The pearl-the only gem produced by a living animal-has long carried a certain allure. Yet the best mollusk for making this gem-the pearl oyster-doesn't always produce a pearl, and even then, the pearls are rarely perfectly round. It wasn't until the late nineteenth century, when a Japanese scientist discovered a technique to incite oysters to produce these gems, that an industry was formed.

NOVA Season 26 Episodes...

• s26e01 - Lost At Sea: The Search For Longitude
• s26e02 - Chasing El Niño
• s26e03 - Terror In Space
• s26e04 - Special Effects: Titanic and Beyond
• s26e05 - Deadly Shadow of Vesuvius
• s26e06 - Ice Mummies (1): Frozen In Heaven
• s26e07 - Ice Mummies (2): Siberian Ice Maiden
• s26e08 - Ice Mummies (3): Return of the Iceman
• s26e09 - Leopards of the Night with David Attenborough
• s26e10 - The Perfect Pearl
• s26e11 - The Beast of Loch Ness
• s26e12 - Submarines, Secrets & Spies
• s26e13 - Surviving AIDS
• s26e14 - Escape! Because Accidents Happen: Fire (1)
• s26e15 - Escape! Because Accidents Happen: Car Crash (2)
• s26e16 - Escape! Because Accidents Happen: Plane Crash (3)
• s26e17 - Escape! Because Accidents Happen: Abandon Ship (4)
• s26e18 - Battle Alert in the Gulf
• s26e19 - Volcanoes of the Deep
• s26e20 - To the Moon

NOVA Show Summary

Seen in more than 100 countries, NOVA is the most watched science based television series in the world and the most watched documentary series on PBS. It is also one of television's most acclaimed series, having won many major television awards, most of them many times over.