James May's 20th Century

May concludes that the major breakthroughs in transportation over the last 100 years shrunk the world not by allowing us to see more of it, but--thanks to television, computers, and fiber optic cable--by increasingly bringing it to us.

May reruns the 20th century's space races. He begins with the V2 rockets that the Nazis launched on London and moves on to the rocket rivalry between Russia and America. All the while, he asks, was it all really worth it?

May examines how we can correct and compensate for medical problems, such as missing limbs or defective hearts. In the process, he shows that we can now defy the hand we were dealt at birth and, by unraveling our DNA, discover who we really are.

May tracks developments in the 20th century's most deadly form of warfare, aerial warfare, from the earliest reconnaissance planes and WWI dogfighters to the Royal Air Force's latest supersonic jet.

What spawned teenagers? Was it the nylon-inspired fashion revolution, crystal radio, vinyl records, the first Japanese motorcycle, or the electric guitar? May sets out to discover how, during the 20th century, the teenager emerged as a distinct entity.

How did we construct skyscrapers that appear to defy gravity? Why is an electrician from Newcastle the unsung hero behind our 24-hour lifestyle? And what motivates May to drop a Mini Cooper on a plate-glass window?

What's the best way to beat the traffic? The most obvious solution is to fly above it all. May examines the most efficient means of getting from A to B, from the rocket belt and the sky car to teleportation and the once top-secret Soviet-era "Caspian Sea Monster."

May goes on a quest for a better robot: a hybrid with the intelligence of a human and the brawn of a machine. He meets a mechanically assisted superwoman and a freaky android double, comes face-to-face with a robot that can think for itself, and is transformed into an avatar, a digital representation of himself.

How can we satisfy the world's insatiable appetite for energy-and find a source that is cheap, clean, and will never run out? May visits inventors all over the world who believe they can accomplish all four by capturing the power of sun, sea, and wind. Some claim they can even create fuel out of thin air.