Lynn Poole describes some pottery pieces from several different centuries and civilizations and notes how the features of the pottery are clues to their past. Dr. Gus W. Van Beek, Johns Hopkins University archaeologist, says that of written and unwritten remains, archaeology is the only source of information on civilizations before the third millennium B.C., and pottery shreds are the most common remains. On a diagram of the Hajar bin Humeid mound excavated in 1950-51, he shows how each stratum is delineated by debris and specific features. The study of these layers is called stratigraphy. Since ancient pottery styles changed readily, relative chronology of a culture can be based on these changes. For example, the ledge handles on Palestinian jars went through four stages of design change. Likewise, immigration and colonization are revealed by changes in native pottery. Use of literary sources adds to this information for dating objects in the strata as does carbon-14 dating.

Lynn Poole briefly summarizes the highlights of Albert Einstein's life (1879-1955) with accompanying photos. Actors representing German physicist Max Planck, British scientist Sir Oliver Lodge, and Royal Society member Joseph J. Thompson comment on the progress of Einstein's work. Setting the foundation, Newton discovered the Corpuscular Theory of Light, Huygens the Wave Theory of Light, Maxwell and Hertz the Electromagnetic Theory, and Michelson and Morley the experiment using the interferometer to measure the speed of earth through "ether." From this evolved Einstein's 1905 "Special Theory of Relativity" (E=MC2) proving that all motion is relative and that light travels at a constant speed. Einstein won the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the photoelectric effect; contributed to the theory of Brownian movement, the molecular construction of matter; and conducted research in unified field theory.

This program focuses on the psychological and sociological aspects of gerontology. Dr. James E. Birren, with the National Institute of Mental Health, discusses how structure is created by a job, spouse, children, friends, and organizations, and when these influences are stripped away, one must initiate one's own meaningful activities to avoid idleness. He characterizes meaningful activity as something offering group approval, a degree of ritual or repetition, a semi-challenge, and a degree or range of uncertainty of outcome. He notes that geriatric research is growing; however, increasing life spans may increase interrelated problems in health, economics, social adjustment, and personal adjustment. Research has shown that usually poor health leads to retirement rather than the opposite, and those who continue working tend to feel better. Examples include George Bernard Shaw, Winston Churchill, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Ida Fuller, the first person to draw social security.

Lynn Poole displays a chart of the orchestra sections: strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. Dr. William Hart, timpanist with the Baltimore Symphonic Orchestra and professor at the Peabody conservatory of Music, defines the elements of music: rhythm, melody, and harmony and demonstrates each of them on the piano, noting that the percussion instruments are the dispensers of rhythm. He gives a brief history of percussive music while showing instruments such as the timbro, castanets, cymbals, tambourine, and Chinese temple blocks. With the assistance of fellow timpanist Dr. William G. DeLeon, Dr. Hart demonstrates and explains the snare drum, the most common percussive instrument; the xylophone and its use in modern compositions such as the "Sabre Dance"; the cymbals and their contrasting use in Wagner's "Die Walkure" and Debussy's "Festivals"; and the kettle drums, or timpani, which can be tuned and which provide the heartbeat of the orchestra.

Fourth generation glassblower John Lehman makes a glass trap for a vacuum system as specified by chemistry professor John Gryder. Mr. Lehman and Dr. Gryder explain the process of making the glass piece, including "pulling points," using both cross fires and torch to heat the glass as it evolves. A brief film explores the history of glass, from volcanic obsidian to the man-made glass of the Egyptians. In 300 B.C. the blowpipe was invented, opening the way to new uses of glass. At the first American colony in Jamestown, Virginia, Captain John Smith built a glass factory. A film shows a reenactment of an early American glassblower making a bottle. Dr. Gryder displays historical tools still used in the art plus modern ones that have been added. Manufacturers of glass have changed the assumed properties of glass, making it pliant, strong, heat and cold resistant, etc. for new functions. Mr. Lehman completes the glass piece, inserts it in the vacuum system, and tests it for leaks.

