Inventions and inventors Books

Book SynopsisThe Book: The Ultimate Guide to Rebuilding Civilization is a hand-illustrated exploration of how to restart society from scratch. With stunning artwork and thought-provoking concepts, it's a captivating guide to rebuilding the world and a celebration of human ingenuity.

Read more less

Book SynopsisNOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURED DIRECTED BY AND STARRING CHIWETEL EJIOFOR AVAILABLE ON NETFLIXWhen William Kamkwamba was just 14 years old, his family told him that he must leave school and come home to work on the farm they could no longer afford his fees. This is his story of how he found a way to make a difference, how he bought light to his family and village, and hope to his nation.Malawi is a country battling AIDS, drought and famine, and in 2002, a season of floods, followed by the most severe famine in fifty years, brought it to its knees. Like the majority of the population, William''s family were farmers. They were totally reliant on the maize crop. By the end of 2001, after many lean and difficult years, there was no more crop. They were running out of food had nothing to sell and had months until they would be able to harvest their crop again.Forced to leave school at 14 years old, with no hope of raising the funds to go again, William resorted to borrowing books from the sTrade Review‘THE BOY WHO HARNESSED THE WIND is the inspiring story of a young man in Africa who used the only resources available to him to build a windmill and elevate the lives and spirits of those in his community. William Kamkwamba's achievements with wind energy should serve as a model of what one person, with an inspired idea, can do to tackle the crisis we face. His book tells a moving and exciting story.’Al Gore, former Vice President and Nobel Laureate ‘A moving, touching, important story. One more reminder of…how powerful the human spirit can be.’Seth Godin, author ‘One of the best books I have ever read.’Mark Frauenfelder, boingboing.net “William is one of the bright young stars of the future and serves as an inspiration for other young people who want to know what they can do to help.” Bishop Desmond Tutu

Read more less

Book Synopsis***THE INSPIRATION FOR CHRISTOPHER NOLAN'S NEW FILM OPPENHEIMER***THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERWINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR NONFICTION'Reads like a thriller, gripping and terrifying' Sunday TimesPhysicist and polymath, as familiar with Hindu scriptures as he was with quantum mechanics, J. Robert Oppenheimer - director of the Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb - was the most famous scientist of his generation. In their meticulous and riveting biography, Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin reveal a brilliant, ambitious, complex and flawed man, profoundly involved with some of the momentous events of the twentieth century.Trade ReviewA riveting account of one of history's most essential and paradoxical figures. -- Christopher NolanReads like a thriller, gripping and terrifying by turns... No more absorbing biography will, I predict, come out this year, nor, given the dangers we face, a more important one. -- John Carey * Sunday Times *I hate to say it, but, if you zip through all six hundred pages of the book before seeing the film, you'll enjoy the ride more. -- Anthony Lane * New Yorker *Fascinating... Enthralling... All previous works on the topic are, in the nicest possible sense, blown out of the sky by a book which is, in both the proper and metaphorical meanings, monumental. -- Mark Lawson * Esquire *No previous biography has... matched the power, range and lucidity of Martin Sherwin and Kai Bird's Life... Its combination of meticulous scholarship and felicitous prose grasps the drama of Oppenheimer's life in all its riveting complexity. * Sunday Telegraph *A giant among biographies, a life story that at times reads like a thriller but which is also deeply authoritative and persuasively informative.... Magisterial. * Observer *This is a magisterial biography: a masterpiece that has taken decades to put together. -- Kathryn Hughes * Mail on Sunday *A tremendous work of scholarship. * Financial Times *Dazzling... Rich in incident and enigma... It wears its scholarship lightly and whisks the reader through the story at thriller-like pace. * New Statesman *Magisterial... There have been many books on Oppenheimer... but American Prometheus is the first to attempt to explore more than a single facet... It is a portrait of the man, the times, the science, and the politics... It is a vaulting ambition, and it is amply rewarded. -- Judith Flanders * Spectator *The definitive biography... Oppenheimer's life doesn't influence us. It haunts us. * Newsweek *A work of voluminous scholarship and lucid insight, unifying its multifaceted portrait with a keen grasp of Oppenheimer's essential nature... It succeeds in deeply fathoming his most damaging, self-contradictory behavior. * New York Times *A masterful account of Oppenheimer's rise and fall, set in the context of the turbulent decades of America's own transformation. It is a tour de force. * Los Angeles Times Book Review *There have been numerous books about Oppenheimer but they can't touch this extraordinary book's impressive breadth and scope. * Miami Herald *The first biography to give full due to Oppenheimer's extraordinary complexity... Stands as an Everest among the mountains of books on the bomb project and Oppenheimer, and is an achievement not likely to be surpassed or equaled. * Boston Globe *Table of Contents1: "He Received Every New Idea as Perfectly Beautiful" 2: "His Separate Prison" 3: "I Am Having a Pretty Bad Time" 4: "I Find Work Hard, Thank God, & Almost Pleasant" 5: "I Am Oppenheimer" 6: "Oppie" 7: "The Nim Nim Boys" 8: "In 1936 My Interests Began to Change" 9: "[Frank] Clipped It Out and Sent it In" 10: "More and More Surely" 11: "I'm Going to Marry a Friend of Yours, Steve" 12: "We Were Pulling the New Deal to the Left" 13: "The Coordinator of Rapid Rupture" 14: "The Chevalier Affair" 15: "He'd Become Very Patriotic" 16: "Too Much Secrecy" 17: "Oppenheimer Is Telling the Truth" 18: "Suicide, Motive Unknown" 19: "Would You Like to Adopt Her?" 20: Bohr Was God, and Oppie Was His Prophet" 21: "The Impact of the Gadget on Civilization" 22: "Now We're All Sons-of-Bitches" 23: "Those Poor Little People" 24: "I Feel I Have Blood on My Hands" 25: "People Could Destroy New York" 26: "Oppie Had a Rash and Is Now Immune" 27: "An Intellectual Hotel" 28: "He Couldn't Understand Why He Did It" 29: "I Am Sure That Is Why She Threw Things at Him" 30: "He Never Let On What His Opinion Was" 31: "Dark Words About Oppie" 32: "Scientist X" 33: "The Beast in the Jungle" 34: "It Looks Pretty Bad, Doesn't It?" 35: "I Fear That This Whole Thing Is a Piece of Idiocy" 36: "A Manifestation of Hysteria" 37: "A Black Mark on the Escutcheon of Our Country" 38: "I Can Still Feel the Warm Blood on My Hands" 39: "It Was Really Like a Never-Never-Land" 40: "It Should Have Been Done the Day After Trinity" Epilogue: "There's Only One Robert"

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe bestselling phenomenon - an enthralling 6,000-year journey through the history of books and readingA FINANCIAL TIMES, ECONOMIST AND MAIL ON SUNDAY BOOK OF THE YEARSHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH ACADEMY BOOK PRIZE 2023'Outstanding, universal and unique' NEW YORK TIMES'A literary phenomenon.' TLS'Masterly.' ECONOMIST'Mindboggling' TELEGRAPHLong before books were mass-produced, scrolls hand copied on reeds pulled from the Nile were the treasures of the ancient world. Emperors and Pharaohs were so determined to possess them that they dispatched emissaries to the edges of the earth to bring them back.In Papyrus, celebrated classicist Irene Vallejo traces the dramatic history of the book and the fight for its survival. This is the story of the book's journey from oral tradition to scrolls to codices, and how that transition laid the very foundation of Western culture. And it is a story full of heroic adventures, bloodshed and megalomania - from the battlefields of Alexander the Great and the palaces of Cleopatra to the libraries of war-torn Sarajevo and Oxford.An international bestseller, Papyrus brings the ancient world to life and celebrates the enduring power of the written word.Trade ReviewA literary phenomenon . . . didactic and daring . . . elegant and richly digressive. * Times Literary Supplement *'Outstanding, universal and unique' * New York Times *[A] bestselling phenomenon... Irene Vallejo recounts the birth of literary culture in the ancient world while interweaving dynamic, thrilling tales that underscore and celebrate the power of words to change the world. * Financial Times, Books of the Year *A mindboggling history of the earliest books... Vallejo is a novelist and she has a storyteller's ability to animate her subjects... and the story she tells is impressively rip-roaring. She draws a six-thousand-year line from the clay tablets of Mesopotamia to the e-reader tablets of today and leaves her readers inspired, invigorated and sincerely grateful for the invention of the book.' * Henry Eliot, Daily Telegraph *Packed with fascinating insights into literacy in the ancient world... Vallejo is a diligent scholar, excelling with her accounts of the human experience of books in the era. * i news *Irene Vallejo, a Spanish journalist and scholar, has a writer's passion for books and a classicist's fascination with the way they came to be. She is also imaginative, lively and contemporary. In her hands written texts are not only a sensual pleasure, but living and frequently disruptive... Ms Vallejo has a notable talent for evoking ancient scenes. Her description, for example, of the poet Martial returning to Spain from Rome, near the end of the book, is masterly. * Economist *This prize-winning Spanish title has a classy jacket and impressive heft, which is only fitting really, since it celebrates the book as an object. More enticingly still, novelist and essayist Vallejo enlivens history with imagination and personal anecdote as she traces the book's lineage from scrolls made of aquatic plant pith to codices and tablets, digressing to show how its development is interwoven with the development of western civilisation. Is Papyrus available as an ebook? Yes, but I'll bet any reader drawn to it is going to want to save up for the hardcover. * Observer *In this generous, sprawling work... Vallejo sets out to provide a panoramic survey of how books shaped not just the ancient world but ours too. While she pays due attention to the physicality of the book... Vallejo is equally interested in what goes on inside its covers. And also, more importantly, what goes on inside a reader when they take up a volume and embark on an imaginative and intellectual dance that might just change their life. As much as a history of books, Papyrus is also a history of reading. * Guardian *An excellent, illuminating celebration... Vallejo's vigorous celebration of book culture excels at illuminating the ancient world through contemporary references - including to Margaret Atwood, Bob Dylan and Taxi Driver - and draws revealing parallels between antiquity and today.' * The Irish Times *[A] masterpiece . . . I am absolutely sure that it will continue to be read when its readers today are already in the afterlife. * Mario Vargas Llosa *

