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Diamonds, Dust and a Handful of Sand Diamonds, Dust and a Handful of Sand
Open2 radio brings you this unique radio series tracing the history of electronics. Hear from the pioneers of radio through to the wizards who invented microprocessors, it's history with a technological edge.
Television - Episode 2
In this episode of Diamonds, Rust and a Handful of Sand, discover the history of Alexandra Palace, the home of the world’s first regular television broadcasts. Did you know that two complete systems were trailed side-by-side before the final TV system was chosen? Hear the history from the people who made the discoveries.

Transistors - Episode 3
Semi conductor research led to the transistor, a component that not only changed the world, but led to a new approach to physics. Find out more in the third of the radio series Diamonds, Rust and a Handful of Sand.

Electronic Futures - Episode 7
Hear the story of the microprocessors from the developers themselves in the last of the series of Diamonds, Rust and a Handful of Sand. New techniques made it possible to possible to produce hundreds of transistors on the same wafer. So where does the minuteman missile fit in?

Videotape - Episode 4
Invented in Germany in the 1940s, the main recording material in magnetic recording is rust! Discover how engineers solved the problem of recording video onto magnetic tape in the fourth of the series of Diamonds, Rust and a Handful of Sand.

Online Radio
The Open University with the BBC has produced a number of fascinating radio programmes. Here's your chance to listen online! You may need Quicktime or the Windows Media Player to use these files.
On Air Now
Television - Episode 2
Transistors - Episode 3
Electronic Futures - Episode 7
Videotape - Episode 4
Quartz - Episode 5
Microprocessors - Episode 6
Wireless - Episode 1
The New Curiosity Shop - Can a Piano Fly?
The New Curiosity Shop - Hyphastos' Foot
The New Curiosity Shop - Under the Channel
The New Curiosity Shop - Of Maggots and Men
The New Curiosity Shop - Propellants
The New Curiosity Shop - Can you really Dissolve a Human Body in Acid?
The New Curiosity Shop - Rocks on the Rails
The New Curiosity Shop - Biology of Resurrection
The New Curiosity Shop - Piltdown Man Laid to Rest
The New Curiosity Shop - Silent Noises

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