I recently did one of my Wikipedia curiosity dives along a similar route. Starting with cathode ray tubes in the 1800s through the discovery of electrons, photons and then into the discovery of quantum effects. Trying to understand what were the questions that were raised by each experiment and how they led to the next set of experiments and theories. It was very enlightening, though Wikipedia's dry style and inconsistent depth on each subject makes it hard to follow the narrative sometimes.
Yes, someone really needs to do a fun Bill and Ted style video series (or even better - a full blown video game franchise) on a wide variety of topics. I would pay good money for entertaining, interactive, and highly educational trips such as: Life at Bell Labs with Dennis Ritchie, Finding Mario with Shigeru Miyamoto, Building and Selling Your First Computer with Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs.
So many great stories, and so much untapped storytelling potential... Wikipedia, History Channel, and random documentaries on Netflix aren't good enough!