Read more less

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

Read more less

Book Synopsis*SHORTLISTED FOR THE ROYAL SOCIETY SCIENCE BOOK PRIZE 2023**AS HEARD ON RADIO 4 START THE WEEK, OFF AIR WITH FI AND JANE AND 99% INVISIBLE*'Delightful' TIM HARFORD, FINANCIAL TIMES'Appeals to the nerdy side of just about all of us... a great book to give' JANE GARVEY'A splendid book: clearly written, elegantly structured and full of facts you are unlikely to chance on anywhere else' DAILY MAILSmartphones, skyscrapers, spacecraft. Modern technology seems mind-bogglingly complex. But beneath the surface, it can be beautifully simple.In Nuts and Bolts, award-winning Shard engineer and broadcaster Roma Agrawal deconstructs our most complex feats of engineering into seven fundamental inventions: the nail, spring, wheel, lens, magnet, string and pump. Each of these objects is itself a wonder of design, the result of many iterations and refinements. Together, they have enabled humanity to see the invisible, build the spectacular, communicate across vast distances, and even escape our planet.Tracing the surprising journeys of each invention through the millennia, Roma reveals how handmade Roman nails led to modern skyscrapers, how the potter's wheel enabled space exploration, and how humble lenses helped her conceive a child against the odds.She invites us to marvel at these small but perfectly formed inventions, sharing the stories of the remarkable, and often unknown, scientists and engineers who made them possible. The nuts and bolts that make up our world may be tiny, and are often hidden, but they've changed our lives in dramatic ways.'A wonderful book' MARK MIODOWNIK'A masterclass in storytelling' JESS WADE'A riveting love letter to the small, wonderful, and mundane things that make the modern world.' ROMAN MARS

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrom its beginnings in the 1920s until its demise in the 1980s, Bell Labs-officially, the research and development wing of AT&T-was the biggest, and arguably the best, laboratory for new ideas in the world. From the transistor to the laser, from digital communications to cellular telephony, it''s hard to find an aspect of modern life that hasn''t been touched by Bell Labs.In The Idea Factory, Jon Gertner traces the origins of some of the twentieth century''s most important inventions and delivers a riveting and heretofore untold chapter of American history. At its heart this is a story about the life and work of a small group of brilliant and eccentric men-Mervin Kelly, Bill Shockley, Claude Shannon, John Pierce, and Bill Baker-who spent their careers at Bell Labs.Today, when the drive to invent has become a mantra, Bell Labs offers us a way to enrich our understanding of the challenges and solutions to technological innovation. Here, after all, was where the foundational ideas on the management of innovation were born.Trade Review“Filled with colorful characters and inspiring lessons . . . The Idea Factory explores one of the most critical issues of our time: What causes innovation?” —Walter Isaacson, The New York Times Book Review“Riveting . . . Mr. Gertner’s portraits of Kelly and the cadre of talented scientists who worked at Bell Labs are animated by a journalistic ability to make their discoveries and inventions utterly comprehensible—indeed, thrilling—to the lay reader. And they showcase, too, his novelistic sense of character and intuitive understanding of the odd ways in which clashing or compatible personalities can combine to foster intensely creative collaborations.” —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times“One of the best innovation-focused books I've read: It's a wide-ranging, detailed, and deeply fascinating look at the New Jersey lab which has been churning out useful discoveries since the early 1900s.” —The Boston Globe“Fascinating history . . . the research behind The Idea Factory is astonishing.” —Slate Book Review“Compelling . . . Gertner's book offers fascinating evidence for those seeking to understand how a society should best invest its research resources.” —The Wall Street Journal“An expansive new history . . . does an impressive job of illuminating many of Bell Labs’ key technological triumphs.” —Wired.com

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhat will the world of tomorrow be like? How does progress happen? And why don't we have a lunar colony already? In this witty and entertaining book, Kelly and Zach Weinersmith give us a snapshot of the transformative technologies that are coming next - from robot swarms to nuclear fusion powered-toasters - and explain how they will change our world in astonishing ways. By weaving together their own research, interviews with pioneering scientists and Zach's trademark comics, the Weinersmiths investigate why these innovations are needed, how they would work, and what is standing in their way.Trade ReviewAn unabashed nerd-out of a book, zinging from outer space to DNA, hardly pausing for breath ... The gleeful geeking out makes for a great read - I couldn't help chuckling or outright cracking up a number of times - while surreptitiously teaching some really important science. It's a winning combination. The sheer breadth of topics covered is also amazing: Probably no other book in history has seriously described the science behind both tentacle construction robots and the human nasal cycle -- Science * Colin McCormick *Space elevators, gold asteroids, and fusion-powered toasters - who knew science could be so much fun? And who knew fun could be so scientific? Soonish is hilarious, provocative, and shamelessly informative -- Tim Harford, author of 'Messy' and 'The Undercover Economist'Playful, yet deep -- Dr. George Church, Harvard UniversityI love this book so much I 3D printed myself a second heart so I could love it more -- Dr. Phil Plait, astronomer, author, writer of the Bad Astronomy BlogKelly and Zach promised me a crystal ball, but what I got is both more insightful and far more entertaining than staring into a dumb glass orb. Soonish will make you laugh and - without you even realizing it - give you insight into the most ambitious technological feats of our time. You should read this book, sooner than soonish -- Alexis Ohanian, Cofounder of RedditBasically, I think this book is a masterpiece, and something I wish I'd written myself -- Scott Aaronson, David J. Bruton Centennial Professor of Computer Science at the University of Texas at Austin and author of 'Quantum Computing Since Democritus'Compelling, accessible, and wryly funny ... Popular-science writing has rarely been so whip-smart, captivating, or hilarious (albeit occasionally terrifying) -- Sarah Hunter * Booklist *A fascinating look at the most provocative and promising research going on today and how it could alter the way we work and live * Publishers Weekly *

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisA prismatic look at the meeting of Marie Curie and Albert Einstein and the impact these two pillars of science had on the world of physics, which was in turmoil. In 1911, some of the greatest minds in science convened at the First Solvay Conference in Physics. Almost half of the attendees had won or would go on to win the Nobel Prize. Over the course of those few days, these minds began to realise that classical physics was about to give way to quantum theory, a seismic shift in our history and how we understand not just our world, but the universe. At the centre of this meeting were Marie Curie and a young Albert Einstein. In the years preceding, Curie had faced the death of her husband. She was on the cusp of being awarded her second Nobel Prize, but scandal erupted all around her when the French press revealed that she was having an affair with a fellow scientist, Paul Langevin. The subject of vicious misogynist and xenophobic attacks in the French press, Curie found herself in a storm that threatened her scientific legacy.Albert Einstein proved a supporter in her travails. He was young and already showing flourishes of his enormous genius. Curie had been responsible for one of the greatest discoveries in modern science. Utilising never before seen correspondence and notes, Jeffrey Orens reveals the human side of these brilliant scientists, one who pushed boundaries and demanded equality in a man’s world, no matter the cost, and the other, who was destined to become synonymous with genius.

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrom Steven Johnson, the bestselling author of Where Good Ideas Come From, comes How We Got to Now, the companion book to his six-part BBC One television series exploring the power and the legacy of great ideas.How did photography bring about social reform? What connects refrigeration to Hollywood? And how did our battle against dirt help create smartphones? In this story of ingenious breakthroughs and unsung heroes, Steven Johnson explores the essential innovations that changed the world and how we live in it.'A new Steven Johnson book is something not to be missed. The author has become the leading writer on how inventions happen' Daniel Finkelstein, The Times, Books of the Year'Graceful and compelling ... you'll find yourself exhilarated' The New York Times Book Review'Readable, entertaining, and a challenge to any jaded sensibility that has become inured to the everyday miracles all around us' Peter Forbes, Guardian'This nimble history of invention . . .is a many-layered delight' Nature

Read more less

Book SynopsisNikola Tesla''s life is as interesting for his idiosyncrasy as it is for his brilliance. The inventor''s mind knew no limits and his incredible sense of possibility rings through his memoir. This authorative volume of My Inventions includes three additional articles by Tesla which were published in The Electrical Experimenter magazine and represent the breadth of his interests: ''Tesla would pour Lightning from Airships to Consume Foe'' (1916), ''The Action of The Eye'' (1893), ''The Problem of Increasing Human Energy'' (1900). Samantha Hunt, author of The Invention of Everything Else, contributes an introduction to Tesla''s works, separating fact from fiction (there are published works out there that attest Tesla was an alien), while maintaining the natural awe of Tesla''s eccentric existence.

