History of engineering and technology Books
W. W. Norton & Company How Data Happened
Book Synopsis
£14.24
Johns Hopkins University Press Back on Track
Book SynopsisA fascinating account of one of America's most important industries and its dangers. Throughout the early twentieth century, railroad safety steadily improved across the United States. But by the 1960s, American railroads had fallen apart, the result of a regulatory straightjacket that eroded profitability and undermined safety. Collisions, derailments, worker fatalities, and grade crossing mishaps skyrocketed, while hazmat disasters exploded into newspaper headlines. In Back on Track, his sequel to Death Rode the Rails, Mark Aldrich traces the history of railroad accidents beginning in 1965, when Congress responded to bankrupt and scandal-ridden carriers by enacting a new safety regime. Aldrich details the federalization of rail safety and the implementation of a massive grade crossing program. He touches on post-1976 economic deregulation, which provided critical financing that underwrote better public safety. He also explores how the National Transportation Safety Board acted as aTrade ReviewMark Aldrich provides a comprehensive review of U.S. railroad safety, including major wrecks, regulatory changes, and technological innovations . . . The author intertwines encyclopedic knowledge of U.S. railroad accidents with a discussion that outlines how market forces, technological advancement, and regulations influenced railroad safety.—Cody Nehiba and Alexander Luttmann, EH.NetTable of ContentsList of FiguresList of TablesPrefaceIntroduction1. The Long View2. Off the Tracks3. On the Right Track4. "Our Goal Is Zero Accidents"5. Passenger Safety in Modern Times, 1955–20156. Look Out for the TrainConclusionAppendixes1. Train Accidents That Shaped Railroad Safety, 1831–19552. Adjusting Train Accidents for Inflation and Reporting Changes, 1947–19783. Accidents That Shaped Railroad Safety, 1960–2010List of AbbreviationsNotesEssay on SourcesIndex
£46.35
Johns Hopkins University Press The Textbook and the Lecture
Book SynopsisDrawing on wide-ranging scholarship in fields as diverse as media ecology and German-language media studies, Foucauldian historiography, and even archaeological research, The Textbook and the Lecture is a fascinating investigation of educational media.Trade ReviewThrough its multiple examples and case studies, The Textbook and the Lecture shows the philosophical assumptions underpinning longstanding debates and serves to inform and perhaps even empower educational workers by helping them understand why they do what they do.—LSEFriesen's book should be attractive to students and instructors of curriculum and instruction as well as instructional designers and educational technology professionals. Educational start-ups and entrepreneurs might fnd it particularly helpful in placing new products in the context of the longue durée of education history.—Donald Lankiewicz, Emerson College, Publishing Research QuarterlyTable of ContentsPrefacePart I1. No More Pencils, No More Books?2. Writing Instruction in the Twenty-First CenturyPart II3. Psychology and the Rationalist4. The Romantic Tradition5. Romantic versus Rationalist Reform6. Theorizing Media—by the BookPart III7. A Textbook Case8. From Translatio Studiorum to “Intelligences Thinking in Unison”9. The Lecture as Postmodern PerformanceConclusionNotesBibliography Index
£27.55
Johns Hopkins University Press A Telephone for the World
Book SynopsisIn a postCold War world, the Iridium satellite network revealed a new age of globalization. Winner of the William and Joyce Middleton Electrical Engineering History Award by the IEEEIn June 1990, Motorola publicly announced an ambitious business venture called Iridium. The project's signature feature was a constellation of 77 satellites in low-Earth orbit which served as the equivalent of cellular towers, connecting to mobile customers below using wireless hand-held phones. As one of the founding engineers noted, the constellation bathed the planet in radiation, enabling a completely global communications system. Focusing on the Iridium venture, this book explores the story of globalization at a crucial period in US and international history. As the Cold War waned, corporations and nations reoriented toward a new global order in which markets, neoliberal ideology, and the ideal of a borderless world predominated. As a planetary-scale technological system, the project became emblematiTrade ReviewCollins examines the historical development of Motorola's Iridium global telecommunications project, which sought to provide cellular voice service to any point on Earth using a network of 77 low-orbiting satellites... Iridium's Apollo-like saga will capture the interest of general readers in engineering, science, history, sociology, and business, and will serve as an excellent capstone case study. Technical discussions are easy to understand, and the extensive endnotes and bibliography will satisfy the most rigorous scholar.—R. Dupont, Louisiana State University Alexandria, ChoiceThis is an ambitious book that connects technology, capitalism, and globalization. It is all that more audacious because it uses a failed communications platform and business model to make these connections . . . Although Iridium was a business failure, its legacy continues to be a set of cultural, social, and political expectations about global flows of information and capital. As Collins forcefully reminds us, globalization is not a given, but was (and continues to be) "actively fashioned" by those who seek "to project market values, power, and control over the totality of the planet."—David Hochfelder, University at Albany, Journal of American HistoryEngaging, informative, and thought provoking, A Telephone for the World should prove to be of particular interest to business and economic historians skeptical of neoliberal pieties about innovation, to media and communications historians intrigued by the evolution of spectrum management, and to cultural and political historians fascinated by the zeitgeist of the 1990s.—Richard R. John, Columbia University, American Historical ReviewTable of ContentsPrefaceIntroduction1. Iridium and the Global Age2. The Global and the Engineers3. The Global and Iridium the Business4. "Freedom to Communicate"5. From "It's a bird, it's a phone" to "Edsels in the sky"ConclusionNotesBibliographyIndex
£35.10
Johns Hopkins University Press The Draining of the Fens
Book SynopsisHow landowners, drainage projectors, and investors worked with the Crown to transform England's waterlogged Fens. 2017 Choice Outstanding Academic TitleThe draining of the Fens in eastern England was one of the largest engineering projects in seventeenth-century Europe. A series of Dutch and English projectors, working over several decades and with the full support of the Crown, transformed hundreds of thousands of acres of putatively barren wetlands into dry, arable farmland. The drainage project was also supposed to reform the sickly, backward fenlanders into civilized, healthy farmers, to the benefit of the entire commonwealth. As projectors reconstructed entire river systems, these new, artificial channels profoundly altered both the landscape and the lives of those who lived on it. In this definitive account, historian Eric H. Ash provides a detailed history of this ambitious undertaking. Ash traces the endeavor from the 1570s, when draining the whole of the Fens became an imagiTrade ReviewStunningly relevant and beautifully written . . . This remarkable book is about nation building, economics, and environmental and social history. It is thoroughly researched, and historian Ash tells his story in a compelling way that is accessible to any reader. Essential. All levels/libraries.—ChoiceAsh's book is a sound study of the drainage of one part of the southern fens over a period of less than a century that was without doubt the most formative era in its taming. It is well-written, informative, assiduously referenced with copious endnotes, and an excellent testimony to the wealth of documentation that survives in the archives.—Environment and HistoryAn excellent contribution to the history of engineering projects, particularly from an environmental and political point of view.—MetascienceThis comprehensive account is likely to become the standard textbook for the history of the Fens. It is thoroughly researched, drawing on a wide range of printed material in addition to archival sources including court records, petitions, correspondence, and state papers.—Renaissance QuarterlyThe book is certainly the account for our generation.—American Historical ReviewAsh's work will long remain an essential account of these important events.—Journal of British StudiesAsh supplies a rousing narrative of 'improvement' schemes in the wetlands of eastern England, written in an engaging Whiggish style that imbues the early Stuart dynastic state.—Journal of Modern HistoryTable of ContentsDedicationTable of ContentsAbbreviationsAcknowledgementsIntroduction. The Unrecovered Country: Draining the Land, Building the StatePart I: Popular Politics, Crown Authority, and the Rise of the ProjectorChapter 1: Land and Life in the Pre-Drainage Fens Chapter 2: State Building in the Fens, 1570-1607Chapter 3: The Crisis of Local Governance, 1609-1616Chapter 4: The Struggle to Forge Consensus, 1617-1621Part II: Drainage Projects, Violent Resistance, and State Building Chapter 5: Draining the Hatfield Level, 1625-1636Chapter 6: The First Great Level Drainage, 1630-1642Chapter 7: Riot, Civil War, and Popular Politics in the Hatfield Level, 1640-1656Chapter 8: The Second Great Level drainage, 1649-1656Epilogue. The Once and Future Fens: Unintended Consequences in an Artificial LandscapeGlossaryBibliographyIndex
£29.70
Lulu.com Northern Neck Fishing Steamers Go to War
Book Synopsis
£25.65
Taylor & Francis Inc CoCo
Book SynopsisCoCo: The Colorful History of Tandy's Underdog Computer is the first book to document the complete history of the Tandy Color Computer (CoCo), a popular 8-bit PC series from the 1980s that competed against the era's biggest names, including the Apple II, IBM PC, and Commodore 64. The book takes you inside the interesting stories and people behind this unique, underdog computer.Both noted computer science and technology advocates, authors Pitre and Loguidice reveal the story of a pivotal period in the home computing revolution from the perspective of Tandy's CoCo. As these computers were sold in Radio Shack stores throughout the United States and other countries, they provide a critical point of reference for key events in the unprecedented evolutionary period for the PC industry in the 1980s. The book also features first-hand accounts from the people who created and promoted the CoCo, from the original Tandy executives and engineers to today's active pTrade Review" … an extensive yet accessible history of one of the first home computers … Highly Recommended."—CHOICETable of ContentsTandy Gets Personal. Planting the Seed. Colorful Computing. Somewhere over the Rainbow. Double Trouble. Silicorn Valley. Three's Company. Third Time's Charm. Made in the USA. The Time Has Come. Hello Darling. CoCo Forever.
