1 00:00:01,419 --> 00:00:01,458 William shatner: Magnificent temples, monumental dams... 2 00:00:05,339 --> 00:00:07,881 And lofty spires 3 00:00:07,967 --> 00:00:11,260 that reach out and touch the sky. 4 00:00:14,306 --> 00:00:16,306 Why do we build? 5 00:00:16,392 --> 00:00:19,727 Huh? Is it just because we need roofs over our heads? 6 00:00:19,812 --> 00:00:22,563 Or is there another, even more profound reason 7 00:00:22,648 --> 00:00:27,109 why we create massive stone monuments... 8 00:00:27,194 --> 00:00:29,945 Soaring cathedrals... 9 00:00:30,031 --> 00:00:33,574 And towering skyscrapers? 10 00:00:33,659 --> 00:00:36,160 Are we trying to prove something? 11 00:00:36,245 --> 00:00:37,995 Or perhaps even... 12 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:39,913 Play god? 13 00:00:39,999 --> 00:00:41,707 Well... 14 00:00:41,751 --> 00:00:44,293 That is what we'll try and find out. 15 00:00:44,378 --> 00:00:46,462 ♪ ♪ 16 00:01:06,859 --> 00:01:10,027 shatner: Experts working in the acoustics research centre 17 00:01:10,071 --> 00:01:12,154 at the university of salford, 18 00:01:12,239 --> 00:01:15,407 publish the results of a groundbreaking study 19 00:01:15,451 --> 00:01:17,242 on one of the most iconic 20 00:01:17,328 --> 00:01:19,369 ancient monuments in the world... 21 00:01:19,455 --> 00:01:21,830 Stonehenge. 22 00:01:23,292 --> 00:01:25,876 In their experiment, the scientists constructed 23 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:29,171 a scale model 1/12 the actual size 24 00:01:29,256 --> 00:01:31,215 of stonehenge... 25 00:01:31,258 --> 00:01:36,053 Used speakers to shoot sound waves throughout the model... 26 00:01:36,138 --> 00:01:39,681 And measured how sounds reverberated 27 00:01:39,767 --> 00:01:42,309 through the miniature structure. 28 00:01:42,394 --> 00:01:43,560 Their conclusion? 29 00:01:43,604 --> 00:01:46,855 The massive blocks of stonehenge 30 00:01:46,941 --> 00:01:49,191 were designed... 31 00:01:49,276 --> 00:01:51,443 To amplify sound. 32 00:01:53,489 --> 00:01:55,906 Andrew collins: Everybody knows about stonehenge. 33 00:01:55,991 --> 00:01:58,367 This is the most famous megalithic monument 34 00:01:58,452 --> 00:02:00,119 anywhere in the world. 35 00:02:00,204 --> 00:02:02,579 But who created this? 36 00:02:02,665 --> 00:02:04,289 Why would they have done it? 37 00:02:04,375 --> 00:02:07,876 What research is now beginning to suggest is that 38 00:02:07,962 --> 00:02:11,004 one of the possibilities is to enhance 39 00:02:11,090 --> 00:02:13,632 the generation of sound used in ritual. 40 00:02:14,844 --> 00:02:18,220 Shatner: The idea that stonehenge was used to amplify sounds 41 00:02:18,305 --> 00:02:22,057 made during rituals is intriguing. 42 00:02:22,143 --> 00:02:24,935 But it is just the latest in a long line of theories 43 00:02:24,979 --> 00:02:27,604 about this mysterious structure. 44 00:02:27,690 --> 00:02:30,816 After centuries of study and speculation, 45 00:02:30,901 --> 00:02:35,612 stonehenge continues to inspire both fascination 46 00:02:35,698 --> 00:02:37,990 and intense debate as to how 47 00:02:38,075 --> 00:02:40,951 and why it was built. 48 00:02:41,036 --> 00:02:43,412 Hugh newman: Stonehenge is the most magnificent stone circle 49 00:02:43,497 --> 00:02:45,038 in the british isles. 50 00:02:45,124 --> 00:02:47,749 It's unique, it's unlike any stone circle 51 00:02:47,835 --> 00:02:49,459 anywhere on the planet. 52 00:02:49,545 --> 00:02:52,713 It has lintels above it, it's perfectly circular. 53 00:02:52,798 --> 00:02:55,674 And it really stands out as the kind 54 00:02:55,759 --> 00:02:57,843 of symbol of ancient britain. 55 00:02:57,887 --> 00:03:01,597 People are kind of obsessed by it because it's the only way 56 00:03:01,682 --> 00:03:05,350 they can get back to have some contact with their ancestors. 57 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:09,813 Shatner: Believed to be constructed in 3000 bc, 58 00:03:09,899 --> 00:03:13,108 stonehenge has stood on the plains of wiltshire, England 59 00:03:13,194 --> 00:03:16,028 for at least 5,000 years. 60 00:03:16,071 --> 00:03:19,823 With an outer ring of 30 four-ton stones 61 00:03:19,909 --> 00:03:22,576 surrounding five huge arches 62 00:03:22,661 --> 00:03:25,579 whose massive blocks weigh 25 tons each, 63 00:03:25,664 --> 00:03:29,333 stonehenge's construction 64 00:03:29,418 --> 00:03:31,877 defies explanation. 65 00:03:33,130 --> 00:03:36,632 Such a project could not have been achieved haphazardly. 66 00:03:36,717 --> 00:03:39,218 Lynn picknett: We know that some of the stones 67 00:03:39,261 --> 00:03:42,763 were actually imported from south wales, 68 00:03:42,848 --> 00:03:46,141 which was something like 120 miles away. 69 00:03:47,269 --> 00:03:49,353 A bit tricky when you don't have 70 00:03:49,438 --> 00:03:52,356 flatbed trucks or decent roads. 71 00:03:52,441 --> 00:03:54,983 Newman: Some of the stones at stonehenge 72 00:03:55,069 --> 00:03:57,527 weigh between 50 and 70 tons. 73 00:03:57,613 --> 00:03:59,363 So how could you have moved them from wales 74 00:03:59,406 --> 00:04:00,864 to construct stonehenge? 75 00:04:00,950 --> 00:04:04,368 These are answers that have not been properly dealt with. 76 00:04:05,579 --> 00:04:07,913 Picknett: For part of the journey, it's been worked out 77 00:04:07,957 --> 00:04:10,749 that they would've floated them on boats. 78 00:04:10,793 --> 00:04:13,252 But then there would be quite a bit of land 79 00:04:13,295 --> 00:04:15,045 to drag them across 80 00:04:15,130 --> 00:04:18,173 and presumably they used greased rollers 81 00:04:18,259 --> 00:04:21,093 and an awful lot of manpower. 82 00:04:21,178 --> 00:04:23,887 But, again, we don't know. 83 00:04:23,973 --> 00:04:26,515 Once people have actually got the stones 84 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:28,183 to the site at stonehenge, 85 00:04:28,269 --> 00:04:29,851 the next major problem is 86 00:04:29,937 --> 00:04:31,395 how do you lift them up in the air? 87 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:33,981 And the only way I can think 88 00:04:34,066 --> 00:04:36,191 that you would do that is that you would make 89 00:04:36,277 --> 00:04:39,069 a ramp and you would drag them up the ramp, 90 00:04:39,113 --> 00:04:41,363 and then tip them off the end. 91 00:04:41,448 --> 00:04:44,074 That's a massive undertaking, 92 00:04:44,159 --> 00:04:46,743 so we're talking about thousands of people 93 00:04:46,787 --> 00:04:48,829 involved creating stonehenge. 94 00:04:48,914 --> 00:04:51,832 And these people are working 150 miles apart. 95 00:04:51,917 --> 00:04:55,252 Just imagine how complex those logistics are. 96 00:04:55,337 --> 00:04:57,796 We may never really know how they did it. 97 00:04:59,216 --> 00:05:02,467 Shatner: As if transporting, hoisting, and precisely balancing 98 00:05:02,553 --> 00:05:05,470 those giant stones wasn't incredible enough, 99 00:05:05,514 --> 00:05:09,391 scholars have observed that stonehenge's entrance 100 00:05:09,476 --> 00:05:11,935 aligns perfectly 101 00:05:12,021 --> 00:05:14,980 with the rising sun on the summer solstice. 102 00:05:16,692 --> 00:05:18,442 The longest day of the year. 103 00:05:19,570 --> 00:05:23,822 Collins: It was almost like a marriage of heaven and earth together 104 00:05:23,907 --> 00:05:25,824 to get closer to heaven. 