Read more less

Book Synopsis''A terrific book - essential reading for everyone seeking to make sense of Artificial Intelligence'' Professor Sir Adrian Smith, Director and Chief Executive of the Alan Turing InstituteIn this myth-busting guide to AI past and present, one of the world''s leading researchers shows why our fears for the future are misplaced.The ultimate dream of AI is to build machines that are like us: conscious and self-aware. While this remains a remote possibility, rapid progress in AI is already transforming our world. Yet the public debate is still largely centred on unlikely prospects, from sentient machines to dystopian robot takeovers.In this lively and clear-headed guide, Michael Wooldridge challenges the prevailing narrative, revealing how the hype distracts us from both the more immediate risks that this technology poses - from algorithmic bias to fake news - and the true life-changing potential of the field. The Road to Conscious Machines elucidates the discoveries of AI''s greatest pioneers from Alan Turing to Demis Hassabis, and what today''s researchers actually think and do.''Nobody understands the past, the present, the promise and the peril of this new technology better than Michael Wooldridge. The definitive account'' Matt Ridley, author of The Rational Optimist''Effortlessly readable. The perfect guide to the history and future of AI'' Tom Chivers, author of The AI Does Not Hate YouTrade ReviewA terrific book - essential reading for everyone seeking to make sense of Artificial Intelligence. Wooldridge provides a clear-sighted and entertaining account of both the technical development of AI and the social and ethical issues arising from its increasing deployment. -- Professor Sir Adrian Smith, Director and Chief Executive of The Alan Turing InstituteTakes us expertly by the hand through the labyrinth of Artificial Intelligence. A penetrating and lucid contribution to our digital understanding, which dispels many of the myths surrounding AI. Authoritative but accessible and highly readable. * Lord Clement-Jones CBE, Chair of the House of Lords Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence 2017–2018 *Calm, informative and refreshingly free of hype, Wooldridge's effortlessly readable book is the perfect guide to the history and future of AI. -- Tom Chivers, science writer and author of 'The AI Does Not Hate You'In the long and often frustrating quest for artificial intelligence, something spectacular has happened in the past decade. Nobody understands the past, the present, the promise and the peril of this new technology better than Michael Wooldridge. He has written the definitive account of the new AI. -- Lord Matt Ridley, author of 'The Rational Optimist' and 'The Evolution of Everything'The buzz around AI has unearthed many questions and in The Road to Conscious Machines you get answers. -- Tabitha Goldstaub, co-founder of CognitionX and Chair of the UK Government's AI CouncilIn an age when AI is promoted as either the greatest threat or best hope for humanity, Wooldridge gives us a text that is accessible and authoritative. A balanced and informed view of the decades-long history of AI, its methods and techniques, achievements and shortfalls. -- Professor Sir Nigel Shadbolt, Professorial Research Fellow in Computer Science and Principal of Jesus College, OxfordIn this diligent and reassuring explanation of the immense difficulty of recreating intelligence in a machine, Michael Wooldridge succeeds not only in writing an engaging history of AI, but in telling us about the fabulously complicated structures on which our own consciousness rests -- Will Dunn * New Statesman *

Read more less

Book Synopsis"[In the laboratory] they thought I was the new janitor." - Clarice Phelps, Nuclear Chemist. "Why do I get a tenth of the funding that men that have projects at large corporations do?" - Mary Lou Jepsen, inventor. "I asked 'why isn't there a girl character for me to choose from?'. At first, they laughed. Then, they got annoyed at me and started having design meetings and not tell me where they were." - Sheri Graner Ray, videogame designer. 50 Women in Technology is a full-colour book celebrating female pioneers and trailblazers in STEM. It features 25 extraordinary women scientists from Ada Lovelace to Emmanuelle Charpentier, as well as 25 exclusive interviews with incredible women who are leading the way in the fast-paced world of technology today including 2023 Nobel prize winner Katalin Kariko. Includes: Amalia Ballarino (Nuclear Engineer), Ana Oliveira (Crop Genetics), Anais Engelmann and Megan Hale (Design Engineering), Anda Waluyo Sapardan (Medical Tech/Healthcare), Anna Lukasson-Herzig (Computing/AI), Brenda Romero (Video Games), Clarice Phelps (Nuclear Chemist), Claudia Brind -Woody (IT), Coty Craven (videogames/IT), Emily Holmes (Neuroscientist), Gretchen Andrew (NFT Artist), Ida Tin (FemTech), Katalin Kariko (Biochemistry), Kasia Gora (Food Tech), Maria Carolina Fujihara (Environmental Tech), Marita Cheng (Robotics), Mary Agbesanwa (FinTech), Mary Lou Jepsen (Imaging/Healthcare), Morenike Fajemisin (FemTech), Odunayo Eweniyi (Financial Tech), Rumman Chowdhury (Internet Algorithms/Data Science), Sheri Graner Ray (Videogames), Stephanie Willerth, (Bioengineering), Tan Le (Medical Tech) and Yewande Akinola (Sustainability).Trade Review"There are phenomenal women all over the technology landscape but we need to tell their stories to inspire more and to show what's possible. Unfortunately the industry, while growing in importance has shrinking numbers of women. This is a must read." - Martha Lane Fox, businesswoman, philanthropist and co-founder of "Last Minute"; "Women have played a fundamental part in the creation and success of the technology industry. We should all have grown up hearing their names, but unfortunately too often their contributions have not been championed. This book highlights the incredible contributions of 50 inspiring women tech pioneers, don't miss the opportunity to find out all about them." - Sue Black, Award winning computer scientist and digital skills expert; "50 Women In Technology is the story of women who have faced, or are facing, insurmountable odds but have overcome challenges to succeed beyond expectations. The book challenges the readers’ own knowledge of women in the tech sector as compared to their knowledge of males and brings awareness to the bias that mainstream media has in covering news stories of males in tech, as opposed to females. Most importantly, 50 Women In Technology does exactly as the name suggests, it highlights the incredible accomplishments of women in the traditionally male dominated technology industry. The stories are inspirational and for this reason should be a must read, not only for young girls and women, but for young boys and men as well. The stories of these women should be told at school, in the workplace, in the media and in the home. While reading to a young boy or girl about a sports hero may be a popular choice at bedtime, an inspiration excerpt from 50 Women In Technology may have longer, more positive consequences for their overall development."Table of ContentsEditor bio Foreword Introduction 25 profiles of pioneers 25 interviews with contemporary women in technology Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrom an engineer and futurist, an impassioned account of technological stagnation since the 1970s and an imaginative blueprint for a richer, more abundant future. The science fiction of the 1960s promised us a future remade by technological innovation. We’d vacation in geodesic domes on Mars, have meaningful conversations with computers, and drop our children off at school in flying cars. Fast-forward 60 years, and we’re still stuck in traffic in gas-guzzling sedans and boarding the same types of planes we flew in over half a century ago. What happened to the future we were promised? In Where Is My Flying Car?, J. Storrs Hall sets out to answer this deceptively simple question. What starts as an examination of the technical limitations of building flying cars evolves into an investigation of the scientific, technological, and social roots of the economic stagnation that started in the 1970s. From the failure to adopt nuclear energy and the suppression of cold fusion technology to the rise of a counterculture hostile to progress, Hall recounts how our collective ambitions for the future were derailed, with devastating consequences for global wealth creation and distribution. He then outlines a framework for a future powered by exponential progress—one in which we build as much in the world of atoms as we do in the world of bits, one rich in abundance and wonder. Drawing on years of original research and personal engineering experience, Where Is My Flying Car?, originally published in 2018, is an urgent, timely analysis of technological progress over the last 50 years and a bold vision for a better future.Trade Review“One of the best and most interesting books on technology.” —Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution “There are many writers with optimistic visions of the future. However, the goals I most often hear are all the negation of negatives: cure cancer, eliminate poverty, stop climate change. . . . This is good, but it is not enough. [These techno-optimists] are content with bringing the whole world up to the current best standard of living, but not increasing it. In this context, I found Where Is My Flying Car? refreshing. Hall unabashedly calls for unlimited progress in every dimension.” —Jason Crawford, Roots of Progress "Whether there is 'tech stagnation' or a revolution about to swarm the skies, Where Is My Flying Car? offers piercing questions and answers about what it might take to make the dream come true." —David Brin, astrophysicist and author of Existence and The Postman "This book is an inspirational roadmap to an amazing future that can be ours if we will only reach for it. Hall’s bold new perspective on technological progress is a must-read for anyone who claims to be a futurist." —Robert Freitas, nanotechnology scientist and author of Nanomedicine "America's 'golden quarter century' of technological and economic progress ended 50 years ago. Instead of flying cars, we got Facebook. J. Storrs Hall brilliantly explains the reasons for this Great Stagnation, and what to do to bring about another golden era of growth and prosperity." —Glenn Harlan Reynolds, Beauchamp Brogan Distinguished Professor of Law, University of TennesseeTable of ContentsPart I—Profiles of the PastChapter 1: The World of TomorrowChapter 2: The Graveyard of DreamsChapter 3: The Conquest of the AirChapter 4: Waldo and Magic, Inc.Chapter 5: Cold Fusion?Chapter 6: The Machiavelli EffectChapter 7: The Age of AquariusChapter 8: Forbidden FruitPart II—Profiles of the PresentChapter 9: Ceiling and Visibility UnlimitedChapter 10: Dialogue Concerning the Two Great Systems of the WorldChapter 11: The Atomic AgeChapter 12: When Worlds CollideChapter 13: When the Sleeper WakesPart III—Profiles of the FutureChapter 14: The Dawn of RobotsChapter 15: The Second Atomic AgeChapter 16: Tom Swift and His Flying CarChapter 17: Escape VelocityChapter 18: MetropolisChapter 19: Engineers’ DreamsChapter 20: Rocket to the RenaissanceAppendix A: Energy Intensity of Predicted TechnologiesAppendix B: Selected ReadingsAppendix C: Epigraph SourcesAppendix D: EndnotesAppendix E: Index

