Core77

Secret Life of Machines: Watch a Quirky British Gentleman Explain How Everything Works

By Carl Alviani - April 3, 2008

in Video

So, The Secret Life of Machines is not a show we grew up watching...but boy do we wish we had. A late 80's gem of the art of edutainment, it attempts to explain the construction, history and workings of all sorts of outwardly mundane contraptions, in episodes with straightforward names like "The Vacuum Cleaner" and "The Fax Machine."

Rather than veer into the pedantic or cheesy, though, it gets the balance just right, with a charming and engaging English gent named Tim Hunkin hosting, some fun, jittery explanatory cartoons, and lots of field trips to factories, print shops, and other places you didn't get to see as a kid.

Difficult and expensive to get hold of until recently, The Exploratorium in San Francisco has been hosting all 18 episodes as Quicktime streams on their website, much to our delight. If you've ever wondered why photocopiers keep breaking, this is a great way to find out.

Via Mental Floss (which refers to the show as "like an early version of MythBusters, minus the myths").

o

Favorite This
Q
6

Comment

Comments

pangeloni

16 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

I haven't seen these shows in years! My local PBS ran Secret Life, and a friend of mind would record Connections for me. These should be required viewing even if not for the info in them, for the method of "thinking through stuff". Thanks.
!Report as spam
Lorenzo G

16 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

YES! i saw all of them, all the episodes, thanx to youtube, or it was google video. Anyway, very interesting, now i know hot things work!
!Report as spam
dhiraj madura

16 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

if you like his sort of thing then you need to check out james burke's connections.

url:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connections_(TV_series):url
!Report as spam
the.arctic

16 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

Actually, his website also gives the torrent links if you want to download the episodes in marginally higher quality.
!Report as spam
Luke

16 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

I loved this program!!!! it made me take stuff apart...great link
!Report as spam
Victor Trac

16 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

Oh man, I completely forgot about this show. I used to watch this and loved it as a kid.
!Report as spam