History of engineering and technology Books

Book SynopsisThis is the first book in a three-part series that traces the development of the GPU. Initially developed for games the GPU can now be found in cars, supercomputers, watches, game consoles and more. GPU concepts go back to the 1970s when computer graphics was developed for computer-aided design of automobiles and airplanes. Early computer graphics systems were adopted by the film industry and simulators for airplanes and high energy physics—exploding nuclear bombs in computers instead of the atmosphere. A GPU has an integrated transform and lighting engine, but these were not available until the end of the 1990s. Heroic and historic companies expanded the development and capabilities of the graphics controller in pursuit of the ultimate device, a fully integrated self-contained GPU. Fifteen companies worked on building the first fully integrated GPU, some succeeded in the console, and Northbridge segments, and Nvidia was the first to offer a fully integrated GPU for the PC. Today the GPU can be found in every platform that involves a computer and a user interface.Table of Contents1 Introduction.- 2 1980-1989, Graphics Controllers on Other Platforms.- 3 1980-1989, Graphics Controllers on PCs.- 4 1990-1995, Graphics Controllers on PCs.- 5 1990 to 1999 Graphics Controllers on Other Platform.- 6 1996-1999, Graphics Controllers on PCs.- 7 What is a GPU?.- Appendix A: Definitions.- Appendix B: Acronyms.

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Book SynopsisThis third book in the three-part series on the History of the GPU covers the second to sixth eras of the GPU, which can be found in anything that has a display or screen. The GPU is now part of supercomputers, PCs, Smartphones and tablets, wearables, game consoles and handhelds, TVs, and every type of vehicle including boats and planes. In the early 2000s the number of GPU suppliers consolidated to three whereas now, the number has expanded to almost 20. In 2022 the GPU market was worth over $250 billion with over 2.2 billion GPUs being sold just in PCs, and more than 10 billion in smartphones. Understanding the power and history of these devices is not only a fascinating tale, but one that will aid your understanding of some of the developments in consumer electronics, computers, new automobiles, and your fitness watch.Table of ContentsForeword.- Acknowledgements.- Introduction.- The Third to Fifth Era GPUs.- Mobile GPUs.- Game Consule GPUs.- Compute and Other GPUs.- Open GPU Projects.(2000 -2018).- The Sixth Era of GPUs.- Concluding Remarks.- Appendix A: Acronyms.- Appendix B: Definitions.

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Book SynopsisWhat the f*ck is 5G, and how does it even work?The world loves 4G phones, tablets and other gizmos and we take the tech for granted...but when that 4 grew up into the next-gen 5, it seems everyone perked up and started caring about phone networking tech. Journalists journaled, politicians, er, politicked, and tin-foil hat wearers reached for the extra-thick reinforced foil. Why all this fuss? Believe it or not, 5G could change the way you live. Because though it seems like smartphones are only good for tiktok and texting, 5G has the power to revolutionise how we interact with public spaces - from concerts and gigs to coffee shops, paving the way for foundational tech like virtual and augmented reality. This book will explain this missing radio link that will propel us into the future of self-driving cars and VR. Oh, and along the way we'll explore why 5G and coronavirus are very definitely and completely, utterly, not the same thing

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Book Synopsis''Celebrates human cognitive diversity, and is rich with empathy and psychological insight'' Steven Pinker ''Bold, intriguing, profound'' Jay Elwes, Spectator Why can humans alone invent? In this book, psychologist and world renowned autism expert Simon Baron-Cohen puts forward a bold new theory: because we can identify patterns, specifically if-and-then patterns. Baron-Cohen argues that the genes for this unique ability overlap with the genes for autism and have driven human progress for 70,000 years. From the first musical instruments to the agricultural, industrial, and digital revolutions, Pattern Seekers links one of our greatest human strengths with a condition that is so often misunderstood and challenges us to think differently about those who think differently.Trade ReviewAmbitious and provocative...goes beyond the usual discussion of 'special gifts' in autism to propose that the diversity of human operating systems has accelerated the advancement of human civilization and culture in ways we can barely imagine. -- Steve Silberman, author of NeuroTribesIt's rare to come across a surprising new idea that explains important phenomena, but Simon Baron-Cohen's exploration of abstract pattern-seeking in human affairs is one of them. This book sheds light on one of humanity's most distinctive traits, celebrates human cognitive diversity, and is rich with empathy and psychological insight. -- Steven Pinker, author of How the Mind WorksA game-changing book, a passport into exploring the world of innovation and creativity. Most importantly, it celebrates autistic people and is a call for action, to welcome neurodiversity. -- David Joseph, Chairman and CEO Universal Music UKA fascinating account of the mechanisms underlying the related capacities of both autistic individuals and innovators. -- Brian Josephson, winner of the Nobel Prize in physicsErudite, illuminating...His bold new idea, that the genes for autism drove the evolution of human invention, places this disability centre stage in the story of humans. -- Jools HollandBased on massive research, Simon Baron-Cohen argues that most of us are specialized in how we perceive the world around us. There are those who focus on people and those who focus on things. The author makes a compelling case that the second kind of mind-the pattern seeker-is at the root of modern human civilization. -- Frans de Waal, author of The Age of EmpathyDestined to become a classic...In an age of increasing specialization, Baron-Cohen's book comes as a breath of fresh air. -- VS Ramachandran * author of the Tell Tale Brain *Bold, intriguing, profound. -- Jay Elwes * Spectator *A wonderful, lyrical celebration of the autistic mind. -- Alice Thomson * Times *