105 00:05:25,909 --> 00:05:28,577 And it seemed to be bringing down the influence 106 00:05:28,662 --> 00:05:30,454 of the sky world 107 00:05:30,497 --> 00:05:32,664 on earth itself. 108 00:05:32,750 --> 00:05:35,709 Newman: It does seem that they wanted to influence 109 00:05:35,794 --> 00:05:39,129 and integrate the natural energies of the earth. 110 00:05:39,214 --> 00:05:41,798 And these massive megalithic boulders 111 00:05:41,884 --> 00:05:44,468 with cosmic energies from above 112 00:05:44,511 --> 00:05:46,136 to create this enchanted space 113 00:05:46,221 --> 00:05:47,679 where people could have ceremony. 114 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:52,392 Shatner: Were stonehenge's megalithic boulders intended 115 00:05:52,478 --> 00:05:55,145 to be energetically linked to the power of the sun 116 00:05:55,230 --> 00:05:57,147 in some way? 117 00:05:57,232 --> 00:06:00,692 It's certainly a thought-provoking question. 118 00:06:00,736 --> 00:06:04,821 And it might help to explain yet another mystery. 119 00:06:04,907 --> 00:06:08,200 The burial sites that are all around stonehenge. 120 00:06:08,285 --> 00:06:12,245 You can see hundreds of burial mounds. 121 00:06:12,331 --> 00:06:14,664 The kind of people that are buried there 122 00:06:14,750 --> 00:06:16,666 come from all over europe. 123 00:06:16,752 --> 00:06:19,753 In other words, they were visitors there. 124 00:06:19,838 --> 00:06:21,880 It was a site that people were coming to 125 00:06:21,965 --> 00:06:24,174 from all over europe. 126 00:06:24,218 --> 00:06:26,218 Now, why were they coming there? 127 00:06:28,263 --> 00:06:31,640 What's strange is that the archaeology suggests 128 00:06:31,725 --> 00:06:35,644 that many of these people had some long-term illness 129 00:06:35,729 --> 00:06:39,981 or disability, suggesting that they were going to stonehenge 130 00:06:40,067 --> 00:06:42,359 in the hope of a cure. 131 00:06:43,737 --> 00:06:46,696 Shatner: Stonehenge, a healing sanctuary? 132 00:06:46,782 --> 00:06:49,699 But why would people struggling with illness 133 00:06:49,785 --> 00:06:53,036 think that this stone circle could cure them? 134 00:06:53,122 --> 00:06:55,080 Phillips: Some of the stones at stonehenge 135 00:06:55,165 --> 00:06:57,207 are called bluestones. 136 00:06:57,292 --> 00:06:59,084 There's only one place that bluestone 137 00:06:59,169 --> 00:07:00,710 can be got in the british isles, 138 00:07:00,796 --> 00:07:04,214 and that's the preseli hills in south wales. 139 00:07:04,299 --> 00:07:05,966 We know that they moved those stones 140 00:07:06,051 --> 00:07:08,385 all the way from south wales to stonehenge, 141 00:07:08,470 --> 00:07:09,803 but why would they do this? 142 00:07:09,888 --> 00:07:11,805 Why would they need those very specific 143 00:07:11,890 --> 00:07:13,223 kind of stones? 144 00:07:15,436 --> 00:07:17,644 Newman: In ancient traditions of 145 00:07:17,729 --> 00:07:19,438 the preseli mountains where the bluestones 146 00:07:19,481 --> 00:07:21,648 of stonehenge originally came from, 147 00:07:21,733 --> 00:07:25,277 it states that if you poured water over the stones, 148 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:28,071 and then you drank the water, it would have healing effects. 149 00:07:28,157 --> 00:07:31,116 And the idea was people would come from all over europe 150 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:33,410 and actually come to stonehenge to be healed, 151 00:07:33,495 --> 00:07:35,996 not just using the energy of the stones, 152 00:07:36,081 --> 00:07:37,581 but also the water that was poured 153 00:07:37,666 --> 00:07:39,458 over the stones and then drunk. 154 00:07:40,544 --> 00:07:42,002 Shatner: Is it possible that the bluestones 155 00:07:42,087 --> 00:07:43,086 that make up stonehenge 156 00:07:43,130 --> 00:07:46,465 actually have healing properties? 157 00:07:46,550 --> 00:07:49,926 For some, that sounds rather fantastical and hard to believe. 158 00:07:50,012 --> 00:07:52,721 But for others, it's one of the many intriguing theories 159 00:07:52,806 --> 00:07:54,556 that makes stonehenge 160 00:07:54,641 --> 00:07:56,308 so fascinating. 161 00:07:57,603 --> 00:08:00,979 Phillips: We may never know why they brought the bluestones 162 00:08:01,064 --> 00:08:04,399 from 150 miles away. 163 00:08:04,485 --> 00:08:07,903 We may never know why they built stonehenge 164 00:08:07,988 --> 00:08:11,406 because they left no writing behind. 165 00:08:11,492 --> 00:08:14,659 But we do know that stonehenge attracts 166 00:08:14,703 --> 00:08:17,245 over a million visitors every year. 167 00:08:17,331 --> 00:08:19,414 It attracts new-age travelers. 168 00:08:19,500 --> 00:08:21,166 It attracts occultists. 169 00:08:21,210 --> 00:08:23,585 It attracts ordinary, everyday people. 170 00:08:23,670 --> 00:08:25,837 There's something about stonehenge 171 00:08:25,923 --> 00:08:28,256 that seems to act as a magnet. 172 00:08:30,552 --> 00:08:34,179 Shatner: Stonehenge is evidence of humanity's desire to build 173 00:08:34,264 --> 00:08:38,517 a structure that was more than just a place of shelter. 174 00:08:38,602 --> 00:08:42,896 It is an early example of a primal urge within us 175 00:08:42,981 --> 00:08:46,816 to create something greater than ourselves. 176 00:08:46,902 --> 00:08:51,363 But what motivates this ambition in the first place? 177 00:08:51,448 --> 00:08:55,951 Well, perhaps a clue can be found a little later in history 178 00:08:56,036 --> 00:08:59,621 by examining the engineering of the ancient greeks 179 00:08:59,706 --> 00:09:02,999 and the strange perfection 180 00:09:03,085 --> 00:09:05,043 of the parthenon. 181 00:09:10,926 --> 00:09:13,301 Shatner: High atop the acropolis in athens, greece 182 00:09:13,387 --> 00:09:15,470 stands one of the most magnificent 183 00:09:15,556 --> 00:09:18,932 and most aesthetically pleasing structures in the world. 184 00:09:19,017 --> 00:09:21,142 The parthenon. 185 00:09:21,228 --> 00:09:23,770 This 23,000-square-foot temple 186 00:09:23,855 --> 00:09:27,232 was constructed using 100,000 tons of radiant white marble. 187 00:09:27,276 --> 00:09:30,026 The exterior of the parthenon is lined 188 00:09:30,112 --> 00:09:32,862 with 46 colossal columns... 189 00:09:32,948 --> 00:09:34,823 Which strikingly appear to be laid out 190 00:09:34,908 --> 00:09:37,158 in the shape of an exact rectangle. 191 00:09:37,244 --> 00:09:40,245 And what's more astonishing is that the more than 192 00:09:40,330 --> 00:09:44,416 13,000 stone blocks used to assemble the parthenon 193 00:09:44,459 --> 00:09:47,168 were precisely fitted together, 194 00:09:47,254 --> 00:09:50,005 without the use of mortar. 195 00:09:50,090 --> 00:09:52,007 Which begs the question... 196 00:09:52,092 --> 00:09:54,843 How were the ancient greeks able 197 00:09:54,928 --> 00:09:57,679 to build something that looks so... 198 00:09:57,764 --> 00:10:00,015 Perfect? 199 00:10:00,100 --> 00:10:03,351 Jonathan young: The parthenon is an amazingly beautiful structure. 200 00:10:03,437 --> 00:10:06,730 The design, the spacing of each stone 201 00:10:06,815 --> 00:10:10,191 is so perfect that it inspires just to look at. 202 00:10:11,653 --> 00:10:13,903 The proportions are so exact. 