There are some of you out there that will recognize James May as one of the hosts from the smash BBC television show Top Gear (so smashing we Americanized it here, though I have never seen episode one of it). For those that haven’t seen James May before, no worries, he’s the perfect host for this intriguing and informative collection on inventions of the 20th century.

The first episode is titled Honey I Shrunk The World and follows the advance of science and technology that helped shrink bulky items like the radio, the car, and even airplanes. What’s fascinating about this episode is that instead of just looking at the sleeker new designs of each we take a look at the inner workings of the machines and how science shrank them down to make them more portable and more powerful. The episodes ends with the introduction of the computer and the internet and how instead of being the globe trotting adventurers that we once were we can now enjoy the mysteries and sights of the world from the comfort of our own homes. Whether or not this is a good thing is in the eye of the beholder.

Next we have Blast Off, an episode that looks into the science of space travel. If you know me then your familiar with my stance that space travel seems to be a whole lot of smoke and mirrors designed by rival countries to boost moral and pride while one upping the enemy. I was glad to see that May didn’t just buy into all of the space travel talk and gave a sly wink to the whole Moon Flag Waving conspiracy, but back to the episode. Here we look at the evolution of rockets. Who invested themselves in the creation of them, how they went from an independent life dream to a weapon and later to vehicles that brought man to the moon (supposedly).

I have to be honest and say that every single episode intrigued me because every single episode dove way down deep into bringing up the questions no one would have thought to ask and revealing some truths and fact behind each answer. The flying car? I never knew there were so many prototypes and success or that paperwork is the real reason were not all flying the kids to school right now. How about the episode The Invention of the Teenager? It’s not what you think. Instead of just hitting upon the fact that kids used to be raised like clones for adults the episode looks further into the creation of portable music, fashion, and transportation that gave teens the tools needed for rebellion. The you have Big City, Bright Lights. Ever wonder what would happen if you took the glass out of a skyscraper window, laid it flat and dropped a mini cooper on it? Chances are your guess at the outcome would be wrong. It’s just an absolutely amazing collection of episodes that really shines a light on our advances and really goes over the debate of whether or not we’ve done the right thing.

The set also comes with a bonus disc that contains longer more in-depth episodes, three to be exact. We look at our advances in flight, even visit a Florida community where the streets are designed for personal sized planes and then cars as a second. Man-Machine looks at the advance of robots and robotic technology that ahs helped to find a fix to broken humans as well as becoming human themselves. Finally Power To The People looks at our world and alternative power sources including mystical ones. Yup, all very interesting and exciting. Other then that you also get a James May biography and a small booklet that covers the episodes. If you’re interested in technology, science, human nature, this is a must have for you. I highly recommend it. Enjoy.