Plot Synopsis

Hosted by Jason Silva, ORIGINS: THE JOURNEY OF HUMANKIND is an eight-part series that traces the innovations that made the world modern, delving into history to find the pivotal 'origin' moments that fueled our evolutionary ascension. ORIGINS incorporates dramatic scripted storytelling, documentary sequences, expert analysis -- across the fields of technology, war, communication, medicine, transportation, ecology, paleoanthropology, evolutionary biology and antiquity, to name a few -- and audio-visual mashups designed by John Boswell -- also known worldwide as Melodysheep -- who is making his TV debut with original symphonies. In the series premiere, "Spark of Civilization," Silva reveals specific moments in history when fire allowed humans to create, annihilate, expand and dominate. Nothing else throughout human history explains our existence more than fire; it's been harnessed and applied throughout countless centuries to define who we are and will become. Silva transports viewers to 12000 BC when early man shockingly discovered the first spark, which grew to a flame and lit the world before their very eyes. Then jump to 1232 AD when the Jin Dynasty unearthed the greatest defense against the attacking Mongol hordes: a projected missile. Gunpowder produced the first chemical explosive that forever altered modern warfare. Silva takes viewers to 1666, when fire truly exposed itself as a double-edged sword, the Great Fire of London burnt down more than 90 churches and 13,000 houses, and more than 100,000 people were brought down to their knees with no place to call home. This devastation gave birth to the first modern city and one of the most enlightening periods in history -- the Industrial Revolution. Flashing forward a couple centuries to 1926 in the New World, American scientist Robert Goddard was the earliest pioneer of space technology, having created the first modern rocket, which was the basis of today's spacecrafts that gave rise to satellites and modern communication. Additional disruptors covered in later episodes include medicine, money, war, communication, shelter, exploration and transportation.
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On Monday, May 1, 2017 at 9pm ET/PT, Nat Geo premiered "The Road Ahead," the season finale of ORIGINS: THE JOURNEY OF HUMANKIND. Freedom of movement has given us freedom of mind. The flow of people and materials exposes us to new ideas, new ways of life and new understanding. This is the story of how transportation turned society inside out. How engines and animals powered the rise of civilization. And how the innovations that drive humanity forward made us modern.