Read more less

Book Synopsis''More than just a memoir. A manifesto for a whole way of thinking'' Daily Mail''An idiosyncratic and gripping memoir about his life and the indomitable career of the Cube'' Observer''The rise and enduring power of the world''s most popular puzzle toy . . . Cubed is less a memoir than a chronicle of Rubik''s evolving relationship with his creation'' Financial Times***As a child, Erno Rubik became obsessed with puzzles of all kinds. To him, they weren''t just games - they were challenges that captured his imagination, creativity and perseverance. Rubik''s own puzzle went on to be solved by millions worldwide, becoming one of the bestselling toys of all time. In Cubed, he tells us the story of the unexpected and unprecedented rise of the Cube for the very first time - and makes a case for why rediscovering our playfulness and inner curiosity holds the key to creative thinking.Trade ReviewThe inventor of the Rubik's Cube on what life and his beloved puzzle have taught him . . . An idiosyncratic and gripping memoir about his life and the indomitable career of the Cube * Observer *Rubik's book is more than just a memoir. It's a manifesto for a whole way of thinking, for the need to retain your childhood playfulness into adulthood if you wish to create anything of worth * Daily Mail *The rise and enduring power of the world's most popular puzzle toy . . . CUBED is less a memoir than a chronicle of Rubik's evolving relationship with his creation * Financial Times *As a school maths teacher and a puzzle writer, I encourage all curious people to open their minds to the words on these pages. This is in part a manifesto for anyone wishing to become a creator. Unleash your creativity with Mr Rubik as your guide -- Bobby SeagullWhile the book tells the story of how Rubik, a Hungarian architect and professor of design, invented the Cube as a way to demonstrate a geometric problem, it also is laced with his thoughts about curiosity, change and the meaning of life * Forbes *A rewarding, idiosyncratic autobiography * Nature *In CUBED, the Hungarian inventor and architect goes into detail explaining how a bold thirst for knowledge has animated his life. He tells the story of how he invented the toy which bears his name, and how his childhood helped turn him into the man he is today. Going one step beyond this, Rubik uses his cube as an allegory for the nature of knowledge itself * Salon *

Read more less

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

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review“Based solely on its originality, wealth of detail, and subject matter, Crossing the Boundaries of Life deserves to be on the must-read list of every historian of the twentieth-century life sciences.” * Journal of the History of Biology *"Based on personal contact and archival research, including an epilogue addressing contending epistemic debates (cellular context vs. molecular processes), this book provides an excellent account of how paradigm shifts actually occur in science. The text is readable for a general audience and provides a host of primary resources. . . . Highly recommended." * Choice *“Those who are willing to be guided through the rough and tumble of a long experimental research trajectory and its details will be richly rewarded in the end. To the reviewer's knowledge, this book is the first to provide a comprehensive overview of what it means to do cell biology at the molecular level, and to trace historically how it came to be done.” -- Hans-Jörg Rheinberger * Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (translated from German) *"This complexity of the cell, and equally—if not more so—the complexity of the history of the scientific study of the cell, is something that struck me most forcibly as I wended my way through the pages of Karl Matlin’s Crossing the Boundaries of Life. . . . there is a rich vein of information as well as ideas for entire historical projects to be mined in this book." * Metascience *"Matlin charts new terrain in the history of the life sciences. His book is original, relevant, and provides a wealth of new stories and conceptual problems for the history and philosophy of cell and molecular biology. This exciting piece of scholarship covers a crucial episode of these sciences which merits scholarly attention. Matlin moves the field a step forward." -- Mathias Grote, author of Membranes to Molecular MachinesTable of ContentsPreface Prologue. A Very Small Difference . . . Part I. The Cytologist’s Dilemma 1. The Living Substance 2. The Membrane Boundary 3. Breakthroughs Part II. From Cells to Molecules 4. The Endoplasmic Reticulum 5. The Signal Hypothesis 6. The Strange Case of the Signal Recognition Particle 7. Enemies, Real and Imagined 8. The Light at the End of the Tunnel Part III. Form Redux 9. Topogenesis and Spatial Information 10. In Vitro Veritas? 11. Form, Context, and the Epistemic Strategy of Cell Biology Epilogue. 1975 and All That A Note on Sources References

Read more less

Book SynopsisJames May's idiosyncratic look at the great inventions of our timeTrade Review'James May is the best thing ever to come out of Top Gear' * Radio Times *'Smart, sharply written' * Guardian *'The most loveable of the Top Gear presenting trio . . . there's a sharp and interesting mind under the corduroy. Fascinating.' * Nottingham Evening Post *

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrom as early as the beginning of the nineteenth century, Britain was at the forefront of powered flight. Across the country many places became centres of innovation and experimentation, as increasing numbers of daring men took to the skies. It was in 1799, at Brompton Hall, that Sir George Cayley Bart put forward ideas which formed the basis of powered flight. Cayley is widely regarded as the father of aviation and his ancestral home the cradle' of British aviation. There were balloon flights at Hendon from 1862, although attempts at powered flights from the area later used as the famous airfield, do not seem to have been particularly successful. Despite this, Louis Bleriot established a flying school there in 1910. It was gliders that Percy Pilcher flew from the grounds of Stamford Hall, Leicestershire during the 1890s. He was killed in a crash there in 1899, but Pilcher had plans for a powered aircraft which experts believe may well have enabled him to beat the Wright Brothers in becoming the first to make a fixed-wing powered flight. At Brooklands attempts were made to build and fly a powered aircraft in 1906 even before the banked racetrack was completed but these were unsuccessful. But on 8 June 1908, A.V. Roe made what is considered to be the first powered flight in Britain from there - in reality a short hop - in a machine of his own design and construction, enabling Brooklands to claim to be the birthplace of British aviation. These are just a few of the many places investigated by Bruce Hales-Dutton in this intriguing look at the early days of British aviation, which includes the first ever aircraft factory in Britain in the railway arches at Battersea; Larkhill on Salisbury Plain which became the British Army's first airfield, and Barking Creek where Frederick Handley Page established his first factory.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWho Made That? uncovers the fascinating true stories behind the inventions and items that the world would be unimaginable without! From the computer to the coat hanger, the world is simply unimaginable without certain items. Stop taking all that you enjoy for granted, step behind the curtain of boring, everyday existence, and discover a vibrant realm filled with genius and illumination. Who Made That? brings together history's very best tales of innovation, providing endless inspiration to those who seek to launch their own revolution. With breathtaking storytelling and humorous, thought-provoking illustrations, Who Made That? brings you right inside the minds of humanity's brightest lights, helping you make your own way in the world.

Read more less

Book SynopsisHave you ever wondered how we have so many amazing inventions? Many inventions just started out as an idea. This series explores some of the most important inventions throughout history and takes a look at the brilliant people whose big ideas gave us lots of the things that we take for granted today.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn the last few decades, steampunk has blossomed from being a rather obscure and little-known subgenre of science fiction into a striking and distinctive style of fashion, art, design and even music. It is in the written word however that steampunk has its roots and in this book Simon Webb explores and examines the real inventions which underpin the fantasy. In doing so, he reveals a world unknown to most people today. The Real World of Victorian Steampunk shows the Victorian era to have been a surprising place; one of steam-powered aeroplanes, fax machines linking Moscow and St Petersburg, steam cars travelling at over 100 mph, electric taxis and wireless telephones. It is, in short, the nineteenth century as you have never before seen it; a steampunk extravaganza of anachronistic technology and unfamiliar gadgets. Imagine Europe spanned by a mechanical internet; a telecommunication system of clattering semaphore towers capable of transmitting information across the continent in a matter of minutes. Consider too, the fact that a steam plane the size of a modern airliner took off in England in 1894. Drawing entirely on contemporary sources, we see how little-known developments in technology have been used as the basis for so many steampunk narratives. From seminal novels such as The Difference Engine, through to the steampunk fantasy of Terry Pratchett's later works, this book shows that steampunk is at least as much solid fact as it is whimsical fiction.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis is a new biography of two great British engineering pioneers, who did much to develop the world we now live in. George and Robert Stephenson, were at the forefront of early railways and were at the cutting edge of modern engineering history. Industrial historian Anthony Burton looks into these two giants of the late Georgian and early Victorian age, who were responsible for the development of much of the early railway map in both Britain and other parts of the world. The work examines the lives of the two men and their ability to overcome some of the most pressing engineering problems of their time. This is a new work, with newly researched material published here for the first time, which take a fresh look at both pioneering engineers and their achievements.

Read more less

Book Synopsis'I wish it was science fiction, but I know it's not.' Jaan Tallinn, co-founder of Skype'If you read just one book that makes you confront scary high-tech realities that we'll soon have no choice but to address, make it this one.' Washington Post Corporations and government agencies around the world have for years been pouring billions into achieving AI's Holy Grail - human-level intelligence. But once AI has attained it, scientists argue, it will have survival drives much like our own. We may be forced to compete with a rival more cunning, more powerful, and more alien than we can imagine.First published ten years ago, Our Final Invention predicted much of the artificial 'intelligence explosion' that is now ripping through our culture, and was named by Elon Musk as one of five books everyone should read about the future. Now with an urgent new preface, James Barrat's landmark work explores the ethics, history and future perils of the heedless pursuit of advanced AI. Until now, human intelligence has had no rival. Can we coexist with beings whose intelligence dwarfs our own? And will they allow us to?Trade ReviewOur Final Invention is a thrilling detective story, and also the best book yet written on the most important problem of the twenty-first century -- Luke Muehlhauser, Executive Director, Machine Intelligence Research InstituteThe compelling story of humanity's most critical challenge. A Silent Spring for the twenty-first century. -- Michael Vassar, former President, Singularity InstituteAn important and disturbing book -- Huw Price, co-founder, Cambridge University Centre for the Study of Existential RiskEnthusiasts dominate observers of progress in artificial intelligence; the minority who disagree are alarmed, articulate and perhaps growing in numbers, and Barrat delivers a thoughtful account of their worries -- Kirkus ReviewsThis book makes an important case that without extraordinary care in our planning, powerful "thinking" machines present at least as many risks as benefits . . . Our Final Invention makes an excellent read for technophiles as well as readers wishing to get a glimpse of the near future as coloured by rapidly improving technological competence -- New York Journal of BooksA dark new book by James Barrat, Our Final Invention lays out a strong case for why we should be at least a little worried -- NewYorker.comYou can skip coffee this week - Our Final Invention will keep you wide-awake -- Singularity HubScience fiction has long explored the implications of humanlike machines (think of Asimov's I, Robot), but Barrat's thoughtful treatment adds a dose of reality -- Science NewsBarrat has talked to all the significant American players in the effort to create recursively self-improving artificial general intelligence in machines. He makes a strong case that AGI with human-level intelligence will be developed in the next couple of decades . . . His thoughtful case about the dangers of ASI gives even the most cheerful technological optimist much to think about. -- ReasonBarrat's book is excellently written and deeply researched. It does a great job of communicating to general readers the danger of mistakes in AI design and implementation. -- Bill Hibbard, author of 'Super-Intelligent Machines'