£999.99
University of Minnesota Press The Birth of Computer Vision
Book SynopsisA revealing genealogy of image-recognition techniques and technologies Today’s most advanced neural networks and sophisticated image-analysis methods come from 1950s and ’60s Cold War culture—and many biases and ways of understanding the world from that era persist along with them. Aerial surveillance and reconnaissance shaped all of the technologies that we now refer to as computer vision, including facial recognition. The Birth of Computer Vision uncovers these histories and finds connections between the algorithms, people, and politics at the core of automating perception today.James E. Dobson reveals how new forms of computerized surveillance systems, high-tech policing, and automated decision-making systems have become entangled, functioning together as a new technological apparatus of social control. Tracing the development of a series of important computer-vision algorithms, he uncovers the ideas, worrisome military origins, and lingering goals reproduced within the code and the products based on it, examining how they became linked to one another and repurposed for domestic and commercial uses. Dobson includes analysis of the Shakey Project, which produced the first semi-autonomous robot, and the impact of student protest in the early 1970s at Stanford University, as well as recovering the computer vision–related aspects of Frank Rosenblatt’s Perceptron as the crucial link between machine learning and computer vision.Motivated by the ongoing use of these major algorithms and methods, The Birth of Computer Vision chronicles the foundations of computer vision and artificial intelligence, its major transformations, and the questionable legacy of its origins. Cover alt text: Two overlapping circles in cream and violet, with black background. Top is a printed circuit with camera eye; below a person at a 1977 computer.Trade Review"A key technology of our time, computer vision is embedded in both our professional and everyday lives in numerous ways—from helping doctors diagnose diseases to enabling organizations to obtain accurate information about remote natural disaster zones and refugee camps to allowing billions of people to capture better images with their phone cameras. Focusing on the United States from the 1950s to the 1970s, James E. Dobson offers the first book tracing the development of computer vision. Combining historical research and theoretical analysis, The Birth of Computer Vision is an invaluable contribution to the fields of media theory, software studies, and algorithm studies."—Dr. Lev Manovich, author of Cultural Analytics"In this timely and eye-opening book, James E. Dobson provides a penetrating analysis of the opportunities and challenges of facial recognition and other computer vision technology by excavating its formation from the sediment of history, tracing its connections to the military industrial complex of the Cold War, and critically examining the notable successes and failures of embryonic research efforts and prototypes."—David J. Gunkel, author of Deconstruction
£72.75
Manchester University Press The Business of Time: A Global History of the
Book SynopsisWorld watch production today is concentrated in three countries: Switzerland, Japan and China. Former centres such as Great Britain, France, the United States and Russia saw the industrial manufacture of watches disappear from their territory during the twentieth century. How did this situation come about? The business of time aims to answer this question by presenting the first comprehensive history of the sector. It traces the evolution and transformation of the global watch industry from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day, highlighting the conditions that enabled watch production to expand across the globe and revealing how multinational companies gradually emerged to dominate the industry.Table of ContentsIntroduction1 The situation in the mid-nineteenth century2 Responding to the American challenge, 1870–903 A first phase of technological and industrial diffusion, 1890–19144 The transformation of the watch industry, 1914–455 A first wave of foreign direct investment, 1945–706 The impact of electronics, 1970–857 Reorganisation of global value chains since 19858 Epilogue: the world watch industry in 2017ConclusionIndex
£999.99
Bristol University Press Mundania: How and Where Technologies Are Made
Book SynopsisDigital services, platforms and arrangements are often promoted as smooth and convenient, smart or intelligent. When introduced, devices can appear utterly fascinating or awkward, even disquieting. Eventually, however, they soon disappear in the muddle of everyday life. This is how Mundania takes form. Based on original research, this book uses the concept of mundania to better understand technological change. Scholar-artist Robert Willim deftly unpacks the interplay between everyday life and the immense complexity of technological infrastructures. Offering imaginative new insights into our relationship with technology, this book will appeal to readers in a range of fields from science and technology studies and media studies to the arts.Table of Contents1. Arrival 2. Vanishing Points 3. In-between 4. Beyond 5. Beneath 6. Opacity 7. Order Variability Openings
£23.74
Cartech Lost Road Courses: Riverside, Ontario,
Book Synopsis
£34.81
Pegasus The AI Generation
Book SynopsisAn update edition of Solomon’s Code—now The AI Generation—the thought-provoking examination of artificial intelligence and how it reshapes human values, trust, and power around the world.Whether in medicine, money, or love, technologies powered by forms of artificial intelligence are playing an increasingly prominent role in our lives. As we cede more decisions to thinking machines, we face new questions about staying safe, keeping a job and having a say over the direction of our lives. The answers to those questions might depend on your race, gender, age, behavior, or nationality. New AI technologies can drive cars, treat damaged brains and nudge workers to be more productive, but they also can threaten, manipulate, and alienate us from others. They can pit nation against nation, but they also can help the global community tackle some of its greatest challenges—from food crises to global climate change. In clear and accessible prose, global trends and strategy adviser Olaf Groth, AI scientist and social entrepreneur Mark Nitzberg, along with seasoned economics reporter Dan Zehr, provide a unique human-focused, global view of humanity in a world of thinking machines.