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Breathing Race into the Machine brilliantly tracks the remarkable story—lasting to the present—of how ‘correcting for race’ in measures of lung capacity became unremarkable scientific practice. This eye-opening account demonstrates that precision technologies and statistical techniques that supposedly measure biological differences accurately can mask racial myths and wreak devastating consequences for black people’s health and legal rights. Essential reading for everyone concerned about the impact of race on science and technology."—Dorothy Roberts, University of Pennsylvania, author of Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-create Race in the Twenty-first Century"Lundy Braun illuminates how the development of a new machine to measure lung capacity could begin with a benign purpose to assess the impact of working conditions in the coal mines in the early 19th century, but would later ‘morph’ into a justification for the putative relationship between difference and hierarchy that has remained intact for nearly two centuries. Braun documents how the social, economic and political fabric of each period is interwoven into the science of measurement—a theme that deftly carries throughout the book, and will establish Breathing Race into the Machine as a landmark contribution to the social studies of science."—Troy Duster, author of Backdoor to Eugenics"In Breathing Race into the Machine, Lundy Braun powerfully reinvigorates our understanding of how racial formation happens. An incisive, considered study of a seemingly conventional physiology instrument, this book reveals science as a foundational feature of the social construction of race. We create our own difference engines, but Braun’s astute book reminds us that we do not have to remain captive to them."—Alondra Nelson, author of Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight against Medical Discrimination"A fascinating read."—Choice"Ultimately, Breathing Race into the Machine disrupts ideas about technology’s objectivity to show the pernicious persistence of racial bias."—African American Review"Great value to those with an interest in the history of science and technology, occupational health and disease, and the construction of whiteness and blackness."—Social History of Medicine"Intellectually provocative, original, and extensively researched."—American Historical Review"This book reminds us that tools have a history and that their history matters."—Journal of American History"Lundy Braun provides her readers with the most meticulously detailed, and I should add sophisticated, historical analysis. . . her account of the career of the technical device of the spirometer offers surprising and valuable insights."—Science as Culture"Breathing Race into the Machine is theoretically informed, well researched, and well written. Its compelling account contributes to the scholarship of racialization in science and medicine."—ISISTable of ContentsContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Measuring Vital Capacity1. “Inventing” the Spirometer: Working-Class Bodies in Victorian England2. Black Lungs and White Lungs: The Science of White Supremacy in the Nineteenth-Century United States3. Filling the Lungs with Air: The Rise of Physical Culture in America4. Progress and Race: Vitality in Turn-of-the-Century Britain5. Globalizing Spirometry: The “Racial Factor” in Scientific Medicine6. Adjudicating Disability in the Industrial Worker7. Diagnosing Silicosis: Physiological Testing in South African Gold MinesEpilogue: How Race Takes RootNotesIndex

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Book SynopsisWhat the f*ck is the Dark Web, and how does it even work?Whether it's from dodgy acronym-titled crime shows to news stories designed to terrify you down to your socks we've all heard about sites like Silk Road and the ways criminals use cryptocurrency online. But did you know that among the various shady corners of the dark web you can also find portals to the BBC and Facebook?The thing is even the way the everyday internet works is a mystery to us and its darkest corners are, of course, more deeply shrouded. So, let's go on a journey from the birth of the Net through the strangest dark services - need a hitman to bump off your superfluous...er...beloved spouse? - to the surprisingly positive uses of dark technology, including dodging the watchful eye of oppressive censors.Over half of us can't remember a time before the internet - and for the rest it's increasingly difficult to imagine life without the damn thing! It's about time we understood more about it and we can start with the question: What The Fuck is The Dark Web?

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Book SynopsisThe Lotus Elite was a turning point for Lotus. First produced at the end of the 1950s, it marked Lotus' transition from a maker of small racing cars, which had limited utility on the road, to the producer of a highly sophisticated road and race car. In the Elite, Lotus exploited its knowledge of new technology and racing pedigree to produce a car which, with its glass fibre monocoque and Coventry Climax engine, had the potential to be a world beater. This book gives an insight into the reasons the car was produced and its importance in Lotus' history, especially in the production of lightweight innovative cars. Through interviews with Elite owners, first hand accounts provide a good overview of owning one of these iconic cars, covering its foibles and quirks as well as its exemplary roadholding, handling and performance. Illustrated with many colour photographs, along with period advertising material, the book provides a valuable insight into owning, running and racing these iconic cars.Trade Review[A] comprehensive history of the Lotus Elite - Classics Monthly --- for the many current enthusiasts who own - or wish they owned - a Lotus Elite, this book will undoubtedly prove to be a delight. - Speedscene --- Lotus fans will enjoy it and it's a useful reference title, with detailed specifications. - Auto Express --- Really enjoyable and highly readable, I motored through Lotus Elite in a single sitting with the book proving to be a very satisfactory antidote for Covid-19 lockdown boredom. - Classic Driver --- An informative and absorbing book that's highly recommended. - Club Lotus News --- For a comprehensive book on the Elite, this well-rounded offering seems great value for money. - Classic & Sports Car --- this is a comprehensive and enjoyable book that does justice to the car that was crucial to Lotus’s future - New Zealand Classic CarTable of ContentsChapter 1 - Background to the Elite Chapter 2 - First Steps: Development and Prototypes Chapter 3 - Power to the People: The Elite's Coventry Climax Engine Chapter 4 - Into Production: Customers and Problems Chapter 5 - Competition: Racing Improves the Breed Chapter 6 - Legacy: Owning the Elite and the Elite Today

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Book SynopsisThis volume brings together a selection of key papers by this soil mechanics pioneer. The papers have been selected on the basis of their importance in the development of soil mechanics and to highlight the nature and range of subjects that Bishop investigated during the thirty-seven years of his career. Bishop's most influential paper was presented at an ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) conference in Boulder, Colorado, in 1960, and while it made a big impression at the time, it is now in danger of disappearing from sight. In addition, two of Bishop's very significant papers were published in the late 1970s in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, not normal reading for the soil mechanics fraternity, and thus became known to only a few people. That has remained the case to this day, and the fact that these two papers have not been republished was the initial motivation for creating this volume. In addition, it is nearly 40 years since Bishop retired from his professorial position at Imperial College and a fitting time to remember Bishop with both a biography, The Bishop Method, and this volume of his papers. In addition to the Bishop papers, there is a paper by Laurie Wesley and Richard Pugh reflecting their research with Bishop. Separate papers were to have been written after the completion of their PhDs, with Bishop as the lead author, but because of his illness this didn't happen. The opportunity has now been taken to present the comprehensive research in these papers, as a tribute to their supervisor and mentor.Trade Review'...This is a valuable collection bringing together in one place documentation of a number of significant steps in the development of soil mechanics'. NZ GeomaticsTable of ContentsA new sampling tool for use in cohesionless sands below the ground water level (1946); Some factors involved in the design of a large earth dam in the Thames valley (1948); Undrained triaxial tests on saturated sands and their significance in the general theory of shear strength (1950); The use of the slip circle in the stability analysis of slopes (1954); The principle of effective stress (1954); The relevance of the triaxial test to the solution of stability problems (1960); Selset Reservoir: design and performance of the embankment (1962); The strength of soils as engineering materials. 6th Rankine Lecture (1966); Progressive failure with special reference to the mechanism causing it (1967); The influence of pore-water tension on the strength of clay (1975); The influence of high pore-water pressure on the strength of cohesionless soils (1977); Thirty-five years of soil testing (1981); The behaviour of a soft alluvial clay revealed by laboratory tests and trial embankments, Wesley, L.D & R.S Pugh (2019).