Read more less

Book SynopsisA prismatic look at the meeting of Marie Curie and Albert Einstein and the impact these two pillars of science had on the world of physics, which was in turmoil. In 1911, some of the greatest minds in science convened at the First Solvay Conference in Physics, a meeting like no other. Almost half of the attendees had won or would go on to win the Nobel Prize. Over the course of those few days, these minds began to realize that classical physics was about to give way to quantum theory, a seismic shift in our history and how we understand not just our world, but the universe. At the center of this meeting were Marie Curie and a young Albert Einstein. In the years preceding, Curie had faced the death of her husband and soul mate, Pierre. She was on the cusp of being awarded her second Nobel Prize, but scandal erupted all around her when the French press revealed that she was having an affair with a fellow scientist, Paul Langevin. The subject of vicious misogynist and xenophobic attacks in the French press, Curie found herself in a storm that threatened her scientific legacy. Albert Einstein proved a supporter in her travails. They had an instant connection at Solvay. He was young and already showing flourishes of his enormous genius. Curie had been responsible for one of the greatest discoveries in modern science (radioactivity) but still faced resistance and scorn. Einstein recognized this grave injustice, and their mutual admiration and respect, borne out of this, their first meeting, would go on to serve them in their paths forward to making history. Curie and Einstein come alive as the complex people they were in the pages of The Soul of Genius. Utilizing never before seen correspondance and notes, Jeffrey Orens reveals the human side of these brilliant scientists, one who pushed boundaries and demanded equality in a man’s world, no matter the cost, and the other, who was destined to become synonymous with genius. Trade Review“Orens’s approach to the lives and works of the attendees, through the story of this conference, is unusual and well-conceived. The Soul of Genius revisits what is certainly one of the most exciting, turbulent periods in the history of science and better acquaints us with people who played significant roles in this drama." * The Washington Post *"Einstein's often-forgotten links to the empirically minded Marie Curie receive highly illuminating scrutiny from a researcher affiliated with the Solvay Institutes, sponsor of the 1911 conference in Brussels that brought these two brilliant minds together. Readers share in the intellectual ferment of this singular conference, and Orens recounts how these two pioneers won each other’s admiration for their complementary roles in forging a twentieth-century physics. The narrative teaches readers a great deal about the scientific research of Einstein and Curie; however, it also probes the tangled romantic lives of both scientists. A compellingportrait of two geniuses, remarkable for their conceptual daring and emotional complexity." * Booklist, STARRED REVIEW *“The Soul of Genius is the engaging story of science at a crossroads, a telling of how the world was transformed from the long-held ideas of Newton to those of Einstein and Curie that define modern physics. Deeply researched and masterfully told, The Soul of Genius is a ground-breaking book that delves deep into the story of how an ‘assembly of genius’ led to how we perceive the physical world today.” -- John Dvorak, author of The Last Volcano and Mask of the Sun“Imagine you could gather the world’s most brilliant minds to debate the fundamental nature of reality – this was the opportunity seized a century ago by the Belgian industrialist Ernest Solvay, wrangling Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, and a mountain of Nobel Prize winners to solve the mysteries of quantum physics. The Soul of Genius takes us through these epochal Solvay Conferences, focusing on the scientific ideas and personal lives of Curie and Einstein. In compelling stories, we see how they changed the world against a backdrop featuring the Mona Lisa, a fair bit of swordplay, and a world war. A marvelous tale of how science actually works.” -- Matthew Stanley, New York University, author of EINSTEIN'S WAR“Jeffery Orens’ insightful work exploits the Age of Information as a marvelous time for deep research, uncovered details, unexpected cross-connections, and scandalous gossip. The Soul of Genius is a new examination of how the Solvay Conferences of Physics, beginning in 1911, brought together people who would turn science upside down and change our view of reality. Two participants, Marie Curie and Albert Einstein, were key influencers in this revolution, and Orens’ analysis of their collision at Solvay is thorough and revealing. Read all about it, and soak yourself in the details.” -- James Mahaffey, author of Atomic Accidents and Atomic Adventures“A dual biography of ‘the two brilliant individuals who have made the greatest impression on people across the world when they think of science’…and the iconic first 1911 Solvay Conference in Brussels. Einstein and Curie met [at this conference] and remained friends. [Einstein’s] groundbreaking discovery at the birth of quantum mechanics…was among the first proven phenomena to contradict Newton’s laws and scientists are still trying to reconcile these quantum effects and classical physics. Fiercely dedicated, ambitious, and workaholic, Curie overcame poverty and the almost universal prejudice against educated women to became the first internationally famous woman scientist. The Soul of Genius is a good read and introduction to two of the 20th century’s greatest geniuses.” * Kirkus Reviews *“Toward the end of his life, when asked which physicist he most respected, Albert Einstein replied ‘Hendrik Lorentz and Marie Curie.’ At the momentous inaugural Solvay conference,Einstein, the meeting’s youngest participant, was dazzled by the ‘sparkling intelligence’ of Curie, and she was impressed with him, too, and soon afterward gave him a glowing reference that helped to secure his first professorship. Vivid. [Upon Curie’s death,] Einstein’s tribute to her life gives some of the most compelling evidence of the closeness of their friendship and the depth of his admiration for her. A rewarding read.” -- Science Magazine“Curie’s first Nobel Prize had been for the physics of radioactivity; her second would be for the chemistry of radium. It coincided with a further crisis that forms a major part of Jeffrey Orens’s The Soul of Genius, [along with] the historic conference that is the central event of Oren’s book. The The First Solvay Conference has gone down as a landmark event, the start of a series that continues to the present day. The story of Curie’s love affair had broken just as the conference was ending. Then, only a few days later, came the announcement that Marie was to be awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry. She was at the eye of a media storm. Curie was due to receive her second Nobel the following month, and the committee was nervous. Curie replied, ‘I consider that there is no relation between my scientific work and the facts of private life.’ On Dec. 10, she went to Stockholm and received her award. By the end of the month she was seriously ill and in a hospital. ‘She had paid a tremendous cost for being a woman of principle,’ Mr. Orens writes. ‘It was a price that would never be fully recovered.’” * Wall Street Journal *

Read more less

Book Synopsis"A fascinating and funny guide to history's favorite genius-and why he still matters." -A.J. Jacobs, New York Times bestselling authorA fascinating look into how Einstein's genius and science continues to show up in so many facets of our everyday lives and his enduring legacy as an unlikely pop culture icon.Albert Einstein was the first modern-day celebrity and, decades after his death, still has the world's most recognizable face. His influence is seen in much of the technology we use every day: GPS, remote controls, weather forecasts, even toothpaste. But it's not just Einstein's scientific discoveries that continue to shape our world. His legacy underpins the search for aliens, the rescue of refugees, the invention of time machines, and the debunking of fake news. He appears in new books, TV shows, and movies all the time-and fans are paying millions for Einstein relics at auction.Award-winning author and journalist Benyamin Cohen has a bizarre side hustle as the manager of Einstein's official social media accounts, which have 20 million followers-more than most living celebrities. In The Einstein Effect, Cohen embarks on a global quest to unearth Einstein's ongoing relevance today. Along the way, he meets scientists and celebrities, speaks to dozens with the last name Einstein (including two rabbis), and even tracks down the brain of Einstein, stolen from his body during the autopsy. Cohen shows us the myriad ways the Nobel Prize winner's influence is still with us, giving an in-depth-and often hilarious-look at the world's favorite genius like you've never seen him before.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Internet once promised to be a place of extraordinary freedom beyond the control of money or politics, but today corporations and platforms exercise more control over our ability to access information and share knowledge to a greater extent than any state. In Silicon Values, leading campaigner Jillian York, looks at how our rights have become increasingly undermined by the major corporations desire to harvest our personal data and turn it into profit. She also looks at how governments have used the same technology to monitor citizens and threatened our ability to communicate. As a result our daily lives, and private thoughts, are being policed in an unprecedented manner. Who decides the difference between political debate and hate speech? How does this impact on our identity, our ability to create communities and to protest? Who regulates the censors? In response to this threat to our democracy, York proposes a user-powered movement against the platforms that demands change and a new form of ownership over our own data.Trade Reviewone of the leading scholars on Internet control and censorship. * Boston Globe *The Internet has never been the utopia of free and equal expression its ideologues would have us believe it is. Jillian York's vivid reportage shows us that the power to determine who gets to use it to speak, and under what circumstances, is now more concentrated - and less accountable - than ever before. -- Adam Greenfield, author of Radical TechnologiesFor years, Jillian York has been at the forefront of defending freedom of expression online. Her new book unpacks how Silicon Valley corporations have gained more control over speech than the most ambitious of governments and how ill-prepared they often are to use that power in ways that are just and fair. Entertaining, deeply informative and often very personal, Jillian's journey into the world of online speech reflects on deep questions about how we should treat one another and who makes rules for societies in our digital world. -- Ethan Zuckerman, Associate Professor, UMass Amherst and co-founder Global VoicesJillian C. York gives us a personal, relevant, and accessible reflection on how our world has become governed by Silicon Valley. She takes us on an enjoyable journey from San Francisco to Tunis to Cairo to Berlin to trace the change from the early belief in maximizing free speech shared by the big tech platforms and we, the people, alike to the increasing policies of surveillance and control exercised by the platforms (and encouraged by most governments) that makes the struggle for free expression a much more demanding battle. Her conclusions offer hope and guidance as to what we need to do, not just for the sake of free speech but for the freedom to shape our very identity and agency." -- Rasha Abdulla, Professor of Mass Communication at The American University in Cairo, and author of The Internet in the Arab World: Egypt and Beyond.An incisive and compelling read that places Silicon Valley'splatforms and policies in a global context. York knows this terrain intimately,and she takes us to the key battlegrounds that have shaped content moderation,internet governance, and the political economies of online expression. -- Kate Crawford, author of Atlas of AI[Silicon Values] casts a wide-enough net over relevant topics and examples to be richly informative, while still managing to be straightforward in its style. York offers a solid entry point for those who have been following ongoing issues relating to the intersection of politics and technology." -- Jesse A. Lambertson * Library Journal *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe progressive development of man is vitally dependent on invention.Visionary, pioneer, and eccentric genius, Nikola Tesla was the quintessential scientist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Two of his creations, the induction motor and the Tesla coil, underpin the technology of the modern world. First published as six articles in the Electrical Experimenter magazine, My Inventions tells the story of Tesla''s life, from his humble beginnings in Croatia to his migration to the United States, and describes his revolutionary feats of invention and pivotal breakthroughs in the world of engineering. This book takes you on an inspirational journey into one of the world''s greatest and most unconventional minds.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Arcturus Classics series brings together high-quality paperback editions of classics works, presented with contemporary graphic cover designs. Together they make a wonderful collection which is perfect for any home library.