203 00:10:13,989 --> 00:10:16,906 For a large building, it is an amazing thing. 204 00:10:16,992 --> 00:10:19,242 And it lifts the spirit upward. 205 00:10:20,454 --> 00:10:23,413 Shatner: Built beginning in 447 bc 206 00:10:23,498 --> 00:10:26,499 on the orders of the famed statesman and general pericles, 207 00:10:26,585 --> 00:10:29,711 the parthenon celebrates the athenians' victory 208 00:10:29,796 --> 00:10:32,047 over persian invaders... 209 00:10:32,132 --> 00:10:35,717 Who had tried to conquer the city for 50 years. 210 00:10:35,802 --> 00:10:39,554 Doran: Athens during the time of the building of the parthenon 211 00:10:39,640 --> 00:10:43,600 is an incredible, cosmopolitan, vibrant city. 212 00:10:43,685 --> 00:10:48,396 It's producing art, literature, 213 00:10:48,482 --> 00:10:52,442 sculpture, architecture. 214 00:10:52,527 --> 00:10:56,196 It's the manhattan of the fifth century bc. 215 00:10:56,281 --> 00:10:59,741 And I think if you're an athenian citizen, 216 00:10:59,826 --> 00:11:02,160 walking, doing your everyday work, 217 00:11:02,204 --> 00:11:06,748 and then you see the acropolis in the center of the city, 218 00:11:06,833 --> 00:11:09,125 this incredible shining hill, 219 00:11:09,211 --> 00:11:12,462 and then you see the parthenon-- the gleaming marble, 220 00:11:12,547 --> 00:11:16,633 the biggest and most beautiful greek temple that existed, 221 00:11:16,718 --> 00:11:19,678 at least in mainland greece at this point-- 222 00:11:19,763 --> 00:11:21,930 you'd be filled with a sense of wonder. 223 00:11:24,017 --> 00:11:26,976 Shatner: Although most of the interior of the parthenon has decayed 224 00:11:27,062 --> 00:11:29,646 due to the ravages of time, 225 00:11:29,731 --> 00:11:32,482 the rectangular symmetry of its exterior 226 00:11:32,567 --> 00:11:36,069 looks flawless to this day. 227 00:11:36,154 --> 00:11:39,614 But strangely, for a temple that was clearly built 228 00:11:39,700 --> 00:11:41,950 with perfection in mind, 229 00:11:42,035 --> 00:11:45,787 what makes the parthenon so fascinating 230 00:11:45,872 --> 00:11:48,456 is actually its imperfections. 231 00:11:49,459 --> 00:11:52,585 Not only were the greeks masters of geometry, 232 00:11:52,671 --> 00:11:55,714 they were also masters of optical illusions. 233 00:11:55,799 --> 00:11:59,384 They knew the fact that your eye plays tricks on you. 234 00:11:59,428 --> 00:12:01,928 Therefore, they built the parthenon 235 00:12:02,013 --> 00:12:04,472 "slightly incorrectly," quote, unquote, 236 00:12:04,558 --> 00:12:06,015 to compensate for this 237 00:12:06,101 --> 00:12:09,144 so that the net result is perfection. 238 00:12:10,105 --> 00:12:13,022 Doran: The parthenon is a rectangle, 239 00:12:13,108 --> 00:12:16,443 but there are no right angles in the entire building. 240 00:12:16,528 --> 00:12:19,821 Everything is slightly off. 241 00:12:19,906 --> 00:12:22,449 The columns look straight from below, 242 00:12:22,534 --> 00:12:27,120 but they are slightly tilted toward each other. 243 00:12:27,205 --> 00:12:31,166 So if you were standing at the base of the parthenon, 244 00:12:31,251 --> 00:12:35,795 and if the columns didn't stop after a certain number of feet, 245 00:12:35,881 --> 00:12:39,257 but they kept on going all the way up into the sky, 246 00:12:39,301 --> 00:12:42,260 you would see the columns meeting 247 00:12:42,304 --> 00:12:46,347 if they were long enough to actually meet. 248 00:12:46,433 --> 00:12:49,601 This is a very curious thing that the builders did. 249 00:12:50,771 --> 00:12:53,229 Kaku: It turns out that the parthenon does not have 250 00:12:53,315 --> 00:12:55,482 straight parallel lines at all. 251 00:12:55,567 --> 00:12:59,068 The columns are not vertically cylindrical at all. 252 00:12:59,112 --> 00:13:03,907 They bulge by about an inch at the center of the cylinder. 253 00:13:03,992 --> 00:13:07,619 So, for example, the human brain, looking at a column, 254 00:13:07,662 --> 00:13:10,914 will actually think that the waist is pinched. 255 00:13:10,999 --> 00:13:13,583 Your eye thinks that the center of the cylinder 256 00:13:13,668 --> 00:13:15,502 is shrunk. 257 00:13:15,587 --> 00:13:17,045 To compensate for that, 258 00:13:17,130 --> 00:13:19,923 the columns of the parthenon bulge. 259 00:13:20,008 --> 00:13:22,717 There's no way this could have been an accident. 260 00:13:22,803 --> 00:13:26,763 Shatner: But is that all the greeks were trying to achieve-- 261 00:13:26,848 --> 00:13:29,432 an optical illusion? 262 00:13:29,518 --> 00:13:32,435 Or could they have had another purpose in mind 263 00:13:32,479 --> 00:13:34,896 when they built the parthenon? 264 00:13:34,981 --> 00:13:37,982 Collins: Why do we create monuments like the parthenon? 265 00:13:39,361 --> 00:13:41,110 And the answer is, 266 00:13:41,196 --> 00:13:45,573 we want to try and imitate the divine. 267 00:13:45,659 --> 00:13:48,451 The divine was seen as perfection. 268 00:13:48,495 --> 00:13:51,496 The gods are seen as perfection. 269 00:13:51,581 --> 00:13:54,207 And so sacred geometry 270 00:13:54,292 --> 00:13:57,335 has been incorporated into the parthenon 271 00:13:57,420 --> 00:13:59,504 in the belief that it was now endowed 272 00:13:59,548 --> 00:14:01,840 with some kind of divine power. 273 00:14:02,843 --> 00:14:05,802 And this was done very specifically 274 00:14:05,887 --> 00:14:10,306 to connect the mundane with the divine 275 00:14:10,392 --> 00:14:14,686 to create the connection between this world and the next. 276 00:14:16,231 --> 00:14:18,606 Shatner: Is the unique design of the parthenon 277 00:14:18,692 --> 00:14:21,818 some kind of attempt to connect to a higher power? 278 00:14:21,903 --> 00:14:25,363 According to some researchers, the answer is yes. 279 00:14:25,407 --> 00:14:29,284 And they claim that the fact that the parthenon still stands, 280 00:14:29,369 --> 00:14:32,704 and that it still looks perfect and pleasing to the eye, 281 00:14:32,747 --> 00:14:34,873 is a testament to what its architects 282 00:14:34,916 --> 00:14:39,460 were striving to build: Something eternal, everlasting 283 00:14:39,546 --> 00:14:43,006 and, perhaps, divine. 284 00:14:43,091 --> 00:14:45,508 Just like another extraordinary structure 285 00:14:45,594 --> 00:14:48,511 that was constructed more than a thousand years later, 286 00:14:48,597 --> 00:14:52,390 one that was built not just to represent the divine, 287 00:14:52,434 --> 00:14:53,683 but to make you feel 288 00:14:53,727 --> 00:14:57,478 like you were actually in the presence of god. 289 00:15:06,865 --> 00:15:08,907 Shatner: For centuries, 290 00:15:08,950 --> 00:15:12,535 many have remarked on the strange power that notre-dame-- 291 00:15:12,621 --> 00:15:15,830 the historic cathedral that sits at the center of paris-- 292 00:15:15,916 --> 00:15:17,957 has on people. 293 00:15:18,752 --> 00:15:21,085 But what exactly is this power? 