There are some great questions

that have intrigued and haunted us

since the dawn of humanity.

What is out there?

How did we get here?

What is the world made of?

The story of our search

to answer those questions

is the story of science.

Of all human endeavors

science has had the greatest impact 
on our lives,

on how we see the world,

on how we see ourselves.

Its ideas, its achievements, its results

are all around us.

So, how did we arive at the modern world?

Well, that is more surprising

and more human than you might think.

The history of science is often told

as a series of eureka moments,

the ultimate triumph of the rational mind.

But the truth is that power and passion,

rivalry and sheer blind chance

have played equally significant parts.

In this series,

I'll be offering a different view

of how science happens.

It's been shaped as much by 
what's outside the laboratory as inside.

This is the story of how history made science

and science made history

and how the ideas that were generated

changed our world.

It is a tale of power,

proof,

and passion.