£12.34
Atlantic Books Colossus: Bletchley Park's Last Secret
Book SynopsisThis is the last untold story of Bletchley Park. Using recently declassified information, Paul Gannon has written a gripping account of the invention of the world's first true computer, Colossus.Uncover the secrets of Bletchley Park's code-breaking computers.In 1940, almost a year after the outbreak of the Second World War, Allied radio operators at an interception station in South London began picking up messages in a strange new code. Using science, maths, innovation and improvisation BletchleyPark codebreakers worked furiously to invent a machine to decipher what turned out to be the secrets of Nazi high command. It was called Colossus.What these codebreakers didn't realize was that they had fashioned the world's first true computer. When the war ended, this incredible invention was dismantled and hidden away for almost 50 years. Paul Gannon has pieced together the tremendous story of what is now recognized as the greatest secret of BletchleyPark.'Gannon's book contains a mass of utterly fascinating and largely unknown material about an immensely important wartime project, and is very welcome indeed.' - Brian Randell, TESTrade ReviewPaul Gannon has revealed a previously untold story . . . [Colossus] tells of the heroic efforts of the inventors and mathematicians [who] received no recognition for decades . . . Gannon sets the record straight. -- Simon Singh * The Times *Seeks to restore Colossus to its rightful place in the history of computing... read Gannon to feel the collective power of human minds harnessed to the cause of defending our freedom. -- Georgina Ferry * Guardian *Masterly in its breadth and sweep . . . Gannon's account of wartime interception and encryption is deeply researched . . . I commend the book to both the professional and the general reader. -- Donald Michie * Spectator *
£13.49
Springer London Ltd Electronic Value Exchange: Origins of the VISA
Book SynopsisElectronic Value Exchange examines in detail the transformation of the VISA electronic payment system from a collection of non-integrated, localized, paper-based bank credit card programs into the cooperative, global, electronic value exchange network it is today. Topics and features: provides a history of the VISA system from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s; presents a historical narrative based on research gathered from personal documents and interviews with key actors; investigates, for the first time, both the technological and social infrastructures necessary for the VISA system to operate; supplies a detailed case study, highlighting the mutual shaping of technology and social relations, and the influence that earlier information processing practices have on the way firms adopt computers and telecommunications; examines how “gateways” in transactional networks can reinforce or undermine established social boundaries, and reviews the establishment of trust in new payment devices.Trade ReviewFrom the reviews:“David L. Stearns argues in Electronic Value Exchange: Origins of the Visa Electronic Payment System that the job of a historian of technology is to make invisible technologies visible again. Certainly, he has achieved this goal. … Stearns’ Electronic Value Exchange is a much-needed contribution to the literature.” (Joline Zepcevski, Enterprise and Society, Vol. 13 (2), June, 2012)“In this well-written, concise volume Stearns … details both the technological and organizational challenges that Visa had to overcome in order to link merchants and financial institutions into a seamless worldwide electronic network. … a valuable contribution to not only the history of technology, but the broader fields of financial, consumer, and business history. … Among the many strengths of this book is its crystal clear writing style. … Overall, Electronic Value Exchange will be of interest to a wide variety of scholars.” (David L. Mason, EH, February, 2012)“Stearns offers a fascinating narrative that navigates somewhere between the sociology of finance, social studies of technology, retail banking and business history. … There is an alphabetic index and most references appear as footnotes. … There is also a list of interviewees and a helpful list of acronyms. … The style is open and quite engaging, the discussion is easy to follow … . developments are explained largely without jargon and with the non-specialist reader very much in mind.” (NEP-HIS blog, February, 2012)“Book provides a socio-technical account of VISA, a banking service to which banks that issued cards belonged and that sold card-processing services to merchants. … a readable volume, based on an extensive set of interviews of protagonists of the story and on secondary theoretical and banking literature. … a welcome addition to the history of banking and of information technologies, and a useful example of how to examine the role of any modern technology within the cultural and operational context in which it is used.” (James W. Cortada, Technology and Culture, Vol. 53, January, 2012)“In this book from the ‘History of Computing’ series from Springer, Stearns looks at the origins of the VISA electronic payment system. … Stearns combines many of these aspects into a very readable book, covering the historical growth of VISA, the personalities involved in its rise, and the computing technology that underpins the organization. Swiping my VISA card will never be quite the same again.” (David B. Henderson, ACM Computing Reviews, August, 2011)Table of ContentsSetting the Stage: Money, Credit, and Payments in America Associating: Dee Hock and the Creation of the Organization Crafting the Social Dynamics: Staffing, Operating Regulations, and Advertising Automating Authorization: BASE Automating Clearing and Settlement: BASE II and III Expanding the System: Organizational and Technical Growth Automating the Point of Sale: Encoding Standards and Merchant Dial Terminals Challenging Conceptual Barriers: EFT and The Debit Card Negotiating Roles: Controversies and the End of an Era Conclusions: Towards a General Socio-technical History of Payment Systems
£999.99
Dalton Watson Fine Books The Straight Eight Engine: Powering the Premium
Book SynopsisThe straight eight engine, also known as the inline eight engine, was the driving force behind some of the most fascinating luxury vehicles of the first half of the twentieth century. From its introduction in the 1920s through its demise in the 1950s, the straight eight graced a number of upmarket vehicles from makers like Pontiac, Packard, and Daimler, and even appeared under the hood of the hyper-exclusive Rolls-Royce Phantom IV, of which only eighteen models were produced. Although it was eventually replaced by the V8 engine, the straight eight engine can be found in some of the most valuable and sought-after vehicles of all time. Keith Ray's The Straight Eight Engine is the first volume to be published about this extraordinary mechanism. Featuring four hundred images, the book is a lush tribute to an automotive component likely to never be equaled for smoothness and refinement.Table of ContentsPrefaceIntroductionWhy the Straight Eight?Technical Problems with Straight Eight Engine DesignThe Straight Eight: A Kiss Of Death?The Birth of the Straight Eight AutomobileAn Overview of the ManufacturersAlfa RomeoAlvisAmilcarArrol-AsterAuburnBalboaBallotBentleyBeverley-BarnesBrennaborBrough SuperiorBugattiBuickBurneyChandlerChenard et WalckerChryslerCordDaimlerDe Dion BoutonDe SotoDelageDianaDiattoDodgeDuesenbergDupontElcarEssexFerrari (Auto Avio 815)FiatFNFrontenacGardnerGraf & StiftGraham-PaigeHamptonHartzHillmanHorchHudsonHupmobileIsotta FraschiniJensenJordanKenworthyKisselLa SalleLanchesterLeylandLocomobileMarendazMarmonMaseratiMathisMcFarlanMercedes BenzMillerMinervaMoonNashOldsmobileOpelPackardPanhard LevassorPeerlessPierce ArrowPontiacRailtonRallyRenaultReoRickenbackerRoamerRohrRolland PilainRolls-RoyceRuxtonSalmsonSkodaStearns-KnightStoewerStudebakerStutzSunbeamTriumphWeigelWindsorWolseleyZis & ZilStraight Eights in the Air and on the WaterStraight Eight AdvertisingIndex
£71.25
Fideli Publishing Inc. Ralph
Book Synopsis
£15.99
Springer Nature Switzerland AG The Flying Man: Otto Lilienthal—History, Flights
Book Synopsis"Of all the men who attacked the flying problem in the 19th century, Otto Lilienthal was easily the most important. His greatness appeared in every phase of the problem. No one equaled him in power to draw new recruits to the cause; no one equaled him in fullness and dearness of understanding of the principles of flight; no one did so much to convince the world of the advantages of curved wing surfaces; and no one did so much to transfer the problem of human flight to the open air where it belonged." These words were spoken by Wilbur Wright, who successfully accomplished the first powered flight together with his brother Orville in 1903 on the sand dunes of the Outer Banks off the coast of North Carolina. Wilbur was talking about the most important of their predecessors, Otto Lilienthal. Lilienthal attracted worldwide attention due to the spectacular photographs showing him in flight, made possible by technology that had only just been developed by him. This fortuitous union between a pioneer of aviation and the pioneers of so-called “instantaneous photography” is responsible for the immense contemporary popularity of Lilienthal’s flights around the globe, the first ever free flights performed by man. This book traces the life of the German aviation pioneer, focusing on the designs of his many aircraft and the photographic documentation that has survived. The presentation ends with a remarkable research project conducted by one of the authors, right up to and including his own training exercises with Lilienthal’s “normal soaring apparatus” and “large biplane”. This project offered new insight into Lilienthal’s work, and also led to a spectacular aerial meeting of Lilienthal's 1895 biplane and the Wright brothers’ 1902 biplane at a historic location on the Outer Banks. The book provides access to video material, largely stemming from this project.Table of ContentsThe beginning of an era.- The skies over Pomerania.- From a poor student to good scholar.- Bed lodger – engineer – manufacturer.- Life goal: inventor.- From the dream of flight to aerodynamics.- From theory to flying apparatus.- 1891 – the leap into a new century.- Captured in mid-air.- Modelled after a bat – the path to serially produced aircraft.- Practical flying – training and records.- An engine – again inspired by birds.- The Fliegeberg – a real airfield.- Flying machine customers and flight students.- More difficult than anticipated: steering.- A rich idea: the biplane.- Unfinished ideas and August 9, 1896.- To fly is everything – Lilienthal 125 years later.