294 00:15:21,171 --> 00:15:24,964 And could it actually be the presence of... 295 00:15:25,050 --> 00:15:27,258 God? 296 00:15:27,344 --> 00:15:29,427 Dell upton: What's extraordinary to me 297 00:15:29,512 --> 00:15:31,596 is that you've got a building 298 00:15:31,640 --> 00:15:33,848 that has been there for almost a thousand years, 299 00:15:33,934 --> 00:15:35,808 in one form or another, 300 00:15:35,894 --> 00:15:38,603 and even though it's important 301 00:15:38,647 --> 00:15:40,647 from an architectural historian's point of view 302 00:15:40,732 --> 00:15:44,108 in various ways, it also has this life in popular culture, 303 00:15:44,152 --> 00:15:46,486 which many buildings don't. 304 00:15:46,571 --> 00:15:49,113 Its role in the public view 305 00:15:49,199 --> 00:15:52,450 has to do with its subsequent reputation. 306 00:15:53,411 --> 00:15:55,662 Amir hussain: You walk into notre-dame, 307 00:15:55,747 --> 00:15:57,246 and all of a sudden you realize 308 00:15:57,290 --> 00:15:58,915 the one human being is very small, 309 00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:00,750 and you're literally humbled by this, 310 00:16:00,835 --> 00:16:02,168 and almost falling to the ground, 311 00:16:02,253 --> 00:16:05,797 because it's such an impressive sort of structure there. 312 00:16:05,840 --> 00:16:08,466 Young: The light coming through the windows, 313 00:16:08,510 --> 00:16:10,802 especially the rose windows, 314 00:16:10,845 --> 00:16:12,804 has an effect on our consciousness. 315 00:16:12,847 --> 00:16:14,973 This is something beyond words. 316 00:16:15,016 --> 00:16:18,643 This is the power of ritual and aesthetics to touch us 317 00:16:18,728 --> 00:16:20,603 on a spiritual level. 318 00:16:20,689 --> 00:16:23,314 It can't entirely be explained. 319 00:16:25,276 --> 00:16:27,652 Picknett: It's like there is a presence there. 320 00:16:28,655 --> 00:16:30,446 People go silent. 321 00:16:30,490 --> 00:16:32,448 You know, talking in whispers. 322 00:16:32,534 --> 00:16:34,492 And you say, "well, of course they would be, 323 00:16:34,536 --> 00:16:36,494 it's a christian cathedral." 324 00:16:36,538 --> 00:16:38,579 so that's what christians take from it. 325 00:16:38,665 --> 00:16:40,415 It reinforces... 326 00:16:40,500 --> 00:16:41,791 Their belief. 327 00:16:41,876 --> 00:16:44,836 But millions upon millions of visitors have felt it, 328 00:16:44,879 --> 00:16:46,796 whether they have any religion or not. 329 00:16:48,341 --> 00:16:50,591 Shatner: In 1163 ad, 330 00:16:50,677 --> 00:16:53,678 bishop maurice de sully authorized the construction 331 00:16:53,763 --> 00:16:56,055 of notre-dame cathedral. 332 00:16:56,141 --> 00:17:00,810 The bishop wanted the majesty and splendor of notre-dame 333 00:17:00,895 --> 00:17:05,356 to show France's devotion to god. 334 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:09,318 The massive building took over 180 years to complete, 335 00:17:09,404 --> 00:17:12,822 and features a 115-foot-high roof 336 00:17:12,907 --> 00:17:17,827 and two towers that stand 223 feet tall. 337 00:17:19,330 --> 00:17:21,289 The value system of a collective 338 00:17:21,374 --> 00:17:26,085 is reflected in the shrines and monuments they build. 339 00:17:27,088 --> 00:17:29,380 Notre-dame was the tallest building in paris 340 00:17:29,466 --> 00:17:31,299 for a very long time. 341 00:17:31,384 --> 00:17:33,342 The common people on the street would look up 342 00:17:33,428 --> 00:17:38,014 and see the cathedral towering above all other human activity. 343 00:17:38,058 --> 00:17:40,850 That was the message. 344 00:17:40,935 --> 00:17:43,061 A thousand years ago, when architects were building 345 00:17:43,104 --> 00:17:45,396 bigger and bigger stone cathedrals, 346 00:17:45,482 --> 00:17:48,566 the problem was, sometimes they would collapse. 347 00:17:50,236 --> 00:17:52,153 So before they had steel, 348 00:17:52,238 --> 00:17:56,074 they had to use stone with weight on the outside, 349 00:17:56,159 --> 00:18:00,036 called the flying buttress, to support the roof. 350 00:18:00,121 --> 00:18:02,080 That's the reason why notre-dame, 351 00:18:02,123 --> 00:18:04,082 built a thousand years ago, 352 00:18:04,125 --> 00:18:06,751 can have thin walls and stained glass. 353 00:18:07,670 --> 00:18:10,922 Burrows: Notre-dame's builders wanted to inspire awe 354 00:18:10,965 --> 00:18:13,549 when people came and looked at the cathedral. 355 00:18:13,635 --> 00:18:15,259 So, how did they do that? 356 00:18:15,345 --> 00:18:19,013 One of the main tricks is to allow light into the space 357 00:18:19,099 --> 00:18:22,266 so that you get this huge sense of height. 358 00:18:22,352 --> 00:18:24,018 You don't see the massive walls, 359 00:18:24,104 --> 00:18:27,188 and the building seems to be floating on air. 360 00:18:28,024 --> 00:18:30,316 Shatner: Historians and architects 361 00:18:30,401 --> 00:18:34,112 have also suggested that the power of notre-dame may come, 362 00:18:34,155 --> 00:18:37,073 not just from how it looks, 363 00:18:37,158 --> 00:18:39,992 but also how it sounds. 364 00:18:40,078 --> 00:18:42,495 Hussain: So, one of the amazing things about notre-dame cathedral 365 00:18:42,580 --> 00:18:45,123 is the sound, the acoustical properties. 366 00:18:45,166 --> 00:18:47,959 And the acoustics in there are just marvelous. 367 00:18:48,044 --> 00:18:51,087 (men's choir singing gently in latin) 368 00:18:57,846 --> 00:18:59,804 and that affects us. 369 00:18:59,848 --> 00:19:02,056 It physically, literally affects us. 370 00:19:02,142 --> 00:19:03,933 Our heart beats in a different kind of way. 371 00:19:03,977 --> 00:19:06,269 You know, we can feel it in our bodies. 372 00:19:09,482 --> 00:19:12,066 Burrows: The great acoustics of notre-dame cathedral came 373 00:19:12,152 --> 00:19:14,986 from practice and understanding geometry. 374 00:19:15,029 --> 00:19:16,988 So the people who did that, they understood 375 00:19:17,031 --> 00:19:20,825 that if you emit noise, a singing, at one location, 376 00:19:20,910 --> 00:19:23,244 through the shape of the ceiling you can bounce that noise 377 00:19:23,329 --> 00:19:25,872 down to another location, 378 00:19:25,957 --> 00:19:28,291 like a congregation inside the cathedral. 379 00:19:29,169 --> 00:19:31,836 Shatner: Did the builders of notre-dame 380 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:35,256 use clever engineering to create a sense of holiness 381 00:19:35,341 --> 00:19:38,342 and spirituality in the cathedral? 382 00:19:38,386 --> 00:19:39,677 Definitely. 383 00:19:40,555 --> 00:19:42,680 But there are some who argue 384 00:19:42,765 --> 00:19:45,099 that the site at which notre-dame stands 385 00:19:45,185 --> 00:19:48,019 already possessed a special power 386 00:19:48,062 --> 00:19:51,272 before the cathedral was built. 387 00:19:51,357 --> 00:19:55,026 The location of notre-dame is significant. 388 00:19:55,111 --> 00:19:59,197 Like many other cathedrals, it is a "temenos." 389 00:19:59,282 --> 00:20:02,116 that means sacred place, sacred ground. 390 00:20:02,202 --> 00:20:06,329 A place where we can be in touch with the transcendent energies. 391 00:20:08,082 --> 00:20:10,291 Collins: One of the little-known facts 392 00:20:10,376 --> 00:20:13,002 about the cathedral of notre-dame 393 00:20:13,046 --> 00:20:16,172 is that if you go outside of it, 394 00:20:16,216 --> 00:20:19,133 there is a star on the ground 395 00:20:19,219 --> 00:20:24,347 that points towards every point in France. 