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Book SynopsisIn 1450, all Europe''s books were handcopied and amounted to only a few thousand. By 1500 they were printed, and numbered in their millions. The invention of one man - Johann Gutenberg - had caused a revolution. Printing by movable type was a discovery waiting to happen.Born in 1400 in Mainz, Germany, Gutenberg struggled against a background of plague and religious upheaval to bring his remarkable invention to light. His story is full of paradox: his ambition was to reunite all Christendom, but his invention shattered it; he aimed to make a fortune, but was cruelly denied the fruits of his life''s work. Yet history remembers him as a visionary; his discovery marks the beginning of the modern world.Trade ReviewThe Gutenberg Revolution is the best book about the origin of books you could read. It is clear, engaging, fast-paced and authoritative. * Stephen Fry *Extremely erudite and enormously enthusiastic * Guardian *Vivid . . . engaging, detailed and highly readable . . . a window on an extraordinary display of consummate skill and creative genius * New Scientist *

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Book SynopsisBest Books of 2024, The EconomistFrom the codebreakers and problem solvers, to the engineers, mathematicians and other problem-solvers what the secret world can teach us about performance and creativity How do you hire smart people who can work together to prevent terrorist attacks and decode encrypted technology?How do you come up with creative, counterintuitive solutions to solve major global problems?How do you provide the right environment for these people to thrive and work at their best when under immense pressure?Written by Robert Hannigan, the former Director of GCHQ, this book explores the role of the counter-intelligence services in history and today's world from the codebreakers and problem solvers, to innovation and creativity, secrecy and transparency and the global tech community. It will trace the history of counter-intelligence from the early days of Bletchley Park, to the ongoing work of GCHQ while reflecting on some of the unique characteristics of the engineers, mathematicians and other problem-solvers that make up the world's intelligence community.An exhaustive and authoritative account of the history of counter-intelligence from Bletchley Park to modern day GCHQ, this brilliant and unique book will appeal to business readers, history readers and fans of smart thinking and big ideas around the world.

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Book SynopsisA brilliant and defiant celebration of driving as a unique pathway of human freedom, by one of the most influential thinkers of our time (Sunday Times)Why We Drive weaves philosophers, thinkers, and scientific research with shade-tree mechanics and racers to defend our right to independence, making the case that freedom of motion is essential to who we are as a species. ... We hope you''ll read it. —Road & TrackOnce we were drivers, the open road alive with autonomy, adventure, danger, trust, and speed. Today we are as likely to be in the back seat of an Uber as behind the wheel ourselves. Tech giants are hurling us toward a shiny, happy “self-driving” future, selling utopia but equally keen to advertise to a captive audience strapped into another expensive device. Are we destined, then, to become passengers, not drivers? Why We Drive reveals that much more may be at stake than we might think.Ten years ago, in the New York Times-bestselling Shop Class as Soulcraft, philosopher-mechanic Matthew B. Crawford—a University of Chicago PhD who owned his own motorcycle shop—made a revolutionary case for manual labor, one that ran headlong against the pretentions of white-collar office work. Now, using driving as a window through which to view the broader changes wrought by technology on all aspects of contemporary life, Crawford investigates the driver’s seat as one of the few remaining domains of skill, exploration, play—and freedom. Blending philosophy and hands-on storytelling, Crawford grounds the narrative in his own experience in the garage and behind the wheel, recounting his decade-long restoration of a vintage Volkswagen as well as his journeys to thriving automotive subcultures across the country. Crawford leads us on an irreverent but deeply considered inquiry into the power of faceless bureaucracies, the importance of questioning mindless rules, and the battle for democratic self-determination against the surveillance capitalists. A meditation on the competence of ordinary people, Why We Drive explores the genius of our everyday practices on the road, the rewards of “folk engineering,” and the existential value of occasionally being scared shitless.Witty and ingenious throughout, Why We Drive is a rebellious and daring celebration of the irrepressible human spirit.

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Book SynopsisGeorge Dyson''s fascinating account of the early years of computers: Turing''s Cathedral is the story behind how the PC, ipod, smartphone and almost every aspect of modern life came into being.In 1945 a small group of brilliant engineers and mathematicians gathered at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, determined to build a computer that would make Alan Turing''s theory of a ''universal machine'' reality. Led by the polymath émigré John von Neumann, they created the numerical framework that underpins almost all modern computing - and ensured that the world would never be the same again.George Dyson is a historian of technology whose interests include the development (and redevelopment) of the Aleut kayak. He is the author of Baidarka; Project Orion; and Darwin Among the Machines.''Unusual, wonderful, visionary'' Francis Spufford, Guardian''Fascinating . . . the story Dyson tells is intensely human . . . a grippiTrade ReviewRiveting . . . conveys the electrifying sense of possibility that the first computers unleashed . . . a page-turner * New Scientist *Brings to life a myriad cast of extraordinary characters, each of whom contributed to ushering in today's digital age * Daily Telegraph *An engrossing and well-researched book that recounts an important chapter in the history of 20th-century computing -- Evgeny Morozov * Observer *

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Book SynopsisIn I Know You Got Soul, Jeremy Clarkson writes about the machines that he believes have ''soul''. It will come as no surprise to anyone that Jeremy Clarkson loves machines. But it''s not just any old bucket of blots, cogs and bearings that rings his bell. In fact, he''s scoured the length and breadth of the land, plunged into the oceans and taken to the skies in search of machines with that elusive certain something.And along the way he''s discovered:*The safest place to be in the event of nuclear war*Who would win if Superman, James Bond and The Terminator had a fight*The stupidest person he''s ever met*What an old Cornish institution called Arthur has to do with 0898chat lines*And how Jean Claude Van Damme might get eaten by a lion . . .In I Know You Got Soul, Jeremy Clarkson tells stories of the geniuses, innovators and crackpots who put the ghost in the machine. From Brunel''s SS Great Britain to the awesomTrade ReviewBrilliant...laugh-out-loud * Daily Telegraph *Outrageously funny...will have you in stitches * Time Out *Very funny...I cracked up laughing on the tube * Evening Standard *