£21.53
Springer International Publishing AG Microhistories of Technology: Making the World
Book SynopsisIn this open access book, Mikael Hård tells a story of how people around the world challenged the production techniques and products brought by globalization. Retaining their autonomy and freedom, creative individuals selectively adopted or rejected modern gadgets, tools, and machines. In standard historical narratives, globalization is portrayed as an unstoppable force that flattens all obstacles in its path. Modern technology is also seen as inexorable: in the nineteenth century, steamships, telegraph lines, and Gatling guns are said to have paved the way for colonialism and other forms of dominating people and societies. Later, shipping containers and computer networks purportedly pulled the planet deeper into a maelstrom of capitalism. Hård discusses instances that push back against these narratives. For example, in Soviet times, inhabitants of Samarkand, Uzbekistan, preferred to remain in—and expand—their own mud-brick houses rather than move into prefabricated, concrete residential buildings. Similarly, nineteenth-century Sumatran carpenters ignored the saws brought to them by missionaries—and chose to chop down trees with their arch-bladed adzes. And people in colonial India successfully competed with capitalist-run Caribbean sugar plantations, continuing to produce their own muscovado and sell it to local consumers. This book invites readers to view the history of technology and material culture through the lens of diversity. Based on research funded by the European Research Council and conducted in the Global South, Microhistories of Technology: Making the World shows that the spread of modern technologies did not erase artisanal production methods and traditional tools.Table of Contents1. Introduction: Honing Local Techniques in a Globalized WorldPart I Nineteenth-Century Ways of Life2. Building Missionary Stations in Southeast Asia: Nias Islanders Deploy Adzes3. Communicating and Trading in West Africa: Talking Drums and Pack Animals4. Withstanding Globalization in Northern India: Farmers Make Sugar for Local ConsumptionPart II Twentieth-Century Improvisations5. Accessing Electricity in East Africa: Dar es Salaam Dwellers Pursue Power6. Creating "Creole" Cuisine in Latin America: Home Cooks Reinvent BatánesPart III Postwar Innovations7. Earning a Living in Urban Africa: Maintaining the “Native Beer” Economy8. Confronting Menstruation in East Asia: Koreans Create Self-made Solutions9. Doing It Yourself in Central Asia: Uzbeks Build Adobe Houses10. Conclusion: Challenging Globalizing Technologies
£31.49
Springer International Publishing AG Introduction to the History of Computing: A Computing History Primer
Book SynopsisTracing the story of computing from Babylonian counting boards to smartphones, this inspiring textbook provides a concise overview of the key events in the history of computing, together with discussion exercises to stimulate deeper investigation into this fascinating area. Features: provides chapter introductions, summaries, key topics, and review questions; includes an introduction to analogue and digital computers, and to the foundations of computing; examines the contributions of ancient civilisations to the field of computing; covers the first digital computers, and the earliest commercial computers, mainframes and minicomputers; describes the early development of the integrated circuit and the microprocessor; reviews the emergence of home computers; discusses the creation of the Internet, the invention of the smartphone, and the rise of social media; presents a short history of telecommunications, programming languages, operating systems, software engineering, artificial intelligence, and databases.Trade Review“The work is conceived of as a text for an undergraduate computer science class. Basic definitions are covered, and the book is more comprehensive than other standard history of computing works because it covers analog and pre-digital computing innovations. The text then is written for a basic student introduction, which includes an abstract, key topics, review questions, and summary for each chapter. Also included are abundant pictures, illustrations, graphics, and references for each topic reviewed.” (G. Mick Smith, Computing Reviews, November, 2016)Table of ContentsWhat is a Computer? Computing in Early Civilizations Foundations of Computing The First Digital Computers The First Commercial Computers Early Commercial Computers and the Invention of the Transistor The Invention of the Integrated Circuit and the Birth of Silicon Valley The IBM System/360 Minicomputers and Later Mainframes The Microprocessor Revolution Home Computers The IBM Personal Computer A Short History of Telecommunications The Internet Revolution The Smartphone and Social Media History of Programming Languages History of Operating Systems History of Software Engineering History of Artificial Intelligence History of Databases
£49.40
Springer International Publishing AG The Rise of Engineering Science: How Technology
Book SynopsisThe 18th and 19th centuries saw the emergence of new intermediary types of knowledge in areas such as applied mechanics, fluid mechanics and thermodynamics, which came to be labeled as engineering science, transforming technology into the scientific discipline that we know today. This book analyzes how the Scientific Revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries and the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries provided the intellectual, social, economic and institutional foundations for the emergence of engineering science. The book then traces the rise of engineering science from the 18th century through the 19th century and concludes by showing how it led to new technological developments in such areas as steel production, the invention of internal combustion engines, the creation of automobiles and airplanes, and the formulation of Mass Production and Scientific Management all of which brought about major transformations in the materials, power sources, transportation and production techniques that have come to shape our modern world. Table of ContentsAcknowledgements.- Part I: Introduction.- 1 Changing Relationships between Science and Technology.- References.- Part II: The Roots of Engineering Science.- 2 The Intellectual Roots of Engineering Science.- 2.1 The Scientific Revolution – Overview.- 2.2 Roots of the Mechanical Philosophy.- 2.3 Roots of the Experimental Philosophy.- 2.4 The New Ideology of Science.- 2.5 Conclusions.- References.- 3 The Social and Economic Roots of Engineering Science.- 3.1 The Industrial Revolution – Overview.- 3.2 Iron Production.- 3.3 The Steam Engine.- 3.4 The Textile Revolution.- 3.5 Conclusions.- References.- 4 The Institutional Roots of Engineering Science.- 4.1 Great Britain.- 4.2 France.- 4.3 The German States.- 4.4 The United States.- 4.5 Conclusions.- References.- Part III: The Rise of Engineering Science.- 5 The Emergence of Engineering Science.- 5.1 Applied Mechanics.- 5.2 Fluid Mechanics.- 5.3 Thermodynamics.- 5.4 Conclusions.- References.- 6 The Establishment of Engineering Science: The Harmony of Theory and Practice.- 6.1 Theory and Practice in Great Britain.- 6.2 Theory and Practice in the German States.- 6.3 Theory and Practice in France.- 6.4 Theory and Practice in the United States.- 6.5 Conclusions.- References.- Part IV: Engineering Science-Based Industries.- 7 New Materials.- 7.1 Steel Production.- 7.2 Steel Construction.- 7.3 Conclusions.- References.- 8 New Power Sources.- 8.1 Internal Combustion Engines.- 8.2 Conclusions.- References.- 9 New Transportation Systems.- 9.1 The Automobile Industry.- 9.2 The Aeronautics Industry.- 9.3 Conclusions.- References.- 10 New Methods of Production.- 10.1 Mass Production – Fordism.- 10.2 Scientific Management – Taylorism.- 10.3 Conclusions.- References.- Part V: Epilogue.- 11 From Engineering Science to Technoscience.- References.- Name Index.
