Download or read book The Greatest Invention written by Silvia Ferrara and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This book was released on 2022-03-01 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this exhilarating celebration of human ingenuity and perseverance—published all around the world—a trailblazing Italian scholar sifts through our cultural and social behavior in search of the origins of our greatest invention: writing. The L where a tabletop meets the legs, the T between double doors, the D of an armchair’s oval backrest—all around us is an alphabet in things. But how did these shapes make it onto the page, never mind form complex structures such as this sentence? In The Greatest Invention, Silvia Ferrara takes a profound look at how—and how many times—human beings have managed to produce the miracle of written language, traveling back and forth in time and all across the globe to Mesopotamia, Crete, China, Egypt, Central America, Easter Island, and beyond. With Ferrara as our guide, we examine the enigmas of undeciphered scripts, including famous cases like the Phaistos Disk and the Voynich Manuscript; we touch the knotted, colored strings of the Inca quipu; we study the turtle shells and ox scapulae that bear the earliest Chinese inscriptions; we watch in awe as Sequoyah single-handedly invents a script for the Cherokee language; and we venture to the cutting edge of decipherment, in which high-powered laser scanners bring tears to an engineer’s eye. A code-cracking tour around the globe, The Greatest Invention chronicles a previously uncharted journey, one filled with past flashes of brilliance, present-day scientific research, and a faint, fleeting glimpse of writing’s future.
Download or read book The Greatest Invention in the History of Mankind Is Beer written by Dave Barry and published by Andrews McMeel Publishing. This book was released on 2012-11-06 with total page 131 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The popular humorist discusses the intricacies of being a man, from beauty routines and DIY projects to Star Wars and the Superbowl. Everyone loves Dave Barry. His irreverent bestselling books incite universal laughter. In “The Greatest Invention in the History of Mankind is Beer” and Other Manly Insights from Dave Barry, Dave goes on a testosterone riff, enlightening all about the intricacies of being male. Men everywhere can relate to this book’s hilarious truths, from botched do-it-yourself projects to Super Bowl party etiquette to correctly answering the common female question, “How do I look?” * “Most men think of themselves as average looking. Being average does not bother them; average is fine for men. This is why men never ask anybody how they look. Their primary form of beauty care is to shave themselves, which is essentially the same form of beauty care they give their lawns. If, at the end of his four-minute daily beauty regimen, a man has managed to wipe most of the shaving cream out of his hair and is not bleeding too badly, he feels he has done all he can, so he stops thinking about his appearance and devotes his mind to more critical issues, such as the Super Bowl.” * “If you’re a man, at some point a woman will ask you how she looks. “How do I look?” she’ll ask. You must be careful how you answer this question. The best technique is to form an honest yet sensitive opinion, then collapse on the floor with some kind of fatal seizure. Trust me, this is the easiest way out. Because you will never come up with the right answer.” * “Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza.”
Download or read book Life Ascending written by Nick Lane and published by Profile Books. This book was released on 2010-10-01 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the 2010 Royal Society Prize for science books Powerful new research methods are providing fresh and vivid insights into the makeup of life. Comparing gene sequences, examining the atomic structure of proteins and looking into the geochemistry of rocks have all helped to explain creation and evolution in more detail than ever before. Nick Lane uses the full extent of this new knowledge to describe the ten greatest inventions of life, based on their historical impact, role in living organisms today and relevance to current controversies. DNA, sex, sight and consciousnesses are just four examples. Lane also explains how these findings have come about, and the extent to which they can be relied upon. The result is a gripping and lucid account of the ingenuity of nature, and a book which is essential reading for anyone who has ever questioned the science behind the glories of everyday life.
Download or read book The 100 Greatest Inventions Of All Time written by Tom Philbin and published by Citadel Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An in-depth look at the top 100 inventions through the ages, ranked in order of their impact on the world. Discover the scientific, cultural and historical factors that determine each invention's rank and marvel at the array of authentic patent drawings. packed with details of the setbacks and breakthroughs, plus anecdotes describing the methods and madness behind the innovations that have shaped our lives, The 100 Greatest Inventions of All Time is an entertaining and illuminating read for anyone interested in the miracles of ingenuity that have transformed the world.
Download or read book The Greatest Inventions of the Past 2 000 Years written by John Brockman and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2000 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The responses of some of the world's leading scientists and creative thinkers vary from the computer to the eraser, from movable type to classical music, from the lens to counting systems, from the concepts of free will to democracy.
Download or read book Building a Cashless Society written by Niklas Arvidsson and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-02-22 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This open access book tells the story of how Sweden is becoming a virtually cashless society. Its goal is to improve readers’ understanding of what is driving this transition, and of the factors that are fostering and hampering it. In doing so, the book covers the role of central banks, political factors, needs for innovation, and the stakeholders involved in developing a cashless ecosystem. Adopting a historical standpoint, and drawing on a unique dataset, it presents an academic perspective on Sweden’s leading role in this global trend. The global interest in the future of cash payments makes the Swedish case particularly interesting. As a country that is close to becoming a cashless economy, it offers a role model for many other countries to learn from - whether they want to stimulate or reduce the use of cash. This highly topical book will be of interest to politicians, researchers, businesses, financial service providers and payment service providers, as well as fintech start-ups, regulators and other authorities.
