Up Next
Back to Show
NOVA
Forgotten Genius
Season 34
Episode 3
The grandson of Alabama slaves, Percy Julian met with every possible barrier in a deeply segregated America. He was a man of genius, devotion, and determination. As a black man he was also an outsider, fighting to make a place for himself in a profession and country divided by bigotry—a man who would eventually find freedom in the laboratory.
Support Provided By
53:20
The inside story of China’s meteoric rise to the forefront of global innovation.
Unlock with PBS Passport
53:15
How did Earth give rise to humans? See what made our species' existence possible.
Unlock with PBS Passport
53:45
How did life bounce back after a cataclysmic extinction wiped out some 90% of all species?
Unlock with PBS Passport
53:47
See how life made the leap to land, turning a barren landscape into a lush, green world.
Unlock with PBS Passport
53:47
See how Earth transformed from a barren hellscape to a planet capable of sustaining life.
53:31
Who created the Nazca lines and why? New clues to one of the greatest ancient enigmas.
53:43
Ancient footprints provide new evidence of humans and extinct giant beasts of the Ice Age.
53:16
Sir David Attenborough explores a site with traces of ancient mammoths and Neanderthals.