History of engineering and technology Books

Book SynopsisDespite widespread consensus that China's digital revolution was sure to bring about massive democratic reforms, such changes have not come to pass. While scholars and policy makers alternate between predicting change and disparaging a stubbornly authoritarian regime, in this book Shaohua Guo demonstrates how this dichotomy misses the far more complex reality. The Evolution of the Chinese Internet traces the emergence and maturation of one of the most creative digital cultures in the world through four major technological platforms: the bulletin board system, the blog, the microblog, and WeChat. Guo transcends typical binaries of freedom and control, to argue that Chinese Internet culture displays a uniquely sophisticated interplay between multiple extremes, and that its vibrancy is dependent on these complex negotiations. In contrast to the flourishing of research findings on what is made invisible online, this book examines the driving mechanisms that grant visibility to particular kinds of user-generated content. Offering a systematic account of how and why an ingenious Internet culture has been able to thrive, Guo highlights the pivotal roles that media institutions, technological platforms, and creative practices of Chinese netizens have played in shaping culture on- and offline.Trade Review"Guo brings much-needed historical and literary sensitivities to the study of complex technological forms. Her innovative approach sheds critical new light on the history, culture, and politics of the Chinese internet. Highly recommended!" -- Guobin Yang * University of Pennsylvania *"Built on over a decade of scrupulous field research and perspicacious on-site observations, this book puts itself on the must-read list of intellectual endeavors inquiring into the way of being on China's ever-evolving internet. Subtly contextualized and dexterously historicized, the narratives embed rich concepts in the flesh and blood of everyday life, virtual and real." -- Zixue Tai * University of Kentucky *Table of ContentsContents and Abstracts1A Cultural Revolution in China's Digital Age chapter abstractBeginning with a discussion of major paradoxes on entertainment, control, and innovation surrounding the Chinese Internet, chapter 1 introduces the puzzle that the rest of the book addresses: how and why has a seemingly repressive authoritarian regime been able to catalyze an ingenious Internet culture in China. It proposes "the network of visibility" as an analytical lens to delve into the mechanisms behind the vibrancy of online culture in China. The network of visibility is analyzed through the process of competition for (1) user attention, and (2) content authority among Internet corporations, media outlets, and individual players in the cultural realm. Consequently, the vitality of the Chinese digital culture is rooted in this dynamic process of negotiation, collaboration, and contestation enacted by the interplay of diverse agents, including the state, cultural institutions, commercial corporations, and Internet users. 2A Historical Overview through Technological Platforms chapter abstractChapter 2 delineates the developmental history of the Internet in China through the four predominant platforms: bulletin board system (BBS), the blog, the microblog, and WeChat. Proceeding chronologically, this chapter addresses how the defining features of these platforms and competition among major players in the field have contributed to shaping public culture and publicity strategies emerging in the technology-mediated sphere. Special attention is paid to the role that the Chinese government and commercial portals play in building research and education networks, creating business models, and continuously expanding into new markets. 3Tracking Playfulness chapter abstractChapter 3 investigates the playfulness of the Chinese Internet and its symbiotic relationship with a culture of contention. Much has been written about the ingenuity of Chinese netizens in appropriating humor, parody, and satire to mock authorities, seek entertainment, and organize networked resistance. However, little scholarly work has addressed how playfulness came to dominate the Chinese Internet in the first place. Taking Internet celebrities as case studies, this chapter attributes the predominant fun-seeking mode to the rudimentary formation of elitist netizen communities in the late 1990s. It addresses the ways in which BBS, as an affective content platform, cultivated the symbiotic relationship between frivolity and serious political engagement among early Internet adopters. This collective spirit of fun-seeking also paved the way for the Internet industry's continuous experiments with comedic mechanisms in the years to come. 4National Blogging and Cultural Entrepreneurship chapter abstractChapter 4 focuses on the intersection of the entertainment industry, entrepreneurial culture, and the golden age of blogging in China. It probes the rise of cultural entrepreneurs, who quickly aligned themselves with enterprises seeking to develop culture-related business and transformed the ways that cultural works are produced and publicized. The chapter examines four phenomenally successful, yet understudied cases: television host and producer Yang Lan; star-cum-director Xu Jinglei; publisher Hong Huang; and writer, publisher, and director Guo Jingming. These celebrities, as "attention-haves," due in large part to their fame already established through other channels, innovatively capitalized on digital media to explore new modes of cultural production and to build personal brands. Their trailblazing activities illuminate the ways in which China's nascent entertainment industry, with the backing of Internet corporations, has reinvigorated writing practices, cultivated middle-class aspirations, and aligned with entrepreneurial initiatives in the age of neoliberalism. 5Taboo Breakers and Microcultural Contention chapter abstractTaking the blogs of Mu Zimei and Han Han as case studies, this chapter investigates how an entertainment-oriented blogosphere has catalyzed the rise of opinion leaders who tactically disrupt preset parameters of social, moral, and political norms. It argues that style—defined as a conglomeration of diverse elements, including language, subject matter, online sociality, and the structure and layout of webpages—is essential to these taboo breakers' strategies of contention. In turn, the divergent responses these bloggers evoke fulfill the dual function of enlightenment and entertainment, and catalyze the forging of politically minded citizens at a micro level. 6Digital Witnessing on Weibo chapter abstractThis chapter spells out the multifarious function of the microblogging platform in China. Delving into representative Weibo-based incidents from 2009 to 2018, it examines the role that digital witnessing plays in promoting citizen activism and shaping public culture on Chinese microblogosphere. These cases exemplify the evolving transition of digital witnessing on Weibo, from an emphasis on responsibilities of spectators to multifarious forms of collective spectating mobilized by a diverse range of social actors. Taken together, digital witnessing on Weibo demonstrates how the technological features, business operations, the state, and Internet users have jointly shaped the sociocultural meanings of this platform. 7WeChat: An Inflorescence of Content Production chapter abstractThis chapter analyzes how WeChat public accounts have revolutionized the ways in which original content is distributed and commodified. It examines the rise and fall of Mi Meng, owner of one of the most popular public accounts up until February 2019, when she closed her account due to public pressure. Mi Meng's writings not only struck a chord with economically disadvantaged groups but also resonated with the anxiety of a middle-class audience who felt their status becoming increasingly precarious. More important, the management of Mi Meng's account exemplified a changing mode of writing from an author-centered model to a model of team production that involved fan labor, personal branding, and a focus on networking capacity. At the same time, the sudden downfall of Mi Meng illustrates the same kind of unpredictability and precariousness that contributed to her sensational rise in the first place. 8Ambivalent Revolution chapter abstractChapter 8 discusses the implications of this book's findings and pinpoints areas for future research. Essentially, this book investigates digital cultural formation through the four most dynamic discursive spaces to emerge over the past two decades in China (1994–2019): the bulletin board system (BBS), the blog, the microblog (Weibo), and WeChat (Weixin). The creation of these digital platforms not only showcases the local appropriation of global technologies in China but also exemplifies how Internet users' mundane activities online hold significant potential for forging politically minded citizens at a micro level. By delineating the process by which user-generated content has been produced, promoted, and received, this book historicizes the study of digital media and sheds light on understanding emerging platforms.

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Book SynopsisDespite widespread consensus that China's digital revolution was sure to bring about massive democratic reforms, such changes have not come to pass. While scholars and policy makers alternate between predicting change and disparaging a stubbornly authoritarian regime, in this book Shaohua Guo demonstrates how this dichotomy misses the far more complex reality. The Evolution of the Chinese Internet traces the emergence and maturation of one of the most creative digital cultures in the world through four major technological platforms: the bulletin board system, the blog, the microblog, and WeChat. Guo transcends typical binaries of freedom and control, to argue that Chinese Internet culture displays a uniquely sophisticated interplay between multiple extremes, and that its vibrancy is dependent on these complex negotiations. In contrast to the flourishing of research findings on what is made invisible online, this book examines the driving mechanisms that grant visibility to particular kinds of user-generated content. Offering a systematic account of how and why an ingenious Internet culture has been able to thrive, Guo highlights the pivotal roles that media institutions, technological platforms, and creative practices of Chinese netizens have played in shaping culture on- and offline.Trade Review"Guo brings much-needed historical and literary sensitivities to the study of complex technological forms. Her innovative approach sheds critical new light on the history, culture, and politics of the Chinese internet. Highly recommended!" -- Guobin Yang * University of Pennsylvania *"Built on over a decade of scrupulous field research and perspicacious on-site observations, this book puts itself on the must-read list of intellectual endeavors inquiring into the way of being on China's ever-evolving internet. Subtly contextualized and dexterously historicized, the narratives embed rich concepts in the flesh and blood of everyday life, virtual and real." -- Zixue Tai * University of Kentucky *Table of ContentsContents and Abstracts1A Cultural Revolution in China's Digital Age chapter abstractBeginning with a discussion of major paradoxes on entertainment, control, and innovation surrounding the Chinese Internet, chapter 1 introduces the puzzle that the rest of the book addresses: how and why has a seemingly repressive authoritarian regime been able to catalyze an ingenious Internet culture in China. It proposes "the network of visibility" as an analytical lens to delve into the mechanisms behind the vibrancy of online culture in China. The network of visibility is analyzed through the process of competition for (1) user attention, and (2) content authority among Internet corporations, media outlets, and individual players in the cultural realm. Consequently, the vitality of the Chinese digital culture is rooted in this dynamic process of negotiation, collaboration, and contestation enacted by the interplay of diverse agents, including the state, cultural institutions, commercial corporations, and Internet users. 2A Historical Overview through Technological Platforms chapter abstractChapter 2 delineates the developmental history of the Internet in China through the four predominant platforms: bulletin board system (BBS), the blog, the microblog, and WeChat. Proceeding chronologically, this chapter addresses how the defining features of these platforms and competition among major players in the field have contributed to shaping public culture and publicity strategies emerging in the technology-mediated sphere. Special attention is paid to the role that the Chinese government and commercial portals play in building research and education networks, creating business models, and continuously expanding into new markets. 3Tracking Playfulness chapter abstractChapter 3 investigates the playfulness of the Chinese Internet and its symbiotic relationship with a culture of contention. Much has been written about the ingenuity of Chinese netizens in appropriating humor, parody, and satire to mock authorities, seek entertainment, and organize networked resistance. However, little scholarly work has addressed how playfulness came to dominate the Chinese Internet in the first place. Taking Internet celebrities as case studies, this chapter attributes the predominant fun-seeking mode to the rudimentary formation of elitist netizen communities in the late 1990s. It addresses the ways in which BBS, as an affective content platform, cultivated the symbiotic relationship between frivolity and serious political engagement among early Internet adopters. This collective spirit of fun-seeking also paved the way for the Internet industry's continuous experiments with comedic mechanisms in the years to come. 4National Blogging and Cultural Entrepreneurship chapter abstractChapter 4 focuses on the intersection of the entertainment industry, entrepreneurial culture, and the golden age of blogging in China. It probes the rise of cultural entrepreneurs, who quickly aligned themselves with enterprises seeking to develop culture-related business and transformed the ways that cultural works are produced and publicized. The chapter examines four phenomenally successful, yet understudied cases: television host and producer Yang Lan; star-cum-director Xu Jinglei; publisher Hong Huang; and writer, publisher, and director Guo Jingming. These celebrities, as "attention-haves," due in large part to their fame already established through other channels, innovatively capitalized on digital media to explore new modes of cultural production and to build personal brands. Their trailblazing activities illuminate the ways in which China's nascent entertainment industry, with the backing of Internet corporations, has reinvigorated writing practices, cultivated middle-class aspirations, and aligned with entrepreneurial initiatives in the age of neoliberalism. 5Taboo Breakers and Microcultural Contention chapter abstractTaking the blogs of Mu Zimei and Han Han as case studies, this chapter investigates how an entertainment-oriented blogosphere has catalyzed the rise of opinion leaders who tactically disrupt preset parameters of social, moral, and political norms. It argues that style—defined as a conglomeration of diverse elements, including language, subject matter, online sociality, and the structure and layout of webpages—is essential to these taboo breakers' strategies of contention. In turn, the divergent responses these bloggers evoke fulfill the dual function of enlightenment and entertainment, and catalyze the forging of politically minded citizens at a micro level. 6Digital Witnessing on Weibo chapter abstractThis chapter spells out the multifarious function of the microblogging platform in China. Delving into representative Weibo-based incidents from 2009 to 2018, it examines the role that digital witnessing plays in promoting citizen activism and shaping public culture on Chinese microblogosphere. These cases exemplify the evolving transition of digital witnessing on Weibo, from an emphasis on responsibilities of spectators to multifarious forms of collective spectating mobilized by a diverse range of social actors. Taken together, digital witnessing on Weibo demonstrates how the technological features, business operations, the state, and Internet users have jointly shaped the sociocultural meanings of this platform. 7WeChat: An Inflorescence of Content Production chapter abstractThis chapter analyzes how WeChat public accounts have revolutionized the ways in which original content is distributed and commodified. It examines the rise and fall of Mi Meng, owner of one of the most popular public accounts up until February 2019, when she closed her account due to public pressure. Mi Meng's writings not only struck a chord with economically disadvantaged groups but also resonated with the anxiety of a middle-class audience who felt their status becoming increasingly precarious. More important, the management of Mi Meng's account exemplified a changing mode of writing from an author-centered model to a model of team production that involved fan labor, personal branding, and a focus on networking capacity. At the same time, the sudden downfall of Mi Meng illustrates the same kind of unpredictability and precariousness that contributed to her sensational rise in the first place. 8Ambivalent Revolution chapter abstractChapter 8 discusses the implications of this book's findings and pinpoints areas for future research. Essentially, this book investigates digital cultural formation through the four most dynamic discursive spaces to emerge over the past two decades in China (1994–2019): the bulletin board system (BBS), the blog, the microblog (Weibo), and WeChat (Weixin). The creation of these digital platforms not only showcases the local appropriation of global technologies in China but also exemplifies how Internet users' mundane activities online hold significant potential for forging politically minded citizens at a micro level. By delineating the process by which user-generated content has been produced, promoted, and received, this book historicizes the study of digital media and sheds light on understanding emerging platforms.