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Book Synopsis*Longlisted for the William MB Berger Prize for British Art History, 2022*A spectacular biography of the great designer, entrepreneur, abolitionist and beacon of the Industrial Revolution, from acclaimed historian and Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, Tristram HuntJosiah Wedgwood, perhaps the greatest English potter who ever lived, epitomized the best of his age. From his kilns and workshops in Stoke-on-Trent, he revolutionized the production of ceramics in Georgian Britain by marrying technology with design, manufacturing efficiency and retail flair. He transformed the luxury markets not only of London, Liverpool, Bath and Dublin but of America and the world, and helping to usher in a mass consumer society. Tristram Hunt calls him ''the Steve Jobs of the eighteenth century''.But Wedgwood was radical in his mind and politics as well as in his designs. He campaigned for free trade and religious toleration, read pioneering papers to the Royal Society and was a member of the celebrated Lunar Society of Birmingham. Most significantly, he created the ceramic ''Emancipation Badge'', depicting a slave in chains and inscribed ''Am I Not a Man and a Brother?'' that became the symbol of the abolitionist movement.Tristram Hunt''s hugely enjoyable new biography, strongly based on Wedgwood''s notebooks, letters and the words of his contemporaries, brilliantly captures the energy and originality of Wedgwood and his extraordinary contribution to the transformation of eighteenth-century Britain.Trade ReviewThis is a remarkable and impassioned book. Josiah Wedgwood innovated across boundaries of technology and art and taste, commerce and scientific enquiry, and Tristram Hunt makes the powerful case for rediscovering his humane entrepreneurial spirit. The Radical Potter brings Wedgwood's protean energy alive for a new generation and I loved it. -- Edmund de Waalimpassioned, wide-ranging ... Hunt's sympathetic, engaged and finely written biography makes it clear that [Wedgwood] was a one-off, and a genius. -- David Horspool * Spectator *fabulously unputdownable ... In parts it reads like a thriller. -- Judith Woods * Telegraph *Wedgwood's remarkable story has been told in many biographies over the years. The great contribution of The Radical Potter, Tristram Hunt's new book, is to place him in the context of the rapid economic and social changes during his lifetime that helped make his success possible. -- Richard Lambert * Financial Times *this brisk and highly readable biography ... places Wedgwood in a dissenting tradition that goes back to the civil wars ... It is a timely tale. -- Paul Lay * The Times *engrossing ... Hunt, as director of the Victoria and Albert Museum and MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central from 2010 to 2017, is uniquely fitted to write this book. -- John Carey * Sunday Times *superb ... this delicious, meticulously researched, wide-ranging but never long-winded book made me admire Tristram Hunt as well as Josiah Wedgwood. -- Ysenda Maxtone Graham * Daily Mail *Hunt is exquisitely alive to all the contradictions in Wedgwood's achievements ... a rich portrait of the charismatic but contradictory man who made Georgian Britain the most stylish country in the world -- Kathryn Hughes * Mail on Sunday *One of the achievements of Tristram Hunt's biography... is too bring into view the commercial and moral instincts of the man behind the powerhouse ... Wedgwood emerges from this books as a man of voracious interest in the world. Canny and determined, he had both strong beliefs and the adaptability that marks any great innovator. Hunt ... is as interested in what the man can tell us about the times as the times meant for the man. -- Sarah Watling * Literary Review *Tristram Hunt, one of our finest historians, has done a magnificent job in The Radical Potter. Every chapter made me cheer and halloo. -- A. N. Wilson * Spectator Books of the Year *this attractively packaged ... splendid... biography of ceramics impresario Josiah Wedgwood ... reminds us not only of what has been lost in terms of manufacturing, but what can be regained. -- Jacqueline Riding * Country Life *Hunt performs the important task of telling the great potter's story clearly and accessibly ... Wedgwood the man should be as famous as Wedgwood the brand. That he is not might be due to his business - there are more heroic and glamorous trades than making pots - and to the national tendency to undervalue manufacturing. Hunt's book should help to correct that imbalance. -- Rowan Moore * The Observer *The Radical Potter sees Tristram Hunt argue that Wedgwood was epicentral to the transformation of Britain in the late 18th and early 19th centuries ... This is a remarkable book from a historian at the top of his game. -- Andrew Roberts * BBC History *Confident ... Hunt makes sure Wedgwood's pots stay at the heart of his biography -- Tanya Harrod * Prospect *easily the best account of that multi-faceted genius -- A. N. Wilson * The Times *The indefatigable one-legged artist and abolitionist Josiah Wedgwood personified the optimism of Georgian Britain. Hunt brings him brilliantly to life. -- Iona McLaren * Daily Telegraph Books of the Year *Josiah Wedgwood was "the Steve Jobs" of the 18th century, according to Tristram Hunt, the historian and V&A director. Wedgwood, of modest background but expansive inventive genius, turned a Staffordshire pottery firm into a global company, one that showed that Britain could make high-quality porcelain, a high-demand product in the new age of tea drinking. Not bad for a man who couldn't turn a wheel because childhood disease disabled one of his legs. He was nicknamed "Owd Wooden Leg" by his workers - and referred to the day he lost his limb as "Saint Amputation Day". -- Robbie Millen * The Times Books of the Year *Tristram Hunt, in The Radical Potter, underlines brilliantly the consumerism and politics of the age in the character of Josiah Wedgwood, in whom we can see all the energy of the era - the campaign for abolition, the birth of international trade, the stirrings of the industrial revolution, the combination of mass production and aesthetic sense. -- Catherine Ostler * Aspects of History Books of the Year *

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Trade Review"Mr. Freeberg's broad research adds up to a vivid social history with parallels for today's technology innovators and for those who wish to increase their number. It underscores the point that the work of Edison and other pioneers of light took place in an unusual setting, a period in which American invention was remarkably active and fertile... The Age of Edison comes at a fitting time, the close of the era of the incandescent light. When the old stocks of incandescents run out, it may be the end of pleasant illumination at a cheap price—that is, until another Thomas Edison finds a way."—The Wall Street Journal“Freeberg takes us on a captivating intellectual adventure that offers long-forgotten stories of the birth pangs of the electrical age that are amusing, surprising and tragic.”—Washington Post"One of the many pleasures of Age of Edison, Ernest Freeberg's engaging history of the spread of electricity throughout the United States, is that he captures the excitement and wonder of those early days, when 'a machine that could create enough cheap and powerful light to hold the night at bay' promised 'liberation from one of the primordial limits imposed by nature on the human will'... Freeberg's thoughtful and thought-provoking book quietly suggests that, to properly distribute and control such a powerful force, commercial initiative and a sense of civic responsibility were equally essential."—Los Angeles Times"A dynamo of a book powered by an infectious enthusiasm for the can-do spirit of Edison and rival geniuses racing to turn night into day. Freeberg writes with verve and uncommon clarity, all the while deeply enriching our understanding of an age raring to embrace modernity."—A. Roger Ekirch, author of At Day's Close: Night in Times Past"Ernest Freeberg's fascinating account of the arrival and impact of electric lighting in America fills an important gap in the history of this subject. This well-written and insightful book should appeal both to scholars and lay readers, all of whom will learn much about the complex history of the adoption of this new technology."—Paul Israel, author of Edison: A Life of Invention; General Editor, The Thomas Edison Papers"Freeberg's deft social history explores a remarkable period in America's cultural and economic development. By understanding the post-Edison world we can see how nightlife really began; how our workdays grew considerably longer; and how the urban gloom was extinguished by the commerce of illumination."—Jon Gertner, author of The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American InnovationOutstanding Academic Title of 2014, Choice

