Showing titles in History

The Victorians invented the idea of the future. They saw it as an undiscovered country, one ripe for exploration and colonization. And to get us there, they created a new way of ordering and transforming nature, built on grand designs and the mass-mobilization of the resources of the British Empire.

Palo Alto is nice. The weather is temperate, the people are educated, rich, healthy, enterprising. Remnants of a hippie counterculture have synthesized with high technology and big finance to produce the spiritually and materially ambitious heart of Silicon Valley. It is also a haunted toxic waste dump built on stolen Indian burial grounds, and an integral part of the capitalist world system. In Palo Alto, the first comprehensive, global history of Silicon Valley, Malcolm Harris examines how and why Northern California evolved in the particular, consequential way it did.

The Well was conceived during the Orwellian year of 1984, yet instead of heralding Big Brother, it became a boundary-breaking cultural invention that helped change our world.

Since the commercial introduction of the automobile, US automakers have always sought women as customers and advertised accordingly. How, then, did car culture become so masculine? In Pink Cars and Pocketbooks, Jessica Brockmole shares the untold history of women's relationship with automobiles: a journey marked by struggle, empowerment, and the relentless pursuit of independence. This groundbreaking work explores the evolution of women's automotive participation and the cultural shifts that have redefined their roles as drivers, mechanics, and consumers.

The telephone has come a long way from the primitive “Lover’s Phones” invented in 1667 to today’s sophisticated cell phone and satellite communication systems.

Packed with never-before-heard stories and timeless wisdom on the art of computer science, the business of technology, and the durable power of relationships, The Bleeding Edge provides a rare history of how and why the internet looks and feels the way it does today.

At a time when multiple crises are compounding to create epic inequality, four billionaires are hyping schemes that are designed to divert our attention away from issues that really matter. Each scheme - from the metaverse to cryptocurrency, space travel and transhumanism - is an existential threat in moral, political, and economic terms. In The End of Reality¸ Jonathan Taplin shines a light on the enormous cultural power of Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Marc Andreessen.

Dive into a world where science fiction meets reality in "Horizons of Tomorrow: A Journey through Science, Technology, and Innovation" by Byron-Scott Jones. This captivating exploration unveils the intricate tapestry of human ingenuity that has shaped our modern existence. From the dawn of scientific inquiry to the forefront of artificial intelligence, each chapter embarks on a thrilling odyssey through pivotal moments in history and visionary breakthroughs.

É curioso que a história dos computadores e da internet, ferramentas tão presentes em nosso dia a dia, seja tão pouco conhecida pela maioria das pessoas. E talvez mais interessante ainda seja o fato de, diferentemente de outras tecnologias revolucionárias a sua época, como o telefone e a lâmpada, essas invenções que mudaram a forma como vivemos serem em grande parte fruto de trabalho colaborativo.

What is artificial intelligence (AI)? What can it do and how is it created? In this highly accessible guide to the subject, Richard Urwin explains how AI came about and how it has developed over the years through the construction of ever more sophisticated computer programs. Along the way, you will discover numerous intriguing examples of how scientists have progressed the development of AI, as well as finding out how research into brain function is continually influencing this dynamic field.

Nuclear Russia probes the juncture of history of science and technology, political and cultural history, and environmental history. It considers the atom in Russian society as a reflection of Leninist technological utopianism, Cold War imperatives, scientific hubris, public acceptance, and a state desire to conquer nature. Furthermore the audiobook examines the vital – and perhaps unexpected – significance of ethnicity and gender in nuclear history by looking at how Kazakhs and Nenets lost their homelands and their health in Russia in the wake of nuclear testing.

¿Qué habría sido de nuestra juventud sin el Walkman, Pokémon, Pac-Man, y el anime? ¿Qué sería de nuestros mensajes de texto sin emojis? ¿Y de las celebraciones con amigos sin karaoke? Todas estas innovaciones y más se las debemos a los japoneses. Matt Alt, especialista en Japón y colaborador para medios como The New Yorker, se dio a la tarea de revelar en este libro la historia detrás de las principales creaciones niponas que han conquistado el planeta.

Immerse yourself in a journey through electronic history and glimpse a future sculpted from silicon with 'Silicon Heartbeat' – your digital compass to the micro-revolutions that have forged our modern world. This riveting eBook unlocks the captivating saga of how a tiny device, the transistor, became the heartbeat of every gadget we can't live without. From the breakthrough of early semiconductors to the glorious dawn of transistors in electronics, 'Silicon Heartbeat' intricately weaves technical prowess with the fascinating human stories behind the innovation. Discover how these ...

No longer an uncertain technology of the distant future, artificial intelligence is starting to shape every aspect of our daily lives, from how we think to who we love. In this urgent polemic, leading barrister Susie Alegre explores the ways in which artificial intelligence threatens our fundamental human rights—including the rights to life, liberty and fair trial; the right to private and family life; and the right to free expression—and how we protect those rights.

In a race against time, the Apollo program challenged our scientific capabilities and redefined the boundaries of humanity. To celebrate NASA’s 60 years of exploration, Seeker went back in time to relive each Apollo mission. Listen along as Seeker dives into the whole story from its WWII origins to its present day possibilities available for the first time in audio.

Fresh from successful flights before royalty in Europe, and soon after thrilling hundreds of thousands of people by flying around the Statue of Liberty, in the fall of 1909 Wilbur and Orville Wright decided the time was right to begin manufacturing their airplanes for sale. Backed by Wall Street tycoons, including August Belmont, Cornelius Vanderbilt III, and Andrew Freedman, the brothers formed the Wright Company.

He was a genius who gave the world access to technology that is still changing the world. To this day, his greatest accomplishment is the iPhone and still is. Taken away too soon, his legacy still lives on. Countless entrepreneurs look up to him and use his advice to succeed in the business world. If it wasn't for him, we would have never been introduced to portable computers and mobile phones with touch screens.

Artificial intelligence plays a major role in our lives now, and its pervasive influence spreads faster by the day. This book is for the curious who ponder not just how AI will shape our future but how we can shape AI to reflect our highest values and aspirations. It's for those seeking to understand the profound changes AI promises for our personal lives, careers, and the very fabric of society. And it's all told in an accessible narrative to inform and entertain.

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Americans depended upon ice to stay cool and to keep their perishable foods fresh. Jonathan Rees tells the fascinating story of how people got ice before mechanical refrigeration came to the household. Drawing on newspapers, trade journals, and household advice books, Before the Refrigerator explains how Americans built a complex system to harvest, store, and transport ice to everyone who wanted it, even the very poor.

The lucrative world of cryptocurrency no longer has to be a mystery. This book will shock you. Secret strategies are revealed. Discover what cryptocurrency is all about and how to make a lot of money investing and trading in them. This book covers the topic of investing and trading of cryptocurrency, and will teach you everything you need to know before you delve into this potentially highly lucrative world. You will learn what cryptocurrency is and how to decide which one to deal with.