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Book SynopsisA complete history and theory of internet daemons brings these little-known—but very consequential—programs into the spotlight We’re used to talking about how tech giants like Google, Facebook, and Amazon rule the internet, but what about daemons? Ubiquitous programs that have colonized the Net’s infrastructure—as well as the devices we use to access it—daemons are little known. Fenwick McKelvey weaves together history, theory, and policy to give a full account of where daemons come from and how they influence our lives—including their role in hot-button issues like network neutrality.Going back to Victorian times and the popular thought experiment Maxwell’s Demon, McKelvey charts how daemons evolved from concept to reality, eventually blossoming into the pandaemonium of code-based creatures that today orchestrates our internet. Digging into real-life examples like sluggish connection speeds, Comcast’s efforts to control peer-to-peer networking, and Pirate Bay’s attempts to elude daemonic control (and skirt copyright), McKelvey shows how daemons have been central to the internet, greatly influencing everyday users.Internet Daemons asks important questions about how much control is being handed over to these automated, autonomous programs, and the consequences for transparency and oversight.Trade Review"Beneath social media, beneath search, Internet Daemons reveals another layer of algorithms: deeper, burrowed into information networks. Fenwick McKelvey is the best kind of intellectual spelunker, taking us deep into the infrastructure and shining his light on these obscure but vital mechanisms. What he has delivered is a precise and provocative rethinking of how to conceive of power in and among networks."—Tarleton Gillespie, author of Custodians of the Internet"Internet Daemons is an original and important contribution to the field of digital media studies. Fenwick McKelvey extensively maps and analyzes how daemons influence data exchanges across Internet infrastructures. This study insightfully demonstrates how daemons are transformative entities that enable particular ways of transferring information and connecting up communication, with significant social and political consequences."—Jennifer Gabrys, author of Program EarthTable of ContentsAbbreviations and Technical TermsIntroduction1. The Devil We Know: Maxwell’s Demon, Cyborg Sciences, and Flow Control2. Possessing Infrastructure: Nonsynchronous Communication, IMPs, and Optimization3. IMPs, OLIVERs, and Gateways: Internetworking before the Internet4. Pandaemonium: The Internet as Daemons5. Suffering from Buffering? Affects of Flow Control6. The Disoptimized: The Ambiguous Tactics of the Pirate Bay7. A Crescendo of Online Interactive Debugging? Gamers, Publics and DaemonsConclusionAcknowledgmentsAppendix: Internet Measurement and MediatorsNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisA complete history and theory of internet daemons brings these little-known—but very consequential—programs into the spotlight We’re used to talking about how tech giants like Google, Facebook, and Amazon rule the internet, but what about daemons? Ubiquitous programs that have colonized the Net’s infrastructure—as well as the devices we use to access it—daemons are little known. Fenwick McKelvey weaves together history, theory, and policy to give a full account of where daemons come from and how they influence our lives—including their role in hot-button issues like network neutrality.Going back to Victorian times and the popular thought experiment Maxwell’s Demon, McKelvey charts how daemons evolved from concept to reality, eventually blossoming into the pandaemonium of code-based creatures that today orchestrates our internet. Digging into real-life examples like sluggish connection speeds, Comcast’s efforts to control peer-to-peer networking, and Pirate Bay’s attempts to elude daemonic control (and skirt copyright), McKelvey shows how daemons have been central to the internet, greatly influencing everyday users.Internet Daemons asks important questions about how much control is being handed over to these automated, autonomous programs, and the consequences for transparency and oversight.Trade Review"Beneath social media, beneath search, Internet Daemons reveals another layer of algorithms: deeper, burrowed into information networks. Fenwick McKelvey is the best kind of intellectual spelunker, taking us deep into the infrastructure and shining his light on these obscure but vital mechanisms. What he has delivered is a precise and provocative rethinking of how to conceive of power in and among networks."—Tarleton Gillespie, author of Custodians of the Internet"Internet Daemons is an original and important contribution to the field of digital media studies. Fenwick McKelvey extensively maps and analyzes how daemons influence data exchanges across Internet infrastructures. This study insightfully demonstrates how daemons are transformative entities that enable particular ways of transferring information and connecting up communication, with significant social and political consequences."—Jennifer Gabrys, author of Program EarthTable of ContentsAbbreviations and Technical TermsIntroduction1. The Devil We Know: Maxwell’s Demon, Cyborg Sciences, and Flow Control2. Possessing Infrastructure: Nonsynchronous Communication, IMPs, and Optimization3. IMPs, OLIVERs, and Gateways: Internetworking before the Internet4. Pandaemonium: The Internet as Daemons5. Suffering from Buffering? Affects of Flow Control6. The Disoptimized: The Ambiguous Tactics of the Pirate Bay7. A Crescendo of Online Interactive Debugging? Gamers, Publics and DaemonsConclusionAcknowledgmentsAppendix: Internet Measurement and MediatorsNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisA deep dive into the political roots of advertising on the internet The contemporary internet’s de facto business model is one of surveillance. Browser cookies follow us around the web, Amazon targets us with eerily prescient ads, Facebook and Google read our messages and analyze our patterns, and apps record our every move. In Profit over Privacy, Matthew Crain gives internet surveillance a much-needed origin story by chronicling the development of its most important historical catalyst: web advertising.The first institutional and political history of internet advertising, Profit over Privacy uses the 1990s as its backdrop to show how the massive data-collection infrastructure that undergirds the internet today is the result of twenty-five years of technical and political economic engineering. Crain considers the social causes and consequences of the internet’s rapid embrace of consumer monitoring, detailing how advertisers and marketers adapted to the existential threat of the internet and marshaled venture capital to develop the now-ubiquitous business model called “surveillance advertising.” He draws on a range of primary resources from government, industry, and the press and highlights the political roots of internet advertising to underscore the necessity of political solutions to reign in unaccountable commercial surveillance.The dominant business model on the internet, surveillance advertising is the result of political choices—not the inevitable march of technology. Unlike many other countries, the United States has no internet privacy law. A fascinating prehistory of internet advertising giants like Google and Facebook, Profit over Privacy argues that the internet did not have to turn out this way and that it can be remade into something better.Trade Review"A surveillance-oriented internet was not inevitable. As Matthew Crain brilliantly documents, the data-obsessed web was manifested to appease and uphold the advertising beast. By untangling the historic strings of policy, politics, and financial interests, Profit over Privacy invites the reader to question why we've come to accept the panoptic internet we know today."—danah boyd, author of It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens"In this exceptionally insightful and important book, Matthew Crain presents a definitive history of the evisceration of internet privacy. Rooted in a deep understanding of the history of advertising markets and the political economy of finance, Profit over Privacy focuses readers' attention on the fundamental forces demanding ever more data about our lives. Although it tells a dark story, its accessible and lively prose makes it a pleasure to read—and provides the historical knowledge necessary to help future regulators avoid the many mistakes of the past."—Frank Pasquale, author of New Laws of Robotics: Defending Human Expertise in the Age of AI "The book provides a fascinating look at the way that commercial and private interests and the companies and lobbyists representing them wonout over other interests, such as public ownership and public interests,in anumber of debates and processes largely in the United States that created the global internet infrastructure we have now... Anyone interested in online and digital spaces, surveillance practices, the history of internet companies,and discussions of public policy in the internet age should want to read Profit Over Privacy."—Surveillance & Society"Revealing the emergence of a market logic that has placed individual surveillance at its core, this is a forceful and engaging book."—LSE Review of Books"His writing skills, including his ability to make the sociopolitical complexities of political economy accessible and engaging for a broad audience, from undergraduates to business executives, are most impressive."—International Journal of Communication"Brilliantly researched and thoroughly documented, the book argues that surveillance capitalism could not have existed outside of politics."—Technical Communication"In documenting the historical development of surveillance advertising, Crain makes a forceful argument against the status quo in favor of strong privacy laws."—College & Research LibrariesTable of ContentsContentsIntroduction1. The Revolution Will Be Commercialized2. A Framework for Global Electronic Commerce3. The Web Gets a Memory4. The Dotcom Bubble5. Surveillance Advertising Takes Shape6. The Privacy Challenge7. The Legacy of the Dotcom EraAcknowledgmentsNotesIndex