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Book SynopsisThe fascinating story of how NASA sent humans to explore outer space, told through a treasure trove of historical documents--publishing in celebration of NASA's 60th anniversary and with a foreword by Bill NyeAn extremely useful and thought provoking documentary journey through the maze of space history. There is no wiser or more experienced navigator through the twists and turns and ups and downs than John Logsdon. -James Hansen, New York Times bestselling author of First Man, now a feature film starring Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy Among all the technological accomplishments of the last century, none has captured our imagination more deeply than the movement of humans into outer space. From Sputnik to SpaceX, the story of that journey--including the inside history of our voyages to the moon depicted in First Man--is told as never before in The Penguin Book of Outer Space Exploration. RTrade Review"Somebody needed to do it. And Professor John Logsdon is uniquely qualified for the task — to reveal the cultural, political, and scientific correspondence that birthed and sustains our era of space exploration. The fits and starts of good ideas, the precarious flows of funding streams, the fickle sentiments of the public will — it’s all there, right on down to transcripts of illuminating conversations held in the Oval Office between the President and key players in this epic adventure." -Neil deGrasse Tyson, New York Times bestselling author of Astrophysics for People in a Hurry"I wish I'd had this terrific collection of critically important and richly insightful primary sources during my 31 years teaching university students about the history of space exploration. This new book provides an extremely useful and thought provoking documentary journey through the maze of space history. There is no wiser or more experienced navigator through the twists and turns and ups and downs than John Logsdon." -James Hansen, New York Times bestselling author of First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong"Brimming with fascinating behind-the-scenes details from the birth of the Space Age through the race to the Moon and beyond, this remarkable collection from one of America's preeminent space historians is a treasure.” -Andrew Chaikin, author of A Man on the Moon "As a NASA astronaut, I already knew a lot about the history of human space flight, but this book contained a wealth of new and exciting revelations. I felt like a fly on the wall listening as critical decisions were being made about how to go to the Moon and whether or not to build the Space Shuttle. And what a thrill to read John Glenn’s own summary of his historic Mercury flight! There’s something here for everyone interested in any aspect of human space flight." -Jeff Hoffman, NASA astronaut and MIT professor"The story of space exploration is marked by a series of turning points, a series of policy decisions. These decisions are documented well enough, but the key documents would be very hard to find, if you didn't where to look. Dr. Logsdon does. He's the dean of space history. He is the world's foremost authority on which of the hundreds of thousands of documents hold the keys to knowing what and why significant things happened on Earth that influenced our presence in space." -Bill Nye, from the foreword“[John Logsdon] clearly knows and is inspired by his material, and his enthusiasm comes through here…. An absorbing read for space exploration enthusiasts, from high schoolers to adults.”—Library Journal “A fascinating look at an extraordinary time….This wonderful little book should be in everyman’s library.”—The Albany Times-Union

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Book SynopsisA fascinating look at Artificial Intelligence, from its humble Cold War beginnings to the dazzling future that is just around the corner.When most of us think about Artificial Intelligence, our minds go straight to cyborgs, robots, and sci-fi thrillers where machines take over the world. But the truth is that Artificial Intelligence is already among us. It exists in our smartphones, fitness trackers, and refrigerators that tell us when the milk will expire.  In some ways, the future people dreamed of at the World's Fair in the 1960s is already here. We're teaching our machines how to think like humans, and they're learning at an incredible rate.In Thinking Machines, technology journalist Luke Dormehl takes you through the history of AI and how it makes up the foundations of the machines that think for us today. Furthermore, Dormehl speculates on the incredible--and possibly terrifying--future that's much closer than many would imagine. This remarkable

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Book SynopsisOn a moonless night in January 1991, a dozen U.S. aircraft appeared in the skies over Baghdad. To the Iraqi air defenses, the planes seemed to come from nowhere. Their angular shape, making them look like flying origami, rendered them virtually undetectable. Each aircraft was more than 60 feet in length and with a wingspan of 40 feet, yet its radar footprint was the size of a ball bearing. Here was the first extensive combat application of Stealth technology. And it was devastating. Peter Westwick''s new book illuminates the story behind these aircraft, the F-117A, also known as the Stealth Fighter, and their close cousin the B-2, also known as the Stealth Bomber. The development of Stealth unfolded over decades. Radar has been in use since the 1930s and was essential to the Allies in World War Two, when American investment in radar exceeded that in the Manhattan Project. The atom bomb ended the war, conventional wisdom has it, but radar won it. That experience also raised a question: could a plane be developed that was invisible to radar? That question, and the seemingly impossible feat of physics and engineering behind it, took on increasing urgency during the Cold War, when the United States searched for a way both to defend its airspace and send a plane through Soviet skies undetected. Thus started the race for Stealth. At heart, Stealth is a tale of not just two aircraft but the two aerospace companies that made them, Lockheed and Northrop, guided by contrasting philosophies and outsized personalities. Beginning in the 1970s, the two firms entered into a fierce competition, one with high financial stakes and conducted at the highest levels of secrecy in the Cold War. They approached the problem of Stealth from different perspectives, one that pitted aeronautical designers against electrical engineers, those who relied on intuition against those who pursued computer algorithms. The two different approaches manifested in two very different solutions to Stealth, clearly evident in the aircraft themselves: the F-117 composed of flat facets, the B-2 of curves. For all their differences, Lockheed and Northrop were located twenty miles apart in the aerospace suburbs of Los Angeles, not far from Disneyland. This was no coincidence. The creative culture of postwar Southern California-unorthodox, ambitious, and future-oriented-played a key role in Stealth. Combining nail-biting narrative, incisive explanation of the science and technology involved, and indelible portraits of unforgettable characters, Stealth immerses readers in the story of an innovation with revolutionary implications for modern warfare.Trade ReviewThe U.S. innovation system fostered different approaches to a specific problem, and stealth mobilized a huge amount of talent and human energy- like many high-tech Cold War ventures. Historians of business, technology, and the military as well as sociologists will find Stealth richly rewarding. * Dimitrios Ziakkas, Dimitrios Ziakkas is an assistant professor in the School of Aviation and Transportation Technology at Purdue University., Technology and Culture *[A] valuable contribution to Cold War history. * Tom Ricks *In his elegant Stealth, Peter Westwick balanc[es] a modest level of technical detail with a keen eye for the people involved, drawing on extensive interviews and oral histories. The vividness Mr. Westwick achieves is all the more impressive given the secrecy of the stealth world. * Konstantin Kakaes, The Wall Street Journal *A rich, compelling, and eye-opening book. * Daniel J. Kevles, author of The Physicists *Westwick does a good job of explaining the engineering principles at work, the competitive instinct of the engineers—which motivated them more than did a patriotic desire to gain the upper hand over the Soviet Union—and the advantages of a close partnership between the private sector and the state. * Lawrence Freedman, Foreign Affairs *This concise, highly readable history of the creation, development, and application of one of the most important technologies of the Cold War brings clarity and a thorough understanding to this complex subject. * F. Robert van der Linden, Science *Table of ContentsChapter 1. Roots of the Revolution Chapter 2. Dark Days in the Sunshine State Chapter 3. Breeding Invisible Rabbits Chapter 4. Lockheed: Tin Shed in a Hurricane Chapter 5. Northrop: Seeing the Waves Chapter 6. Shootout at RATSCAT Chapter 7. Have Blue and the F-117 Chapter 8. Secrets and Strategies Chapter 9. The Whale Chapter 10. Winning the B-2 Chapter 11. Building the B-2 Chapter 12. Stealth and the Modern Military