396 00:20:24,432 --> 00:20:28,142 And it is from here that all of the measures 397 00:20:28,228 --> 00:20:30,770 for cartography are made. 398 00:20:30,855 --> 00:20:33,064 Which tells us that notre-dame 399 00:20:33,149 --> 00:20:36,025 was considered to be the absolute center, 400 00:20:36,069 --> 00:20:40,905 not just of France, but also of paris itself. 401 00:20:40,949 --> 00:20:42,823 Hussain: There's a symbolism 402 00:20:42,909 --> 00:20:45,576 to the physical location of notre-dame. 403 00:20:47,997 --> 00:20:51,207 This idea that notre-dame radiates out, 404 00:20:51,292 --> 00:20:54,835 not just from the center of paris to France, 405 00:20:54,921 --> 00:20:57,922 but from the center of paris to the world. 406 00:21:06,266 --> 00:21:09,225 Shatner: A fire breaks out at notre-dame. 407 00:21:09,310 --> 00:21:13,271 400 firefighters launch a valiant effort 408 00:21:13,314 --> 00:21:15,189 to fight the blaze, 409 00:21:15,275 --> 00:21:18,776 using water pumped directly from the seine river. 410 00:21:18,820 --> 00:21:20,236 (indistinct chatter) 411 00:21:20,321 --> 00:21:22,947 parisians watch in horror 412 00:21:22,991 --> 00:21:24,740 as the flames and smoke envelop 413 00:21:24,826 --> 00:21:26,325 the upper reaches of the cathedral 414 00:21:26,411 --> 00:21:30,413 and its 315-foot-tall spire... 415 00:21:32,333 --> 00:21:34,166 ...Collapses. 416 00:21:34,252 --> 00:21:37,128 (panicked screaming) 417 00:21:37,171 --> 00:21:40,464 collins: A fire began in its timber roof 418 00:21:40,508 --> 00:21:46,053 that spread quickly, causing the collapse of its spire 419 00:21:46,139 --> 00:21:51,767 and hundreds of tons of lead melted and poured down 420 00:21:51,853 --> 00:21:53,394 into the interior 421 00:21:53,479 --> 00:21:55,229 of the structure. 422 00:21:55,315 --> 00:21:59,817 And as much as a tragedy as this actually was, 423 00:21:59,902 --> 00:22:04,655 the response to it across the globe was remarkable. 424 00:22:08,244 --> 00:22:10,703 Shatner: The reaction to the disastrous fire 425 00:22:10,788 --> 00:22:14,123 transcended national borders and faiths. 426 00:22:14,208 --> 00:22:16,792 In only two days, people around the world contributed 427 00:22:16,836 --> 00:22:18,836 nearly a billion dollars 428 00:22:18,880 --> 00:22:23,007 to rebuild and restore this beloved landmark. 429 00:22:24,260 --> 00:22:27,345 Young: The outpouring of donations from within France 430 00:22:27,388 --> 00:22:31,682 and from all over the world tells us what a cathedral means. 431 00:22:31,768 --> 00:22:33,517 It's not just a tourist spot. 432 00:22:33,603 --> 00:22:37,688 If you enter a cathedral, something happens to you. 433 00:22:37,774 --> 00:22:39,648 People know they felt something. 434 00:22:39,734 --> 00:22:41,233 They are attached to that building. 435 00:22:42,236 --> 00:22:45,237 Hussain: So, when you had the fire in notre-dame cathedral 436 00:22:45,323 --> 00:22:47,448 and the rebuilding of that, 437 00:22:47,533 --> 00:22:49,825 that was extraordinary. 438 00:22:49,869 --> 00:22:53,287 The rebuilding of notre-dame cathedral shows the attachment 439 00:22:53,373 --> 00:22:55,831 that people have to the divine is infinite, 440 00:22:55,875 --> 00:22:58,876 and I think there's a power there. 441 00:23:02,924 --> 00:23:04,423 Can you explain it? 442 00:23:05,510 --> 00:23:11,013 That sensation you feel entering a historic cathedral. 443 00:23:11,057 --> 00:23:15,893 Ah. Do these cathedrals actually connect us to higher powers-- 444 00:23:15,978 --> 00:23:19,188 powers we might not fully understand? 445 00:23:20,024 --> 00:23:22,108 Perhaps the answer can be found 446 00:23:22,193 --> 00:23:26,570 by examining another vast man-made structure. 447 00:23:26,656 --> 00:23:30,741 One that was designed with another kind of power in mind. 448 00:23:31,828 --> 00:23:34,745 Power over mother nature. 449 00:23:45,299 --> 00:23:48,551 Shatner: With the country in the grips of the great depression, 450 00:23:48,636 --> 00:23:50,261 president franklin d. Roosevelt 451 00:23:50,346 --> 00:23:52,388 presides over the dedication ceremony 452 00:23:52,473 --> 00:23:56,016 of one of the most extraordinary engineering projects 453 00:23:56,102 --> 00:23:58,394 in united states history-- 454 00:23:58,479 --> 00:24:00,855 the hoover dam. 455 00:24:02,692 --> 00:24:04,859 Mcbride: There were thousands of people. 456 00:24:04,944 --> 00:24:10,948 And at that time, the people who came to listen to the president 457 00:24:11,033 --> 00:24:15,494 dedicate it understood that it was more than just a dam. 458 00:24:16,330 --> 00:24:19,123 They were standing on a structure 459 00:24:19,167 --> 00:24:23,669 that they had built with their own blood and sweat and tears. 460 00:24:24,630 --> 00:24:27,673 We are here to celebrate the completion 461 00:24:27,758 --> 00:24:31,594 of the greatest dam in the world. 462 00:24:31,679 --> 00:24:34,388 Shatner: Named for president herbert hoover-- 463 00:24:34,474 --> 00:24:38,392 who was in office when construction began in 1931-- 464 00:24:38,478 --> 00:24:40,436 the hoover dam is located 465 00:24:40,521 --> 00:24:43,898 in the black canyon region of the colorado river. 466 00:24:43,983 --> 00:24:46,650 Officials believed that a dam in this area 467 00:24:46,736 --> 00:24:49,445 could help manage flooding of the colorado river, 468 00:24:49,530 --> 00:24:52,656 provide a much-needed reservoir of fresh water, 469 00:24:52,700 --> 00:24:56,285 and be a source of hydroelectric power. 470 00:24:56,370 --> 00:24:57,786 There was just one problem. 471 00:24:57,872 --> 00:25:01,749 In order to tame the colorado river, 472 00:25:01,834 --> 00:25:05,377 the engineers would have to construct a more ambitious dam 473 00:25:05,463 --> 00:25:08,964 than had ever been created before. 474 00:25:09,050 --> 00:25:11,342 Mcbride: Here you have the colorado river-- 475 00:25:11,385 --> 00:25:15,763 one of the wildest and most untamed waterways in the world-- 476 00:25:15,848 --> 00:25:17,932 and you want to tame it. 477 00:25:18,017 --> 00:25:19,266 You want to control it 478 00:25:19,310 --> 00:25:23,604 so that you can provide dependable water storage, 479 00:25:23,689 --> 00:25:26,649 hydroelectric power, irrigation. 480 00:25:27,693 --> 00:25:29,151 Michael dennin: Well, when I think of the hoover dam, 481 00:25:29,237 --> 00:25:31,612 I'm impressed that we actually moved the river 482 00:25:31,697 --> 00:25:33,155 to build the dam. 483 00:25:33,241 --> 00:25:35,157 And they had to divert the river through tunnels, 484 00:25:35,243 --> 00:25:37,409 through the mountainsides on either side, 485 00:25:37,495 --> 00:25:39,995 so you have a dry bed that you can build the dam on. 486 00:25:40,081 --> 00:25:42,414 And then bringing the river back just amazes me. 487 00:25:43,292 --> 00:25:45,793 Shatner: Built in just five years-- 488 00:25:45,878 --> 00:25:48,504 two years ahead of schedule-- 489 00:25:48,589 --> 00:25:53,634 the hoover dam is a staggering 726 feet tall. 490 00:25:53,719 --> 00:25:55,636 At the time of its construction, 491 00:25:55,721 --> 00:25:58,514 it was the tallest dam ever built, 492 00:25:58,599 --> 00:26:01,725 the costliest water project ever undertaken, 493 00:26:01,769 --> 00:26:05,980 and home to the largest hydroelectric power plant 494 00:26:06,065 --> 00:26:07,356 in the world. 