The airplane. Penicillin. Volcanoes. Radio. Organ transplants. The computer. Psychoanalysis. Plate tectonics. Black holes. The Model T. DNA. Apollo 8. Nylon. The Big Bang.

One hundred years of unparalleled scientific and technological discovery come to PBS with the premiere of A Science Odyssey, a dynamic and dramatic five-part, ten-hour special hosted by Charles Osgood, debuting Sunday through Thursday, January 11 to 15, from 8 to 10pm ET.

On the cusp of the millennium, A Science Odyssey takes a look back at the twentieth century, traveling from the days before antibiotics to the age of gene therapy; from Kitty Hawk to Cape Canaveral; from Freud's first explorations of the psyche to the latest research in neurophysiology; from the belief that the Milky Way was the entire universe to the discovery of 100 billion galaxies.

"Science is a great adventure story," says series executive producer Tom Friedman. "When you look at the history of science, you begin to realize that for each discovery, there's a discoverer. For each answer, there's a question. Who were these twentieth-century explorers? How were their discoveries made? What prompted their questions and sparked their imaginations? What were the circumstances of their times?"

Across the globe and through the decades, this landmark series brings to life the twentieth century's most enduring scientific stories and achievements -- the strokes of sheer brilliance, the heart-pounding excitement of moments of discovery -- when science advanced further than in all the previous centuries combined; when every scientific discipline, from astronomy to zoology, undergoes a revolution; and when remarkable new areas of study, from quarks to computer science, emerge.

Moving chronologically, each of A Science Odyssey's five programs captures the spirit and sweep of a century of extraordinary change, illuminating the political, economic, and cultural forces that have affected, accompanied, or been brought about by scientific and technological discovery.

Rich in rare archival footage and stills of the century's most important experiments, vivid first-hand accounts from the men and women who carried them out, and state-of-the-art animation that demystifies complex scientific phenomena, A Science Odyssey integrates history, science, and biography in each of five areas -- medicine; physics and astronomy; human behavior; technology; and earth and life sciences.

Throughout each of the series' five programs, science is revealed to be a human endeavor, filled with its share of mortal frailties -- indecision and insecurities; pride and prejudice; greed and envy. There is no shortage of hoaxes, accusations and denials, triumphs and tragedies -- and just plain mistakes. The pursuit of scientific knowledge isn't a smooth, steady course; it is often a difficult journey, lurching ahead in fits and starts, filled with agonizing delays and disappointing setbacks.

"In science, for each success there's a failure, or two -- or three. Many of the century's most significant breakthroughs were even at first resisted," says Friedman, "and only gradually accepted. Brilliant new theories or findings are very often met with complete skepticism if not outright scorn."

In "Matters of Life and Death" (Program One; Sunday, January 11), witness the remarkable breakthroughs in surgery and organ transplantation, drugs, and medical technologies -- and how medicine has become a science of everyday miracles. There is the stroke of luck that prompts Alexander Fleming's chance discovery of the penicillium mold and penicillin -- a discovery that goes unrealized for a decade, until the Second World War prompts a desperate search for antibiotics. And the moment when Frederick Banting and James Collip, on the brink of purifying insulin, nearly come to blows in the laboratory. At stake are the wealth and fame that would come with a patent on a lifesaving treatment.

"Mysteries of the Universe" (Program Two; Monday, January 12) charts the twin revolutions in physics and astronomy and the century-long struggle to discover the fundamental laws of Everything. Meet George Ellery Hale, who, obsessed with building the world's largest telescope, devotes almost a decade to the construction of a 100-inch marvel, so powerful it can detect the flicker of a candle 5,000 miles away. And Jocelyn Bell, a graduate student at Cambridge University, who stumbles across "a funny, scruffy, messy, unclassifiable signal from the sky" -- not signals from "little green men," as she once joked, but pulsars.

Still another dramatic frontier -- much closer to home -- begs for exploration. Discover what we've learned about ourselves these last hundred years -- and how much more we have yet to understand -- in "In Search of Ourselves" (Program Three; Tuesday, January 13). Are we the product of complex biological processes that are genetically determined -- or are we shaped by our environment and the ways we experience the world? Is it nature or nurture that bears the primary responsibility for shaping us? By highlighting some of the century's most provocative case studies, movements, and experiments -- from shell shock to schizophrenia, standardized tests to selective breeding, psychoanalysis to psychotropic drug therapies -- A Science Odyssey traces the twentieth-century trek to the wellsprings of human behavior.

"Bigger, Better, Faster" (Program Four; Wednesday, January 14) shifts A Science Odyssey into high gear to journey through the century's technological revolutions, when science ushers in the airplane, automobile, synthetic materials, radio, the World Wide Web -- inventions that have changed the way we live, work, think, and dream. Meet Wallace Carothers, a chemist who "grows" the world's first synthetic fibers -- and whose personal demons eventually overtake his remarkable professional achievements. Learn about radio -- the mass medium that almost wasn't. Discover how competition from abroad helps spur the turn-of-the-century development of the airplane, and as the Cold War heats up, how competing ideologies drive the evolution of the modern computer.

"Origins" (Program Five; Thursday, January 15) charts the quest for beginnings -- of our planet, our species, and life itself. How and when did the Earth form? What monumental forces could set entire continents in motion, build mountains, and trigger earthquakes? How could life have begun on a lifeless planet? From planetessimals to plate tectonics, Darwin to DNA, "Lucy" to "Eve," Origins explores the myriad, earth-shattering, and often mind-boggling discoveries of geologists, biologists, paleoanthropologists, and others that have led to some of the most contentious -- and exciting -- theories of modern science.

But the programs are only one part of A Science Odyssey. Thoroughly integrated with the series is one of the most ambitious educational outreach initiatives in the history of public television -- from educator's guides to classroom video modules to museum-based activities for children, students, and families across the nation. (Resources for Educators)

"This series offers young people an opportunity to consider an entire century of scientific and technological achievements," says Friedman, "to recast their perceptions of science and scientists, and to be intrigued -- even inspired -- by the personal stories behind the headlines."

In the past 100 years, not only what we know has changed dramatically, but also how we have come to know it. The very nature of scientific enterprise has changed completely and irrevocably: As we approach the millennium, we expect revolutions in understanding. We assume that there will be dramatic changes in science and technology. A Science Odyssey confirms that while the revolution has become permanent, it is bound to be wholly unpredictable.

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Major funding is provided by the National Science Foundation.

Corporate sponsorship is provided by IBM. IBM is a registered trademark of IBM Corporation.

Additional funding comes from public television viewres, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, Carnegie Corporation of New York, and Becton Dickinson and Company.