Narrator: We rise above nature
tame the frontier's of our planet
now, we harness the force of the universe
claiming powers that could destroy us
but, still we fight for freedom
truth, new beginings
as mankind turns towards the frontier's of the future
amidst the chaos of a unforgiving planet
most species will fail
but for one all the pieces
will fall into place
and a set of keys will unlock a path
for mankind to triumph
This is our story
the story of all of us
Today over 7 billion humans on planet earth
in just four generations our Population
has grown by 5 billion
faster in the first 50 years of the 20th century
than the previous 50 thousand
and as mankind expands
in a ever more crowded world
we face the ultimate challange
abusing the power of the planet
to propel us into the future
The Midwest, 1935
giant dust storm's
ravage American farm land
the worst drought in U.S. history
two and half million people
abandoned the great plains
families driven off their farms
heading in hope for California
Russell: Life in rural America was
absolutely horrendous
dust storms could happen
that could obliterate everything
it was nearly impossible to grow food
in that soil
Narrator: One man plans to revive
this barren land
Rosewell Garst
born and breed farmer
instinctive entrepreneur
he sells his cattle
mortgages his farm
and bet's everything on a wonder
crop that will become a key
to mankind's future
hybrid corn
its cross breed
to resist drought and disease
so it can still grow
in the scorched earth of the Midwest
he drives two thousand miles a
week promoting his hybrid seeds
his slogan
''An astonishing product
produces astonishing results''
Narrator: But the seed cost 50 times more
than ordinary corn
Garst: [Trying to sell his seeds to other farmers]
Narrator: One of Garst colleagues notes
" You would say, 6 or 7 dollars a bushel
and you could almost see them
reaching around to their hip pocket to get the gun"
["Garst- come on sir']
[farmer- listen, I'm not interested get, get off my land"]
['Garst- I just wanted to give you the chance of your lifetime']
["Farmer- get off my land']
Narrator: Its a hard sell
when a third of U.S. farms
are being abandoned
[Garst: We had to sell the corn
if I didn't trade the corn for money
we wouldn't eat or sleep]
Narrator: Garst gambles everthing
he gives farmer's the seed for free
in return for a share of their profit's
Across 50 counties in two states
in the worst drought ever
miraculous growth
but Garst isn't finished
he sell's another revolutionary product
taken from natures chemistry set
nitrogen fertilizer
spewed from volcano's
during the birth of our planet
nitrogen makes up
78 percent of earth's atmosphere
its invisible odorless, inert
but when scientist learn
to isolate nitrogen and turn the gas
into nitrate a nutrient essential
for the growth of plants
they uncover the key
to feeding the world's growing population
Garst, markets the new product
with a salesmen flare
sewn into a field
in a distinct pattern
"N" for nitrogen
Written into the grass of the Midwest
a clear message for the future
today almost every industrial farm
uses nitrogen fertilizer
Garst becomes a
international farming consultant
and one of the largest seed suppliers in the world
Russell: We found out that
the food supply is not
finite, that we can actually continue to increase it
to match the increasing population
Narrator: In 30 years
the worlds population grows
from 2 billion to 3 billion
15 years later
4 billion and rising
but with new crops and fertilizer's
we've grown more in the last
100 years than in the previous ten thousand
Bourdain: Fertilizer allowed us
to grow more, faster
and more productively
it could increased the food supply
Narrator: But as our numbers
explode so does the
scale and reach of human conflict
1942, mankind's first
truly global war
In Europe,Nazi Germany dominates
in the pacific imperial Japan
the largest state
in the U.S. Alaska
dangerously close to Asia
and isolated
[testing bombs]
Now 11,000 American soldiers
blaze an impossible trail
the out can highway
to link Alaska to west coast Canada
and the rest of the United States
an engineering challenge
that will connect a continent
In command General William Hoge
decorated war hero
engineering genius
battling some of the most
rugged terrain on the planet
he'll unlock a building boom
Meigs: What the out can highway
shows is it modern civilization
can project itself
into the wilderness
with incredible speed
Narrator: The challenge ahead
1,500 miles of forest in tundra
200 rivers
and the highest mountains
in North America
Hoge's greatest obstacle
time
just 8 months
to complete the highway