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Book SynopsisHailed as the Thomas Edison and Henry Ford of Silicon Valley, Robert Noyce was a brilliant inventor, a leading entrepreneur, and a daring risk taker who piloted his own jets and skied mountains accessible only by helicopter. Now, in The Man Behind the Microchip, Leslie Berlin captures not only this colorful individual but also the vibrant interplay of technology, business, money, politics, and culture that defines Silicon Valley. Here is the life of a high-tech industry giant. The co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel, Noyce co-invented the integrated circuit, the electronic heart of every modern computer, automobile, cellular telephone, advanced weapon, and video game. With access to never-before-seen documents, Berlin paints a fascinating portrait of Noyce: an ambitious and intensely competitive multimillionaire who exuded a just folks sort of charm, a Midwestern preacher''s son who rejected organized religion but would counsel his employees to go off and do something wonderful, a man who never looked back and sometimes paid a price for it. In addition, this vivid narrative sheds light on Noyce''s friends and associates, including some of the best-known managers, venture capitalists, and creative minds in Silicon Valley. Berlin draws upon interviews with dozens of key players in modern American business--including Andy Grove, Steve Jobs, Gordon Moore, and Warren Buffett; their recollections of Noyce give readers a privileged, first-hand look inside the dynamic world of high-tech entrepreneurship. A modern American success story, The Man Behind the Microchip illuminates the triumphs and setbacks of one of the most important inventors and entrepreneurs of our time.Trade Review"An important, hype-free account. And the bonus: Noyce was no geeky physicist, and his risk-taking zeal to create new things, coupled with a powerful commitment to ethics, powers a story that should be required reading for today's entrepreneurs and executives."--The Washington Post"Leslie Berlin's excellent new study is a welcome addition to the body of historical literature dealing with recent computer technology. The book is one of only a handful of scholarly biographies of members of the generation of inventors and entrepreneurs whobuilt the semiconductor industry and helped create the economic and cultural phenomenon now known as Silicon Valley. Berlin describes Noyce's technical accomplishments accurately and with appropriate detail, but she also makes clear that he was as much a social and economic innovator as a technical one. Berlin's portrayal of Noyce might be characterized as ironic hagiography. She celebrates his achievementsbut also makes it clear that those accomplishments came at a substantial human cost. Berlin's biography will help preserve Noyce's reputation and will serve as an important resource for future studies of Silicon Valley."--American Scientist"Leslie Berlin does an excellent job of capturing the Bob Noyce I knew: part small-town boy, part big-time genius and always a wonderful friend and citizen."--Warren E. Buffett, Chairman, Berkshire Hathaway Inc."A comprehensive and admiring biography.... Berlin does a fine job uncovering the details of Noyce's childhood and tracing his intellectual development.... Berlin writes convincingly.... [A] thorough and worthy retelling of his life."--Washington Monthly"Few people had a greater impact on life in the second half of the 20th century than Bob Noyce, co-inventor of the integrated circuit. Yet he was little known outside the field of electronics. Leslie Berlin, in "The Man Behind the Microchip," her highly readable biography of Noyce, describes how his work sparked two revolutions in the modern business and technology era."--The Boston Globe"Bob Noyce was one of the giants of Silicon Valley. The most extraordinary thing about this book is that Berlin has been able to cut through the legend and establish that this man, once nicknamed ``the mayor of Silicon Valley,'' was also an ordinary human being." [Berlin] has brought Noyce and his role in the valley's history into focus."--San Jose Mercury News"A well-rounded biography...excellent work."--Publisher's Weekly"Noyce understood the transformative power of new technology as well as anyone alive.... Berlin's rigorously factual account portrays the scientific process in all its grittiness."--MIT Technology Review"Not only an excellent biography, but also an intriguing history of the development of the digital age."--Harvard Business School Working Knowledge"Leslie Berlin's meticulously researched biography tells the story of a talented but flawed individual whose successes and failures could serve as the raw material for a dozen business school case studies. It also paints a revealing picture of US business culture in the mid-20th century.... [An] evocative account of the birth of an industry."--Financial Times"This is where Berlin is best: she superbly evokes the hacker inventiveness of Shockley and his gang."--Clive Thompson, The New York Times Book Review"Bob Noyce's contributions to the development of the semiconductor industry go well beyond his inventions. He was industry spokesman, visionary, and leading entrepreneur. But this well written book does more than just chronicle his many contributions; it is a window into his complex and charming personality."--Gordon E. Moore, co-founder of Intel Corporation"All the busy billionaires, multimillionaires and geeks in their garages dreaming up the next big thing that will bring glory back to Silicon Valley should plunk down some loose change on 'The Man Behind the Microchip.' And anyone interested in the true creation story of Silicon Valley--in contrast to the enticing tales of the mythmakers who continue to blow bubbles of promise up and down the Peninsula--would do well to make a small investment in this terrific biography."--John Christensen, San Francisco Chronicle"The first full-scale biography of Noyce and the first book to acknowledge his true importance. Noyce's story is a fascinating one.... The book succeeds best as a business biography, putting his impressive accomplishments in perspective. Noyce should be considered one of the most influential inventors of our time, a prime mover of the digital revolution that has changed all our lives. For that he deserves much broader recognition. The Man Behind the Microchip is a great start in that direction."--PC Magazine"At last, the absorbing story of the most important figure in the history of the semiconductor industry! Meticulously researched, The Man Behind the Microchip is so engagingly narrated that you don't realize how much business and technology you are learning along the way."--William Aspray, Indiana University"Exhaustively researched. Berlin's thoughtful and thorough biography is at once a celebratory and a cautionary tale."-David Kushner, The Houston Chronicle"Leslie Berlin, in her highly readable biography of Noyce, describes how his work sparked two revolutions in the modern business and technology era."--Robert Weisman, Philadelphia Inquirer"At the white-hot epicenter of the digital revolution was Robert Noyce. Now, thanks to this incisive and astutely researched biography, Noyce will be forever listed among those inventor-entrepreneurs of the postwar era who functioned as the Johan Gutenbergs, the Alexander Graham Bells, the Guglielmo Marconis of our era."--Kevin Starr, University of Southern California