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Book SynopsisA deep dive into the political roots of advertising on the internet The contemporary internet’s de facto business model is one of surveillance. Browser cookies follow us around the web, Amazon targets us with eerily prescient ads, Facebook and Google read our messages and analyze our patterns, and apps record our every move. In Profit over Privacy, Matthew Crain gives internet surveillance a much-needed origin story by chronicling the development of its most important historical catalyst: web advertising.The first institutional and political history of internet advertising, Profit over Privacy uses the 1990s as its backdrop to show how the massive data-collection infrastructure that undergirds the internet today is the result of twenty-five years of technical and political economic engineering. Crain considers the social causes and consequences of the internet’s rapid embrace of consumer monitoring, detailing how advertisers and marketers adapted to the existential threat of the internet and marshaled venture capital to develop the now-ubiquitous business model called “surveillance advertising.” He draws on a range of primary resources from government, industry, and the press and highlights the political roots of internet advertising to underscore the necessity of political solutions to reign in unaccountable commercial surveillance.The dominant business model on the internet, surveillance advertising is the result of political choices—not the inevitable march of technology. Unlike many other countries, the United States has no internet privacy law. A fascinating prehistory of internet advertising giants like Google and Facebook, Profit over Privacy argues that the internet did not have to turn out this way and that it can be remade into something better.Trade Review"A surveillance-oriented internet was not inevitable. As Matthew Crain brilliantly documents, the data-obsessed web was manifested to appease and uphold the advertising beast. By untangling the historic strings of policy, politics, and financial interests, Profit over Privacy invites the reader to question why we've come to accept the panoptic internet we know today."—danah boyd, author of It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens"In this exceptionally insightful and important book, Matthew Crain presents a definitive history of the evisceration of internet privacy. Rooted in a deep understanding of the history of advertising markets and the political economy of finance, Profit over Privacy focuses readers' attention on the fundamental forces demanding ever more data about our lives. Although it tells a dark story, its accessible and lively prose makes it a pleasure to read—and provides the historical knowledge necessary to help future regulators avoid the many mistakes of the past."—Frank Pasquale, author of New Laws of Robotics: Defending Human Expertise in the Age of AI "The book provides a fascinating look at the way that commercial and private interests and the companies and lobbyists representing them wonout over other interests, such as public ownership and public interests,in anumber of debates and processes largely in the United States that created the global internet infrastructure we have now... Anyone interested in online and digital spaces, surveillance practices, the history of internet companies,and discussions of public policy in the internet age should want to read Profit Over Privacy."—Surveillance & Society"Revealing the emergence of a market logic that has placed individual surveillance at its core, this is a forceful and engaging book."—LSE Review of Books"His writing skills, including his ability to make the sociopolitical complexities of political economy accessible and engaging for a broad audience, from undergraduates to business executives, are most impressive."—International Journal of Communication"Brilliantly researched and thoroughly documented, the book argues that surveillance capitalism could not have existed outside of politics."—Technical Communication"In documenting the historical development of surveillance advertising, Crain makes a forceful argument against the status quo in favor of strong privacy laws."—College & Research LibrariesTable of ContentsContentsIntroduction1. The Revolution Will Be Commercialized2. A Framework for Global Electronic Commerce3. The Web Gets a Memory4. The Dotcom Bubble5. Surveillance Advertising Takes Shape6. The Privacy Challenge7. The Legacy of the Dotcom EraAcknowledgmentsNotesIndex

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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

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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

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Book SynopsisThe book presents a new conceptual framework and a set of research principles with which to study and interpret technology from a phenomenological perspective.Trade Review"Technology and Social Agency is the most provocative and significant book on the relationship between the material world and the human condition to appear in anthropology since Leslie A. White's The Evolution of Culture (1959). Unlike its polemic predecessor, however, Technology and Social Agency avoids instrumental determinism and establishes the challenging alternative of technology as a total social fact centered around individual human beings in meaningful communities of cultural practice. In reaffirming the human and social dimensions of all technological practice and technique, Marcia-Anne Dobres establishes instead the role of material items in all social discourse and social reproduction. As a poetic manifesto for technology and human action Technology and Social Agency will be a flash point of intelligent debate of these issues for the next decade, and perhaps beyond." Professor John Edward Clark, Brigham Young University. "The true value of this book is that it has brought together a wide range of previous work on technolgy. It is a well-referenced discussion of a significant trend in technological studies, an area of study to which Dobres herself has made a major contribution. I hope Dobres will continue to make a significant contribution to these debates." Bill Sillar, University College London, for Antiquity 2003 "I found the book a thorougly researched and well-argued example of an inter-disciplinary approach, bringing together ideas from phenomenological philosphy,the sociology of technology and science and from material culture debates within British and American Anthropology ... a well informed work that is both highly innovative and challenging." Cambridge AnthropologyTable of ContentsList of Figures. Preface. Acknowledgments. Introduction. 1. Of Black Boxes and Matters Material: The State of Things. 2. Deconstructing the Black Box: Some Philosophical and Historical Reflections on the Logos Tekhne. 3. Prying Open the Black Box: Philosophical Insights on Technology and Being. 4. A Synoptic Approach to Technology: Conceptual Contours of a Practice Framework. 5. Social Agency and Practice: The Heart and Soul of Technology. 6. Engendering the Chaine Operatoire: Methodological Issues. 7. A Future for Technology's Pasts. Notes. References. Index.

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Book SynopsisThe book presents a new conceptual framework and a set of research principles with which to study and interpret technology from a phenomenological perspective.Trade Review"Technology and Social Agency is the most provocative and significant book on the relationship between the material world and the human condition to appear in anthropology since Leslie A. White's The Evolution of Culture (1959). Unlike its polemic predecessor, however, Technology and Social Agency avoids instrumental determinism and establishes the challenging alternative of technology as a total social fact centered around individual human beings in meaningful communities of cultural practice. In reaffirming the human and social dimensions of all technological practice and technique, Marcia-Anne Dobres establishes instead the role of material items in all social discourse and social reproduction. As a poetic manifesto for technology and human action Technology and Social Agency will be a flash point of intelligent debate of these issues for the next decade, and perhaps beyond." Professor John Edward Clark, Brigham Young University. "The true value of this book is that it has brought together a wide range of previous work on technolgy. It is a well-referenced discussion of a significant trend in technological studies, an area of study to which Dobres herself has made a major contribution. I hope Dobres will continue to make a significant contribution to these debates." Bill Sillar, University College London, for Antiquity 2003 "I found the book a thorougly researched and well-argued example of an inter-disciplinary approach, bringing together ideas from phenomenological philosphy,the sociology of technology and science and from material culture debates within British and American Anthropology ... a well informed work that is both highly innovative and challenging." Cambridge AnthropologyTable of ContentsList of Figures. Preface. Acknowledgments. Introduction. 1. Of Black Boxes and Matters Material: The State of Things. 2. Deconstructing the Black Box: Some Philosophical and Historical Reflections on the Logos Tekhne. 3. Prying Open the Black Box: Philosophical Insights on Technology and Being. 4. A Synoptic Approach to Technology: Conceptual Contours of a Practice Framework. 5. Social Agency and Practice: The Heart and Soul of Technology. 6. Engendering the Chaine Operatoire: Methodological Issues. 7. A Future for Technology's Pasts. Notes. References. Index.

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Book SynopsisThe history of five major cartographic errrors of American geography that have had considerable resonance long after they were perpetrated. The Mismapping of America presents and analyzes the significant cartographic errors that have shaped the history of the United States. Perhaps the most blatant error is the very name "America," that honors Amerigo Vespucci,who not only never set foot on North American soil, but also played no significant role in the discovery of South America. The appearance of the name "America" imprinted on a map ensured its permanence. Other significant errors explored in The Mismapping of America include Giovanni da Verrazzano's misinterpretation of Pamlico or Albermarle Sound for the Pacific Ocean, thereby suggesting the presence of an isthmus in the middle of the North American continent; the existence of a direct North West passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans; the misconception that California was an island; and the insertion on Lake Superior of a fictitious island that is specificallyreferred to in defining the boundary of the United States. The inclusion of pertinent rare maps enhances this rich and revealing narrative of several intriguing episodes in the history of the geographic evolution of the United States. Seymour I. Schwartz is the Distinguished Alumni Professor of Surgery at the University of Rochester, and an expert on the history of mapping America. He is the coauthor of Mapping of America and author of The French and Indian War 1754-1763: The Imperial Struggle for North America and This Land is Your Land.Trade ReviewThe Mismapping of America[is] an enjoyable book, packed with information and illustrated with 72 maps and portraits. THE PORTOLAN, Journal of the Washington Map Society * . *Besides being an enjoyable read, researchers will most likely be interested in this book for the author's thorough research and the lists of suggested additional reading. Western Association of Map Libraries * . *Entertaining account...if you have any flair for things related to sea navigation, then I do not think you will be disappointed. -- David H. Gray * INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MARITIME HISTORY *The map plates are . . . amazing. * THE GUARDIAN, November 22, 2008 *Table of ContentsThe Greatest Misnomer on Planet Earth Cinching a Corset of Convenience Depicting a Desire Formed fancy Persisted in Face of Facts French Fantasies

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Book SynopsisElectronics in the Evolution of Flight traces the paired history of modern aviation and electronics, or avionics, from its earliest years to the indispensable tool it is today. Albert Helfrick, who for twenty-five years has designed avionics for agencies and corporations such as NASA and Boeing, provides a thorough account of the roles played by the famous and the obscure, from Edwin Howard Armstrong to Nikola Tesla and David Sarnoff, in the successful creation of aviation technology. Helfrick focuses much of his work on the advancement of electronic systems. He explains the origins of technical definitions and acronyms such as Radio Detection and Ranging (RADAR) and the difference between short waves and microwaves. With an easy familiarity, he reviews topics as varied as the Morse code, the Radio Club of America, and the evolution of microprocessors. Helfrick covers the history of all of the engineering and electronic developments in a style that is accessible to lay readers, but also provides a valuable reference for specialists.

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Book SynopsisWhat lies beneath the ground? Our poor eyesight cannot penetrate even an inch into the soil, so for centuries, fortune-seekers have tried every way imaginable to see below the surface. Whether searching for mineral veins, groundwater, or buried treasure, people have looked for ways to avoid the plodding and backbreaking process of digging. They have followed dreams, seers, dowsing rods, and advice from the spirit world. When petroleum became an item of commerce, oil-hunters took to all these methods. Many built homemade inventions called doodlebugs, which they said could detect underground oil. It took a while, but science finally came up with its own toolbox of oil-finding methods in the early twentieth century. Finding oil is still expensive and risky, however. The old ways? They are mostly gone, but a few oil-dowsers still stride across fields with rod or pendulum, and no doubt people still consult dreams and psychics. And don’t pretend that you yourself haven’t wondered if that dowser might be onto something, or if that famous psychic can really tell where there is oil, or if that inventor stumbled onto a better way to detect underground oil. Of course you have. History is written by the victors, and scientists won over the oil industry—rightly so. But their accounts give short shrift to the rich history of less traditional ways to find oil. Although ignored, the records of nonscientific methods and their contributions to the oil business are well worthy of study. Lacking in science, they are rich in humanity. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear . . . wait, scratch that . . . these things are still going on. Join us in a visit to a place where dreams, seers, and spooks are taken seriously, where forked twigs dip toward oil pools and homemade oil-finding gizmos blink or beep with the promise of riches tucked just below the surface of the known world.