before the Alaska winter
In Hoge's command
Corporal Refines Sims
from Philadelphia
one of nearly 4,000
African Americans soldier's in Alaska
a third of the workforce
[we were in wilderness, we saw nothing but trees upon trees]
Narrator: Seven teams
hundred of miles apart
racing to meet in the middle
but with a third of the road unfinished, disaster
permafrost
a layer of frozen ground
up to 2,000 feet deep
exposed by bulldozer's
it melts into sinking mud
[we only found out about the
permafrost when it was to late]
trucks and caterpillars sink
into the muck til
they were out of sight]
Narrator: The army is loosing
battle against nature
at stake the security
of the united states
and time is running out
Alaska, army engineers
racing to build the out can highway
a supply route that will
help launch the greatest
road building boom
in mankind's history
but the project was
stuck in the mud
McNichol: This was a extraordinary
effort for the Alaskan road
became mired in mud
vehicles couldn't move
Narrator: General Hoge has a radical idea
ditch the bulldozers
engineers become ax men
[the only thing to do was make a matter, timber and branches]
Narrator: Corporal Refines Sims
leads a team laying a solid foundation
corduroying, an old roman technique reinvented
but progress plummet's
from 14 miles a day to just 1
for thousand's of years
the key to mankind's ambition engineering
No longer prisoner's of geography
we re-write nature
we overcome each new obstacle
by force of will
Gates jr: This ability has shaped
not just our existence
but, the fact that we are the
prodominate life form on the planet
Narrator: With winter closing in
two teams, one black one white
battle the weather to complete the final strectch
Wunderlich: Bitter cold, permafrost
wild animals completely untamed wilderness
men sat on the side of
the road and wept in pain
Narrator: October 29, 1942
temperature heading for minus 50
[cheering]
but today, the two ends of the road meet
Corporal Refines Sims
becomes a national hero
Wunderlich: It was a shining symbol
of the fact these men are equal
to the task their equal to their
white counter parts, their equal men
Narrator: Within six years
the U.S. army
is racially integrated
The out can highway complete
part of a 16,000 miles road
The world's longest drivable route
running the length of the America's
Meigs: It was huge step forward
and it lead to such a demand
for more roads, that we see roads now
literally circling the planet
Narrator: Within half a century
the world is racked
in a network of roads
long enough to stretch
to the moon and back, 20 times
But while warfare
on a global scale
push's us to connect the world and reshape
it also unleashes a new
and and terrifying source of power
that could support human life
on earth for million of years
or obliterate it
[ sound's of explosions]
August 6th, 1945
two miles above the pacific ocean
bomber pilot Colonel Paul Tibbets
30 years old
a military prodigy
on a secret mission to end
world war II
In Tibbet's pocket
12 cyanide tablets
one for each man on board
capture is not a option
they know to much
over 5 thousand years
and 14,500 wars
up to 3.5 billion have died
battling to exert maximum force
at maximum distance
with each new generation
a new weapon
Wunderlich: We talk about arms races
and this has been going on
since the beginning of time
um you hit me with a stick I
hit you with a bigger stick
Narrator: But mankind has never
know a weapon like this
the ultimate projection of power
the atom bomb
code name, little boy
target Hiroshima, Japan
first the bomb need's to be armed
Captain William Parson's
one of its designers
bomb comander
he removed the detonator before take off
to make it safe to fly
now he must refit it
The core of the bomb uranium
born in a cosmic explosion
six billion years ago
before the birth of our planet
dormant until scientist split its atoms
unleashing a apocalyptic power
to annihilate our species
or fuel our future
Dawn 850 miles from Japan
an American B-29 bomber
the anola gay
carries the most destructive
weapon in the history of mankind
"Tibbets, I'd been intrusted with the most
frightful weapon ever devised
I thought yes, were going to kill
a lot of people but, by god were
going to save a lot of lives"
Wunderlich: We have the power
that we have always reserved
only for God, we know have it
to end everything its in human power
that pervades every single
part of our lives today
Machowicz: The men aboard the anola gay
knew what they had to do
and they focused on the details
of that mission in order to execute it
no one really knows what's
going to happen once this
bomb leaves that aircraft
Narrator: 9:14 a.m.
