I used to love watching, when I could catch it, the late 1990s early 2000's James Burke Documentary "Connections". A, I assume, British programme it may not be familiar to Americans.  I didn't see it that often but recently found it on you tube.   I hadn't realized I had probably missed 80% of all episodes. The format of each episode was to lead up to one particular invention (the undeclared subject of the episode) discovery by linking a whole lot of seemingly unrelated inventions and discoveries.   It was interesting; at least I found it so, even when the links seemed to be a bit forced.   What I found particularly useful was the different frames of reference that were applied.  Too often we become so used to one way of looking at the world, or our hobby, that we fail to see another way of looking at it.