Download or read book The Great Invention written by Ehsan Masood and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-06-07 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The world’s principal measure of the health of economies is gross domestic product, or GDP: the sum of what all of us spend every day, from the contents of our weekly shopping to large capital spending by businesses. GDP also includes the myriad things that our governments pay for, from libraries and road-line painting to naval dockyards and nuclear weapons.The Great Invention reveals how in just a few decades GDP became the world’s most powerful formula: how six algebraic symbols forged in the fires of the 1930's economic crisis helped Europe and America prosper, how the remedy now risks killing the patient it once saved, and how this fundamentally flawed metric is creating the illusion of global prosperity—and why many world leaders want to be able to ignore it but so far remain powerless to do so. Drawing on interviews, firsthand accounts, and previously neglected source materials, The Great Invention takes readers on a journey from Capitol Hill to Whitehall—on the trail of theories made in Cambridge, tested in Karachi, and designed for global application—into the minds of unworldly geniuses seduced by the allure of power and the demands of politics.
Download or read book Inventors Who Changed the World written by Heidi Poelman and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2018-10-01 with total page 17 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the ranging curiosity of Leonardo da Vinci to the dedication and sacrifice of Marie Curie, Inventors Who Changed the World is a young child's first introduction to the brilliant people who taught us the meaning of perseverance and innovation. Simple text and adorable illustrations tell the contributions of nine renowned inventors from around the world: Cai Lun, Leonardo da Vinci, Marie Curie, Thomas Edison, Orville and Wilbur Wright, Grace Hopper, Johannes Gutenberg, and Louis Pasteur. Inspire your own little inventor with the words of these inventive heroes who changed the world.
Download or read book Scientific American Inventions and Discoveries written by Rodney Carlisle and published by Turner Publishing Company. This book was released on 2008-04-21 with total page 711 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A unique A-to-Z reference of brilliance in innovation and invention Combining engagingly written, well-researched history with the respected imprimatur of Scientific American magazine, this authoritative, accessible reference provides a wide-ranging overview of the inventions, technological advances, and discoveries that have transformed human society throughout our history. More than 400 entertaining entries explain the details and significance of such varied breakthroughs as the development of agriculture, the "invention" of algebra, and the birth of the computer. Special chronological sections divide the entries, providing a unique focus on the intersection of science and technology from early human history to the present. In addition, each section is supplemented by primary source sidebars, which feature excerpts from scientists' diaries, contemporary accounts of new inventions, and various "In Their Own Words" sources. Comprehensive and thoroughly readable, Scientific American Inventions and Discoveries is an indispensable resource for anyone fascinated by the history of science and technology. Topics include: aerosol spray * algebra * Archimedes' Principle * barbed wire * canned food * carburetor * circulation of blood * condom * encryption machine * fork * fuel cell * latitude * music synthesizer * positron * radar * steel * television * traffic lights * Heisenberg's uncertainty principle
Download or read book Steven Caney s Invention Book written by Steven Caney and published by . This book was released on 1985 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A project book for the would-be inventor with activities, a list of "contraptions" in need of invention, and the stories behind thirty-six existing inventions.
Download or read book Chilled written by Tom Jackson and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2015-07-16 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The refrigerator. This white box that sits in the kitchen may seem mundane nowadays, but it is one of the wonders of 20th century science – life-saver, food-preserver and social liberator, while the science of refrigeration is crucial, not just in transporting food around the globe but in a host of branches on the scientific tree. Refrigerators, refrigeration and its discovery and applications provides the remarkable and eye-opening backdrop to Chilled, the story of how science managed to rewrite the rules of food, and how the technology whirring behind every refrigerator is at play, unseen, in a surprisingly broad sweep of modern life. Part historical narrative, part scientific mystery-lifter, Chilled looks at the ice-pits of Persia (Iranians still call their fridge the 'ice-pit'), reports on a tug of war between 16 horses and the atmosphere, bears witness to ice harvests on the Regents Canal, and shows how bleeding sailors demonstrated to ship's doctors that heat is indestructible, featuring a cast of characters such as the Ice King of Boston, Galileo, Francis Bacon, and the ostracised son of a notorious 18th-century French traitor. As people learned more about what cold actually was, scientists invented machines for making it, with these first used in earnest to chill Australian lager. The principles behind those white boxes in the kitchen remain the same today, but refrigeration is not all about food – for example, a refrigerator is needed to make soap, penicillin or orange squash; without it, IVF would be impossible. Refrigeration technology has also been crucial in some of the most important scientific breakthroughs of the last 100 years, from the discovery of superconductors to the search for the Higgs boson. And the fridge will still be pulling the strings behind the scenes as teleporters and intelligent computer brains turn our science-fiction vision of the future into fact.