£107.99
Seltmann Publishers GmbH The Art of New German Car Photography: Autoalbum
Book Synopsis- Presents 50 of the best German automotive photographers - Now in larger coffee-table format - With video integration via Youtube through QR Codes! New times require new ways of thinking and seeing. Hardly any industry is undergoing more change than the automotive industry. This book presents 50 of Germany's best automotive photographers on over 300 large-format pages. In international comparison, they are among the best in their guild. A unique and comprehensive show of work with more than 250 photographs. This high-quality coffee-table book is a real feast for the eyes for all car lovers.
£999.99
Next Chapter Gone
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£8.73
Primus Books Glass Crafts in Northern India
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£110.46
Amsterdam University Press European Mail Armour: Ringed Battle Shirts from
Book SynopsisMail armour (commonly mislabelled 'chainmail') was used for more than two millennia on the battlefield. After its invention in the Iron Age, mail rapidly spread all over Europe and beyond. The Roman army, keen on new military technology, soon adopted mail armour and used it successfully for centuries. Its history did not stop there and mail played a vital role in warfare during the Middle Ages up to the Early Modern Period. Given its long history, one would think mail is a well-documented material, but that is not the case. For the first time, this books lays a solid foundation for the understanding of mail armour and its context through time. It applies a long-term multi-dimensional approach to extract a wealth of as yet untapped information from archaeological, iconographic and written sources. This is complemented with technical insights on the mail maker’s chaîne opératoire.Trade Review"Mail has been something of a Cinderella in the field of early martial equipment. Now, in this meticulous study, Wijnhoven has demonstrated and explored the extensive potential of the archaeological, iconographic and textual evidence. It makes a fundamental contribution to the study of ancient martial material culture, and has broader implications for the development and structuring of early European ironworking traditions." - Prof. Simon James, University of Leicester "Mail armour has been largely neglected by specialist literature, despite the important role that it played in Antiquity. This book fills in that research gap in an impressive manner. Not only does Wijnhoven pose the hardest questions about mail armour, but he also provides very satisfactory answers." - Prof. Thomas Fischer, Universität zu Köln "This excellent monograph provides a thorough and multifaceted exploration of mail in Europe from its development in the Late Iron Age into the Early Middle Ages, roughly 300 BCE to 1000 CE.[...]The production values are superb, replete with numerous high-resolution photographs and illustrations in colour, offering a close-up look at mail scattered across international collections and not always on active display. This definitive book will prove a cornerstone for pre-modern armour studies for decades to come."- Michael J. Taylor, The Classical Review (2022) "This volume is probably destined to be the ‘go-to’ standard work for European ring-mail armour. It is intelligently assembled and supported by much gathered evidence.[...]This is a superb piece of research, presented in an easily understood format, containing much useful information. I recommend it unhesitatingly to anyone who has an interest in ancient ring mail armour."- Dr. Michael Thomas, Ancient Warfare Magazine, Vol. XV, Iss. 4 “Martijn Wijnhoven’s book is a thoughtful and comprehensive investigation, long required, into early European mail armour. […] The book is well illustrated, supporting the overview of the technical details. This study traces a success story of an Iron Age technology that remained an important piece of defensive armour until the nineteenth century AD, with only minor modifications. If you want to know anything, or rather everything, about early mail armour, you need look no further!”- Marion Uckelmann, “New Book Chronicle,” Antiquity, 2023, Vol. 97 Table of ContentsContents Acknowledgements 1 Introduction 1.1 Previous research 1.2 Research question and aims 1.3 Chaîne opératoire 1.4 A multi-dimensional approach to material studies 1.5 Scope 1.6 Mail or chain-mail? 2 The Origins of Mail Armour 2.1 Suggested precursors 2.2 Contested origins 2.3 Earliest evidence 2.4 Tracing the earliest contexts 2.5 Further dispersal 2.6 When, where and by whom 3 Distribution and Archaeological Contexts 3.1 Battlefields and accidental loss 3.2 Iron Age mail 3.3 The Roman Republic 3.4 The Roman Principate 3.5 Hybrid feathered armour 3.6 Hybrid armour beyond the roman empire 3.7 Late Antiquity 3.8 The Barbaricum and beyond 3.9 Mail for men, women and children 3.10 Social access to mail outside the Roman Empire 3.11 Centuries of archaeological evidence 4 The Iconography of Early Mail Armour 4.1 the iconographic evidence 4.2 the 3rd century bc to the end of the roman republic 4.3 early empire until the end of the 1st century ad 4.4 the 2nd century ad 4.5 the 3rd to 5th century ad 4.6 development of mail armour design in iconography 5 The Naming of Mail Armour 5.1 Classical literature on armour 5.2 Lorica hamata 5.3 Other designations 5.4 Simply lorica 6 Decoration in Mail Garments 6.1 Gold on silver 6.2 Copper alloy elements 6.3 Decorative origin 6.4 Development and distribution 6.5 Decorative trimmings 6.6 Inserted patterns 6.7 Contrasting rivets 6.8 Decoration of hybrid armour 6.9 Decoration of ‘miniature mail’ 6.10 Decorative hems 6.11 Colourful Roman army 7 Padded Garments 7.1 the advantages and disadvantages of flexible armour 7.2 himation, thoracomachus, subarmalis and cimmerian tunic 7.3 textile and leather remains 7.4 medieval analogy, gladiators and pteruges 7.5 concealed by metal armour 8 The Craft of Making Mail Rings 8.1 The mail maker’s process 8.2 The manufacture of metal wire 8.3 The manufacture of solid rings 8.4 Unravelling the use of butted rings 8.5 Loose rings 8.6 The mail making workshop 9 Weaving Patterns 9.1 Four-in-one pattern 9.2 Six-in-one pattern from tiefenau 9.3 Pinched loop-in-loop pattern from Bertoldsheim 9.4 Four-in-one pattern in hybrid armour 9.5 Favourable characteristics 10 The Construction of Mail Garments 10.1 Current knowledge based on late mail from Europe 10.2 Presence of constructional techniques in early mail 10.3 Construction of early mail by working in the flat 10.4 Construction of textile clothing and mail 10.5 Construction of the coat with shoulder guards 10.6 Mail with shoulder guards and textile clothing 10.7 The development of mail armour through the ages 10.8 Construction in cultural context 11 Ring Characteristics 11.1 The relevance of the seemingly irrelevant 11.2 Ring size 11.3 Direction of the overlap and ring types 11.4 Cross-section of riveted rings 11.5 Rivet characteristics 11.6 Shape of the overlap in riveted rings 11.7 Cross-section of solid rings 11.8 Ring characteristics typology 12 Final Considerations 12.1 Insights 12.2 Prospects 12.3 Methodological potential Bibliography Database Appendix 1. Catalogue of mail armour Appendix 2. Catalogue of hybrid armour Appendix 3. Catalogue of isolated finds of fasteners and fixtures Appendix 4. Finds excluded from the database
£157.70
Springer Verlag, Singapore Chinese Handicrafts
Book SynopsisThis book systematically introduces readers to traditional Chinese handicrafts, which are original, distinct, and have had major impacts in China and around the globe. It explores 14 different types of handicraft, and provides a clear definition, detailed information on the techniques, and extensive discussion of each. Readers will not only learn the fascinating stories behind traditional Chinese handicrafts, but also be inspired by the great Chinese handicraftsmen’s inherent spirit of innovation and creativity. Table of ContentsMaking Tools and Devices.- Agricultural and Mineral Processing.- Construction.- Spinning, Dyeing, and Embroidering.- Ceramics.- Metallurgy and Metalworking.- Sculpture.- Weaving and Tying.- Lacquering.- Furniture Making.- Making Calligrapher’s Tools.- Printing.- Carving and Painting.- Special Handicrafts and Others .- Protection, Inheritance and Revitalization of Traditional Crafts.