495 00:26:10,653 --> 00:26:13,529 Mcbride: Never before, ever in history, had there been 496 00:26:13,614 --> 00:26:18,242 that much concrete placed and poured in one spot. 497 00:26:18,327 --> 00:26:23,330 And enough concrete went into the construction of the dam, 498 00:26:23,416 --> 00:26:25,374 you could build a two-lane highway 499 00:26:25,459 --> 00:26:27,751 from san francisco to new york. 500 00:26:29,046 --> 00:26:31,297 Shatner: The hoover dam changed the face of the nation, 501 00:26:31,382 --> 00:26:34,717 allowing for the explosive growth of cities 502 00:26:34,802 --> 00:26:37,177 like las vegas and los angeles, 503 00:26:37,263 --> 00:26:40,014 and fueling the country's recovery 504 00:26:40,099 --> 00:26:42,057 from the great depression. 505 00:26:43,019 --> 00:26:45,936 But some have suggested that the hoover dam represents 506 00:26:46,022 --> 00:26:49,064 not just an engineering success story 507 00:26:49,150 --> 00:26:52,818 but also humanity's desire 508 00:26:52,903 --> 00:26:57,114 to bend the forces of nature to our will. 509 00:26:58,117 --> 00:27:00,618 Mcbride: The construction engineer, walker young, 510 00:27:00,661 --> 00:27:03,537 was widely quoted at one time as saying, 511 00:27:03,623 --> 00:27:10,085 "the lord put that canyon there, all we had to do was find it." 512 00:27:10,171 --> 00:27:15,549 that speaks to a very kind of judeo-christian philosophy 513 00:27:15,635 --> 00:27:22,139 that human beings were the paramount creatures, 514 00:27:22,224 --> 00:27:24,892 and so we're going to impose our needs on nature, 515 00:27:24,977 --> 00:27:26,727 and we're going to control nature. 516 00:27:29,940 --> 00:27:31,732 Lynne mcneill: The flooding power of rivers 517 00:27:31,817 --> 00:27:34,443 is something that humankind has been contending with 518 00:27:34,528 --> 00:27:36,737 since there has been humankind. 519 00:27:36,822 --> 00:27:39,865 And in a lot of ways, 520 00:27:39,950 --> 00:27:44,828 the more we're able to restrain what have often been understood 521 00:27:44,914 --> 00:27:47,206 as the unrestrainable forces of nature, 522 00:27:47,291 --> 00:27:51,919 the more we suspect that maybe something superhuman 523 00:27:52,004 --> 00:27:54,421 is taking place there. 524 00:27:54,507 --> 00:27:56,924 Shatner: Was the construction of the hoover dam 525 00:27:57,009 --> 00:28:00,761 motivated by our need to harness, control, 526 00:28:00,846 --> 00:28:04,515 and ultimately have power over mother nature? 527 00:28:04,558 --> 00:28:08,310 There are many who believe that to be the case. 528 00:28:08,396 --> 00:28:11,855 And as evidence, they point to a curious memorial 529 00:28:11,941 --> 00:28:14,483 that was placed next to the dam. 530 00:28:14,527 --> 00:28:18,195 An intricate celestial star map, 531 00:28:18,280 --> 00:28:22,032 intended to send a message to future generations. 532 00:28:22,076 --> 00:28:26,745 Mcbride: The celestial star map is an amazing piece of art deco, 533 00:28:26,831 --> 00:28:30,207 where laid into the ground, 534 00:28:30,251 --> 00:28:35,754 is a star map with brass discs named after certain stars. 535 00:28:35,840 --> 00:28:37,297 And the purpose of that 536 00:28:37,383 --> 00:28:39,466 was really just one thing: 537 00:28:39,552 --> 00:28:40,801 It was to fix, 538 00:28:40,886 --> 00:28:43,303 in astrological time, 539 00:28:43,389 --> 00:28:45,097 the very moment-- 540 00:28:45,182 --> 00:28:47,641 the month, the day, the minute, the second-- 541 00:28:47,727 --> 00:28:50,894 that hoover dam was-was dedicated. 542 00:28:51,897 --> 00:28:54,314 Shatner: The builders of the hoover dam certainly believed 543 00:28:54,400 --> 00:28:57,359 that their creation would be an everlasting testament 544 00:28:57,445 --> 00:29:00,696 to their triumph over the colorado river. 545 00:29:00,781 --> 00:29:05,117 But what happens when the forces of nature defy 546 00:29:05,202 --> 00:29:08,078 our attempts to control them 547 00:29:08,164 --> 00:29:10,748 in ways that we can't foresee? 548 00:29:11,667 --> 00:29:15,753 Mcneill: Lake mead is the man-made body of water 549 00:29:15,838 --> 00:29:18,505 created by the hoover dam. 550 00:29:18,591 --> 00:29:21,800 And what's interesting is that lake mead is actually 551 00:29:21,886 --> 00:29:25,512 one of the most deadly recreational areas 552 00:29:25,598 --> 00:29:27,222 that we have in this country. 553 00:29:27,308 --> 00:29:30,225 People drowned mysteriously. 554 00:29:30,269 --> 00:29:33,604 So many people end up dying there. 555 00:29:35,816 --> 00:29:37,524 One of the fascinating things about lake mead 556 00:29:37,610 --> 00:29:40,068 are these methane or gas pits. 557 00:29:40,154 --> 00:29:43,822 And methane basically comes when vegetation decomposes. 558 00:29:43,908 --> 00:29:46,575 Now, one of the things that lake mead did 559 00:29:46,619 --> 00:29:48,994 is cover up a lot of vegetation, 'cause you make a lake 560 00:29:49,079 --> 00:29:50,871 where there wasn't a lake before, 561 00:29:50,956 --> 00:29:52,456 and what you had before was stuff growing. 562 00:29:52,541 --> 00:29:55,250 So you can get these periodic releases 563 00:29:55,336 --> 00:29:56,960 of the methane gas 564 00:29:57,046 --> 00:29:59,087 that's been generated under the water 565 00:29:59,131 --> 00:30:01,465 from the vegetation decomposing. 566 00:30:01,550 --> 00:30:03,717 Bara: When the methane bubbles up to the surface, 567 00:30:03,803 --> 00:30:06,678 what can happen is, if a boat is over that methane bubble, 568 00:30:06,764 --> 00:30:08,889 it basically will lose all buoyancy 569 00:30:08,974 --> 00:30:12,017 and just sink like a rock to the bottom of the lake. 570 00:30:12,102 --> 00:30:15,646 So by building the lake over this land, 571 00:30:15,689 --> 00:30:19,233 we may in fact have created a very dangerous situation, 572 00:30:19,318 --> 00:30:20,901 and sort of set up the lake itself 573 00:30:20,986 --> 00:30:23,070 to basically be a death trap. 574 00:30:23,155 --> 00:30:25,572 I think if you reflect back to when the engineers 575 00:30:25,658 --> 00:30:27,241 were making the hoover dam... 576 00:30:28,452 --> 00:30:31,411 ...It's often portrayed as trying to control nature. 577 00:30:31,497 --> 00:30:33,455 The focus was on the dam, 578 00:30:33,541 --> 00:30:35,457 and we probably weren't even asking questions 579 00:30:35,501 --> 00:30:37,251 about the larger impact on nature, 580 00:30:37,336 --> 00:30:38,627 'cause it would have been too hard 581 00:30:38,712 --> 00:30:40,587 to calculate or worry about. 582 00:30:40,673 --> 00:30:42,339 The challenge with engineering and science 583 00:30:42,424 --> 00:30:45,092 is always the unintended consequences. 584 00:30:45,177 --> 00:30:48,303 For the most part, people are driven 585 00:30:48,389 --> 00:30:51,682 by this desire to make things better. 586 00:30:55,563 --> 00:31:00,315 Are the tragic deaths at lake mead a warning? 587 00:31:00,401 --> 00:31:03,485 That our relentless drive to build bigger, better, 588 00:31:03,529 --> 00:31:06,738 and grander has gone too far? 589 00:31:06,824 --> 00:31:09,783 If so, it's a warning that isn't being heeded. 590 00:31:09,869 --> 00:31:13,662 If anything, mankind's determination to build bigger, 591 00:31:13,747 --> 00:31:17,332 better, bolder is more evident than ever before. 