Johns Hopkins University president Milton S. Eisenhower briefly summarizes the life of Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), a poet and philosopher exiled from his native Florence. He then interviews Dr. Charles Singleton, Johns Hopkins professor of humanistic studies, about Dante's "Divine Comedy." Dr. Singleton explains that the poem is divided into 100 cantos and 3 canticles: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradisio, each of which he describes with diagrams. The poem tells the tale of a journey through the afterlife to God and can be read in the literal sense as well as an allegory. Dr. Singleton reads verses from Canto I in Italian and translates. St. Augustine's phrase "the unquiet heart," from "The Confessions," is the basis of Dante's allegory, a notion of the living's journey of mind and heart to God. He describes the image of a flame and how it rises upwards, seeking its proper place. Dr. Eisenhower comments that Dante's poem invites readers on a journey to escape provincialism.

This program introduces radar-tracking of storms with a filmed sequence of a time lapse PPI (plan position indicator) scope view of a hurricane. Dr. George Benton, Johns Hopkins University professor of meteorology, describes the origins of radar (an acronym for radio detection and ranging) and how it works. First used to detect and track airplanes, radar now locates clouds and precipitation. Dr. Benton compares echoes from 1 cm, 10 cm, and 23 cm wavelength radar sets used to detect various types of weather. Captain Howard Orville, meteorologist consultant for Bendix-Freeze Corp. in Baltimore, lists some of the milestones in radar history: 1922, A. Hoyt Taylor was one of the inventors of radar; 1941, the first hailstorm was tracked; and 1944, the first eye of a hurricane was tracked. He stresses the importance of radar in meteorology and displays the tracks of hurricanes Diane, Connie, and Audrey on a map. Dr. Benton describes types of storms and the amount of warning time radar can provide.

Lynn Poole interviews Dr. S. Fred Singer, associate professor of physics at University of Maryland, scientific consultant on U.S. Air Force's FARSIDE project, and father of the earliest practical satellite, MOUSE (Minimal Orbital Unmanned Satellite). Dr. Singer lists the primary contributors to propulsion: Newton, Tsiolkovsky, Oberth, and Goddard. He explains that the technical aspects of a rocket include propulsion, guidance, payload, and reentry. Currently chemical propulsion systems are used to launch rockets, but other propulsion systems, such as iron, photon, fusion, and fission, are being studied. Dr. Singer sketches a diagram to explain how gravitational pull and velocity make a satellite orbit and notes that a velocity greater than seven miles per second results in "escape velocity" and non-return of the satellite. The purpose of basic research, he says, is to train young people, such as the University of Maryland students who designed and built Terrapin and Oriole rockets.

Dr. Charles R. Anderson, professor of American literature at Johns Hopkins University, discusses the life, family, and poetry of Emily Dickinson, who lived in Amherst, Massachusetts from 1830-1886. At age 28 Dickinson fell in love with a married minister, her personality changed, and she began to write poetry, publishing just seven poems and keeping nearly 2,000 in her room. He seclusion became extreme as she renounced the world. However, her poetry keenly expressed New England village life as a microcosm of the larger world. Dr. Anderson discusses some of her more satirical poems, such as "The Show is not the Show" (no. 1206) comparing the human race to a menagerie. Other poems reveal the travesty of brokers and bankers, the village gossips ("The Leaves like Women interchange," no. 987), and the conventional ladies of the town ("What Soft-Cherubic Creatures," no. 130). However, Dickinson shows understanding and compassion for the town drunkard in "The Ditch is dear to the Drunkard."

In this film by Milner Productions, Dr. George Boas, Johns Hopkins University professor of the history of philosophy, meets with students at the Baltimore Museum of Art. He looks at Piet Mondrian's "Composition V" and explains its composition and rhythm. In comparison, he considers Marguerite Gerard's "Mother," a story picture like Norman Rockwell's "Saturday Evening Post" covers, and shows how its design is composed of triangles and vertical oblongs. Next, Dr. Boas interprets the subject, symbols, and design of a painting by Honore Daumier, best known for his caricatures. He also explains Elihu Vedder's allegorical picture "The Soul Between Doubt and Faith." Dr. Boas shows Picasso's portrait of "Leo Stein," and concludes with an explanation of Andre Masson's fantasy painting "There Is No Finished World," dealing with the precariousness of human life. He admits that all pictures are complicated and that there is no one definition of art.