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Book Synopsis Enlightenment-era writers had not yet come to take technology for granted, but nonetheless were—as we are today—both attracted to and repelled by its potential. This volume registers the deep history of such ambivalence, examining technology’s influence on Enlightenment British literature, as well as the impact of literature on conceptions of, attitudes toward, and implementations of technology. Offering a counterbalance to the abundance of studies on literature and science in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Britain, this volume’s focus encompasses approaches to literary history that help us understand technologies like the steam engine and the telegraph along with representations of technology in literature such as the “political machine.” Contributors ultimately show how literature across genres provided important sites for Enlightenment readers to recognize themselves as “chimeras”—“hybrids of machine and organism”—and to explore the modern self as “a creature of social reality as well as a creature of fiction.” Table of ContentsIntroductionKristin M. Girten and Aaron R. HanlonChapter 1: Webster’s Baroque Experiments and the Testing of Technology in the Early 1600sLaura FrancisChapter 2: Telling Time in the Fiction of Mary Hearne and Daniel DefoeErik L. JohnsonChapter 3: The Technology and Theatricality of Three Hours after Marriage’s “Touch-Stone of Virginity”Thomas A. OldhamChapter 4: Gulliver’s Travels, Automation, and the Reckoning AuthorZachary M. MannChapter 5: Designing the Enlightenment AnthropoceneKevin MacDonnellChapter 6: Technology, Temporality, and Queer Form in Horace Walpole’s GothicEmily M. WestChapter 7: Telegraphic Supremacy in Maria Edgeworth’s “Lame Jervas”Deven M. ParkerChapter 8: Percy Shelley, Political Machines, and the Pre-History of the Post-LiberalJamison KantorAfterword: On the Uses of the History of Technology for Literary Studies and Vice VersaJoseph DruryBibliographyNotes on ContributorsIndex

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Book SynopsisWhen blacksmith Pierre Michaux affixed pedals to the front axle of a two-wheeled scooter with a seat, he helped kick off a craze known as velocipedomania, which swept France in the late 1860s. The immediate forerunner of the bicycle, the velocipede similarly reflected changing cultural attitudes and challenged gender norms. Velocipedomania is the first in-depth study of the velocipede fad and the popular culture it inspired. It explores how the device was hailed as a symbol of France’s cutting-edge technological advancements, yet also marketed as an invention with a noble pedigree, born from the nation’s cultural and literary heritage. Giving readers a window into the material culture and enthusiasms of Second Empire France, it provides the first English translations of 1869’s Manual of the Velocipede, 1868’s Note on Monsieur Michaux’s Velocipede, and the 1869 operetta Dagobert and his Velocipede. It also reprints scores of rare images from newspapers and advertisements, analyzing how these magnificent machines captured the era’s visual imagination. By looking at how it influenced French attitudes towards politics, national identity, technology, fashion, fitness, and gender roles, this book shows how the short-lived craze of velocipedomania had a big impact. Trade Review“Engaging, well-researched, and expertly translated, Velocipedomania gives insight into the craze this two-wheeled machine inspired in the late 1860s and, more generally, into the rich popular culture of the period.”— Anne O’Neil-Henry, author of Mastering the Marketplace: Popular Literature in Nineteenth-Century France “In this engaging and informative book, Corry Cropper and Seth Whidden explore how, in late 1860s France, the forerunner of the bicycle came to be seen as a marker of modernity, freedom and even of national identity . . . A large number of contemporary cartoons and illustrations add to the rich source material—and to the reader’s enjoyment.”— French History “Careening across the stage, lifted into song, championed in story—velocipedes take France by storm in 1869-70. The machine of speed touches on gender, politics, class, and more. Never has cultural history been more informative or more fun than in the rollicking translations and commentary of Velocipedomania.”— Scott Carpenter, author of Aesthetics of Fraudulence in Nineteenth-Century France “In Velocipedomania, Cropper and Whidden bring to light an unexamined page of French cultural history—France’s obsession and cultural identification with the bicycle that began in the 1860s and that persists to this day. This lively compilation of texts about the velocipede, the iconic two-wheel wood and iron vehicle, will delight readers.”— Masha Belenky, author of Engine of Modernity: The Omnibus and Urban Culture in Nineteenth-Century Paris “This book is a fabulous exploration of the social and cultural importance of the velocipede—a short-lived but consequential predecessor to the modern bicycle—in France during the late 1860s.”— Robert Lewis, author of The Stadium Century: Sport, Spectatorship and Mass Society in Modern FranceTable of ContentsIntroduction Velocipedomania CHAPTER ONE The Utilitarian Velocipede Note on Monsieur Michaux’s Velocipede CHAPTER TWO The Velocipede on Stage Dagobert and His Velocipede CHAPTER THREE Narrating Velocipedomania Manual of the Velocipede CHAPTER FOUR Velocipedomania in Verse CONCLUSION “We Thought the Velocipede Was Dead” Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Illustration Credits Index

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Book SynopsisWhen blacksmith Pierre Michaux affixed pedals to the front axle of a two-wheeled scooter with a seat, he helped kick off a craze known as velocipedomania, which swept France in the late 1860s. The immediate forerunner of the bicycle, the velocipede similarly reflected changing cultural attitudes and challenged gender norms. Velocipedomania is the first in-depth study of the velocipede fad and the popular culture it inspired. It explores how the device was hailed as a symbol of France’s cutting-edge technological advancements, yet also marketed as an invention with a noble pedigree, born from the nation’s cultural and literary heritage. Giving readers a window into the material culture and enthusiasms of Second Empire France, it provides the first English translations of 1869’s Manual of the Velocipede, 1868’s Note on Monsieur Michaux’s Velocipede, and the 1869 operetta Dagobert and his Velocipede. It also reprints scores of rare images from newspapers and advertisements, analyzing how these magnificent machines captured the era’s visual imagination. By looking at how it influenced French attitudes towards politics, national identity, technology, fashion, fitness, and gender roles, this book shows how the short-lived craze of velocipedomania had a big impact. Trade Review“Careening across the stage, lifted into song, championed in story—velocipedes take France by storm in 1869-70. The machine of speed touches on gender, politics, class, and more. Never has cultural history been more informative or more fun than in the rollicking translations and commentary of Velocipedomania.”— Scott Carpenter, author of Aesthetics of Fraudulence in Nineteenth-Century France “In Velocipedomania, Cropper and Whidden bring to light an unexamined page of French cultural history—France’s obsession and cultural identification with the bicycle that began in the 1860s and that persists to this day. This lively compilation of texts about the velocipede, the iconic two-wheel wood and iron vehicle, will delight readers.”— Masha Belenky, author of Engine of Modernity: The Omnibus and Urban Culture in Nineteenth-Century Paris “Engaging, well-researched, and expertly translated, Velocipedomania gives insight into the craze this two-wheeled machine inspired in the late 1860s and, more generally, into the rich popular culture of the period.”— Anne O’Neil-Henry, author of Mastering the Marketplace: Popular Literature in Nineteenth-Century France “This book is a fabulous exploration of the social and cultural importance of the velocipede—a short-lived but consequential predecessor to the modern bicycle—in France during the late 1860s.”— Robert Lewis, author of The Stadium Century: Sport, Spectatorship and Mass Society in Modern FranceTable of ContentsIntroduction Velocipedomania CHAPTER ONE The Utilitarian Velocipede Note on Monsieur Michaux’s Velocipede CHAPTER TWO The Velocipede on Stage Dagobert and His Velocipede CHAPTER THREE Narrating Velocipedomania Manual of the Velocipede CHAPTER FOUR Velocipedomania in Verse CONCLUSION “We Thought the Velocipede Was Dead” Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Illustration Credits Index

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Book SynopsisIn this fascinating book, Graham Matthews takes the reader through the history of the development and use of chemicals for control of pests, weeds, and vectors of disease. Prior to 1900 only a few chemicals had been employed as pesticides but in the early 1940s, as the Second World War raged, the insecticide DDT and the herbicide 2-4-D were developed. These changed everything. Since then, farmers have been using a growing list of insecticides, herbicides and fungicides to protect their crops. Their use has undoubtedly led to significant gains in agricultural production and reduction in disease transmission, but also to major problems: health concerns for both users of pesticides and the general public, the emergence of resistance in pest populations, and environmental problems. The book examines the development of legislation designed to control and restrict the use of pesticides, the emergence of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and the use of biological control agents as part of policy to protect the environment and encourage the sustainable use of pesticides. Finally, the use of new technologies in pest control are discussed including the use of genetic modification, targeted pesticide application and use of drones, alongside basic requirements for IPM such as crop rotations, close seasons and adoption of plant varieties with resistance to pests and diseases.Table of ContentsPrologue: Before Pesticides 1: Pesticides in the Early Part of the 20th Century 2: Application of Pesticides 3: Insecticides Post-1950 4: Herbicides 5: Fungicides 6: Other Pesticides 7: Resistance to Pesticides 8: Integrated Pest Management 9: Health Issues 10: Regulations and the Manufacturers of Pesticides and Related Organizations 11: Pesticides – the Future Annex: Common Name and Major Trade Name of Selected Pesticides

