Showing results for "Invention" in History

Now, you can learn the remarkable stories surrounding monumental inventions - and how consequential these inventions were to history. Taught by Professor W. Bernard Carlson of the University of Virginia, who is an expert on the role of innovation in history, these 36 enlightening lectures give you a broad survey of material history, from the ancient pottery wheel to the Internet and social media. Along with recounting the famous inventions you might expect, this course explores a number of surprising innovations, including beer, pagodas, and the operating room.

An excellent, well-explained, beautifully illustrated series compiled to provide answers to interesting questions posed by curious children regarding the hows, whens, whats and whys of a wide range of diverse subjects related to the world around them. The simplicity of language makes each audiobook of the series all the more appealing.

Through vivid stories studded with insights, award-winning author Tamim Ansary tells the story of how humans invented history, from the Stone Age to the Virtual Age. Fifty thousand years ago, we roamed the world as countless autonomous bands of hunter-gatherers, each one telling itself a story...

A provocative account showing that "China" - and its 5,000 years of unified history - is a national myth, created only a century ago with a political agenda that persists to this day. China's current leadership lays claim to a 5,000-year-old civilization, but "China" as a unified country and people, Bill Hayton argues, was created far more recently by a small group of intellectuals.

An excellent, well-explained, beautifully illustrated compilation in a set of ten audiobooks that provide answers to interesting questions posed by curious children regarding the 'hows' of a wide range of diverse subjects related to the world around them. The simplicity of language adds to the appeal of each audiobook of the set.

Mankind has a distinct advantage over other terrestrial species: we talk to one another. But how did we acquire the most advanced form of communication on Earth? Daniel L. Everett, a "bombshell" linguist and "instant folk hero" (Tom Wolfe, Harper's), provides in this sweeping history a comprehensive examination of the evolutionary story of language, from the earliest speaking attempts by hominids to the more than 7,000 languages that exist today.

A historical tour de force that demolishes the myths and taboos that have surrounded Jewish and Israeli history, The Invention of the Jewish People offers a new account of both that demands to be reckoned with. Was there really a forced exile in the first century, at the hands of the Romans? Should we regard the Jewish people, throughout two millennia, as both a distinct ethnic group and a putative nation—returned at last to its Biblical homeland? In this iconoclastic work of history, Shlomo Sand provides the intellectual foundations for a new vision of Israel's future.

Since 2010, Toronto's headlines have been consumed by the outrageous personal foibles and government-slashing, anti-urbanist policies of Mayor Rob Ford. But the heated debate at City Hall has obscured a bigger, decade-long narrative of Toronto's ascendance as a mature global city. Some Great Idea traces how post-amalgamation, and under three very different mayors, Toronto managed to so quickly oscillate from one extreme to another, and how the city might proceed from here.

This war was not merely a time of destruction; it sparked a wave of creativity and innovation that transformed the world. It challenged individuals to think beyond the ordinary, enhancing their inventive skills. As a result, we now benefit from a wealth of new ideas and technologies. From lessons in thrift and efficiency to the importance of standardization, industries have evolved, and entrepreneurs recognize the value of scientific inquiry. While the full narrative of these advancements is far too expansive for just one book, I have carefully curated and explained the most significant and ...

From agriculture to the X-ray machine, Stuff to Blow Your Mind hosts Robert Lamb and Joe McCormick explore the inventions we created, and how they created us.

In the tradition of Why Nations Fail, this book solves one of the great puzzles of history: Why did the West become the most powerful civilization in the world? Western exceptionalism—the idea that European civilizations are freer, wealthier, and less violent—is a widespread and powerful...

The definitive history of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Pentagon agency that has quietly shaped war and technology for nearly sixty years. Founded in 1958 in response to the launch of Sputnik, the agency’s original mission was to create “the unimagined weapons of the...

When Ben Coates injures his leg and needs to rebuild his strength by walking, he finds himself presented with an exciting opportunity: to rediscover the city he has been working in for over a decade, at a slower pace. He devises ten walks, each demonstrating a different chapter of Amsterdam's history, from its humble beginnings in the early 1200s as a small fishing community through two Golden Ages, fueled by the growth of the Dutch colonial empire, two world wars, and countless reinventions.

Tout au long de l'histoire, de brillants inventeurs ont créé des technologies révolutionnaires qui promettaient de changer le monde. Cependant, beaucoup de ces innovations ont été supprimées, perdues ou simplement oubliées par le temps. "Inventions Oubliées" explore ces technologies perdues, des moteurs fonctionnant à l'eau aux formules de béton plus durables que celles d'aujourd'hui. Chaque épisode enquête sur l'histoire réelle derrière ces inventions, les raisons de leur disparition, et ce qui se serait passé si elles avaient été commercialisées.

The AI revolution has begun – the product of a seventy-year quest by scientists, mathematicians, and visionaries who set out to build machines that could think. But what began as a fringe idea has now become one of the most powerful forces of the 21st century. This is the story of that journey: its rivalries, its competing visions of utopia and apocalypse, and the race to build what may be humanity’s last invention.

Bestselling author Steven Johnson recounts—in dazzling, multidisciplinary fashion—the story of the brilliant man who embodied the relationship between science, religion, and politics for America’s Founding Fathers. The Invention of Air is a book of world-changing ideas wrapped around a...

Sicily has always acted as a gateway between Europe and the rest of the world. Fought over by the Phoenicians and Greeks, the Romans, Goths and Byzantines, Arabs and Normans, Germans, and the Spanish and the French for thousands of years, Sicily became a unique melting pot where diverse traditions merged, producing a unique heritage and singular culture. In this fascinating account of the island from the earliest times to the present day, author and journalist Jamie Mackay leads us through this most elusive of places.

Written by Hugh Cunningham and presented by award-winning children's author Michael Morpurgo, this genuinely ground-breaking history of British childhood teaches us about the key elements that have shaped children's lives. The Invention of Childhood explores how gender, geography and ethnicity...

The gentrification of Brooklyn has been one of the most striking developments in recent urban history. Considered one of the city's most notorious industrial slums in the 1940s and 1950s, Brownstone Brooklyn by the 1980s had become a post-industrial landscape of hip bars, yoga studios, and beautifully renovated, wildly expensive townhouses. In The Invention of Brownstone Brooklyn, Suleiman Osman offers a groundbreaking history of this unexpected transformation.

Dive into the world of fascinating inventors and their groundbreaking inventions. This captivating journey takes you through the lives of such great inventors as Alexander Bell, Wrights, Morse, Gutenberg, and Edison. Listen to the stories of their trials, tribulations, and triumphs, starting with the maiden voyage of Fultons Folly, the Clermont. Discover how the evolution of boat-making, from primitive rafts to the majestic galleys of the Phoenicians, culminated in the first trip of the Clermont, a momentous event that marked the end of oars and the advent of sails. This book is not just about...