Read more less

Book SynopsisOur world can be pretty weird. If you do not believe us, come and see these interesting inventions for yourself!

Read more less

Book SynopsisExplores the achievements of some of Britain's most innovative engineers, traces the links betwen them and how their ideas collectively created 'modern Britain'. It's an engaging and profusely illustrated introduction to the men who made it all happen.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe long-awaited reprint of an important illustrated reference work on the general history of the watch from 1500 to 1980. When Watches was first published in 1965 it quickly gained for itself a reputation as the foremost general history of the subject and, following the expanded edition in 1979 which covered recent years past 1830, this has remained unchallenged in horological history. In this long-awaited reprinted edition, collectors and horological students can again make use of the reference illustrations and history in this work as approached by the leading horology historians and clockmakers of the twentieth century. Clutton and Daniels write expertly on the vast history of watches, through the changing tastes and styles of collectors and makers, as well as imparting their own knowledge on various technical aspects within the watches. The expansive historical section encompasses both decorative and mechanical aspects of mid-sixteenth to late twentieth century watches, including those by George Daniels himself, detailing the rich history behind more modern designs and fascinations. These later years include a variety of semi-experimental escapements, as well as covering the development of the precision watch and work leading to it by Ferdinand Berthoud and Pierre Le Roy, discussed alongside John Arnold in England, to satisfy the technical-minded collector. Horology and collecting have grown with the changing technologies, and watches continue to be produced to an exceptional technological standard. Precision watches from the 1730-1930 period are covered in detail, as well as high standard Swiss and American watches of the last hundred years; these highly complicated watches benefit greatly from having both colour and mono illustrations to clarify the details. For a truly comprehensive understanding of escapements, photographs of these have been included alongside a critical approach to this essential mechanism. Since its first publication, Watches has provided an essential work of reference and history behind some of the most renowned minds and creations. Now reprinted for a new generation of collectors and students, and featuring over 600 illustrations, the technical and decorative elements of historical watches can be studied and enjoyed once more.Trade ReviewWatches is a truly wondrous publication, unlike anything produced before or since. Immensely readable and highly informative. * Horological Journal *From a technical standpoint the collection of close-up black and white photographs covering a wide range of escapements is fascinating as is the historical write-up of the twists and turns of their development. [...] To have all the major as well as some lesser known escapements depicted in one source is invaluable. [...] given the breadth and quality of this new edition I am sure that it will be the go-to reference source * The TimePiece (British Watch and Clock Makers' Guild) *Watches — A Complete History of the Technical and Decorative Development of the Watch is a book for anyone interested in this topic. It is a very detailed work by two of the most renewed experts on this subject. It is also just as valuable and useful today as it was decades ago. -- Balázs Ferenczi * Fratello *It is quite simply the only decent book encapsulating the history of the pocket watch that has ever been written [...] this edition is a beautiful and faithful reproduction of the heavily revised 1979 edition. -- Ben Wright, Antiques Road Show watch and clock expert * Antiquarian Horology *Table of ContentsForeword by Jonathan Betts Preface Colour Plates HISTORICAL Mechanical 1500-1750 The invention of watches Fusee and stackfreed The movement and its decoration up to 1675 Mean time regulation before the balance spring General characteristics and national styles The balance spring 1675-1700 The movement 1675-1700 The movement 1700-1750 Decoration of the movement 1675-1700 The beginnings of the precision watch and the modern watch The formative years of the precision watch John Harrison Pierre Le Roy Ferdinand Berthoud John Arnold Thomas Mudge Josiah Emery Abraham-Louis Breguet Thomas Earnshaw The birth of the modern watch: Lepine and Breguet The development of the watch since 1800 Decorative Types of decoration Enamel Style of watch cases and dials up to 1750 Some unusual forms of dial Styles of watch cases and dials 1750-1830 Performance of early watches TECHNICAL Introduction Shock-proofing Tourbillons Escapements Verge Cylinder Virgule Duplex Chronometer ‘Échappement naturel’ Lever Robin Debaufre Fasoldt J. F. Cole rotary detent Repeaters Clock-watches Self-winding watches Stop-watches and chronographs Monochrome plates APPENDIX Biographical notes Glossary of technical terms Bibliography Acknowledgements Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe only contemporary history of the birth of Silicon Valley, from the reporter who had a ringside seat to it all. Over the past five decades, the tech industry has grown into one of the most important sectors of the global economy. Silicon Valley―replete with sprawling office parks, sky-high rents, and countless self-made millionaires―is home to many of its key players. But the origins of Silicon Valley and the tech sector are much humbler. At a time when tech companies’ influence continues to grow, The Big Score chronicles how they began. One of the first reporters on the tech industry beat at the San Jose Mercury-News, Michael S. Malone recounts the feverish efforts of young technologists and entrepreneurs to build something that would change the world―and score them a big payday. Starting with the birth of Hewlett-Packard in the 1930s, Malone illustrates how decades of technological innovation laid the foundation for the meteoric rise of the Valley in the 1970s. Drawing on exclusive, unvarnished interviews, Malone punctuates this history with incisive profiles of tech’s early luminaries―including Nobelist William Shockley and Apple’s Steve Jobs―when they were struggling entrepreneurs working 18-hour days in their garages. And he plunges us into the darker side of the Valley, where espionage, drugs, hellish working conditions, and shocking betrayals shaped the paths for winners and losers in a booming industry. A decades-long story with individual sacrifice, ingenuity, and big money at its core, The Big Score recounts the history of today’s most dynamic sector through its upstart beginnings.Trade Review"As Silicon Valley began its long march to global dominance, one writer was there to record it all--from the tiniest etchings on silicon wafers to the galaxy sized egos that built Apple, Intel, Google and others--and that writer, Mike Malone, turned it into a saga for the ages. He’s been called Silicon Valley’s Boswell, but I think Cecille B. DeMille captures Malone’s epic storytelling power." ―Rich Karlgaard, former Forbes publisher "The Big Score is the definitive chronicle of Silicon Valley’s origins, vividly brought to life by native son Mike Malone. The relentless cycles of invention and reinvention that have defined Silicon Valley for over a century suggest that little is permanent, yet the lessons of its genesis are timeless. In laying bare this dramatic history, Mike helps us understand why Silicon Valley ultimately transcended its geography and inspired the best and brightest to defy the limits of human ingenuity, wherever they are." ―Kim Polese, chairman, CrowdSmart "Mike Malone is the gold standard for telling Silicon Valley’s history. He has witnessed the evolution of the Valley from fruit groves to office parks and has cataloged the world’s dependency on the Valley’s innovative technology. Experience the growth of Silicon Valley through the eyes of a pioneer, friend, reporter, and mentor to so many of us early Valley entrepreneurs." ―Sandy Kurtzig, founder, CEO, and chairman of the ASK Group"Mike Malone’s epic depiction of Silicon Valley was a calling card for me and countless other young entrepreneurs with a background in tech. Malone’s stories captured the essence of Valley culture and the many outsized personalities who helped create this mecca of tech. Years later, this book is still relevant and offers insights into the Valley and its ongoing place in the world." ―Jeff Skoll, first president of eBay “Since 1985, when The Big Score was originally published, the dominant and seemingly enduring companies it documented have mostly fallen by the wayside, and the overall technological landscape is wildly different. And so, while The Big Score continues to exist as an encyclopedic and highly entertaining record of Silicon Valley’s origins, it also provides a glimpse of what’s to come. Nothing ever changes in Silicon Valley, it implicitly testifies, and nothing ever stays the same.” ―Reid Hoffman, partner at Greylock and co-author of Blitzscaling "From its discussion of the Valley's deep roots in the semiconductor industry, to the rise of start-ups, venture capital, and the emergence of new models of management, The Big Score documents the beginnings of a technological transformation. When the book was first published, the microprocessor was kickstaring the computer industry. Today, our greatest innovators continue to build on the work of these early pioneers." ―John Hennessy, president emeritus of Stanford University and chairman, Alphabet Inc. "This is a captivating contemporary history of the pre-internet computer industry. Now, 36 years later, it is a fascinating time capsule chronicling the roots of an explosion that is about to occur. Malone's refreshingly honest new foreword, describing retrospectively what he did and didn't get right, is by itself worth the price of admission." ―Len Shustek, founding chairman, Computer History Museum "The Big Score covers the people and companies that shaped many aspects of early Silicon Valley--people from humble beginnings who took huge risks to accomplish great things while dealing with their own fallibility. This book captures the can-do maker-spirit of the early tech industry and gives us a unique view into a key moment in time." ―Elad Gil, author of High Growth Handbook "The story of Silicon Valley and the digital transformation underway in every facet of our lives can be told from a thousand different vantage points. Read this book to learn that the essential element in the story may not, in fact, be silicon, but rather the people who made it." ―Dan'l Lewin, president and CEO, Computer History Museum "What’s remarkable about The Big Score? It’s truly the first, and by far the best, panoramic history of the Valley’s founding. But more than that, it shows the emergence of Mike Malone as the conscience of Silicon Valley, something the Valley needs now more than ever." ―Ed Clendaniel, editorial page editor, San Jose Mercury-News

