A series presenting science as a detective story illustrating the connections between events of the past and inventions of the future. Part 9: Traces the discoveries and inventions which gave rise to the motion picture. Incredible events led to Thomas Edison's remarkable invention; the beginnings of limelight on an Irish mountain; George Eastman's production of celluloid; the "magic lantern" of an Austrian ballistics teacher. Concludes by posing questions...

"At the turn of the century, Paris was a hotbed of creativity. Technology boomed, delivering to the world electric light, the automobile, and new ways to treat disease, while imagination blossomed, creating Art Nouveau, motion pictures, and modernist literature. A pivotal figure during this time, yet largely forgotten today, Loie Fuller was an American performance artist who became a living symbol of the Art Nouveau movement with her hypnotic dances...

"In December 1862, the Battle of Fredericksburg shattered Union forces and threatened to break apart Abraham Lincoln's government. Five extraordinary individuals experienced Fredericksburg's cataclysmic repercussions -- Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Walt Whitman, Louisa May Alcott, John Pelham, and Arthur Fuller. Guided by duty, driven by desire, they moved toward lofty destinies: a young Harvard intellectual steeped in courageous ideals, a gay Brooklyn...