£104.49
Duke University Press Beautiful Data
Book Synopsis Beautiful Data is both a history of big data and interactivity, and a sophisticated meditation on ideas about vision and cognition in the second half of the twentieth century. Contending that our forms of attention, observation, and truth are contingent and contested, Orit Halpern historicizes the ways that we are trained, and train ourselves, to observe and analyze the world. Tracing the postwar impact of cybernetics and the communication sciences on the social and human sciences, design, arts, and urban planning, she finds a radical shift in attitudes toward recording and displaying information. These changed attitudes produced what she calls communicative objectivity: new forms of observation, rationality, and economy based on the management and analysis of data. Halpern complicates assumptions about the value of data and visualization, arguing that changes in how we manage and train perception, and define reason and intelligence, are also transformations in governmentalTrade Review"Overall... this is quite an interesting read, illustrating how a single idea (cybernetics) can permeate all walks of life, at least for a time." -- Alexander von Lünen * British Journal for the History of Science *"...Halpern’s brilliant and blow-by-blow exposition on the transformation of our sense and reason in Beautiful Data certainly enriches our critical and historical understanding of important parts of contemporary society. This book contributes to the fields of communication studies, media studies, and science, technology and society (STS), as well as the history of science." -- Yasuhito Abe * International Journal of Communication *"Bringing together the history of science with studies of media, affect, and aesthetics, Beautiful Data offers a compelling account of the epistemological infrastructures of the digital that have, since 1945, radically changed the ways we see, interpret, and think." -- Jessica Hurley * American Literature *"Beautiful Data is an innovative, informative and highly enjoyable read for those who often find themselves hovering between disciplinary fields, offering a reflective history of early cybernetics, art, design, psychology and political science. Halpern guides her readers gracefully thorugh a history of interactivity between humans and machines, the archive and the interface." -- Amanda Tully * Science & Technology Studies *"Beautiful Data will no doubt comprise a critical touchstone for future reflections on 'big data' and where it is taking us." -- Hallam Stevens * Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences *"Beautiful Data is a significant work of contemporary theory . . . [that] lends difficult, rich new insights to unthought histories of digital perception, and to possible futures we might not only long for but actively build." -- Jackie Orr * Isis *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments vii Prologue. Speculating on Sense 1 Introduction. Dreams for Our Perceptual Present 9 1. Archiving. Temporality, Storage, and Interactivity in Cybernetics 39 2. Visualizing. Design, Communicative Objectivity, and the Interface 79 3. Rationalizing. Cognition, Time, and Logic in the Social and Behavioral Sciences 145 4. Governing. Designing Information and Reconfiguring Population circa 1959 199 Conclusion 239 Epilogue 251 Notes 271 Bibliography 307 Index 327
£21.59
Johns Hopkins University Press Integrating Women into the Astronaut Corps
Book SynopsisIn documenting these events, Foster offers a broader understanding of the difficulties in sexually integrating any workplace, even when the organization approaches the situation with as positive an outlook and as strong a motivation as did NASA.Trade Review"This book is the first one to examine seriously how women finally joined the NASA astronaut corps... Rich in documentary sources and strengthened by oral histories, this book offers memorable stories illustrating the texture of this significant transition." (Margaret A. Weitekamp, National Air & Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution)"Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Beyond Rosie the Riveter2. Wilma Deering Meets Captain Janeway3. ''The Damn Crazy Things!''4. Making Space5. ''The Strange Ones''6. Defying Gravity7. ''NASA Sutra''8. Uninvited HeroicsEpilogueNotesEssay on SourcesIndex
£45.00
Johns Hopkins University Press Energizing Neoliberalism
Book SynopsisHow the 1970s energy crisis facilitated a neoliberal shift in US political culture. In Energizing Neoliberalism, Caleb Wellum offers a provocative account of how the 1970s energy crisis helped to recreate postwar America. Rather than think of the crisis as the obvious outcome of the decade's oil shocks, Wellum unpacks the cultural construction of a crisis of energy across different sectors of society, from presidents, policy experts, and environmentalists to filmmakers, economists, and oil futures traders. He shows how the dominant meanings ascribed to the 1970s energy crisis helped to energize neoliberal visions of renewed abundance and power through free market values and approaches to energy. Deeply researched in federal archives, expert discourse, and popular culture, Energizing Neoliberalism demonstrates the central role that energy crisis narratives played in America's neoliberal turn. Wellum traces the roots of the crisis to the consumption practices and cultural narratives spTable of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction. Energy in CrisisChapter 1. "Is America Running Out of Gas?": Assembling the Energy CrisisChapter 2. "A Time to Choose": Interpreting the Energy CrisisChapter 3. "A Vibrant National Preoccupation": The Energy Conservation Ethic and Market ForcesChapter 4. "Put Your Foot on the Pedal": Contesting Conservation in Seventies Car CinemaChapter 5. "Markets Born of Shocks": NYMEX Oil Futures, Financialization, and Neoliberal NarrativesEpilogue. Enduring CrisisNotesBibliographyIndex
£42.50
Stanford University Press A History of Fake Things on the Internet
Book SynopsisA Next Big Idea Club "Must Read" for December 2023 As all aspects of our social and informational lives increasingly migrate online, the line between what is "real" and what is digitally fabricated grows ever thinner—and that fake content has undeniable real-world consequences. A History of Fake Things on the Internet takes the long view of how advances in technology brought us to the point where faked texts, images, and video content are nearly indistinguishable from what is authentic or true. Computer scientist Walter J. Scheirer takes a deep dive into the origins of fake news, conspiracy theories, reports of the paranormal, and other deviations from reality that have become part of mainstream culture, from image manipulation in the nineteenth-century darkroom to the literary stylings of large language models like ChatGPT. Scheirer investigates the origins of Internet fakes, from early hoaxes that traversed the globe via Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs), USENET, and a new messaging technology called email, to today's hyperrealistic, AI-generated Deepfakes. An expert in machine learning and recognition, Scheirer breaks down the technical advances that made new developments in digital deception possible, and shares behind-the-screens details of early Internet-era pranks that have become touchstones of hacker lore. His story introduces us to the visionaries and mischief-makers who first deployed digital fakery and continue to influence how digital manipulation works—and doesn't—today: computer hackers, digital artists, media forensics specialists, and AI researchers. Ultimately, Scheirer argues that problems associated with fake content are not intrinsic properties of the content itself, but rather stem from human behavior, demonstrating our capacity for both creativity and destruction.Trade Review"There is something bold, perhaps reckless, in preaching serenity from the volcano's edge. But, as Scheirer points out, the doctored-evidence problem isn't new. Our oldest forms of recording—storytelling, writing, and painting—are laughably easy to hack. We've had to find ways to trust them nonetheless."—Daniel Immerwahr, The New Yorker"The Internet is awash in disinformation and conspiracy theories, with AI-generated 'deepfakes' looming on the horizon. A History of Fake Things on the Internet explains how fakes of all kinds have been a central part of Internet history and culture from the beginning. It is essential reading for understanding how we got here and where we are headed."—Sean Lawson, coauthor of Social Engineering: How Crowdmasters, Phreaks, Hackers, and Trolls Created a New Form of Manipulative Communication"In this captivating book, Walter J. Scheirer artfully combines the skills of a cultural critic, historian, and computer scientist to explore the many facets of technological duplicity. Going beyond cliches, the book delves into an array of historical and contemporary cases involving computer hackers, digital artists, media forensics specialists, and AI researchers. By doing so, he unveils how exactly emergent media becomes the basis for myths, falsehoods, and trickery, and with what consequences."—Gabriella Coleman, author of Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy: The Many Faces of Anonymous"By historicizing fakeness online, Walter J. Scheirer helps readers understand the very real consequences, contexts, and stakes of digital participation. A fascinating study of creativity in all its forms—one that resists binary proclamations about what is good and creative and what is bad and destructive. Instead, the book says yes in many directions."—Whitney Phillips, coauthor of You Are Here: A Field Guide for Navigating Polarized Speech, Conspiracy Theories, and Our Polluted Media Landscape"Drawing on a framework developed by the pioneering anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss in the 1960s, Scheirer argues that humanity always occupies 'two parallel timelines: the physical world (i.e., the historical timeline) and the myth cycle (i.e., a fictional timeline).' Both are indispensable: We are confined to reality, but we cannot confront facts (or even make sense of them) without the salve of fiction."—Becca Rothfeld, Washington PostTable of Contents1. Restyling Reality 2. On the Virtual Frontier of the Imagination 3. Photoshop Fantasies 4. Cheat Codes for Life 5. Speculative Sleuths 6. Virtualized Horror 7. Dreams of a Clairvoyant AI 8. Creative Spaces
£21.59
Johns Hopkins University Press Before the Refrigerator
