All About Fireworks

We all know that the 4th of July and fireworks go hand-in-hand. So as we prepare for the coming day of barbecues, celebrating history, and colorful explosions in the sky, we thought it would be interesting to offer you a small sampling of programs all about those big bright noisemakers.

Verve: Chuck Johnson

For Chuck Johnson fireworks are an art. The raw materials are explosions, bright flashes of light, sounds ranging from subtle crackles to deafening booms, and the smell of burnt black powder. His canvas is the sky.

https://watch.cetconnect.org/video/verve-verve-chuck-johnson/

Crossroads: Fireworks

Attend a day-long training seminar for aspiring pyrotechnicians held each spring at Learned’s Middlesex home. Then it’s off to Burlington where we’ll watch the set-up and firing of the annual 4th of July fireworks from the launching barge itself.

https://watch.cetconnect.org/video/607-fireworks-ah6k2h/

Reactions: The Chemistry of Fireworks

Reactions is checking out some firework science. There’s a bunch of chemistry that goes on when these guys light up the sky at night.

https://watch.cetconnect.org/video/the-chemistry-of-fireworks-m3s31s/

In the Americas with David Yetman: Mexico’s Skyrocket Central

The small city of Tultepec, a suburb of Mexico City, specializes in the production of fireworks, supplying much of the country known for fireworks in its festivals. In March of each year Tultepec celebrates with dazzling, flamboyant, and hazardous displays of fireworks that wildly exceed any other in Mexico.

https://watch.cetconnect.org/video/mexicos-skyrocket-central-aezqqr/