The Low Countries have long been a metaphorical petri dish of social and technological advancements in Europe. As such, the list of Dutch and Flemish inventions, innovations and discoveries is long and broad-reaching indeed. In this episode, we intend on doing an exploration of our own into the history of some of the intellectual leaps which sprang forth from this soggy corner of Europe and spread far and wide across the globe. Since there is such a vast array of things to choose from, we decided that we would need some kind of framing device to help give this story a bit of order. Just rattling off a long list of names, objects, or scientific theorems would not make for a very compelling narrative. And creating a top 5 or top 10 list would be a bit too ‘Buzzfeed’ for our tastes. So instead, we have decided to shuffle completely out of the box and turn to one of the greatest TV shows of the 1990s, Captain Planet and the Planeteers, to help us structure the stories of Low Country inventions and discoveries because, well, why not? So let's delve into the wonderful world of inventions and discoveries in the Low Countries, looking at some world-changing innovations through the categories of...Earth! Fire! Wind! Water! Heart!

Do you want to know more about Flemish and Dutch history and culture? Visit www.the-low-countries.com.

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