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Book SynopsisThis book represents an original study of long term patterns in technological development and innovation in large corporations. The author is primarily concerned with understanding open-ended transformation processes in the evolution of industrialised societies. US patent data from 1890 to 1990 is employed within an evolutionary framework. The book offers an overview of an intellectual agenda associated with a highly important and pervasive set of phenomena and challenges several dogmas currently alive within economic reasoning including: technological paradigms governing trajectories of opportunity the S-shaped image of the technological growth cycle and technological dynamics long waves industrial dynamics the variety of firms' technological profiles and corporate trajectories corporate technological leadership socio-economic transformation processes and underpinning 'rules'. Technological Change and the Evolution of Corporate Innovation details historically how the innovative and competitive landscapes within industrialised societies have become increasingly complex. This book will appeal to industrial and business economists, technology historians, researchers, students, policymakers and business analysts.Trade Review'. . . this is an original contribution to the literature on innovation, especially as it takes a long-term, cross-industry perspective.' -- Gerben Bakker, Business History'This book has a wealth of information regarding patents. Andersen has developed sophisticated analytical methods to analyze the patent statistics covering a century. Such a longitudinal analysis is indeed an important contribution to the literature on technology management. This book will be a welcome addition to anybody interested in the field of technology management.' -- Alok Chakrabarti, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management'Over the last quarter-century there has been a great deal of research and writing illuminating key aspects of the processes involved in technological advance, the nature of the firms and other organizations that have been the sources of new technology, and on how these variables differ by industry and by era. While in the eyes of those familiar with the broad scope of this research and writing, the overall picture is coherent, for the most part the different strands of research have been published in different places. In this book, Andersen proposes to bring the various pieces together. This she does quite well. The book provides a nice introduction to this diverse, but increasingly unified, body of theorizing about the coevolution of technologies and firm and industry structures . . . her work is a significant addition to a developing body of research that has involved a number of different scholars. In sum this is a good book. It both surveys effectively, and adds to, empirical research on several different aspects of technological advance, and on the nature of the firms that are leading the pack in various fields. It provides a good introduction to, and an example of excellent use of, patent statistics in the study of technological change.' -- Richard R. Nelson, Journal of Technology Transfer'Birgitte Andersen revisits in a modern context the ideas of Kuznets on technological growth paths, but emphasises the structural variety in patenting where earlier authors focused on aggregate trends. This is an important contribution for scholars interested in the interface between the recent history of technology and evolutionary economics.' -- John Cantwell, Rutgers University, US'This book represents the development of a major research project on patenting which is at last providing us with a solid quantitative base for examining these issues over a period spanning the twentieth century. Economics and history are skilfully woven into the data in order to interpret the processes of change. The results summarised in 21 'stylised facts', should frame all future studies of long-term industrial dynamics.' -- G.N. von Tunzelmann, SPRU - Science and Technology Policy Research, University of Sussex, UK'This is a landmark book about evolving technologies and growth opportunities. It is unique in both the breadth: over 100 innovation cycles; and the scope; over the past century, of its coverage. Dr Andersen's presentation of a rich range of academic work and comprehensive original analysis will be of interest to entrepreneurs and venture capitalists as well as to researchers studying innovation and technological change.' -- James M. Utterback, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USTable of ContentsContents: Preface 1. Introduction 2. Indicators and Appropriate Use of Patent Data 3. Structural Changes in Trajectories of Technological Opportunities 4. The Hunt for S-Shaped Growth Paths in Trajectories of Technological Innovation 5. Clusters of Takeoffs in Innovation Trajectories: An Exploration of Wave-like Patterns 6. Technological System Dynamics: A Competence Bloc Approach 7. Types of Technological Competencies and Corporate Trajectories: The Variety of Firms and Path Dependency 8. Trajectories of Corporate Technological Leadership: Implications for Innovation Diffusion in the Course of Growth 9. Conclusion: Technological Change and the Evolution of Corporate Innovation References Index

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Book SynopsisTechnological Revolutions and Financial Capital presents a novel interpretation of the good and bad times in the economy, taking a long-term perspective and linking technology and finance in an original and convincing way.Carlota Perez draws upon Schumpeter's theories of the clustering of innovations to explain why each technological revolution gives rise to a paradigm shift and a 'New Economy' and how these 'opportunity explosions', focused on specific industries, also lead to the recurrence of financial bubbles and crises. These findings are illustrated with examples from the past two centuries: the industrial revolution, the age of steam and railways, the age of steel and electricity, the emergence of mass production and automobiles, and the current information revolution/knowledge society.By analyzing the changing relationship between finance capital and production capital during the emergence, diffusion and assimilation of new technologies throughout the global economic system, this seminal book sheds new light on some of the most pressing economic problems of today.A bold interpretation of how the changing relationship between technological advances and financial capital shapes the patterns of economic cycles, this path-breaking book will provide essential insights for business leaders, policymakers, academics and others concerned with managing change in the world economy.Trade Review'Essential reading for all concerned with these specialist, but critically important issues.' -- Long Range Planning'It [this book] is one of the most interesting histories of technology, if not the most informative, because it dwells on the dynamics of the technology/social/economic systems itself. . . Most tomes with theoretical goals like this are horribly dry, dense, wordy, and well. . .boring. This book is not. Perez writes with vigor, and grace, not taking an extra unneeded word, and not repeating herself. . . like a great many other seminal books, it is easily read by anyone truly interesting in how technology works.' -- Kevin Kelly, Wired Magazine'. . . one of the most enjoyable economics books I have read for some time. . . this is a rich and detailed argument. . . a thought provoking read.' -- Mardi Dungey, Economic RecordTable of ContentsContents: Preface by Chris Freeman Introduction: An Interpretation Part I: Technological Revolutions as Successive Great Surges of Development 1. The Turbulent Ending of the Twentieth Century 2. Technological Revolutions and Techno-Economic Paradigms 3. The Social Shaping of Technological Revolutions 4. The Propagation of Paradigms: Times of Installation, Times of Deployment 5. The Four Basic Phases of Each Surge of Development 6. Uneven Development and Time-Lags in Diffusion Part II: Technological Revolutions and the Changing Behavior of Financial Capital 7. Financial Capital and Production Capital 8. Maturity: Financial Capital Planting the Seeds of Turbulence at the End of the Previous Surge 9. Irruption: The Love Affair of Financial Capital with the Technological Revolution 10. Frenzy: Self-Sufficient Financial Capital Governing the Casino 11. The Turning Point: Rethinking, Regulation and Changeover 12. Synergy: Supporting the Expansion of the Paradigm Across the Productive Structure 13. The Changing Nature of Financial and Institutional Innovations Part III: The Recurring Sequence, its Causes and Implications 14. The Sequence and its Driving Forces 15. The Implications for Theory and Policy Epilogue: The World at the Turning Point Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisA revised and updated edition of Professor Duncan Dowson's classic History of Tribology which has been unavailable for a number of years. The scope of Professor Dowson's survey is broad in time, place, and subject. All the major periods in the history of science and technology are covered, including the much-neglected Middle Ages, the Renaissance and other recognised eras of scientific development. For each period the author puts tribology in its social, environmental, and historical context, to show that the science and technology of tribology developed from the need to solve the practical problems of the day. Lavishly illustrated with photographs, diagrams and line drawings, this edition contains much new material dealing with recent developments in tribology. This immense historical survey has been written for all those concerned with tribology in the belief that future developments can benefit greatly from lessons learnt from the achievements and problems of the past.Table of ContentsIntroduction; chronology; prehistoric times - before c.3500BC; the early civilization (c.3500BC-AD1500); the Greek and roman period; the Middle Ages; the Renaissance; towards the Industrial Revolution - early scientific studies of friction; the Industrial Revolution; mineral oil and scientific studies of lubrication 1850-1925; towards tribology 1925-the present; towards the millennium, 1997-1997; great tribologists.

