goes my brother, billy." "¶ ..." "Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa ¶" "Ohh!" "[ grumbles ]" "Now you've got the police after us!" "That's just henry." "He's always chasing me." "Narrator:" "some of the hot rodders" "Took a somewhat casual attitude towards their own lives..." "And anybody else's, too." "[ tires screech ]" "[ tires screech ]" "The hot rod was not an elegantly crafted racing machine," "But these backyard mechanics" "Improved performance dramatically" "By modifying the engines." "They enlarged cylinders and customized carburetors" "To alter the mixture of air and gasoline." "Stop!" "Stop that car!" "Woman: billy, there's a roadblock!" "Look out!" "We can't stop!" "Help!" "Sit down!" "You're making me nervous!" "The early hot rodders like bill vukovich" "Lived in the shadow of risk." "Whoo-whee!" "All righty!" "[ engine revving ]" "Today, speed is tested not on the road," "But on the racetrack." "G.T. Race drivers don't go fast just for the fun of it." "Speed is now big business." "How's it running?" "Man: well enough." "But you see, with this aero package," "I'm running out of fourth gear." "Narrator: we've discovered that the faster we go," "The greater the obstacles." "For example, the faster you take a curve," "The greater the centrifugal force pushing you off course." "Cornering ability is crucial." "Speed alone is not enough." "[ engine revs ]" "Nicky boy, you just blew .2 off your best lap." "Have we reached the limit?" "[ booming ]" "Well, there is one sure way to make a car go much, much faster." "Stick a jet engine in it." "[ engine whirs ]" "[ booming ]" "[ symphonic music plays ] [ booming ]" "Narrator:" "the aeroplane freed us" "From that most stubborn obstacle to speed " "Friction between vehicle and ground." "[ dixieland jazz music plays ]" "¶ I'll be just like a king ¶" "¶ I can hear the angels sing ¶" "¶ I can do most anything up in the blue ¶" "¶ I left my problems on the ground ¶" "¶ and all my cares are upside down ¶" "¶ you know where I can be found ¶" "¶ up in the blue ¶" "Aviation took a flying leap forward" "With the invention of the jet engine." "But then an invisible limit was reached." "Man: throughout time," "Man has learned to travel faster and faster," "But now, in 1946," "That progress may be coming to a screeching halt." "It now appears to aviators and scientists alike" "That there is a speed barrier" "That is impossible to conquer " "The sound barrier." "At speeds above 600 miles per hour," "P-38s, p-47s," "And even the most modern p-80 jet fighters" "Encounter mysterious forces that rip them apart." "The result -- tragedy." "The latest casualty" "Is britain's number-one test pilot," "Geoffrey de havilland," "Who only last week challenged the sonic barrier" "In his swept-wing swallow aircraft." "As he approached the speed of sound," "His airplane suddenly disintegrated." "The reason -- unknown." "Scientists now theorize that at sonic speed," "Air packs up in front of an airplane" "Like snow before a snowplow," "Creating an invisible wall that is impossible to penetrate." "S9 many airmen now fear that the speed of sound" "Is the fastest man will ever travel." "Undaunted by previous disasters," "Aeronautic engineers are pushing ahead" "Against staggering odds" "To conquer the mysterious sound barrier," "Testing new airplane shapes in sophisticated wind tunnels." "Their latest design -- the bell x-1," "As much a rocket ship as it is an airplane." "And now, the moment of truth is at hand" "As the x-1 is airlifted to testing altitude" "To challenge the fearful sonic barrier." "Tension mounts" "As the test pilot descends into the cockpit." "Can he succeed where so many others have died trying?" "Will the controversial x-1" "Be america's biggest success or most tragic failure?" "And now on this exclusive film, the x-1 reaches critical speed." "No airplane has ever traveled this fast and survived." "Will the x-1 be torn apart?" "It's done it!" "The x-1 has broken the sound barrier!" "This is a stunning triumph of imagination and perseverance," "As man once again conquers the unknown." "Mark this day, October 14, 1947," "As test pilot charles e." "Yeager becomes, at 700 miles per hour," "The fastest man in history!" "Narrator:" "the top speed of the sr-71 is classified information." "[ engine whirs ] [ booms ]" "But when an object hurdles through the atmosphere" "At perhaps five times the speed of sound," "It creates quite a stir." "The friction of the air rushing past is so great" "That the surface of the plane" "Heats up to over 1,000 degrees fahrenheit." "Without specially developed metal alloys," "The sr-71 would disintegrate in midair." "Man: gear." "Easing power." "Easing more power." "Easing more power." "Smoke off." "Up we go." "Ready, break." "Narrator: precision squadrons like the blue angels" "Provide the ultimate demonstration" "Of speed with control." "Man: center point." "Rolling in." "Take it in." "Smoke on." "Adding power." "A little more pull." "Okay." "Narrator: the tremendous thrust created by the jet engine" "Gives the blue angels the extra power needed" "For control in precision flight." "The jet engine scoops in cool air" "And heats it in a chamber." "This superheated air expands" "And forces itself out the rear of the engine," "Creating enormous thrust." "The principle of the jet engine works beautifully," "Unless, of course," "You decide to go someplace where there is no air." "Unlike the jet engine," "The rocket works in outer space because it needs no air." "¶ it must have been moonglow ¶" "¶ way up in the blue ¶" "Man: we're standing by for voice communications" "From the apollo 10 crew." "Man #2: hello, houston." "Apollo 10." "Hello, apollo 10." "This is houston." "Roger, houston." "We've got a fantastic view of the moon." "Glad to have you on the way back home." "Roger." "We are returning to the earth." "¶ ..." "That moonglow... ¶" "On may 26, 1969," "Astronauts aboard apollo 10" "Went faster than any humans in history" "As they returned to earth after orbiting the moon." "2... 3... 4..." "Narrator:" "in the past 50 years," "We've made enormous leaps in the development of speed." "We travel faster and further " "More than 3 trillion miles a year." "Computers can accelerate us to a billion calculations a second." "Life today is a bewildering kaleidoscope" "Of electronic news and information," "As a human voice ricochets almost instantaneously" "Around the planet." "[ mid-tempo music plays ]" "But in our rush," "Have we stretched our physical capabilities to the limit?" "Some say our frenetic pace can only cause us trouble," "That hypertension and heart disease" "Are its inevitable result." "Synthesized voice:" "...20... 21..." "Fortunately, though speed can cause stress," "It can also be used to relieve stress." "We can learn to ride the forces of nature" "For both speed and enjoyment." "[ slow-tempo music plays ]" "[ up-tempo music plays ]" "The surfer traps the power of the wave." "Whoo!" "The sailor harnesses the wind." "Gravity pulls a skier down the mountain." "And for children of all ages, speed thrills." "[ indistinct shouting ]" "Man: oh, my god!" "[ shouting continues ]" "Whoaaa!" "For all our progress," "The science of speed is still in its infancy." "We are today only a few steps beyond our distant ancestors." "Yet in the next century," "Space planes will fly at 25 times the speed of sound" "And rockets will blast into deep space" "At a quarter of a million miles an hour." "That's fast, all right." "But it can't compare" "To what einstein thought was the fastest speed in the universe " "The speed of light." "But was einstein correct?" "Is the speed of light the fastest we can ever go?" "Or, as some scientists now think," "Is it possible that the only real speed limits" "In the universe" "Are the limits we place on our own imagination?" "[ whooshing ]"