Both greed and grand idealism have propelled the quest to discover what makes up the material world. No matter how abstract or elusive the goal, its promise has inspired an unquestionable impact on humanity. By trying to learn the nature of matter, scientists through the ages have constructed brilliant concepts - from the most basic atomic theories to the strange workings of quantum physics. This program depicts that saga, moving from the secret labs of the alchemists and their search for gold to the creation of the world’s first synthetic dye - mauve - and on to the invention of the transistor.

A BBC Production.