a 60 second warning tone
below them a city of 350,000 people
Tibbits has 43 seconds to escape the blast zone
[sound of bomb exploding]
Narrator: An explosion 10,000
times hotter than the surface of the sun
the bomb kills more than 60,000 instantly
3 days later a second atom bomb
Japan surrenders
Williams: Its the most fearsome thing
this world can unleash
that's why we've only seen
two in the history of the world
Narrator: Since 1945 mankind has
been living in the atomic age
today there are over 19,000
nuclear war heads
able to destroy our species 20 times over
Meigs: With atomic weapons
we finally hit that point
of sort of a spiritual crisis
have we gone to far
and what does it mean
that we can can control
this most elemental of forces
with such awesome destructive power
Narrator: But with a terrible weapon
also comes a revolutionary source of energy
nuclear power, now the
third largest generator of electricity
with the potential to power
our planet for billions of years
In the 20th century
technology and science
are the key to
enhancing our world
human life takes a giant
leap forward in a
hospital in South Africa
1967, Capetown
Christiaan Barnard
a medical pioneer with
20 years experience
preparing to re-engineer
the human body
the patient Louie Washkansky
former boxer, an athlete
he'll die without Barnard's ground breaking surgery
the worlds first heart transplant
Oz: It was the sentinel moment
that showed everybody that
technology and science married together
could accomplish the unimaginable
in improving human life
Narrator: Key to the operation
a new technology the life support machine
the apex of human ingenuity
technology has always improved
our lives enabling us to by past
the limits of our bodies
and advance farther, faster
than any other species
now man and machine unite
to re-engineer life itself
Barnard, has done 50 heart transplants on dogs
but never on a human
"Barnard, I'm not ready for this
the dogs didn't survive for long enough
what right do I have to experiment on human"
Narrator: Washkansky had 3 previous heart attacks
he's critically ill
a fist sized muscle
vital to the life every person on the planet
the human heart beats two and a half
billion times in a average life
one missed beat can be fatal
first step, remove the dying heart
and hook up Washkansky
to a life support machine
it will do the work of the heart
"Barnard, I've never seen
a chest like this before
a human without a heart
kept alive by a machine"
Oz: Something so sacred as
the human heart
the organ of our poets
the internal metronome of
our bodies the thought that
it could be removed and replaced
and the patient still live , unimaginable
Narrator: Three hours into
the operation with the
patients blood mechanically
pumped through his body
Barnard must attach the
donor heart before it dies
Barnard jump start's the new heart
[clear the table, go ahead and shock it, shock]
[intense music]
the hear beat's but, it is
still powered by a machine
it has to beat on it's own
or Washkansky will die
the first ever heart transplant
an operation that could
revolutionize modern medicine
at a critical stage
after 3 heart attacks
Louie Washkansky has a new heart
still powered by a life support machine
but when Christiian Barnard
turns the machine off
the new heart falters
blood pressure drops
it's failing
[sound of machine beeping]
Washkansky's heart is spent
his life hangs in the balance
with it the future of medicine
Oz: Christiian Barnard's risk was not
just with his career he, was also risking
the dreams of many who believed we could
do organ transplantation successfully
that it wasn't just a gimmick
Narrator: To save Washkansky's life
Barnard put's him back on life support
and tries again
the new heart beat's
and keeps beating without the machine
the most complex operation in history
a success
Oz: Mechanical heart's transplanting
other organs, the thought that we
regenerate tissue, all this
came about because one brave man
was able accomplish one unimaginable feat
and show it was all possible
Narrator: Barnard's procedure has
saved over 75,000 lives in the United States alone
surgeons perform over 2,500 heart transplant's a year
our organ's replaceable and re-engineered
new body parts, new technology
a new mankind
but as science and technology
free us from the limit's of our bodies
across the world they are
also key to a new victory
in the struggle for individual rights and justice
Selma Alabama, 1965
600 African American's demand change
inspiring a global fight for freedom
Amelia Boynton
53 years old, a civil rights activist
since high school
Camarillo: Risk taker absolutely
committed to chance absolutely
hero absolutely
Narrator: Marching for the right to vote
blocking her way
centuries of discrimination
racism rules in the south
but only 25 percent of blacks and southern states
are registered voters
volunteer Boynton, helps them sign up
[next, is this your full name?]
[yes sir]
[you haven't filled this section in, can you right?]
