So what does cause SUCCESS?

is the name of a TV show hosted by Terry Gilliam (from Monty Python). The show would follow the connections between inventions.

Consider silk...

The firt tea bag was made from silk in 1908. It's inventor, Thomas Sullivan, used a silk bag to ship tea sample to his customers because it was cheaper than sending a tin. Of course, they didn't know what to do with it so just put the whole thing in boiling water.

In an effort to reproduce silk - because making it the usual way is too time consuming and labour intensive - Nylon was invented. So too was plastic (can you imagine a world without plastic now?)

Nylon gives us things such as: Dental floss, stockings, tents, more affordable and thus widespread parachutes, flags, etc.

Plastic leads to: Plastic bags, TV cases, computer cases, camera cases, remote control cases, audio tape cases, video tapes, CDs, telephone handsets, boxes to hold dental floss, toothbrushes, disposable razors, aerosol buttons and caps, the little hard bit on the end of your shoelaces, credit cards, frisbee, etc.

Without video tapes there would be no Blockbuster.

Can you imagine your computer case and monitor case made from metal? Or wood?

It's like our whole world is one big fluke that just happened.

Michael Ross.