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Trade ReviewHeadrick restores a broad definition of technology that enhances the value of this wide-ranging survey....it suits the New Oxford World History series goals of highlighting major trends and stimulating thinking. * Choice *Table of ContentsChapter 1: Stone Age Technology ; Chapter 2: Hydraulic Civilizations (4000-1500 BCE) ; Chapter 3: Iron, horses, and Empires (1500 B.C.E. - 500 C.E.) ; Chapter 4: Post-Classical and Medieval Revolutions (500-1400) ; Chapter 5: An Age of Global Interactions (1300-1800) ; Chapter 6: The First Industrial Revolution (1750-1869) ; Chapter 7: The Acceleration of Change (1869-1939) ; Chapter 8: Toward a Post-Industrial World (1939-2000)

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Book SynopsisActivists, pundits, politicians, and the press frequently proclaim today''s digitally mediated racial justice activism the new civil rights movement. As Charlton D. McIlwain shows in this book, the story of racial justice movement organizing online is much longer and varied than most people know. In fact, it spans nearly five decades and involves a varied group of engineers, entrepreneurs, hobbyists, journalists, and activists. But this is a history that is virtually unknown even in our current age of Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Black Lives Matter. Beginning with the simultaneous rise of civil rights and computer revolutions in the 1960s, McIlwain, for the first time, chronicles the long relationship between African Americans, computing technology, and the Internet. In turn, he argues that the forgotten figures who worked to make black politics central to the Internet''s birth and evolution paved the way for today''s explosion of racial justice activism. From the 1960s to present, the book examines how computing technology has been used to neutralize the threat that black people pose to the existing racial order, but also how black people seized these new computing tools to build community and wealth, and to wage a war for racial justice.Through archival sources and the voices of many of those who lived and made this history, Black Software centralizes African Americans'' role in the Internet''s creation and evolution, illuminating both the limits and possibilities for using digital technology to push for racial justice in the United States and across the globe.Trade ReviewCharlton McIlwain's Black Software is a groundbreaking history of the intersection between technology and race in the United States. * Pavithra Suresh and Alexander Monea, Technology and Culture *McIlwain's book [is an] utterly compelling demonstratio[n] of the contributions black people have made, and struggle to make still, to modern culture. * Lilian Anekwe, New Scientist *A poetic tour de force. By amplifying black voices and their stories, McIlwain peels back a layer of overwritten history to reveal how technology and race have always been entwined. This book's rhythmic drumbeat and call to action will energize your soul. * danah boyd, Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research and Founder of Data and Society *McIlwain has written the first digital history book that explains in crystal clear terms eactly how Big Tech came to be an engine for inequality. Black Software is an utterly fascinating, painstakingly researched origin story of black cyberculture...It will change the way you think about computers, fairness, racial identity, and America as a technological nation. * Lisa Nakamura, Gwendolyn Calvert Baker Collegiate Professor and Director the Digital Studies Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor *Black Software imaginatively reprograms late twentieth-century digital history with a revelatory account of the black men and women who are its hidden figures. Unsung innovator are recovered as the forerunners of #BlackLivesMatter, #BlackTwitter, and #MeToo in this detailed, creative and crucial rendering of the tech communities that-against both the odds and countervailing forces-inspired today's hashtag politics. * Alondra Nelson, Harold F. Linder Professor of Social Science, Institute for Advanced Study *Black Software is one of the most moving and important books about the history of digital culture and politics in the United States. Charlton McIlwain tells stirring stories of those who moved the world a bit closer to racial justice and relates broad account of the social and political forces that worked against the interests of African Americans. * Siva Vaidhyanatha, author of Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy *Table of ContentsPrologue Chapter One: The Great Equalizer Chapter Two: Different Strokes Chapter Three: The Roxbury Shake Chapter Four: The Vanguard Chapter Five: Black Software Comes to Cambridge Chapter Six: The Electronic Village Needs an Organizer Chapter Seven: Want Ad for a Revolution Chapter Eight: The Battle for (Black) Cyberspace Chapter Nine: 100 Years Black: A Cautionary Tale Chapter 10: Taking IT to the Streets Chapter Eleven: Collision Course Chapter Twelve: The Revolution, Brought to You by IBM Chapter Thirteen: The Committeemen Chapter Fourteen: What Happened at the Homestead Chapter Fifteen: Kansas City Burning Chapter Sixteen: The Man's Best Friend Chapter Seventeen: Digital Technology: Our Past Is Prologue Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis text contains a translation of the "Nine Chapters". The "Nine Chapters" contains math problems and solutions, which fall into nine categories based on practical needs. There are methods for solving problems in areas such as land measurement, construction, agriculture, commerce, and taxation.Trade Reviewa rich compilation of attractive problems telling wonderful fairy tales full of imaginative and delightful connections * Zentralbaltt Mathematik *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; Liu Hui's Preface to his Running Commentary on the Nine Chapters ; 1. Field measurement ; 2. Millet and rice ; 3. Distribution by proportion ; 4. Short width ; 5. Construction consultations ; 6. Fair levies ; 7. Excess and deficit ; 8. Rectangular arrays ; 9. Right-angled triangles ; Appendix ; References ; Index

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Book SynopsisFollowing the pioneering work of Trevithick, Stephenson, and many others, steam locomotives continued to evolve and be refined until overtaken by diesel and electric traction technology. Although the last main-line steam service was operated by British Rail in 1968, there is still immense interest in steam traction, as demonstrated by the increasing numbers of privately renovated and preserved locomotives and heritage railways around the world.In How Steam Locomotives Really Work, the authors, both railway experts, cover the design of locomotives, the many processes in the conversion of fuel to tractive effort, the dynamic characteristics of the locomotive as a vehicle, the braking equipment, and a host of other systems, major and minor, that make up a working locomotive. They also explain the reasons for running and maintenance practices. Their explanations will fascinate enthusiasts, whether practical or armchair.Steam locomotive design may have started in the United Kingdom, but it Trade ReviewReview from previous edition ...if you are only buying one book for a steam railway enthusiast this Christmas, it has to be this one. * National Railway Museum Review *This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the realities of steam traction. * Transport Digest *. . . an excellent treatment of theory, practice and history . . . It will fascinate engineers and railway enthusiasts, as well as prove a source of interesting historical and technical teaching material. * New Scientist *Enthusiasts will be riveted. * Yorkshire Evening Press *. . . a most worthy book at an attractive price for anyone interested in steam locomotive technology. * The Newcomen Society *Excellent value for money. * Railnews *To enable train enthusiasts to understand the workings of the various types of engines in use, this book describes the anatomy and physiology of the steam train. It covers the design of the engine, the process of converting fuel into mechanical tractive effort to haul passenger and freight trains, the function and design of the various components of the engine, and the safe and efficient operation and maintenance of steam locomotives. Although the steam locomotive originated in the United Kingdom, there were parallel lines of development in North America and Europe, and the individual features of these are also covered. * Mechanical Engineering *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. Why use steam? ; 2. Burning the fuel ; 3. Raising steam ; 4. Using the steam ; 5. Transmitting the power ; 6. The locomotive as a vehicle ; 7. The steam locomotive at work ; 8. Brakes ; 9. Designing a steam locomotive ; Index

