在这部日常物品的伟大故事纪录片/历史片中,创造发明是人类的本质，古代社会的进步依赖于石器的磨制、冶铜炼铁、制陶晒砖和养蚕织丝或者烹煮食物等发明。创造发明是每个民族强盛的所在，如果没有这些，人类社会将会变得微不足道，不堪一击。 在人类最早的发明中，绳子成了人类主宰世界的见证，为什么第一个看镜子的人，看到的不只是自己的倒影？为什么像绳子这种简单的发明，能改变这个世界？这些故事与其他许许多多的故事，共同构成了《日常物品的伟大故事》。
Everything around us has a story to tell. Shoes, cans, string, mirrors; everything we see and touch has an epic tale of how it came to be invented or discovered, and the dramatic moments throughout history at which it played an important role. But few of us know these stories. We go through our days blissfully ignorant of the deadly and dangerous road brave men traveled in order to bring coffee to the world, or the pivotal part beer played in the civilizing of mankind. These stories and many more are brought vividly to life in this two-hour special, which follows one man on a journey through the last day of his life, examining and recounting the epic tales of the everyday items he encounters before his ignorance of their stories leads him to his ultimate doom.
