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Synopsis :

A programme in the documentary television series  'The Ascent of Man' written and presented by mathematician, biologist, science historian and author Dr Jacob Bronowski. The series was produced by the BBC and Time-Life Films and first transmitted in 1973.  Bronowski was of Polish origin, but his family settled in Britain where he was educated at Cambridge University. He travelled around the world to trace the development of human society through its understanding of science. In this edition, he explores the history of architecture by tracing how the rise of the stone mason led to the building of houses made of stone, brick or wood . This eventually resulted in the formation of cities. Dr Bornowski touches on how the Pueblo people in Arizona formed a kind of miniature city in the Canyon Deshay. In the move from the village to the city, a new community organisation was built based on division of labour and chains of command. He also goes to the Inca city of Machu Picchu in the high Andes in South America where crops were grown and an irrigation system was pesent. Travelling to Europe, he touches on Greek architecture and the invention of the oval arch by the Romans. Dr Bronowski speaks about the roof collapse at Beauvais Cathedral which ended the construction of super tall cathedrals. He then goes to his favourite monument, the Watts Towers in Los Angeles built by an Italian immigrant construction worker and tile mason Simon Rodia out chicken wire, steel rods, cement, seashells and broken glass. It took 33 years to build. Rodia was 75 when the Towers were completed in 1954. He gave his property to a neighbour and went away. Although the Towers were deemed unsafe, they were not pulled down.