Read more less

Book SynopsisA landmark cultural history that reveals how the relentless pursuit of innovation has transformed our society, our institutions, and our inner selves.For half a century, innovation served as a universal good in an age of fracture. That consensus is cracking. While the imperative to innovate for a better future continues to fuel systemic change around the world, critics now assail innovation culture as an engine of inequality or accuse its do-gooders of woke groupthink. What happened? Drawing on a decade of research, Every American an Innovator by Matthew Wisnioski investigates how a once obscure academic term became ingrained in our institutions, our education, and our beliefs about ourselves. Wisnioski argues that innovation culture did not spring from the digital revolution, nor can it be boiled down to heroic entrepreneurs or villainous capitalists. Instead, he reveals the central role of a new class of experts in spreading toolkits and mindsets from the cornfields of 1940s Iowa to Silicon Valley tech giants today. This group of engineers, philosophers, bureaucrats, and business leaders posited that ?innovators? were society?s most important change agents and remade the nation in their image. The innovation culture they built transcended partisan divisions and made strange bedfellows. Wisnioski shows how Kennedy-era policymakers inspired President Nixon?s dream of a Nobel Prize for innovators; how anti-military professors built the first university incubators for entrepreneurs; how radical feminists became millionaire consultants; how demands for a rust belt manufacturing renaissance inspired theories of a global creative class; how programs that encouraged girls and minority children to pursue innovative lives changed the nature of childhood play; and why the innovation consensus is now in dispute.

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn illustrated history of American innovators -- some well known, some unknown, and all fascinating -- by the author of the bestselling The American Century.Trade Review'Evans's book sticks to the facts and presents them with admirable clarity, and largely avoids illusions' - New York Review of Books 'Quirky and satisfying from the first chapter to the last sidebar' - Washington Post Book World

Read more less

Book Synopsis**A Financial Times Best Summer Book 2023**Out now: a gripping look at the rise of the microchip and the British tech company behind the blueprint to it all.'A gripping and inspiring read.' Sir James Dyson'A revealing and insightful biography of the company whose blueprints define the digital world.' Chris Miller, author of CHIP WAR: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology'[A] sparkly corporate biography.' Financial Times__________One tiny device lies at the heart of the world's relentless technological advance: the microchip. Today, these slivers of silicon are essential to running just about any machine, from household devices and factory production lines to smartphones and cutting-edge weaponry.At the centre of billions of these chips is a blueprint created and nurtured by a single company: Arm.Founded in Cambridge in 1990, Arm's designs have been used an astonishing 250 billion times and counting. The UK's high-tech crown jewel is an indispensable part of a global supply chain driven by American brains and Asian manufacturing brawn that has become the source of rising geopolitical tension.With exclusive interviews and exhaustive research, The Everything Blueprint tells the story of Arm, from humble beginnings to its pivotal role in the mobile phone revolution and now supplying data centres, cars and the supercomputers that harness artificial intelligence.It explores the company's enduring relationship with Apple and numerous other tech titans, plus its multi-billion-pound sale to the one-time richest man in the world, Japan's Masayoshi Son.The Everything Blueprint details the titanic power struggle for control of the microchip, through the eyes of a unique British enterprise that has found itself in the middle of that battle.__________Trade Review'This is a gripping and inspiring read. The Everything Blueprint reveals how a British technology company fought to become a global one - and achieved this thanks to a powerful combination of homegrown talent, international collaboration between brilliant people, and dogged ambition. Arm's success is proof that in today's connected world it is vital to go abroad to achieve scale. The key to this story is a fierce determination to be No. 1 - and never giving into complacency.' Sir James Dyson, British inventor, industrial designer and entrepreneur'The Everything Blueprint provides the hidden history of the most important company most people have never heard of. We all rely on Arm's chip technology but James Ashton provides a dramatic account of where Arm came from-and how this company will shape the future of computing and artificial intelligence. A revealing and insightful biography of the company whose blueprints define the digital world.' Chris Miller, author of CHIP WAR: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology'This is an engrossing history of the most important company to emerge in the UK in the last 40 years and how it fits in to the world's most vital industry. It's also a sobering reminder that if we are careless about Arm's future we can give up on our aspirations to be a leading tech nation.' Rory Cellan-Jones, former BBC technology correspondent and author of Always On: Hope and Fear in the Social Smartphone Era'James Ashton weaves his way through the intricate geopolitics of the semiconductor industry with an insider's view of Arm's remarkable rise. From Silicon Valley to Taiwan via Cambridge, this book provides an essential account of a vital industry, and, in an era infused with artificial intelligence, reminds us that technology remains inherently human.' Reid Hoffman, partner at Greylock and co-founder of LinkedIn'Swaffham, Bulbeck in England is not writ as large in the lore of the chip industry as California's Mountain View (birthplace of Intel) and Sunnyvale (birthplace of nVidia), or Taiwan's Hsinchu, the cradle of TSMC. But this village should be in the register because that's where the computer world first encountered ARM, a company whose tale James Ashton deftly weaves into a tapestry stretching from the first transistor to chatGPT.' Sir Michael Moritz, author of Return of the Little Kingdom: Steve Jobs, the Creation of Apple, and How it Changed the World'A detailed guide on the rise of one of the biggest players on the field . . . Ashton's book is a timely release showing how Arm got from a former-turkey plucking barn in Cambridgeshire (its first office) to the Big Apple.' - City AM

Read more less

Book SynopsisA lively and endlessly fascinating deep-dive into nature and the many groundbreaking human inventions inspired by the wild."Delightful."—The Guardian"Fans of Helen Scales won't want to miss this."—Publishers Weekly STARRED ReviewWhen astronomers wanted a telescope that could capture X-rays from celestial bodies, they looked to the lobster. When doctors wanted a medication that could stabilize Type II diabetic patients, they found their muse in a lizard. When scientists wanted to drastically reduce emissions in cement manufacturing, they observed how corals construct their skeletons in the sea. This is biomimicry in action: taking inspiration from nature to tackle human challenges.In Nature’s Wild Ideas, Kristy Hamilton goes behind the scenes of some of our most unexpected innovations. She traverses frozen waterfalls, treks through cloudy forests, discovers nests in the Mojave desert, scours intertidal zones and takes us to the deepest oceans and near volcanoes to introduce us to the animals and plants that have inspired everything from cargo routing systems to non-toxic glues, and the men and women who followed that first spark of “I wonder” all the way to its conclusion, sometimes against all odds.While the joy of scientific discovery is front and center, Nature’s Wild Ideas is also a love letter to nature—complete with a deep message of conservation: If we are to continue learning from the creatures around us, we must protect their untamed homelands.Trade Review"Hamilton is an intrepid story gatherer. . .This may be Hamilton's first book, but she writes like a well-informed veteran."—Winnipeg Free Press"Delightful... It takes a skilled journalist like Hamilton to bring highly technical vignettes of scientific innovation to life with such warmth and wit."—The Guardian“An impressive look at the myriad human innovations that have been derived from animals and plants. …Fans of Helen Scales won’t want to miss this.”—Publishers Weekly STARRED review"This extraordinary book tells the story of tens of the ways in which scientists are working to learn from nature to solve humanity's grand challenges. The book is exceptional; there is nothing quite like it. One is left eager to look for other, new solutions, of which there will be many given that there are millions (and some argue trillions) of species on Earth and that we have so far learned the lessons from just a few."—Rob Dunn, author of A Natural History of the Future and Never Home Alone"Kristy Hamilton’s Nature’s Wild Ideas is replete with beautifully crafted sentences and with genuinely insightful observations that inspire readers to stop, take a breath—and think. Very few people can write on this level.”—Wendy Williams, author of The Language of Butterflies and the New York Times bestseller The Horse“As an engineer and educator teaching a core competency course called "Bioinspiration" at a liberal arts college, I highly recommend this book as a must-read for everyone including my students to learn from the brilliance of nature's problem-solving skills and cherish it as an unlimited source of inspiration now and forever.”—Rafael (Yong-Ak) Song, Program Head, Bioengineering, New York University Abu Dhabi"Witty and delectable, Kristy’s writing takes complex issues and boils them down into bite-sized, digestible portions. Her writing takes us on a journey around the planet (and beyond!) as we explore our own evolutionary histories, and the many species whose lineage continue to influence humanity’s greatest technological innovations. From the Rocky Mountains in Montana to the mussel-laden waters of Washington State, Nature’s Wild Ideas enriches and engages our senses to make us, the reader, feel as if we are a fly on the wall of Kristy’s extensive research and reporting."—Madison Dapcevich, Science Journalist and Staff Writer for Snopes"A truly remarkable debut. Hamilton's masterfully crafted anthology—a paean to nature's ingenuity and to the scientists who study it—is that rarest of literary gems: a book that's as exhilarating as it is humbling. These stories are a kaleidoscopic joy to behold, the sort you will dwell on long after you put this book down."—Dr. Robin George Andrews, Volcanologist, award-winning science journalist and author of Super Volcanoes"I simply loved this collection of stories describing the incredible advancements in technology, medicine, and engineering that humans have made by closely observing the intricacies and brilliance of natural design. Kristy’s writing style is delightfully engaging and instilled with curiosity and a sense of wonder. Like a detective, she unravels the major milestones of each story taking the reader through the often painstaking and circuitous processes, and ultimate thrill, of scientific discovery. I highly recommend Nature’s Wild Ideas, it will make you look at the natural world around you in a completely different light!"—Kim Bernard, Associate Professor at Oregon State University"Looking for ideas? Look around you in Nature! Hamilton's book is fresh and easy to read, guiding readers on a journey of some of humanity’s great discoveries that were inspired by Nature. Unique and empowering—this book invites anyone with a curious mind to have a closer look at how natural systems have evolved to solve problems."—Dr. Dimitri Deheyn, Research Scientist of Marine Biology at UC San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography“Nature's Wild Ideas is a whimsical look into the biology that has inspired some of our most ingenious inventions, and a call to action to rebuild a better world.”—Gina Rae La Cerva, author of Feasting Wild"In Nature's Wild Ideas, Kristy Hamilton delivers a multi-course feast of biomimicry delights. Dip into a single chapter and the exquisite blend of invention, ecology, history, multi-species wonders and inspiration is so rich and satisfying, you will read on, long past the moment you thought you would be satiated."—Elin Kelsey, PhD. author of Hope Matters: Why Changing the Way We Think is Critical to Solving the Environmental Crisis"It's rare to find literature that you would want to share with your seven-year-old as well as your work colleagues and friends! Hamilton's work is engaging from the first word; masterfully connecting ecology, history, social sciences and many other disciplines into a thoughtful, engaging learning opportunity. Makes learning from nature feel like the ultimate innovators manual!"—Shirley-Ann Augustin-Behravesh, a Senior Global Futures Scientist at Arizona State University"Delightful... It takes a skilled journalist like Hamilton to bring highly technical vignettes of scientific innovation to life with such warmth and wit."—The Guardian