Download or read book Metropolis written by Ben Wilson and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2020-11-10 with total page 472 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a captivating tour of cities famous and forgotten, acclaimed historian Ben Wilson tells the glorious, millennia-spanning story how urban living sparked humankind's greatest innovations. “A towering achievement.... Reading this book is like visiting an exhilarating city for the first time—dazzling.” —The Wall Street Journal During the two hundred millennia of humanity’s existence, nothing has shaped us more profoundly than the city. From their very beginnings, cities created such a flourishing of human endeavor—new professions, new forms of art, worship and trade—that they kick-started civilization. Guiding us through the centuries, Wilson reveals the innovations nurtured by the inimitable energy of human beings together: civics in the agora of Athens, global trade in ninth-century Baghdad, finance in the coffeehouses of London, domestic comforts in the heart of Amsterdam, peacocking in Belle Époque Paris. In the modern age, the skyscrapers of New York City inspired utopian visions of community design, while the trees of twenty-first-century Seattle and Shanghai point to a sustainable future in the age of climate change. Page-turning, irresistible, and rich with engrossing detail, Metropolis is a brilliant demonstration that the story of human civilization is the story of cities.
Download or read book 1001 Inventions that Changed the World written by Jack Challoner and published by Barrons Educational Series Incorporated. This book was released on 2009 with total page 960 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents a review of technological innovations and inventions, from the ancient world to the present day.
Download or read book Our Final Invention written by James Barrat and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2013-10-01 with total page 142 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Elon Musk named Our Final Invention one of 5 books everyone should read about the future A Huffington Post Definitive Tech Book of 2013 Artificial Intelligence helps choose what books you buy, what movies you see, and even who you date. It puts the "smart" in your smartphone and soon it will drive your car. It makes most of the trades on Wall Street, and controls vital energy, water, and transportation infrastructure. But Artificial Intelligence can also threaten our existence. In as little as a decade, AI could match and then surpass human intelligence. Corporations and government agencies are pouring billions into achieving AI's Holy Grail—human-level intelligence. 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. Through profiles of tech visionaries, industry watchdogs, and groundbreaking AI systems, Our Final Invention explores the 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?
Download or read book Greatest Inventions in History written by IntroBooks and published by . This book was released on 2019-12-22 with total page 45 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The history of inventions is in one form, the history of civilisation as well. This is because inventions are the only means through which mankind has pushed itself forward and is still keeping itself in momentum as years pass, keeping up with the process of evolution. Yes, the process of evolution indeed reinforces the human activity of introducing inventions.Be it the importance of a wheel, or anatlatl, a telephone or an aircraft, every single invention that hs been included in this text has given new insights into the life humans have lived so far, and to a considerable extent, shaped up their lives as well. This is considering that there have been thousands of inventions in the past that have contributed to the history of civilisation in some form or the other. Indeed, the most prominent of inventions are still remembered as 'life changing' inventions today, and in fact, harness themselves into more modern forms as we keep up the process of evolution.Indeed, when it comes to inventions, a compilation on some of the most prominent things ever invented becomes an interesting take, since it provides an explanation on where humans are presently located and perhaps, where they could be headed. It also does however, bring out the efforts laid out by certain individuals on making their dreams a reality. Some of these inventions have unknown inventors, for example, the wheel. Nobody knows who or when the wheel was invented, although much has become known of its exact dating. This single invention, that changed the course of human history sadly does not know its own inventor.Finally, the conclusion to the preface follows with an introductory chapter on the book and the inventions presented in the text herewith. The text has been presented with 10 of the greatest inventions of human history, starting in chronological order - from the oldest to the most recent. A final conclusion note gives the finishing touch.
Download or read book The Most Powerful Idea in the World written by William Rosen and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2012-03-15 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Most Powerful Idea in the World argues that the very notion of intellectual property drove not only the invention of the steam engine but also the entire Industrial Revolution." -- Back cover.
Download or read book How Language Began The Story of Humanity s Greatest Invention written by Daniel L. Everett and published by Liveright Publishing. This book was released on 2017-11-07 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Buzzfeed Gift Guide Selection “Few books on the biological and cultural origin of humanity can be ranked as classics. I believe [this] will be one of them.” — Edward O. Wilson At the time of its publication, How Language Began received high acclaim for capturing the fascinating history of mankind’s most incredible creation. Deemed a “bombshell” linguist and “instant folk hero” by Tom Wolfe (Harper’s), Daniel L. Everett posits that the near- 7,000 languages that exist today are not only the product of one million years of evolution but also have allowed us to become Earth’s apex predator. Tracing 60,000 generations, Everett debunks long- held theories across a spectrum of disciplines to affi rm the idea that we are not born with an instinct for language. Woven with anecdotes of his nearly forty years of fi eldwork amongst Amazonian hunter- gatherers, this is a “completely enthralling” (Spectator) exploration of our humanity and a landmark study of what makes us human. “[An] ambitious text. . . . Everett’s amiable tone, and especially his captivating anecdotes . . . , will help the neophyte along.”— New York Times Book Review