592 00:31:17,418 --> 00:31:22,713 It seems not even the sky is the limit. 593 00:31:33,934 --> 00:31:37,895 Shatner: After five years of construction, burj khalifa, 594 00:31:37,938 --> 00:31:41,732 the tallest building in the world, is officially completed. 595 00:31:41,817 --> 00:31:44,234 To celebrate this record-breaking achievement, 596 00:31:44,320 --> 00:31:46,236 the united arab emirates 597 00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:49,698 throws an extravagant opening ceremony 598 00:31:49,742 --> 00:31:53,243 which features a massive fireworks display 599 00:31:53,329 --> 00:31:55,370 and an elaborate light show 600 00:31:55,414 --> 00:31:57,080 projected onto the gleaming tower. 601 00:32:02,463 --> 00:32:05,172 Kaku: It's an incredible engineering feat. 602 00:32:05,257 --> 00:32:06,798 The tallest building on the earth. 603 00:32:06,884 --> 00:32:08,634 It sticks out like a needle. 604 00:32:09,595 --> 00:32:11,637 Everything else is pretty much flat, 605 00:32:11,722 --> 00:32:13,388 and you have this needle 606 00:32:13,474 --> 00:32:16,934 sticking right out of the desert. 607 00:32:17,019 --> 00:32:18,560 Scott johnson: The burj khalifa 608 00:32:18,604 --> 00:32:20,812 is an exceptional building on many levels. 609 00:32:20,898 --> 00:32:22,856 Most obvious is its height. 610 00:32:22,942 --> 00:32:25,442 It's taller than any building in the world, 611 00:32:25,486 --> 00:32:27,486 and it's taller by a whole lot. 612 00:32:27,571 --> 00:32:30,405 Shatner: At over a half a mile high, 613 00:32:30,491 --> 00:32:34,409 burj khalifa bests the second tallest building in the world, 614 00:32:34,495 --> 00:32:36,870 china's shanghai tower, 615 00:32:36,956 --> 00:32:41,500 by a whopping 644 feet, 616 00:32:41,585 --> 00:32:45,754 and is a masterpiece of contemporary engineering 617 00:32:45,839 --> 00:32:48,298 and architectural prowess. 618 00:32:50,302 --> 00:32:52,427 Hussain: The fact that the largest building 619 00:32:52,513 --> 00:32:54,554 is now in the arab world, in dubai, 620 00:32:54,640 --> 00:32:57,557 is a great source of pride to people there. 621 00:32:57,643 --> 00:33:00,602 So, there's really interesting connections 622 00:33:00,646 --> 00:33:03,105 with the burj khalifa and islam, 623 00:33:03,148 --> 00:33:05,315 not just simply because you've got 624 00:33:05,401 --> 00:33:07,818 the building built in a muslim-majority country, 625 00:33:07,903 --> 00:33:10,237 but also, you have an ancient connection 626 00:33:10,322 --> 00:33:15,325 that the largest mosque in the world used to be in iraq, 627 00:33:15,411 --> 00:33:20,414 a ninth-century mosque built by the caliph al-mutawakkil, 628 00:33:20,499 --> 00:33:22,916 the great mosque of samarra, from the ninth century. 629 00:33:23,002 --> 00:33:25,669 And what was really impressive about it was 630 00:33:25,754 --> 00:33:29,256 the sort of winding staircase kind of minaret, 631 00:33:29,341 --> 00:33:33,677 and that's what they've duplicated in the burj khalifa. 632 00:33:35,347 --> 00:33:37,931 And so, I think for people in the arab world, 633 00:33:38,017 --> 00:33:40,517 it's almost a nationalistic competition-- 634 00:33:40,561 --> 00:33:43,770 who can build the tallest building in the world? 635 00:33:43,856 --> 00:33:47,024 Johnson: Nation states have discovered that a tall building 636 00:33:47,109 --> 00:33:49,317 can become a cultural symbol. 637 00:33:50,362 --> 00:33:52,362 A symbol of pride, 638 00:33:52,406 --> 00:33:55,115 a symbol of an ascendant economy, 639 00:33:55,200 --> 00:33:58,452 a place in global states, 640 00:33:58,537 --> 00:34:02,414 and a tall building seems to resonate with that. 641 00:34:03,250 --> 00:34:04,875 Burrows: We're currently in a race 642 00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:07,544 to build the tallest structures on earth. 643 00:34:08,422 --> 00:34:10,047 And the question for me is, 644 00:34:10,132 --> 00:34:13,633 what is the limit to how high these things can go? 645 00:34:13,719 --> 00:34:16,553 Mcneill: Human beings have always strived 646 00:34:16,597 --> 00:34:19,222 to break their own records, 647 00:34:19,308 --> 00:34:24,644 and when we can achieve an architectural feat 648 00:34:24,730 --> 00:34:27,105 that is breaking all of the records 649 00:34:27,191 --> 00:34:29,191 of any previous architectural feat, 650 00:34:29,276 --> 00:34:31,902 we are saying something 651 00:34:31,945 --> 00:34:34,905 about our ability to overcome limitations. 652 00:34:36,241 --> 00:34:38,575 Shatner: At 481 feet, 653 00:34:38,660 --> 00:34:41,578 the great pyramid of giza stood as the tallest structure 654 00:34:41,622 --> 00:34:44,748 in the world for over 4,000 years... 655 00:34:47,002 --> 00:34:50,295 ...Until it was surpassed by the old st. Paul's cathedral 656 00:34:50,380 --> 00:34:53,715 in london in the 13th century. 657 00:34:53,759 --> 00:34:58,261 But it wasn't until steel was invented 658 00:34:58,305 --> 00:35:03,266 that the first skyscraper was erected in chicago in 1885, 659 00:35:03,310 --> 00:35:06,770 and a new kind of building boom began. 660 00:35:06,814 --> 00:35:09,940 One that saw the completion of the empire state building 661 00:35:10,025 --> 00:35:15,070 in 1931, and shows no sign of slowing down. 662 00:35:15,155 --> 00:35:18,031 Hussain: For human beings to go up 663 00:35:18,117 --> 00:35:21,451 isn't just to go up and be able to see commanding views. 664 00:35:22,246 --> 00:35:23,954 Why do we build these buildings? 665 00:35:23,997 --> 00:35:26,706 Because we want to get up into the heavens 666 00:35:26,792 --> 00:35:29,251 because the heavens are the divine realm. 667 00:35:29,294 --> 00:35:30,919 It's being able to go up and see 668 00:35:31,004 --> 00:35:34,422 what would god's-eye view look like? 669 00:35:35,300 --> 00:35:40,262 Shatner: To see things as god does? 670 00:35:40,305 --> 00:35:42,139 But is that a good idea? 671 00:35:42,182 --> 00:35:45,267 After all, there's a famous story from the bible 672 00:35:45,352 --> 00:35:52,065 that serves as a cautionary tale against doing just that. 673 00:35:52,151 --> 00:35:54,776 In genesis, chapter 11, you have the story 674 00:35:54,820 --> 00:35:56,820 of the tower of babel. 675 00:35:58,031 --> 00:36:01,741 Human beings are united, they speak the same language, 676 00:36:01,827 --> 00:36:06,955 and they build this tower to go up into the heavens, 677 00:36:07,040 --> 00:36:09,666 and you have god saying, "wait a minute, 678 00:36:09,751 --> 00:36:10,917 "what are these people doing? 679 00:36:11,003 --> 00:36:12,335 "they're gonna build this 680 00:36:12,421 --> 00:36:14,588 and they're gonna come up to where I am." 681 00:36:14,673 --> 00:36:17,799 and so, god basically confounds these people 682 00:36:17,885 --> 00:36:20,427 by having them speak different languages, 683 00:36:20,512 --> 00:36:22,721 so they're not able to understand each other. 684 00:36:22,806 --> 00:36:24,347 So they're not able to build this thing 685 00:36:24,391 --> 00:36:25,807 because now all of a sudden, 686 00:36:25,851 --> 00:36:28,518 they don't speak the same language. 