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Book SynopsisEngineering Disasters – Lessons to be Learned shows that there is always something to be learned from disasters. In this practical and highly relevant text Don Lawson has provided Thoroughly researched accounts of well-known disasters and failures worldwide Valuable interpretative sections, drawing out the lessons to be learned in each case Examples from a wide range of industries Background information and views of other experts in the field An excellent source of references for further study Common threads and conclusions from accident investigations Humans design, build, operate, use, maintain and can wreck engineering products. Humans are fallible. Engineers have to take into account all the potential failures of people, including other engineers, as well as failures of equipment and materials. Design engineering is a structured process using both art and science to create new or improved products – building on experience, bad as well as good. Failure occurs when something or someone fails to perform to expectations.Table of ContentsRobert Stephenson's Recommendation xiii; Preamble xv; Acknowledgements xvii; Introduction xix; Part 1 1; 1.1 The Hindenburg Disaster - Hydrogen Myth? 3; 1.1.1 The disaster 3; 1.1.2 Airship history 4; 1.1.3 Why were airships popular? 5; 1.1.4 The impact of world events and the political climate 6; 1.1.5 The key players 7; 1.1.6 The US investigation 8; 1.1.7 The Department of Commerce Report 9; 1.1.8 The role of the FBI 10; 1.1.9 The German investigation 11; 1.1.10 New developments in the 1990s 11; 1.1.11 Is this the end of the story? 13; 1.1.12 Some loose ends 14; 1.1.13 Lessons learned 17; 1.2 UK Railway Woes 21; 1.2.1 What's wrong? 21; 1.2.2 The early history of British railways 21; 1.2.3 Railways in the first half of the twentieth century 22; 1.2.4 Safety, risk, and regulation 22; 1.2.5 Nationalization 1947 23; 1.2.6 Privatization 25; 1.2.7 Lessons learned 40; 1.3 Signals Passed at Danger (SPADs) 43; 1.3.1 Accidents - road versus rail 43; 1.3.2 History 43; 1.3.3 Accidents at Clapham (1988), Southall (1997), and Ladbroke Grove (1999) 44; 1.3.4 What are ATP, ERTMS, ETCS, and GSM-R? 46; 1.3.5 The plan forward 48; 1.3.6 What has to be done? 49; 1.3.7 Some statistical data 49; 1.3.8 The safety case versus commercial costs 50; 1.3.9 Cost/benefit 50; 1.3.10 Experience with TPWS 51; 1.3.11 Lessons learned to date 51; 1.3.12 Lessons learned 57; 1.4 The Wheel/Rail Interface 59; 1.4.1 The rail as a beam 59; 1.4.2 Local contact stresses 59; 1.4.3 Vehicle dynamics 60; 1.4.4 Shakedown theory 61; 1.4.5 Crack propagation 62; 1.4.6 Fracture mechanics 65; 1.4.7 What limits rail life? 65; 1.4.8 Lubrication 65; 1.4.9 Wheel/rail profiles 66; 1.4.10 Metallurgy 66; 1.4.11 Inspection 67; 1.4.12 Experience on rail systems around the world 68; 1.4.13 Lessons learned 78; 1.5 Uskmouth Turbine Failure 83; 1.5.1 The failure 84; 1.5.2 Circumstances surrounding the failure 84; 1.5.3 What should have happened? 84; 1.5.4 The investigation 84; 1.5.5 The technical paper and discussion 86; 1.5.6 Lessons learned 89; 1.6 Dr Richard Feynman and the Challenger Shuttle Inquiry 91; 1.6.1 The Presidential Commission 91; 1.6.2 Dr Richard Feynman (1918-1988) 91; 1.6.3 Culture clash 92; 1.6.4 The working methods of the Commission 92; 1.6.5 The Space Shuttle and its solid booster rockets 92; 1.6.6 The SBR field joints 94; 1.6.7 Putty 95; 1.6.8 Seal test pressure 95; 1.6.9 Anomalies and erosion 96; 1.6.10 Preparation for the launch 96; 1.6.11 Raising concerns about the low temperature 96; 1.6.12 Accident sequence 97; 1.6.13 Dr Feynman at the inquiry 98; 1.6.14 Dr Feynman and Roger Bolsjoly 98; 1.6.15 Figures of fantasy 98; 1.6.16 Dr Feynman and the report writing 99; 1.6.17 The recommendations 99; 1.6.18 Dr Feynman's afterthoughts 100; 1.6.19 Lessons learned 109; 1.7 Lessons from the US Space Program 113; 1.7.1 Preface 113; 1.7.2 Technical and administrative management 113; 1.7.3 The funding trap 114; 1.7.4 Aggregate risk 114; 1.7.5 Achieving adequate safety levels 114; 1.7.6 Some of the small issues that can have a large impact 115; 1.7.7 Software/computers 115; 1.7.8 Summary 116; 1.8 Columbia - Deja Vu? 119; 1.8.1 The investigation board 119; 1.8.2 The physical cause of the disaster 120; 1.8.3 The debris 120; 1.8.4 The bipod and its foam insulation 120; 1.8.5 Shuttle damage 123; 1.8.6 Statistics 125; 1.8.7 Mission Management's role in the disaster 125; 1.8.8 Attitude to foam shedding prior to this mission 125; 1.8.9 The photographic record 126; 1.8.10 The engineers' assessment of the damage 126; 1.8.11 Crater - a tool outside its range 127; 1.8.12 Presentation of engineering analysis to Mission Management 127; 1.8.13 Mission Management's view and review of engineering input 127; 1.8.14 Requests for photographs 128; 1.8.15 Mission Management meetings 128; 1.8.16 Message to the crew 128; 1.8.17 Management view post-disaster 129; 1.8.18 CAIB's summary of management decisions 129; 1.8.19 Organizational flaws 129; 1.8.20 Budget and staff cuts 130; 1.8.21 Management of NASA 131; 1.8.22 Schedule pressure 132; 1.8.23 Previous investigations, reviews, and reports 132; 1.8.24 Safety organization 133; 1.8.25 Safety culture 133; 1.8.26 Can-do culture 134; 1.8.27 Engineering practices 134; 1.8.28 Challenger and Columbia similar disasters? 134; 1.8.29 Insights from organizational theory 135; 1.8.30 Insights from experience in other high-tech, high-risk industries 135; 1.8.31 Discussions with Dr Diane Vaughan 136; 1.8.32 CAIB's summary of organizational issues 137; 1.8.33 Other facts and issues 138; 1.8.34 Lessons learned 144; 1.9 Roll-on/Roll-off Ferries - Are they Safe Enough? 149; 1.9.1 History of ro-ro ships 149; 1.9.2 Accidents 150; 1.9.3 Herald of Free Enterprise 150; 1.9.4 Basic safety principles 151; 1.9.5 How do ro-ro ships meet these safety steps? 152; 1.9.6 Who calls the tune? 154; 1.9.7 Regulations and regulators 155; 1.9.8 Technical developments 158; 1.9.9 Actions by some other countries outside the Stockholm Agreement 160; 1.9.10 Maximum wave 161; 1.9.11 Statistics 162; 1.9.12 Lessons learned 167; 1.10 Bridges Too Far? 169; 1.10.1 Bridge failures 169; 1.10.2 Status of bridges in the United States 169; 1.10.3 The strange case of the bridge at Ynysygwas 170; 1.10.4 A selection of landmark bridge failures 171; The Dee Bridge collapse 171; The Tay Bridge disaster 174; The embarrassment on the bridge at Quebec City 179; Galloping Gertie - the Tacoma Narrows Bridge 187; The Milford Haven Bridge collapse 192; The Millennium Bridge failure 194; 1.10.5 Comments on bridges in general 199; 1.10.6 Lessons learned 202; 1.11 The De Havilland Comet Accidents 207; 1.11.1 Geoffrey de Havilland (1882-1965) 207; 1.11.2 Origins of the Comet airliner 208; 1.11.3 The design of DH106 - Comet 208; 1.11.4 Pressure cabin design 209; 1.11.5 Fatigue testing to confirm the design 209; 1.11.6 Operational experience 210; 1.11.7 The accident investigation 210; 1.11.8 RAE 210; 1.11.9 The fatigue results from service and test 213; 1.11.10 De Havilland versus RAE 214; 1.11.11 Lessons learned 219; 1.12 The Danger of Not Knowing 221; 1.12.1 Example 1. The Gimli glider 221; 1.12.2 Example 2. The day the Azores were in the right place 229; 1.12.3 Lessons learned 234; 1.13 Chernobyl Disaster 237; 1.13.1 Science in Russia 237; 1.13.2 A good fit - nuclear power and Communism 238; 1.13.3 Choosing the reactor for power generation 238; 1.13.4 Competition during the Cold War 238; 1.13.5 Fast expansion of the nuclear programme 239; 1.13.6 The RBMK reactor 239; 1.13.7 The test plan 241; 1.13.8 Events leading up to the test 242; 1.13.9 The accident 243; 1.13.10 Why did the power surge? 243; 1.13.11 Role of Valeri Legasov 244; 1.13.12 Role of Evgeny Velikhov 247; 1.13.13 Aftermath of the accident 248; 1.13.14 Lessons learned 252; 1.14 Radiation Hazards - Are Engineers Failing the Public? 255; 1.14.1 Background 255; 1.14.2 Radiation safety standards and regulation 256; 1.14.3 Data from the atomic bomb survivors 257; 1.14.4 Challenges to the radiation regulations 258; 1.14.5 Sources of radiation from nature and man-made sources 260; 1.14.6 Low-dose radiation models 261; 1.14.7 Epidemiology 261; 1.14.8 DNA damage 262; 1.14.9 Studies of hormesis and other work at low doses 264; 1.14.10 Effects of radiation from Chernobyl 267; 1.14.11 Lessons learned 274; Part 2 277; 2.1 Words of Wisdom 279; 2.1.1 Sir Alfred Pugsley (1903-1998) 279; 2.1.2 Alfred M. Freudenthal (1906-1977) 286; 2.1.3 Henry Petroski 289; 2.1.4 Trevor Kletz 291; 2.1.5 Hyman G. Rickover (1898 or 1900 [uncertainty] - 1986) 295; 2.2 Background - Placing Engineering into Perspective 301; 2.2.1 Science and engineering 301; 2.2.2 What is an engineer? 302; 2.2.3 Cycles in engineering 308; 2.2.4 Does history matter? 310; 2.2.5 Learning from the military 311; 2.2.6 Maintenance holiday - a familiar story 313; 2.3 Organizations Aiming to Reduce Risk - Worth Broader Exposure 315; 2.3.1 Peer reviews - INPO and WANO 315; 2.3.2 Lesson learned 319; 2.3.3 Standing Committee on Structural Safety (SCOSS) 319; 2.3.4 The Hazards Forum 328; 2.4 Technical Aspects of Failure 331; 2.4.1 The problem of probabilities 331; 2.4.2 Robustness 333; 2.4.3 From fatigue to structural integrity 335; 2.5 The Human Approach to Risk, Decisions, and Errors 347; 2.5.1 Dealing with risk 347; 2.5.2 Human decisions and errors 350; 2.5.3 Normal accidents versus High Reliability Theory 363; 2.6 An Engineer's Personal Story Worth Repeating 375; 2.6.1 What does it feel like to be associated with a disaster? 375; Part 3 379; 3.1 Drawing the Threads Together 381; 3.1.1 Is there a pattern to the failures? 381; 3.1.2 The three spheres of failure initiation 382; 3.1.3 The nature of disasters 383; 3.1.4 What are the common reasons for failures? 385; 3.1.5 Why do failures occur? 386; 3.2 The Role of Design 386; 3.3 Organizational Weaknesses 389; 3.4 What Do the Public Want? 390; 3.5 Making Better Decisions 392; 3.6 The Last Words! 393; Index 395

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Book SynopsisTelecommunications History & Policy into the 21st Century provides a succinct overview of the telecommunications environment and the factors that have shaped this industry from its inception through 2009. As a former executive with AT&T, Mr. Fulle shares his professional knowledge of an industry that is evolving at an increasing rate. This book provides a valuable examination of the evolution and complexity of the telecommunications industry, not only from its technological advances, but through actual business case studies and analysis of the four components of industry change: technology, regulatory and legal policy, market forces and security. Each chapter provides a brief summary of key concepts and a list of study questions to invoke discussion and review. While the events of the past have been significant and important, the best is yet to come! Professor Ron Fulle is a graduate of the State University of New York at Oswego where he received a BS in Mathematics, and he holds a MS in Telecommunications from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He has over twenty-five years of industry experience and is currently teaching at Rochester Institute of Technology in the Telecommunications Engineering Technology program.Trade ReviewThis book addresses an interesting and important topic and is well designed as either a textbook for a telecommunications policy course or a book for a general reader who wants grounding in the last 25 years of the telecommunications industry and policy. The study questions at the end of the chapters are particularly good! - -- Gregg Sayre, Associate General Counsel, Eastern Region, Frontier CommunicationsProfessor Fulle allowed me to use a pre-publication manuscript of this book for a 2009 Telecom Policy class that I taught. Students found the book to be easy to understand and forthright. They liked the book, learned from it and rated it highly. - -- Gidon Lissai, Software Engineer, Lenel Systems International Inc. and Adjunct Professor, Rochester Institute of Technology

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Book Synopsis"You can print from an iPhone(R). It's the dumbest thing." - Bo Fahs, writer and host of Tele-Friends From the moment we began to digitise our world, we created machines that worked tirelessly to pull all that information zooming around back to the physical world. Enter: the home printer. Perhaps as payback for forming a nonsensical dichotomy, these printers couldn't just work. Not without a fight, at least. No. They insisted on screeching at plane-like decibels, plopping out pages at an excruciatingly slow pace, streaking only the most important documents and running out of ink when you know you JUST refilled the cartridge. From the first consumer inkjet to more modern monstrosities, Sh*tty Printers breaks down the worst offenders of our home offices. Featuring popular and exasperating home staples such as: - The HP Thinkjet 2225A - The Lexmark Z22 - The long forgotten Canon BJC-85 - and many more Each printer is beautifully photographed and ruthlessly torn to shreds as their individual strengths, weaknesses and charisma are scored on sliding scales born from relatable frustration.Trade Review"The author of this book, photographer and humorist J.P. Garrigues, has a weird, uncanny knack for zeroing in on exactly what’s bothering you, before you’ve even noticed it." - Bo Fahs, Foreword Contributor

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Book SynopsisCommunities of Computing is the first book-length history of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), founded in 1947 and with a membership today of 100,000 worldwide. It profiles ACM's notable SIGs, active chapters, and individual members, setting ACM's history into a rich social and political context. The book's 12 core chapters are organized into three thematic sections. ""Defining the Discipline"" examines the 1960s and 1970s when the field of computer science was taking form at the National Science Foundation, Stanford University, and through ACM's notable efforts in education and curriculum standards. "Broadening the Profession" looks outward into the wider society as ACM engaged with social and political issues - and as members struggled with balancing a focus on scientific issues and awareness of the wider world.Chapters examine the social turbulence surrounding the Vietnam War, debates about the women's movement, efforts for computing and community education, and international issues including professionalization and the Cold War. "Expanding Research Frontiers" profiles three areas of research activity where ACM members and ACM itself shaped notable advances in computing, including computer graphics, computer security, and hypertext.Featuring insightful profiles of notable ACM leaders, such as Edmund Berkeley, George Forsythe, Jean Sammet, Peter Denning, and Kelly Gotlieb, and honest assessments of controversial episodes, the volume deals with compelling and complex issues involving ACM and computing. It is not a narrow organizational history of ACM committees and SIGS, although much information about them is given. All chapters are original works of research. Many chapters draw on archival records of ACM's headquarters, ACM SIGs, and ACM leaders. This volume makes a permanent contribution to documenting the history of ACM and understanding its central role in the history of computing.Table of Contents 1. ACM and the Computing Revolution (Thomas J. Misa) Theme 1: Defining the Discipline 2. From Handmaiden to 'Proper Intellectual Discipline': Creating a Scientific Identity for Computer Science in 1960s America (Janet Abbate) 3. George Forsythe, the ACM, and the Creation of Computer Science As We Know It (Joseph November) 4. Solving a Career Equation: The First Doctoral Women in Computer Science (Irina Nikivincze) 5. The History and Purpose of Computing Curricula (1960s to 2000s) (Sebastian Dziallas) Theme 2: Broadening the Profession 6. 'Deeply Political and Social Issues': Debates within ACM 1965-1985 (Janet Toland) 7. Organized Advocacy for Professional Women in Computing: Comparing Histories of the AWC and the ACM-W (Amy Sue Bix) 8. The Development of Computer Professionalization in Canada (Scott Campbell) 9. The Anatomy of an Encounter: Transnational Mediation and Discipline Building in Cold War Computer Science (Ksenia Tatarchenko) 10. Concern for the 'Disadvantaged': ACM's Role in Training and Education for Communities of Color 1958-1975 (R. Arvid Nelsen) Theme 3: Expanding Research Frontiers 11. Other Places of Invention: Computer Graphics at the University of Utah (Jacob Gaboury) 12. Framing Computer Security and Privacy, 1967-1992 (Rebecca Slayton) 13. Hypertext, Digital Libraries, and Beyond: A History of SIGWEB (Inna Kouper) Bibliography

