Twelve thousand five hundred miles above Earth, 31 satellites quietly guide nearly every navigation app on the planet. Newt tells how GPS, developed by the Department of Defense as a military tool, became a free gift to humanity after President Reagan opened it to civilian use following the 1983 Korean Air Lines tragedy. From synchronizing financial markets to guiding precision agriculture, GPS now contributes over $1.5 trillion annually to the U.S. economy alone. It's a case study in the right relationship between government-funded infrastructure and private-sector innovation—and a daily demonstration of Einstein's physics.

Episode 1029: Greatest American Inventions — The Smartphone
09:24

Episode 1028: Greatest American Inventions — The Internet Search Engine
06:26

Episode 1027: Greatest American Inventions — The MRI Scanner
06:51