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhat exactly is White Elephant Technology?White Elephant Technology is any unusual invention past or present that fails in the marketplace despite its innovative nature. From jeeps that fly to tanks that shouldn’t; from a wave-powered boat that took over three months to reach its destination to a jet-powered train that shook itself apart, White Elephant Technology showcases each inventor’s talent for creating something nobody asked for. Importantly, none of these inventions are speculative. Each one was built, field tested and worked more or less as planned (except when it killed its creator).Although success is highly prized, failure has a lot to teach us, especially when you realise it’s the rule and not the exception. Still, no one has undertaken a survey of failed inventions despite history being littered with them … until now. White Elephant Technology corrects this oversight in an entertaining, respectful and occasionally humorous manner, proving that failure is not only as fascinating as success but is also the purest expression of the human condition.Trade Review‘I read this book and loved it! There were so many inventions I’d never heard of. I only wish I’d read it before I started my museum.’ -- Dr Samuel West * Founder, Museum of Failure *'White Elephant Technology is a fascinating look at the wild, wacky, and downright weird contraptions concocted by inventors who couldn't leave well enough alone. Flying tanks, flying bikes, flying cars, swimming cars, train-planes, plane-trains, even a rail Zeppelin. They're dissected with a wit so dry you can almost hear the hapless tinkerers as they utter "Back to the drawing board.' -- Stuart Elliot * former New York Times columnist *

Read more less

Book SynopsisOur world can be pretty weird. If you do not believe us, come and see this surprising science for yourself!

Read more less

Book SynopsisMany people know that Tesla was a scientific genius, instrumental in developing modern electricity and communications. What, perhaps, they don’t know is that he was born during a lightning storm; spoke eight languages; and claimed to have invented a death ray that could destroy 10,000 planes from 250 miles away. This book presents an electrifying exploration of his life, work and fame, with 50 irresistible facts converted into infographics to reveal the scientist behind the science.

Read more less

Book SynopsisObservation is the most pervasive and fundamental practice of all the modern sciences, both natural and human. This collection offers an examination of the history of scientific observation in its own right, as both epistemic category and scientific practice.

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review“Based solely on its originality, wealth of detail, and subject matter, Crossing the Boundaries of Life deserves to be on the must-read list of every historian of the twentieth-century life sciences.” * Journal of the History of Biology *"Based on personal contact and archival research, including an epilogue addressing contending epistemic debates (cellular context vs. molecular processes), this book provides an excellent account of how paradigm shifts actually occur in science. The text is readable for a general audience and provides a host of primary resources. . . . Highly recommended." * Choice *“Those who are willing to be guided through the rough and tumble of a long experimental research trajectory and its details will be richly rewarded in the end. To the reviewer's knowledge, this book is the first to provide a comprehensive overview of what it means to do cell biology at the molecular level, and to trace historically how it came to be done.” -- Hans-Jörg Rheinberger * Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (translated from German) *"This complexity of the cell, and equally—if not more so—the complexity of the history of the scientific study of the cell, is something that struck me most forcibly as I wended my way through the pages of Karl Matlin’s Crossing the Boundaries of Life. . . . there is a rich vein of information as well as ideas for entire historical projects to be mined in this book." * Metascience *"Matlin charts new terrain in the history of the life sciences. His book is original, relevant, and provides a wealth of new stories and conceptual problems for the history and philosophy of cell and molecular biology. This exciting piece of scholarship covers a crucial episode of these sciences which merits scholarly attention. Matlin moves the field a step forward." -- Mathias Grote, author of Membranes to Molecular MachinesTable of ContentsPreface Prologue. A Very Small Difference . . . Part I. The Cytologist’s Dilemma 1. The Living Substance 2. The Membrane Boundary 3. Breakthroughs Part II. From Cells to Molecules 4. The Endoplasmic Reticulum 5. The Signal Hypothesis 6. The Strange Case of the Signal Recognition Particle 7. Enemies, Real and Imagined 8. The Light at the End of the Tunnel Part III. Form Redux 9. Topogenesis and Spatial Information 10. In Vitro Veritas? 11. Form, Context, and the Epistemic Strategy of Cell Biology Epilogue. 1975 and All That A Note on Sources References

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisJames Watt (1736-1819) was a pivotal figure of the Industrial Revolution. His career as a scientific instrument maker, inventor and engineer was developed in Scotland, his land of birth. His subsequent national and international significance as a scientist, technologist and businessman was formed in the Birmingham area. There, his partnership with Matthew Boulton and the intellectual and personal support of other members of the Lunar Society network, such as Erasmus Darwin, James Keir, William Small and Josiah Wedgwood, enabled him to translate his improvements in steam technology into efficient machines. His pumping and rotative steam engines represent a summit of technological achievement in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries. This is the traditional picture of James Watt. After his death, his surviving son, James Watt junior projected his father’s image through commissioning sculptures, medals, paintings and biographies which celebrated his reputation as a ‘great man’ of the Industrial Revolution. In popular historical understanding Watt has also become a hero of modernity, but the context in which he operated and the roles of others in shaping his ideas have been downplayed. This book explores new aspects of his work and evaluates him in his locational, family, social and intellectual contexts.Trade ReviewReviews 'High quality chapters, convincingly argued and clearly written, offering new insights into Watt's life and work.’Professor Christine MacLeod, University of Bristol‘Two pivotal chapters demonstrate the close and strategic attention that Watt paid to his extensive correspondence.’ Christine MacLeod, Midland History 'Distinguished investigators and newer researchers together illustrate the state of the field concerning James Watt. Interesting and definitive… this book [is] indispensable for buff and researcher alike.'Barbara Hahn, English Historical Review'This book [is] indispensable for buff and researcher alike.' Barbara Hahn, English Historical Review

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn this long-awaited reprint - first published in 1967 - the late George Daniels, a master watchmaker of the twentieth century, documents the important contribution made by England and America in the development of the pocket watch from the earliest times to late 1960s America. Daniels tells of the sequence of technical developments that led to the production of electric and electronic watches. It is a fascinating story for all who appreciate not only a watch's technical niceties but also the intrinsic beauty with which devoted craftsmen endowed it. Mr Daniels' concise, learned account, which places each phase of the story in its true perspective, will be found indispensable both by collectors and by those new to the history of watchmaking. Over a hundred photographs together with a series of clear line drawings, emphasise the watchmakers' achievement in marrying pure function and beauty, and at the same time illustrate the changes in movements that accompanied progress in external a

Read more less

Book SynopsisAs Jones shows, it can often pay to take an absurd idea seriously.Trade ReviewThe Aha! Moment is not bogged down with scientific detail and tech talk; in fact, it asks a multitude of absurd questions meant to promote innovative and logical brainstorming. Jones gives dozens of examples from his own body of work... While his examples dominate more than half of the book, they are intriguing and stimulating, acting as a means to promote creativity in fellow scientists and artists. -- Aimee Jodoin Foreword Reviews A top pick not to be limited to science holdings, this will reach many a general-interest reader with its fascinating, readable and lively insights. Midwest Book Review David Jones sees himself as the court jester of science and, as with jesters of old, he is allowed to say things that other mortals might think but dare not speak... Most of the book is an eclectic blend of Jones the chemist and Daedalus the mad scientist and together they make entertaining reading. You'd be mad not to buy it -- John Emsley Chemistry World A practical blueprint to bolster one's own creative process, a treasure map to innovative insights. -- Bob Grant The Scientist A fascinating insight into one man's never-ending search for ideas. -- Jessica Griggs New ScientistTable of ContentsPreface: Creativity in My Career1. A Theory of Creativity2. The Creative Environment3. Thoughts on the Random Ideas Generator4. Intuition and Odd Notions5. Creativity in Scientific Papers6. Heat and Gravity7. Astronomical Musings8. Rotating Things9. Explosions and Fuses10. Tricks with Optics11. Properties of Materials12. Physical Phenomena I Have Noticed13. Odd Notions I Have Played With14. Literary Information15. Inventions We Need but Don't Have16. A List of Silly Questions17. A Short Guide to Being CreativeNotesIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisMany people know that Albert Einstein was a brilliant theoretical physicist who revolutionised modern science. What they may not know is that he only learnt to speak at four years old; that he was asked to become the President of Israel in 1952, but refused; or that he was under FBI surveillance for 22 years. This book presents an instant impression of his life with 50 irresistible facts converted into infographics to reveal the scientist behind the science.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less