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Book SynopsisCommunities of Computing is the first book-length history of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), founded in 1947 and with a membership today of 100,000 worldwide. It profiles ACM's notable SIGs, active chapters, and individual members, setting ACM's history into a rich social and political context. The book's 12 core chapters are organized into three thematic sections. "Defining the Discipline" examines the 1960s and 1970s when the field of computer science was taking form at the National Science Foundation, Stanford University, and through ACM's notable efforts in education and curriculum standards. "Broadening the Profession" looks outward into the wider society as ACM engaged with social and political issues - and as members struggled with balancing a focus on scientific issues and awareness of the wider world.Chapters examine the social turbulence surrounding the Vietnam War, debates about the women's movement, efforts for computing and community education, and international issues including professionalization and the Cold War. "Expanding Research Frontiers" profiles three areas of research activity where ACM members and ACM itself shaped notable advances in computing, including computer graphics, computer security, and hypertext.Featuring insightful profiles of notable ACM leaders, such as Edmund Berkeley, George Forsythe, Jean Sammet, Peter Denning, and Kelly Gotlieb, and honest assessments of controversial episodes, the volume deals with compelling and complex issues involving ACM and computing. It is not a narrow organizational history of ACM committees and SIGS, although much information about them is given. All chapters are original works of research. Many chapters draw on archival records of ACM's headquarters, ACM SIGs, and ACM leaders. This volume makes a permanent contribution to documenting the history of ACM and understanding its central role in the history of computing.Table of Contents 1. ACM and the Computing Revolution (Thomas J. Misa) Theme 1: Defining the Discipline 2. From Handmaiden to 'Proper Intellectual Discipline': Creating a Scientific Identity for Computer Science in 1960s America (Janet Abbate) 3. George Forsythe, the ACM, and the Creation of Computer Science As We Know It (Joseph November) 4. Solving a Career Equation: The First Doctoral Women in Computer Science (Irina Nikivincze) 5. The History and Purpose of Computing Curricula (1960s to 2000s) (Sebastian Dziallas) Theme 2: Broadening the Profession 6. 'Deeply Political and Social Issues': Debates within ACM 1965-1985 (Janet Toland) 7. Organized Advocacy for Professional Women in Computing: Comparing Histories of the AWC and the ACM-W (Amy Sue Bix) 8. The Development of Computer Professionalization in Canada (Scott Campbell) 9. The Anatomy of an Encounter: Transnational Mediation and Discipline Building in Cold War Computer Science (Ksenia Tatarchenko) 10. Concern for the 'Disadvantaged': ACM's Role in Training and Education for Communities of Color 1958-1975 (R. Arvid Nelsen) Theme 3: Expanding Research Frontiers 11. Other Places of Invention: Computer Graphics at the University of Utah (Jacob Gaboury) 12. Framing Computer Security and Privacy, 1967-1992 (Rebecca Slayton) 13. Hypertext, Digital Libraries, and Beyond: A History of SIGWEB (Inna Kouper) Bibliography

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Book SynopsisA widescreen frame in cinema beckons the eye to playfully, creatively roam. Such technology also gives inventive filmmakers room to disrupt and redirect audience expectations, surprising viewers through the use of a wider, more expansive screen. Playful Frames: Styles of Widescreen Cinema studies the poetics of the auteur-driven widescreen image, offering nimble, expansive analyses of the work of four distinctive filmmakers – Jean Negulesco, Blake Edwards, Robert Altman, and John Carpenter – who creatively inhabited the nooks and crannies of widescreen moviemaking during the final decades of the twentieth century. Exploring the relationship between aspect ratio and subject matter, Playful Frames shows how directors make puckish use of widescreen technology. All four of these distinctive filmmakers reimagined popular genres (such as melodrama, slapstick comedy, film noir, science fiction, and horror cinema) through their use of the wide frame, and each brings a range of intermedial interests (painting, performance, and music) to their use of the widescreen image. This study looks specifically at the technological underpinnings, aesthetic shapes, and interpretive implications of these four directors’ creative use of widescreen, offering a way to reconsider the way wide imagery still has the potential to amaze and move us today. Trade Review“Until I began reading Steve Rybin’s surprising and steadily adventurous book, I had never thought of linking widescreen frames and their accompanying camera movements with playfulness. His bravura inquiry enlarges and richly complicates the ludic possibilities, in addition to offering fresh, provocative readings of four very different American directors’ works. Rybin writes with such infectious gusto and has a splendid ability to make the visual details whose mystery he probes come alive on the page.” — George Toles, University of Manitoba "With detailed and lively formal analyses, Rybin shows the often surprising ways in which four very different directors used the possibilities of the wider aspect ratio to orchestrate viewer attention for comedy, terror, drama, characterization, and spectacle. Playful Frames is an invaluable addition to our understanding of widescreen aesthetics, expanding beyond viewer immersion to questions of reflexivity, genre, and intermediality." — Lisa Bode, author of Making Believe: Screen Performance and Special Effects in Popular CinemaTable of ContentsIntroduction: A Scope Quartet 1 Jean Negulesco (1900-1993): CinemaScope Connoisseur 2 Blake Edwards (1922-2010): Panavision Pyrotechnics 3 Robert Altman (1925-2006): Diffusive Widescreen 4 John Carpenter (1948–): Anamorphic Haunting Acknowledgments Works Cited Index

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Book SynopsisA widescreen frame in cinema beckons the eye to playfully, creatively roam. Such technology also gives inventive filmmakers room to disrupt and redirect audience expectations, surprising viewers through the use of a wider, more expansive screen. Playful Frames: Styles of Widescreen Cinema studies the poetics of the auteur-driven widescreen image, offering nimble, expansive analyses of the work of four distinctive filmmakers – Jean Negulesco, Blake Edwards, Robert Altman, and John Carpenter – who creatively inhabited the nooks and crannies of widescreen moviemaking during the final decades of the twentieth century. Exploring the relationship between aspect ratio and subject matter, Playful Frames shows how directors make puckish use of widescreen technology. All four of these distinctive filmmakers reimagined popular genres (such as melodrama, slapstick comedy, film noir, science fiction, and horror cinema) through their use of the wide frame, and each brings a range of intermedial interests (painting, performance, and music) to their use of the widescreen image. This study looks specifically at the technological underpinnings, aesthetic shapes, and interpretive implications of these four directors’ creative use of widescreen, offering a way to reconsider the way wide imagery still has the potential to amaze and move us today. Trade Review“Until I began reading Steve Rybin’s surprising and steadily adventurous book, I had never thought of linking widescreen frames and their accompanying camera movements with playfulness. His bravura inquiry enlarges and richly complicates the ludic possibilities, in addition to offering fresh, provocative readings of four very different American directors’ works. Rybin writes with such infectious gusto and has a splendid ability to make the visual details whose mystery he probes come alive on the page.” — George Toles, University of Manitoba "With detailed and lively formal analyses, Rybin shows the often surprising ways in which four very different directors used the possibilities of the wider aspect ratio to orchestrate viewer attention for comedy, terror, drama, characterization, and spectacle. Playful Frames is an invaluable addition to our understanding of widescreen aesthetics, expanding beyond viewer immersion to questions of reflexivity, genre, and intermediality." — Lisa Bode, author of Making Believe: Screen Performance and Special Effects in Popular CinemaTable of ContentsIntroduction: A Scope Quartet 1 Jean Negulesco (1900-1993): CinemaScope Connoisseur 2 Blake Edwards (1922-2010): Panavision Pyrotechnics 3 Robert Altman (1925-2006): Diffusive Widescreen 4 John Carpenter (1948–): Anamorphic Haunting Acknowledgments Works Cited Index

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Book SynopsisThis unique book presents the story of the pioneering manufacturing company Ferranti Ltd. – producer of the first commercially-available computers – and of the nine end-user organisations who purchased these machines with government help in the period 1951 to 1957. The text presents personal reminiscences from many of the diverse engineers, programmers and marketing staff who contributed to this important episode in the emergence of modern computers, further illustrated by numerous historical photographs. Considerable technical details are also supplied in the appendices.Topics and features: provides the historical background to the Ferranti Mark I, including the contributions of von Neumann and Turing, and the prototype known as The Baby; describes the transfer of technologies from academia to industry and the establishment of Ferranti’s computer production resources; reviews Ferranti’s efforts to adapt their computers for sale to business and commercial markets, and to introduce competitive new products; covers the use of early Ferranti computers for defence applications in different government establishments in the UK, including GCHQ Cheltenham; discusses the installation and applications of Ferranti computers at universities in the UK, Canada, and Italy; presents the story of the purchase of a Ferranti Mark I* machine by the Amsterdam Laboratories of the Shell company; details the use of Ferranti Mark I* computers in the UK’s aerospace industry and compares this with the American scene; relates the saga of Ferranti’s journey from its initial success as the first and largest British computer manufacturer to its decline and eventual bankruptcy.This highly readable text/reference will greatly appeal to professionals interested in the practical development of early computers, as well as to specialists in computer history seeking technical material not readily available elsewhere. The educated general reader will also find much to enjoy in the photographs and personal anecdotes that provide an accessible insight into the early days of computing.Table of ContentsThe Small Seeds of Innovation Academic/Industrial Collaboration: from Chorlton-on-Medlock to Moston, and Back Canada Calling: Toronto Gets a Mark I A Star is Born: Ideas and Upgrades Into the Market The AVRO Mark I* Installation at Chadderton The Mark I* at Armstrong Siddeley, Ansty, Coventry The Ferranti Mark I* Installation in Amsterdam The Ferranti Mark I* Installation in Rome GCHQ Cheltenham’s Mark I* The Mark I* at the Armaments Research Development Establishment, Fort Halstead The Mark I* at the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, Aldermaston What Came Next? Appendix A: Baby’s Conception: the Back Story Appendix B: Mark I and Mark I* Software Details Appendix C: Mark I and Mark I* Hardware Details Appendix D: Naming Names Appendix E: Performance, Cost and Delivery Details of Other Computers

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Book SynopsisThis book illuminates what engineering is and how it relates to other disciplines such as art, architecture, law, economics, science, technology, and even religion. The author explains, from an intrinsic as well as descriptive perspective, why engineering is essential for our collective well-being, and how, like medicine, it is undertaken by people, and for people, to improve the human condition. He brings out the 'magic' of engineering practice as well as addressing the darker aspects such as warfare and the misuse of the internet. A too commonly held view assumes that the practice of engineers is a cold, purely quantitative and wholly technical enterprise of applying know science, and devoid of creativity or aestheticism. In 2013 the United States National Academy of Engineering launched a campaign called “Changing the Conversation, Messages for Improving Public Understanding of Engineering” with four messages to impart about engineers: that they make a world of difference; are creative problem solvers; that they help shape the future, and are essential to health, happiness, and safety. In this volume, Professor Blockley incorporate these messages into an engaging exposition of engineering accomplishment in all of its evolving diversity, from the technician to the academic research engineer, illustrating the continuum of thinking and purpose from the fixer of the gas boiler to the designers of the A380 and the iPhone. Table of ContentsMaking.- Dwelling.- Moving.- Communicating .- Fighting.- Wellbeing.- Flourishing.