[sir I know I don't have that piece]
[ I can't help you]
[please sir]
[go to the back of the line!]
[next]
Narrator: White authorities block their path
with red tape, and police intimidation
[confrontation between police and a man standing in line]
Narrator: the only option, protest
Camillo: People knew, like she did
that you protest in the south and you
risk life and limb
they knew it was dangerous
but they were also driven
for this struggle for equality
Williams: It's very hard to bottle up
the notion of freedom
once it's been uncorked
sadly, as long as there's been
human kind and as long
as were around, there's going to
be this tug of war between democracy and repression
Narrator: their destination the state capitol Montgomery
determined to stop them, Jim Clark
World War II, aircraft gunner
Selma Sheriff
he deputizes every white male over 21
joining 200 state troopers
but this confrontation won't go unseen
on the ground is local camera man
Lawrence Pierce
new's hungry, committed tough as nails
the journalist with the biggest story of his life
new technologies will harness the powers
of mass communication
information will travel further
and faster than ever before
a 3 minute warning
to disperse and go home
but the protestor's won't back down
90 seconds later the police attack
40 cans of tear gas
8 cans of nausea gas
on the receiving end activist Emilia Boynton
Machowicz: Imagine the courage and the fear
that they have to confront as club
and foot and hand is smashed upon them
until their driven into the ground
Narrator: Boynton, left for dead
she'll be unconscious for 2 days
but, the world is watching
Selma Alabama
police attack a non-violent protest
civil right activist Emelia Boynton
is on of 50 who are injured
but, key to any protest movement
in the modern age, television
journalist Lawrence Pierce
rush's film to New York
15 minutes of raw footage
interrupts (ABC) Sunday night movie
the birth of breaking TV news
by 1965, nine out ten
American families own a television
over 70 percent of the adult population
watch the TV new every evening
all three networks show the Selma violence
45 million viewers
Gates: Television made horror and brutality local
so local, that it was in your living room
that had never happened before
in the history of the United States
Willams: The nation couldn't look away
people were amazed , however grainy
however black and white at immediacy
of those image's, the people who
were beaten to within a inch of their lives
you didn't have to be in the movement
to believe in civil rights
but those pictures you couldn't turn off
Narrator: Within 15 days, President Lyndon Johnson
proposes the voting the rights act
outlawing voter discrimination
landmark legislation
a turning point for civil rights in America
media for the masses means repression won't go unseen
in a world for instant communication
everyone has a voice
Lindbergh: Communication, helps to grow the concept
and understanding of civilization
in the human race on the earth
equalizing the classes, equalizing the culture's
Narrator: The greater the numbers
the stronger the bonds
in a world of connections
we are the product of our history
100,000 thousand years ago
the emergence of an extraordinary species
Megis: One thing that defines humanity is skill
anything that you learn to do that
nature didn't program you to do
Narrator: A hunger to survive
fuels a power to invent
[the innovator survive, the innovator's had success ]
Narrator: Our thirst for knowledge
a quest to explore
William: This is what we do
never content with were we are
were, always looking over there and over there
may mean oceans or mountains or continents away
Narrator: We forge connections
but contact can bring conflict
Brands: One of the striking things
about humans is there never any human society
that hasn't had war, maybe its necessary to our evolution
Narrator: Mankind most enduring enemy disease
Oz: I'm confident in our life time
we experience a pandemic that is similar scope
to the bubonic plague, but now we have
and advantage, now we know its possible
we know what we can do
to stop it, we know what we
can do cure people who are infected
we will use science to beat back the
things we have feared the most
Narrator: Yet in our darkest moments
we find enlightenment
and with all we've learned
we face the future
Wunderlich: History is the road map
and with out it
there is no way to navigate the furture
its not possible
Narrator: Now a new journey
into inner space
Oz: The most important
place for us to investigate the
body now is the brain
in order to enter the
next realm of longevity
and wealth and health among humanity
Narrator: That same instinct to
discover ourselves will fuel
the exploration of our universe
will unlock the power of the sun
and reach out into space
There's a human need to investigate
to explore to see new lands I think
that drive will eventually will lead us
to other planets
Narrator: The next step a new home
Megis: There's no question
humans will be going to mars
probably within the lifetime
of people who are alive today
Narrator: The story of mankind is only just beginning