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Book SynopsisDocuments the forging of a fresh relationship between technology and politics in Revolutionary France, and the inauguration of a distinctively modern form of the 'technological life'.Trade Review"A work of stunning originality.... An important contribution to a variety of fields." - Ted Porter. "A triumph. It deserves to be read widely, and not just as an inquiry into the origins of modern France." - Donald MacKenzie, "London Review of Books." "In the history of technology, one of the very best books is Ken Alder's Engineering the Revolution, about the ways in which new engineering practices both emerged from and shaped the ideals of the French Revolution." - Peter Galison, American Scientist. "Ken Alder's study of the relations between artifacts, technical life, and politics constitutes a model study in its genre." - Terry Shinn, "Social Studies of Science."

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Book SynopsisIn the early years of aviation, there was an intense dispute between British and German experts over the question of why and how an aircraft wing provides lift. This title reveals the impact that the divergent mathematical traditions of Cambridge and Gottingen had on this debate.Trade Review"A masterpiece of writing and research. David Bloor brings his varied background to the table, writing the only book that describes a wonderful mixture of the scientific, historical, philosophical, and sociological forces that help to explain the 'enigma' of the aerofoil." (John D. Anderson Jr., National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution)"

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Book SynopsisIn the early years of aviation, there was an intense dispute between British and German experts over the question of why and how an aircraft wing provides lift. This title reveals the impact that the divergent mathematical traditions of Cambridge and Gottingen had on this debate.Trade Review"A masterpiece of writing and research. David Bloor brings his varied background to the table, writing the only book that describes a wonderful mixture of the scientific, historical, philosophical, and sociological forces that help to explain the 'enigma' of the aerofoil." (John D. Anderson Jr., National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution)"

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Book SynopsisInterprets a relatively unexplored set of primary archival sources: the notes and notebooks of some of the leading figures of the Scientific Revolution. By reflecting on the interaction of memory, notebooks, and other records, this book argues, the English virtuosi shaped an ethos of long-term empirical scientific inquiry.Trade Review"Behind most great books lies a great set of notes-typically left unnoticed or neglected unto loss. In this delightfully innovative and lucidly written study, Yeo opens a whole new perspective on the central figures of the Royal Society in the seventeenth century by delving deeply into the surviving evidence of their note-taking. Whether messy or neat, kept on loose sheets or in notebooks, notes were essential tools for Baconian empiricism, which served to relieve the memory and to facilitate collaboration with others." (Ann Blair, Harvard University)"

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Book SynopsisThe advent of recombinant DNA technology in the 1970s was a key moment in the history of both biotechnology and the commercialization of academic research. This book brings to life the hybrid origin story of biotechnology and ways the academic culture of science has changed in tandem with the early commercialization of recombinant DNA technology.Trade Review"Yi's masterwork is a welcome deep-sequencing of how the double helix, DNA, gave rise to the triple helix-university-industry-government relations at the dawn of modern biotechnology. Yi's story traces how a science department changed the world, for better or for worse, or a bit of both." (Robert Cook-Deegan, Duke University)

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Book SynopsisShowcases how small machines and consumer goods that originated in Europe and North America became objects of everyday use in India in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The author examines how such technologies became integral to fresh ways of thinking about class, race, and gender, as well as about the politics of colonial rule.Trade Review"Everyday Technology organizes an enormous amount of unfamiliar detail on a hitherto largely neglected subject, reinforced with copious statistics and illustrated with some appealing historical and contemporary images." (Nature) "In this fascinating study, Arnold casts his eye over a range of much smaller and humbler machines which, nonetheless, have transformed the 'everyday' lives of the people using them." (Times Literary Supplement)

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Book SynopsisThe last decades of the Ming dynasty saw a significant increase in publications that examined advances in knowledge and technology. Among the numerous guides and reference books that appeared during this period was a series of texts by Song Yingxing. The author probes this text to focus on the development of scientific thinking in China.Trade Review"The Crafting of the 10,000 Things is a great achievement, which will repay careful reading on the part of historians of Western Europe and other parts of the world, as well as of China." (Metascience)

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Book SynopsisIn 1968 a team of scientists and engineers from RCA announced the creation of a new form of electronic display that relied upon an obscure set of materials known as liquid crystals. At a time when televisions utilized bulky cathode ray tubes to produce an image, these researchers demonstrated how liquid crystals could electronically control the passage of light. One day, they predicted, liquid crystal displays would find a home in clocks, calculatorsand maybe even a television that could hang on the wall. Half a century later, RCA's dreams have become a reality, and liquid crystals are the basis of a multibillion-dollar global industry. Yet the company responsible for producing the first LCDs was unable to capitalize upon its invention. In The TVs of Tomorrow, Benjamin Gross explains this contradiction by examining the history of flat-panel display research at RCA from the perspective of the chemists, physicists, electrical engineers, and technicians at the company's central labora

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Book SynopsisAn account of the rise of physical sciences in Berlin in the nineteenth century, and the role played by the larger cultural flowering occurring at the time—the ways that ideas cross-fertilized.

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Book SynopsisThe twentieth century is a pivotal period in map history. Geographic information systems radically altered cartographic institutions and reduced the skill required to create maps. This volume features expert contributors who provide both original research, and interpretations of larger trends in cartography.Trade Review"Certain to be the standard reference for all subsequent scholarship." (New York Times)

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Book SynopsisTime capsules offer unexpected insights into how people view their own time, place, and culture, as well as their duties to future generations. Remembrance of Things Present traces the birth of this device to the Gilded Age, when growing urban volatility prompted doubts about how the period would be rememberedor if it would be remembered at all. Yablon details how diverse Americans from presidents and mayors to advocates for the rights of women, blacks, and workers constructed prospective memories of their present. They did so by contributing not just written testimony to time capsules but also sources that historians and archivists considered illegitimate, such as photographs, phonograph records, films, and everyday artifacts. By offering a direct line to posterity, time capsules stimulated various hopes for the future. Remembrance of Things Present delves into these treasure chests to unearth those forgotten futures.

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Book SynopsisShows how early modern science involved many repurposing practices that would be considered green today

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