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Book SynopsisThis book provides a breadth of innovative and impactful research in the field of telecommunications led by women investigators. Topics covered include satellite communications, cognitive radars, remote sensing sensor networks, quantum Internet, and cyberspace. These topics touch on many of the challenges facing the world today and these solutions by women researchers are valuable for their technical excellence and their non-traditional perspective. As an important part of the Women in Engineering and Science book series, the work highlights the contribution of women leaders in telecommunications, inspiring women and men, girls and boys to enter and apply themselves to secure our future in.Table of ContentsIntroduction.- Telecommunications Pioneers.- Women Engineers at Work in Twenty-first Century Telecommunications.- TLC transversal and strategic role.- Recent Advances in Bayesian Inference for Complex Systems.- Task based quantization.- Satellite communications towards a sustainable 3D wireless network.- Cognitive Radars.- Passive radar: a challenge where resourcefulness is the key to success.- Remote Sensing through Satellites and Sensor Networks.- Access, Inclusion and Accommodation.- Design Considerations for Private Land Mobile Radio Systems.- Quantum Internet.- Cyberspace: a new area of women's power.- On the security of wireless communication protocols used in mobile health systems.- Emerging Technologies in Wireless Communications.- Space Sustainability: towards the Future of Connectivity.- Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisSince the discovery of electromagnetic waves less than 150 years ago, the application of wireless communications technology has not only revolutionized our daily lives, but also fundamentally changed the course of world history.A Brief History of Everything Wireless charts the fascinating story of wireless communications. The book leads the reader on an intriguing journey of personal triumphs and stinging defeats, relating the prominent events, individuals and companies involved in each progressive leap in technology, with a particular focus on the phenomenal impact of each new invention on society. Beginning at the early days of spark-gap transmitters, this tale touches on the emergence of radio and television broadcasting, as well as radio navigation and radar, before moving on to the rise of satellite, near-field and light-based communications. Finally, the development of wireless home networks and the explosive growth of modern cellular technologies are revealed, complete with a captivating account of their corresponding company histories and behind-the-scenes battles over standards.For those wishing to peek behind the magic curtain of friendly user interfaces and clever engineering, and delve further into various processes underlying the ubiquitous technology we depend upon yet take for granted, the book also contains special “TechTalk” chapters that explain the theoretical basics in an intuitive way.Table of ContentsTsushima Strait"It's Of No Use Whatsoever"Radio at WarThe Golden Age of WirelessMesmerized by the Moving ImageHighways in the SkyTraffic Jam Over the EquatorThe Hockey Stick YearsThe American WayInternet in Your PocketHome Sweet Home"Please Identify Yourself"Let There Be LightEpilogueTechTalk: Sparks and WavesTechTalk: Size MattersTechTalk: There Is No Free LunchTechTalk: Making a MeshTechTalk: The Holy Grail

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Book SynopsisIn der zweiten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts bearbeiteten westliche Gesellschaften Digitales in vielfältigen Gestaltungsräumen und verlagerten das digitale Zeitalter immer wieder in neue Zukünfte. Der Sammelband verfolgt technik-, sozial- und kulturhistorische Fragestellungen zur Transformation des Digitalen. Die Beiträge analysieren die mannigfaltigen Anpassungs- und Synchronisierungsprozesse zwischen digitalen Medienumbrüchen und sozialstruktureller Veränderung. Wandel wird durch Technik – mal mit ihr, mal gegen sie – gestaltet. Table of ContentsEinführung.- Die Herstellung der «Digitalen Gesellschaft». Technikerfahrung im Horizont einer kommenden Gesellschaft.- Das Problem der Generationen in der Computergeschichte. - Digitalgeschichte als Gesellschaftsgeschichte: Perspektiven einer Regionalgeschichte der digitalen Transformation.- Elektronischer Kolonialismus. Perspektiven einer Nord-Süd-Geschichte des digitalen Zeitalters.- Interaktives Fernsehen und Computer-Demokratie. Mediale Gesellschaftsentwürfe und Politikvermittlungen um 1970.- Ein gespaltenes Netz? – Das Usenet der 1980er-Jahre zwischen Regulierung und Anarchie.- Von der Erlebnisgastronomie zur Spielhalle. Streifzüge durch ein kurzes Jahrzehnt von Internetcafés in Deutschland.- Der Aufstieg von arXiv: Netzwerkeffekte und wissenschaftliche Kommunikation.

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Book SynopsisDas Erdöl ist der Lebenssaft der industriellen Gesellschaften und zugleich der am meisten politisierte Rohstoff. Europa hat sich in der Vergangenheit in eine gefährliche Abhängigkeit von Ölimporten manövriert. Die vorliegende Studie geht der Frage nach, wie es seit dem frühen 19. Jahrhundert zu Europas Ölsucht gekommen ist und wie sich die Interdependenzbeziehungen zwischen den erdölexportierenden Staaten und den europäischen Einfuhrländern im Zeitverlauf verändert haben. Die Entwicklung der internationalen Ölindustrie und des europäischen Erdölverbrauchs wird dabei in einer historischen Längsschnittanalyse als pfadabhängiger Prozess nachgezeichnet und anhand eines polit-ökonomischen Untersuchungsmodells durchleuchtet. Mit dem Verlust der Kontrollmacht durch die OPEC hat die „Ölwaffe“ als wirkungsvolles außenpolitisches Instrument ausgedient. Europas Versorgungssicherheit mit Erdöl hat in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten deutlich zugenommen.Table of Contents1 Einleitung.- 2 Der theoretische Untersuchungsrahmen.- 3 Die Genese der globalen Erdölwirtschaft von den Anfängen bis 1945.- 4 Der Aufstieg des Erdöls zum zentralen Energieträger im Nachkriegseuropa.- 5 Öl als politisches Instrument: Von der Emanzipation zur Konfrontation der Exportländer.- 6 Die Entwicklung des Erdölmarktes und der Interdependenzbeziehungen von 1990 bis heute.- 7 Resümee.

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Book SynopsisHow did imported technology contribute to the development of the colony of Singapore? Who were the main agents of change in this process? Was there extensive transfer and diffusion of Western science and technology into the port-city? How did the people respond to change? Examining areas such as shipping, port development, telegraphs and wireless, urban water supply and sewage disposal, economic botany, electrification, food production and retailing, science and technical education, and health, this book documents the role of technology and, to a smaller extent, science, in the transformation of colonial Singapore before 1940. In doing so, this book hopes to provide a new dimension to the historiography of Singapore from a ""science, technology and society"" perspective.

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Book SynopsisThe book takes time as the axis, selecting 98 bridges (or bridge groups) across the country and 7 representative bridges out of the country, reflecting the steps and development of China's bridge construction in related majors and engineering technicians in colleges and universities. This book aims to let the general public understand the arduous history of China's bridge construction and the rapid development of China's bridge construction without the country's economic development, strength, and hard work of the bridge people. It is also hoped that the public will enjoy the convenience of bridges, highways, railroads, and urban roads and at the same time enhance their awareness of bridge knowledge, knowledge, love, and scientific use of bridges. This book is used by the general public to understand the development of China's bridge construction, but also as a reference book for teachers and students of bridge engineering-related majors and engineering technicians in colleges and universities.Table of ContentsChapter 1 The Origin and Development of Bridges.- Chapter 2 Using Foreign Experience for Reference and Laying a Foundation for Further Bridge Development.- Chapter 3 Taking Full Advantage of Local Materials and Innovating in Bridge Technology.- Chapter 4 Learning Advanced Technology and Starting Rising.- Chapter 5 Rapid Development and Becoming a World Power in the Number of Bridges. Chapter 6 Making Technological Breakthrough and Becoming a World Power in Bridge Technology.- Chapter 7 Entering Foreign Lands and Becoming Established on the World Stage.- Chapter 8 Looking Back at the Past whilst Looking Forward to the Future.

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisA visual history of the electronic age captures the collision of technology and art—and our collective visions of the future.Trade Review"Fascinating…. [A] fantastically geeky visual tour of tech industry history as seen through the lens of the commercial art that helped popularize it." -- Meg Miller - Fast Company"Attentive readers of Prelinger’s lively chronology will come away with an appreciation of how the visual representations of technology are integral to our understanding of it." -- Chris Rasmussen - Bookforum"Unusual and insightful…. Filled with retro tech-industry ads, magazine covers and other commercial artworks, this erudite book takes readers on a cultural history tour that sharply reveals ‘art’s ability to touch the intangible and render it visible.’" -- John Wilwol - San Francisco Chronicle"[An] unusual and compelling study." -- Nature"An essential and eye-popping visual history of electronics, a glimpse of the electronic infrastructure captured in the brief moment before it miniaturized down to a scale too small for the eye to see, disappearing from our ordinary view forever, even as it burrowed into our buildings, streets, vehicles and even our bodies." -- Cory Doctorow coeditor of Boing Boing and author of In Real Life and Information Doesn’t Want to Be Free"A highly original cultural history of 20th-century technology examined through the lens of commercial art…. Sophisticated in its grasp of science and technological history but also accessible to general readers." -- Kirkus Reviews"A tour de force of the computer and electronic age that takes readers on a fascinating voyage that spans everything from graphic renderings of theoretical space gondolas to depictions of transistors as the route to utopia. Like Trevor Paglen’s exploration of the visual aspects of secrecy, Megan Prelinger’s Inside the Machine provides readers with a unique window into the history of electronics and computer science during the Cold War, and beyond. Merging science with art, Prelinger challenges our linear notions of scientific progress, helping us see a new dimension to our modern technological world." -- Sharon Weinberger, author of Imaginary Weapons: A Journey Through the Pentagon’s Scientific Underworld"Because electrons are mostly invisible, our visualizations of them tell us more about our dreams than about electrons. This cool and unusual book gathers our earliest collective dreams about circuits and electronics and makes them visible. It got me thinking about our assumptions for tomorrow. I love it when a book like this makes me see the world differently." -- Kevin Kelly, senior maverick for Wired magazine and author of What Technology Wants

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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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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