Episode 1
Hitler's Secret Weapon
55m
NOVA traces the development of Hitler's V-2 rocket through rare footage obtained from the National Archives—some never broadcast before on television.
Where to watch NOVA
TV series
NOVA
1974TV-PG53 seasons7.0 / 10
PBS' premier science series helps viewers of all ages explore the science behind the headlines. Along the way, NOVA demystifies science and technology, and highlights the people involved in scientific pursuits.
Streaming, rental and purchase options
Where to watch in United States
Checked Sep 1, 2026
NOVA is available to stream on DirecTV On Demand, Hoopla, Prime Video, and YouTube TV in United States. You can also rent or buy it from Google Play, Amazon, Apple TV, and Fandango at Home. Use the direct links below to open the provider.
Synopsis
PBS' premier science series helps viewers of all ages explore the science behind the headlines. Along the way, NOVA demystifies science and technology, and highlights the people involved in scientific pursuits.
Season 4 episodes
Choose an episode, then use the watch options above for the show.
Episode 2
The Hot Blooded Dinosaurs
55m
If you were a dinosaur scientist, what would you do with a pile of fossil bones? How would you even start to put the giant jigsaw puzzle together, never mind discover anything about how these dinosaurs lived? NOVA explores the incredible world of the dinosaur scientist.
Episode credits
Guest stars Paul Vaughan
Episode 3
What Price Coal?
55m
What is the price we are prepared to pay for coal? NOVA looks at the environmental and health safety issues raised by the government, industry, and the victims.
Where to watch NOVAEpisode 4
The Sunspot Mystery
55m
NOVA explores the research on the 1976 drought in the western United States which led some solar scientists to discover the link between weather patterns and the 11 year sunspot mystery.
Where to watch NOVAEpisode 5
The Plastic Prison
55m
NOVA follows the lives of three boys who have combined immuned deficiency—a disease that leaves its victims with no immune system.
Where to watch NOVAEpisode 6
Incident at Brown's Ferry
55m
NOVA recreates March 1975 at Brown's Ferry, an Alabama nuclear power plant—the largest in the world—that suffered a seven-hour fire which came very close to developing into a major public disaster.
Where to watch NOVAEpisode 7
Bye Bye Blackbird
55m
NOVA looks at blackbirds, their winter habit of nesting in the millions, and the destruction they do to crops.
Where to watch NOVAEpisode 8
The Pill for the People
55m
NOVA profiles chemist Russell Marker who made the birth control pill possible by discovering a synthetic substitute for the hormone progesterone.
Where to watch NOVAEpisode 9
The Gene Engineers
55m
NOVA explores the history of genetic engineering and the possible risks and benefits of this area of research
Where to watch NOVAEpisode 10
The Human Animal
55m
NOVA investigates the controversial theory of Harvard University biologist E.O. Wilson, that many aspects of human behavior are genetically determined.
Where to watch NOVAEpisode 11
The Wolf Equation
55m
In the winter of 1976-77, 80 percent of the wolf population in Northwest Alaska was the target of aerial hunts. Although the area is roamed by the Western Arctic caribou herds—a natural predator of the wolf—the caribou population has been steadily decreasing in number. NOVA examines how the Dept. of Fish and Game is handling the the problem of wolf control.
Where to watch NOVAEpisode 12
The Dawn of the Solar Age
55m
Solar energy is increasingly popular as a home heating source. But only recently has it been seriously considered as a source of industrial power. NOVA looks at this new industrial approach, such as the use of a huge windmill in Ohio, giant machines that may generate electricity from the heat of the tropical seas or from the motion of waves, and an orbiting solar power station able to beam microwaves to earth.
Where to watch NOVAEpisode 13
The Business of Extinction
55m
NOVA explores the huge international illegal trade in animals, penetrates the thriving underworld of smugglers and assesses the effects on vanishing wildlife.
Where to watch NOVAEpisode 14
The Red Planet
55m
NOVA traces 300 years of speculation, investigation and discovery that have centered on Mars—particularly the theory that the planet could support life. Questions raised by NASA's 1976 Viking mariner missions about how the vast canyons were formed are also explored.
Where to watch NOVAEpisode 15
Tongues of Men (1)
55m
In part one of this two-part exploration of the diversity of world languages, NOVA examines how and why the bewildering confusion of languages came about.
Where to watch NOVAEpisode 16
Tongues of Men (2)
55m
In part two of this two-part series on the diversity of language, NOVA explores how man has coped with the confusion of language and asks if the growing acceptance of English is the answer.
Where to watch NOVAEpisode 17
Linus Pauling: Crusading Scientist
55m
NOVA profiles Linus Pauling—the only person to have received two unshared Nobel Prizes for his work in nuclear weapons.
Episode credits
Guest stars Linus Pauling
Episode 18
Across the Silent Barrier
55m
NOVA explores the different means by which hearing-impaired people have learned to penetrate the world of the hearing by visiting with Kitty O'Neil—a woman record-holding speed car racer; Frances Parsons, an advocate of hearing-impaired persons' rights; and workers at Silent Industries—a factory in Los Angeles founded by a deaf man.
Where to watch NOVAEpisode 19
The New Healers
55mfinale
NOVA explores the delibitating diseases that are often caused by poverty and follows two paths to health care in Tanzania and the United States.
Where to watch NOVAEpisode information updated Sep 2, 2026
More about NOVA
Cast
Corey JohnsonNarrator
Jay O. SandersSelf - Narrator (voice)
Demetri GoritsasNarrator
Richard SmithHost
Lance LewmanNarrator (voice)
Ted MarcouxNarrator
Peter ThomasNarrator
Brian GreeneHostProduction details
- Status
- Returning Series
- Series type
- Documentary
- Episodes
- 1,025
- Original language
- English
Networks & production
PBSUnited States
GBHUnited States
Themes
candiddramaticfactualinspirationalinstructivenature