Book SynopsisHow increased access to icedecades before refrigerationtransformed American life. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Americans depended upon ice to stay cool and to keep their perishable foods fresh. Jonathan Rees tells the fascinating story of how people got ice before mechanical refrigeration came to the household. Drawing on newspapers, trade journals, and household advice books, Before the Refrigerator explains how Americans built a complex system to harvest, store, and transport ice to everyone who wanted it, even the very poor. Rees traces the evolution of the natural ice industry from its mechanization in the 1880s through its gradual collapse, which started after World War I. Meatpackers began experimenting with ice refrigeration to ship their products as early as the 1860s. Starting around 1890, large, bulky ice machines the size of small houses appeared on the scene, becoming an important source for the American ice supply. As ice machines shrunk, mTrade ReviewIn Before the Refrigerator: How We Used to Get Ice, Jonathan Rees provides a rich and detailed history of how ice became an American staple . . . Rees does a masterful job illustrating how, in its rise and fall, the ice industry created many industry alliances and consumer habits that are still with us today. Ice has become a taken-for-granted feature of modern living. This book is the story of how that came to be.—Xaq Frohlich, Auburn University, Journal of Southern History[Before the Refrigerator] is an in-depth portrayal of a once-indispensable, life-changing technology, the former existence of which is as unknown to most of us as that of the telegraph or canal is to today's undergraduates . . . Rees synthesizes considerable archival research and presents interpretations of importance to scholars . . . Before the Refrigerator is as refreshing as ice water on a hot summer day.—Jeffrey L. Meikle, University of Texas at Austin, Journal of American HistoryTable of ContentsPrefaceIntroduction1. How to Harvest Ice2. How to Manufacture Ice3. How Ice (and the Perishable Food It Preserved) Made It to Consumers4. How Ice Changed the American Diet and American Life5. How Household Refrigerators Changed the Ice Market ForeverConclusionAcknowledgmentsNotesIndex
£47.50
Adventures Unlimited Press The Ss Brotherhood of the Bell: The Nazis'
Book Synopsis
£19.80
Penguin Putnam Inc How to Invent Everything
Book SynopsisHow to Invent Everything is such a cool book. It''s essential reading for anyone who needs to duplicate an industrial civilization quickly. --Randall Munroe, xkcd creator and New York Times-bestselling author of What If? The only book you need if you''re going back in timeWhat would you do if a time machine hurled you thousands of years into the past. . . and then broke? How would you survive? Could you improve on humanity''s original timeline? And how hard would it be to domesticate a giant wombat? With this book as your guide, you''ll survive--and thrive--in any period in Earth''s history. Bestselling author and time-travel enthusiast Ryan North shows you how to invent all the modern conveniences we take for granted--from first principles. This illustrated manual contains all the science, engineering, art, philosophy, facts, and figures required for even the most clueless time traveler to build a civilization from the ground up. Deeply researched, irreverent, and significantly more fun than being eaten by a saber-toothed tiger, How to Invent Everything will make you smarter, more competent, and completely prepared to become the most important and influential person ever. You''re about to make history. . . better.
£14.40
Simon & Schuster A Mind at Play
Book Synopsis
£17.09
Taschen GmbH Joan Blaeu. Atlas Maior of 1665
Book SynopsisSuperlatives tend to fail in describing Joan Blaeu’s Atlas Maior—that being said, it stands as one of the most extravagant feats in the history of mapmaking. The original Latin edition, completed in 1665, was the largest and most expensive book to be published during the 17th century. Its 594 maps appearing across 11 volumes spanned Arctica, Africa, Asia, Europe, and America. Ambitious in scale and artistry, it is included in the Canon of Dutch History, an official survey of 50 individuals, creations, or events that chart the most important historical developments of the Netherlands. TASCHEN’s meticulous reprint brings this luxurious Baroque wonder into the hands of modern readers. In an age of digitized cartography and global connectivity, it celebrates the steadfast beauty of quality printing and restores the wonder of an exploratory age, in which Blaeu’s native Amsterdam was a center of international trade and discovery.This edition is based on the Austrian National Library’s complete colored and gold-heightened copy of Atlas Maior, assuring the finest detail and quality. University of Amsterdam’s Peter van der Krogt introduces the historical and cultural significance of the atlas while providing detailed descriptions for individual maps, revealing the full scale and ambition of Blaeu’s masterwork.Trade Review“There can be few books out there more jaw-droppingly gorgeous than this extraordinary Atlas.” * TNT Magazine *
£54.00
Publications International, Ltd. 100 Cars That Changed the World: The Designs,
Book Synopsis
£999.99
The University of Chicago Press Robert Paul and the Origins of British Cinema
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Robert Paul and the Origins of British Cinema will likely remain the definitive monograph on a fascinating and influential early British film pioneer. Christie provides novel insights into how British cinema in its earliest years documented historical events and lucidly traces the origins of motion picture copyright wars. This is an outstanding study that is certain to be welcomed by film scholars and to transform the study and teaching of the early years of cinema."--Edward Dimendberg, Professor of Humanities, University of California, Irvine
£28.00
DK Car
Book SynopsisWhether you’re a vintage car spotter or an armchair petrolhead, strap yourself in for an unforgettable ride through motoring history.This sumptuously designed visual guide is packed with everything you could ever want to know about cars through the ages, from the earliest “horseless carriage” to the modern supercar and Formula 1.Inside the pages of this visually stunning car encyclopedia, you’ll discover an iconic celebration of automotive design and motoring history. • Trace the history of the car decade-by-decade in stunning visual detail • In-depth profiles highlight the most important cars of each period along with their specifications and special features • Includes beautifully photographed “virtual tours” that showcase particularly celebrated cars such as the Ferrari F40 and the Rolls Royce Silver Ghost Trade Review"'Definitive' is an ambitious goal, but one this hefty book tackles with élan — perhaps the way a 1965 Gordon-Keeble might tackle a winding country road." – The New York Times
£34.00
University of Minnesota Press The Switch: An Off and On History of Digital
Book SynopsisFrom the telegraph to the touchscreen, how the development of binary switching transformed everyday life and changed the shape of human agency The Switch traces the sudden rise of a technology that has transformed everyday life for billions of people: the binary switch. By chronicling the rapid growth of binary switching since the mid-nineteenth century, Jason Puskar contends that there is no human activity as common today as pushing a button or flipping a switch—the deceptively simple act of turning something on or off. More than a technical history, The Switch offers a cultural and political analysis of how reducing so much human action to binary alternatives has profoundly reshaped modern society. Analyzing this history, Puskar charts the rapid shift from analog to digital across a range of devices—keyboards, cameras, guns, light switches, computers, game controls, even the “nuclear button”—to understand how nineteenth-century techniques continue to influence today’s pervasive digital technologies. In contexts that include musical performance, finger counting, machine writing, voting methods, and immersive play, Puskar shows how the switch to switching led to radically new forms of action and thought. The innovative analysis in The Switch makes clear that binary inputs have altered human agency by making choice instantaneous, effort minimal, and effects more far-reaching than ever. In the process, it concludes, switching also fosters forms of individualism that, though empowering for many, also preserve a legacy of inequality and even domination. Trade Review "In this deeply ambitious and sophisticated book, Jason Puskar invites us to think more seriously about what happens almost every time we touch one of our devices and turn it on or swipe or click. From the technologies at our fingertips to the vastly larger networks of politics and language that they operate and represent, The Switch provides a fascinating cultural history of how we have made the modern world, and been remade in turn, by the simplest of human actions and the connections they enable."—Mark Goble, author of Beautiful Circuits: Modernism and the Mediated Life "A dazzling, beautifully written history of a pervasive but seemingly unremarkable technology of modern life: the binary switch. Jason Puskar’s delightful and important book will fascinate historians of media and technology; it should be required reading for anyone curious about how fantasies of liberal agency are cultivated in the buttons, keyboards, triggers, and toys that make us human."—Justus Nieland, author of Happiness by Design: Modernism and Media in the Eames Era Table of Contents Contents Acknowledgments Introduction: Awake at the Switch Part I. Start 1. Origin Stories 2. Designing the Button 3. Analogs and Analogies Part II. Digital Bodies 4. The Point of Touch 5. Counting on the Body 6. Darth Vader’s Nipples Part III. Keyboard Rationality 7. The Keyboard’s Checkered Past 8. Human Types 9. Chording and Coding 10. The Archaeology of Qwerty Part IV. Objects of Play 11. The Toys of Dionysus 12. Pinball Wizards Part V. Haptic Liberalism 13. The Control Panel of Democracy 14. Switching Philosophies 15. Pistolgraphs 16. First-Person Shooters Epilogue: Self-Destruct Notes Index
£26.99
The University of Chicago Press Making Time
Book SynopsisBefore Western clocks came to Japan, hours shifted in length with the length of the day through the seasons; this book looks at how standard hours arrived and how Japanese life adapted to them.
