Mankind Decoded
Through 12 surprising influences, H2 holds the key to unlock our secret history. As every tool, innovation and thought unfolds from the wheel to the Internet, the Vikings to Amelia Earhart and Stonehenge to soaring skyscrapers, Mankind Decoded deconstructs the Mankind series, exposing how each element unites us and affects our world.
- 2013-2013
- 1 season
- History Channel
- Documentary
Through 12 surprising influences, H2 holds the key to unlock our secret history. As every tool, innovation and thought unfolds from the wheel to the Internet, the Vikings to Amelia Earhart and Stonehenge to soaring skyscrapers, Mankind Decoded deconstructs the Mankind series, exposing how each element unites us and affects our world.
Season 1 Episode Guide
12 Episodes 2013
Episode 1
Arms Race
Sat, Jan 26, 2013 23 mins
About 10,000 years ago we discover farming. But when crops fail, early farming communities face a new threat. War. It's the birth of the arms race.
Episode 2
Lust for Luxury
Sat, Jan 26, 2013 22 mins
When ordinary people desire the luxuries of the rich, ingenuity and innovation come together to take history in a new direction. From the obsession with silk to the fall of Constantinople, our desire for luxury has shaped our history and evolution.
Episode 3
Violent Planet
Sat, Feb 2, 2013 22 mins
Like other species, mankind often made its greatest 'evolutionary' progress under major challenges. An exceptional volcanic eruption in Sumatra 70,000 years ago and later ice ages decimated the population, but only the strongest survived, thanks to technological innovations, like the needle to make better clothes and agriculture, resulting in sedentary life, trade and urbanization. Great droughts also caused major migrations, especially the Mongols conquering the largest empire ever, optimizing cultural exchanges, and later huge storms devastating vast American agricultural areas weakened by centuries of erosion, requiring innovation like nitrogen-based fertilizer tripling the yield. Exceptional pandemics, like the Black Death from Asia that killed about a third of 14th century Europeans, paradoxically allowed new growth as scarce labor was remunerated much better and the new rich financed exploration, enabling the colonial expansion, germs Europeans grew immune to killing off most native Americans, supplemented by the slave trade from Africa, its abolition causing another record slaughter in the American Civil War, and mass immigration, mainly from Europe.
Episode 4
Connecting the World
Sat, Feb 2, 2013 23 mins
Mankind progresses greatly when mobility enables exchanges, often trough trade, which achieves wealth and progress in culture and technology. The Roman roads mainly served to control a growing empire militarily, achieving the Pax Romana. The Silk Road enabled major east-west exchanges, not just Chinese silk for European silver, but also inventions, ideas and alas pestilence, yet the Mongol empire conquered by Genghis Khan allowed unprecedented interaction in the greatest of the migrations of steppe tribes caused by famine, then drought on the Mongolian pastures. The process advances spectacularly thanks to transport innovations, like railroads opening up large parts of North America. Modern technology tops it all, with communications without travel, evens satellites and Internet.
Episode 5
Rise of the Machines
Sat, Feb 9, 2013 22 mins
Tools and machines have allowed us to overcome our physical limitations, and become the most successful species on Earth. But tools are also transforming what it means to be human.
Episode 6
Eat It, Drink It, Smoke It
Sat, Feb 9, 2013 22 mins
Man uses plants to feed, heal and clothe himself, to build his world and even to alter how he feels. The use of plants like corn, tobacco and cotton become such an important part of our lives that they play a central role in our evolution.
Episode 7
Fire, Coal and Oil
Sat, Feb 16, 2013 22 mins
Early man rubbed two sticks together and created fire. We learn to cook our food, saving vital energy. As a result, our brains expand--making us the most intelligent species on the planet.
Episode 8
Man and Metals
Sat, Feb 16, 2013 23 mins
Five thousand years ago man first throws a handful of rocks into a campfire and stumbles upon a discovery that changes the world: Metal. Copper, Tin and Bronze empower the ancient world and allow empires to expand, armed with sharp, hard-wearing weapons.
Episode 9
Man and Beast
Sat, Feb 23, 2013 23 mins
15,000 years ago man and the wolf form a partnership that shapes the future of Mankind. With the help of man's new best friend we domesticate more animals, sowing the first seeds of farming and civilization.
Episode 10
Information Is Power
Sat, Feb 23, 2013 23 mins
Communication is the vital ingredient in the building of civilization. The ability to share complicated ideas allowed early man to hunt, farm and build communities.
Episode 11
Building Earth
Fri, Mar 1, 2013 22 mins
Mankind is a building species. Inspired by the divine we create monuments to its power (Stonehenge, the Great Pyramid). New challenges create new sciences and when the Romans mixed volcanic ash with water they created a new super-material: concrete.
Episode 12
Need for Speed
Fri, Mar 1, 2013 22 mins
No prizes for second place! In this episode we learn how being the fastest enabled empires to be born and capitalism to thrive.
