The other review posted here, which flames this episode, is based on a version of this episode posted on YouTube that, for some reason, lost all of its voiceovers. The original version of this episode featured extensive details and is absolutely fascinating.
Alan Alda leads us through different parts of Italy and different areas of then-cutting edge scientific endeavors underway. We begin in Pisa, with the story of the Leaning Tower and the efforts being done (at that time) to prevent it from falling over. We then go to Abruzzo to learn about conservation efforts for the native brown bear of that region. From there we move to Rome and watch what was then the early days of remote robotic surgery, as a surgeon in Rome performs a procedure on a mannequin in Milan. My personal favorite segment looks at Pompeii, and the contemporary efforts to protect the population around the Bay of Naples from the threat of a future eruption of Vesuvius, drawing on experiences in dealing with the eruption of Mt. Etna in Sicily in the early 1990s. The final segment includes some great history for anyone who's ever visited Florence, looking at the story of the machines that Filippo Brunelleschi developed to help him build the famous dome of the Florence Cathedral.
Alan Alda leads us through different parts of Italy and different areas of then-cutting edge scientific endeavors underway. We begin in Pisa, with the story of the Leaning Tower and the efforts being done (at that time) to prevent it from falling over. We then go to Abruzzo to learn about conservation efforts for the native brown bear of that region. From there we move to Rome and watch what was then the early days of remote robotic surgery, as a surgeon in Rome performs a procedure on a mannequin in Milan. My personal favorite segment looks at Pompeii, and the contemporary efforts to protect the population around the Bay of Naples from the threat of a future eruption of Vesuvius, drawing on experiences in dealing with the eruption of Mt. Etna in Sicily in the early 1990s. The final segment includes some great history for anyone who's ever visited Florence, looking at the story of the machines that Filippo Brunelleschi developed to help him build the famous dome of the Florence Cathedral.