687 00:36:28,562 --> 00:36:30,896 Mcneill: The tower of babel is a story 688 00:36:30,981 --> 00:36:34,399 of trying too hard to go too far, 689 00:36:34,484 --> 00:36:37,277 and paying the price for that. 690 00:36:37,362 --> 00:36:40,155 And it's interesting for us to look at our modern 691 00:36:40,199 --> 00:36:42,240 architectural marvels, 692 00:36:42,326 --> 00:36:46,995 as potentially containing that warning, or that threat. 693 00:36:47,039 --> 00:36:48,997 So many people have made a likeness 694 00:36:49,082 --> 00:36:51,875 between the burj khalifa and its shape... 695 00:36:53,879 --> 00:36:55,670 ...And the tower of babel. 696 00:36:55,714 --> 00:36:58,006 The tower of babel as we remember it 697 00:36:58,050 --> 00:37:00,050 was supposed to be a spiraled tower 698 00:37:00,093 --> 00:37:01,509 that was going to reach to the heavens 699 00:37:01,553 --> 00:37:03,678 so that people could see god. 700 00:37:03,722 --> 00:37:05,597 That was considered inappropriate 701 00:37:05,682 --> 00:37:08,391 and too much hubris. 702 00:37:08,435 --> 00:37:10,644 I think we're operating within the constraints 703 00:37:10,729 --> 00:37:12,395 of engineering science, 704 00:37:12,481 --> 00:37:15,065 but somewhere out there is a limitation, 705 00:37:15,108 --> 00:37:17,859 and I think we're approaching a limit. 706 00:37:17,945 --> 00:37:21,279 Shatner: As we seek to build ever higher, 707 00:37:21,365 --> 00:37:24,574 is there a danger that what we think of as ambition... 708 00:37:25,577 --> 00:37:28,078 ...May in fact be hubris? 709 00:37:28,121 --> 00:37:31,831 Or is it simply an attempt to reach for the sky, 710 00:37:31,917 --> 00:37:37,921 to see how high we can climb and how far we can go? 711 00:37:37,965 --> 00:37:42,592 Perhaps even to the stars? 712 00:37:59,027 --> 00:38:02,237 Shatner: The first module of the international space station 713 00:38:02,322 --> 00:38:05,407 is launched into orbit on a russian rocket... 714 00:38:07,995 --> 00:38:10,954 ...Beginning arguably the most groundbreaking 715 00:38:11,039 --> 00:38:14,541 engineering project in human history. 716 00:38:15,335 --> 00:38:17,544 The international space station 717 00:38:17,629 --> 00:38:19,796 is really a marvel of engineering. 718 00:38:19,881 --> 00:38:24,217 It took 42 flights to build this thing over ten years... 719 00:38:25,887 --> 00:38:28,305 ...And it was sent up module by module, 720 00:38:28,348 --> 00:38:31,141 with astronauts and cosmonauts living on board 721 00:38:31,226 --> 00:38:35,312 and adding to it as it became a larger and larger space. 722 00:38:35,397 --> 00:38:38,231 Tom spilker: It has a set of solar arrays, 723 00:38:38,317 --> 00:38:43,528 and from tip to tip, each one of those eight wings is 239 feet. 724 00:38:43,613 --> 00:38:47,949 So it is 357 feet long. 725 00:38:48,035 --> 00:38:50,744 Nasa likes to say it's one yard short 726 00:38:50,829 --> 00:38:53,163 of being an american football field 727 00:38:53,248 --> 00:38:55,332 including the end zones. 728 00:38:57,502 --> 00:38:59,461 Teitel: The international space station 729 00:38:59,546 --> 00:39:02,380 is the symbol of how incredible 730 00:39:02,466 --> 00:39:05,842 human ingenuity and engineering really is. 731 00:39:05,927 --> 00:39:07,635 That we've been able to not only 732 00:39:07,721 --> 00:39:09,179 build the international space station 733 00:39:09,264 --> 00:39:11,014 but keep it alive for 20 years 734 00:39:11,058 --> 00:39:13,391 and learn so much in the process, 735 00:39:13,477 --> 00:39:17,812 is really an incredible outlet of what humans can do. 736 00:39:18,732 --> 00:39:20,815 Shatner: The idea of a space station 737 00:39:20,859 --> 00:39:22,484 suitable for human habitation 738 00:39:22,569 --> 00:39:25,278 started with the vision of one man, 739 00:39:25,364 --> 00:39:27,238 dr. Wernher von braun, 740 00:39:27,324 --> 00:39:29,949 the german-born aerospace engineer 741 00:39:30,035 --> 00:39:34,704 who designed the saturn v rocket that took americans to the moon. 742 00:39:37,417 --> 00:39:41,628 In 1952, nearly a decade before the first manned spaceflight, 743 00:39:41,713 --> 00:39:46,091 von braun's concept for a 250-foot wheel-shaped station 744 00:39:46,176 --> 00:39:49,177 captured the world's imagination. 745 00:39:49,262 --> 00:39:51,012 Spilker: Von braun envisioned 746 00:39:51,098 --> 00:39:54,391 this rotating space station to provide 747 00:39:54,434 --> 00:39:56,684 a certain amount of artificial gravity. 748 00:39:56,770 --> 00:39:58,686 It could be used for monitoring earth, 749 00:39:58,772 --> 00:40:01,272 weather, for military purposes. 750 00:40:01,358 --> 00:40:05,026 Also as a way station for docking a spacecraft 751 00:40:05,112 --> 00:40:06,736 that would be going somewhere else in space, 752 00:40:06,780 --> 00:40:09,030 to the moon or to mars. 753 00:40:10,117 --> 00:40:11,825 Teitel: So the international space station 754 00:40:11,910 --> 00:40:13,243 isn't quite that. 755 00:40:13,328 --> 00:40:15,537 But it's the proof of concept, 756 00:40:15,622 --> 00:40:18,164 and starting to help us understand the technology 757 00:40:18,250 --> 00:40:20,917 such that maybe down the line, the next generation 758 00:40:21,002 --> 00:40:23,628 or the generation after the next, 759 00:40:23,713 --> 00:40:26,923 we will eventually get that giant city in orbit. 760 00:40:28,635 --> 00:40:32,220 Shatner: A giant city in space? 761 00:40:32,305 --> 00:40:34,556 It's a marvelous and inspiring idea, 762 00:40:34,641 --> 00:40:37,225 one that raises a profound question: 763 00:40:37,310 --> 00:40:41,729 Have we achieved all that we can on our home planet? 764 00:40:41,815 --> 00:40:44,566 And are we destined to leave our mark 765 00:40:44,609 --> 00:40:48,820 not just on earth but far beyond it? 766 00:40:48,905 --> 00:40:52,740 So many of our iconic structures on this planet 767 00:40:52,826 --> 00:40:56,202 are reaching beyond, stretching up from the surface, 768 00:40:56,288 --> 00:40:58,621 trying to get us somewhere else. 769 00:40:59,666 --> 00:41:01,291 Once we're in space, 770 00:41:01,376 --> 00:41:03,209 what form will our structures have 771 00:41:03,295 --> 00:41:04,669 and what role will they play? 772 00:41:04,754 --> 00:41:07,714 Not just pragmatically as shelter for us, 773 00:41:07,799 --> 00:41:09,549 but as symbols for us? 774 00:41:09,634 --> 00:41:12,135 And what will we reach for 775 00:41:12,179 --> 00:41:15,263 if we're already off of this planet? 776 00:41:17,017 --> 00:41:23,146 Whether it's the giant stone monuments of the ancient world 777 00:41:23,231 --> 00:41:27,817 or the awe-inspiring cathedrals of the middle ages 778 00:41:27,903 --> 00:41:31,321 or modern feats of engineering that are all around us, 779 00:41:31,406 --> 00:41:35,950 humans possess an incredible ability and desire 780 00:41:36,036 --> 00:41:38,745 to build and to make us wonder. 781 00:41:38,830 --> 00:41:41,915 So, where do we go from here? 782 00:41:42,000 --> 00:41:44,334 What are we going to build next? 783 00:41:44,377 --> 00:41:45,960 Well, that, my friends, is something 784 00:41:46,046 --> 00:41:48,588 that is only limited by our imagination 785 00:41:48,673 --> 00:41:53,134 and our determination to impose order on mother nature. 786 00:41:53,220 --> 00:41:56,012 And our desire to explain... 787 00:41:57,224 --> 00:41:59,599 ...The unexplained. 788 00:41:59,684 --> 00:42:02,185 Captioning provided by a+e networks