£37.05
Indiana University Press Evolution of the American Diesel Locomotive
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewA host of books and articles have touched on various aspects of this ongoing story over the years, but none tell the story with the completeness and superb clarity found here. May - June 2010 * Michigan Railfan *Lamb's book is . . . an important contribution to railroad technological history. The book's strength is the author's mastery of the mechanical details, which he presents in a straightforward style. -- Mark Reutter, editor * Railroad History *Lamb provides the reader with detailed descriptions of every generation of diesel locomotive along with a generous supply of excellent photographs. July 2008 -- Maury Klein * Technology and Culture vol. 49 *Table of ContentsPrefaceChapter 1 Precursor TechnologiesChapter 2 Self-propelled CoachesChapter 3 The Diesel Climbs AboardChapter 4 Streamlined TrainsChapter 5 Developments Beyond La GrangeChapter 6 Alco ReboundsChapter 7 Postwar ShakeoutChapter 8 Road Switchers Take OverChapter 9 A Monopolized MarketChapter 10 Special Purpose DesignsChapter 10 New Heights for Diesel PowerChapter 12 Recent DevelopmentsChapter 13 The Diesel Century in PerspectiveReferences Index
£27.90
Simon & Schuster Elk and Elk Hunting Your Practical Guide to
Book SynopsisIn the 1960s, when computers were regarded as giant calculators, J.C.R. Licklider at MIT saw them as the ultimate communication device. With Defence Department funds, he and a band of computer whizzes began work on a nationwide network of computers. This is an account of their daring adventure.
£17.09
John Wiley & Sons Inc The Supermen
Book SynopsisThe SUPERMEN "After a rare speech at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, in 1976, programmers in the audience had suddenly fallen silent when Cray offered to answer questions. He stood there for several minutes, waiting for their queries, but none came.Table of ContentsThe Codebreakers. The Incubator. Seymour. Engineers' Paradise. The Hog Trough. The CRAY-1. The Cray Way. The New Genius. Shakeout. Notes. Acknowledgments. Index.
£25.60
Emerald Publishing Limited The Civil Engineers The Story of the Institution
Book SynopsisA fascinating and informative read for all those interested in the history of ICE and how it has grown as well as the civil engineering industry and its impact on the world in which we liveTable of Contents1. Introduction 2. An Institution is born 3. A learning society 4. Education, training and membership 5. Regional development 6. Professional conduct 7. Governance, influence and communication 8. Fragmentation, unification and self-regulation 9. Civil engineers at war 10. The library 11. The buildings 12. Contracts and management 13. The Presidents 14. Secretaries and staff
£51.75
The University of Chicago Press Why the Wheel Is Round
Book SynopsisThere is no part of our bodies that fully rotates be it a wrist or ankle or arm in a shoulder socket, we are made to twist only so far. And yet, there is no more fundamental human invention than the wheel a rotational mechanism that accomplishes what our physical form cannot. Throughout history, humans have developed technologies powered by human strength, complementing the physical abilities we have while overcoming our weaknesses. Providing a unique history of the wheel and other rotational devices, like cranks, cranes, carts, and capstans, Why the Wheel Is Round examines the contraptions and tricks we have devised in order to more efficiently move and move through the physical world. Steven Vogel combines his engineering expertise with his remarkable curiosity about how things work to explore how wheels and other mechanisms were, until very recently, powered by the push and pull of the muscles and skeletal systems of humans and other animals. Why the Wheel Is Round explores all mann
£31.00
Little, Brown & Company The Soul of a New Machine
Book SynopsisTracy Kidder's 'riveting' (Washington Post) story of one company's efforts to bring a new microcomputer to market won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award and has become essential reading for understanding the history of the American tech industry. Computers have changed since 1981, when The Soul of a New Machine first examined the culture of the computer revolution. What has not changed is the feverish pace of the high-tech industry, the go-for-broke approach to business that has caused so many computer companies to win big (or go belly up), and the cult of pursuing mind-bending technological innovations. The Soul of a New Machine is an essential chapter in the history of the machine that revolutionized the world in the twentieth century. 'Fascinating...A surprisingly gripping account of people at work.' --Wall Street Journal
£16.99
Forgotten Books Tycho Brahe A Picture of Scientific Life and Work in the Sixteenth Century Classic Reprint
£20.71
Cambridge University Press Science and Religion Some Historical Perspectives Canto Classics
Book SynopsisJohn Hedley Brooke offers an introduction and critical guide to one of the most fascinating and enduring issues in the development of the modern world: the relationship between scientific thought and religious belief. Brooke stands back from general theses affirming 'conflict' or harmony'.Trade Review'[John Hedley Brooke] has given us a brilliant, perceptive, subtle, nuanced analysis, which will permanently alter the way scholars and the informed lay public view the relations of science and religion.' David C. Lindberg, Metascience'… arguably the most important historical analysis of science and religion since Andrew Dickson White's History of the Warfare of Science and Theology in Christendom (1898).' Ronald L. Numbers, MetascienceTable of ContentsAcknowledgments; Introduction; 1. Interaction between science and religion: some preliminary considerations; 2. Science and religion in the scientific revolution; 3. The parallel between scientific and religious reform; 4. Divine activity in a mechanical universe; 5. Science and religion in the enlightenment; 6. The fortunes and functions of natural theology; 7. Visions of the past: religious belief and the historical sciences; 8. Evolutionary theory and religious belief; Postscript: science and religion in the twentieth century; Bibliographic essay; Sources of quotations; Index.
£18.04
Random House USA Inc Engineers of Victory
Book Synopsis
£19.55