Product Description
City of Light tells the story of fiber optics, tracing its transformation from 19th-century parlor trick into the foundation of our global communications network. Written for a broad audience by a journalist who has covered the field for twenty years, the book is a lively account of both the people and the ideas behind this revolutionary technology.The basic concept underlying fiber optics was first explored in the 1840s when researchers used jets of water to guide light in laboratory demonstrations. The idea caught the public eye decades later when it was used to create stunning illuminated fountains at many of the great Victorian exhibitions. The modern version of fiber optics--using flexible glass fibers to transmit light--was discovered independently five times through the first half of the century, and one of its first key applications was the endoscope, which for the first time allowed physicians to look inside the body without surgery. Endoscopes became practical in 1956 when a college undergraduate discovered how to make solid glass fibers with a glass cladding.With the invention of the laser, researchers grew interested in optical communications. While Bell Labs and others tried to send laser beams through the atmosphere or hollow light pipes, a small group at Standard Telecommunication Laboratories looked at guiding light by transparent fibers. Led by Charles K. Kao, they proposed the idea of fiber-optic communications and demonstrated that contrary to what many researchers thought glass could be made clear enough to transmit light over great distances. Following these ideas, Corning Glass Works developed the first low-loss glass fibers in 1970.From this point fiber-optic communications developed rapidly. The first experimental phone links were tested on live telephone traffic in 1977 and within half a dozen years long-distance companies were laying fiber cables for their national backbone systems. In 1988, the first transatlantic fiber-optic cable connected Europe with North America, and now fiber optics are the key element in global communications.The story continues today as fiber optics spread through the communication grid that connects homes and offices, creating huge information pipelines and replacing copper wires. The book concludes with a look at some of the exciting potential developments of this technology.Amazon.com Review
Computers you notice. They sit on your desk and hum, eversmaller, ever faster, and always obsolete if bought longer ago thanlast week. But the equally impressive technology that turns millionsof terminals into a global network is less obvious. The phone linethat comes into your house probably still pushes electrons throughmetal. But not far away, the signal will join millions of othersrelayed down fiber optic cables by laser. Jeff Hecht's fascinatingaccount of this undersung technology goes back 150 years to find theorigins of fiber optics. Then he chronicles the many ingenious anddetermined engineers who fashioned it into a technology that festoonsthe globe with cables carrying pulses of photons. It was harder thanpioneering copper links because supplanting an existing technologyneeds more persuasion than establishing the first one. And there wascompetition from the satellite industry, as well as unexpectedsetbacks, such as sharks who ignored copper but chewed fiber opticcables. Hecht tells a good tale, combining a light journalistic touchwith a scholarly knowledge of the industry he has covered for over twodecades. The story is not over yet, but this is a rich account of howwe got this far in a technology that really has fueled arevolution. --Jon Turney, Amazon.co.uk ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Great Section on Nobel Prize Winner, Charles K. Kao!
Charles Kao recently won the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics "for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication."Hecht does a terrific job giving a thorough description of Kao's work that won him this award.

Comprehensive explanation of the story of Fober Optics
It's great book for those who interests in where it came from. Especailly I would like to note the style of narration as an example of a deep insight into the issue of development and early research works. Unfortunately, the story is ended in the begining of the 90th and whole decade is omitted. It would be better if the story of photonic components development was included but it's a matter of next edition of this book.
As conclusion, I recommend this book to read for everybody who is involved into the field of Fiber Optics.

Comprehensive History of Fiber Optics
Fiber optics, the backbone of local and international communications and of the Internet, seems like a new technology, but in this comprehensive history of the field Jeff Hecht describes the Victorian origins of light guiding via jets of water.  In the first half of the 20th century a number of researchers independently discovered flexible glass fibers, and with the introduction of the laser in the 1950s long-distance optical communication became a possibility.  The main section of the book focuses on the work of researchers in Britain, Japan, and the United States from the 1950s through the 1980s as they overcome many technical problems and develop the beginnings of modern fiber optic cables, documenting the failures, the dead-ends, and the ultimate success in the early 1980s.  Extensively researched and annotated, with much material from primary sources, City of Light is accessible to the non-technical reader, yet has enough detail and links to additional sources to satisfy students of engineering history.

Good explanation of "where it all came from"
Hecht does a good job of explaining where the technology of fiber opticscommunications came from.His book is not an explanation of how fiberoptics communications works, but a history.I have a reasonably goodbackground in fiber optics communications so it's difficult for me to judgewhether someone who knew nothing about it would find it easy to follow,although I think they would.

I would particularly recommend the book tofiber optic techies - it really makes the technology more meaningful whenyou understand how the technology developed.A fine job by a good writer -very close to five stars.

And if you're technically oriented and wantmore knowledge of fiber optic technology, I'd recommend "OpticalNetworks" by Ramaswami and Sivarajan.

weak on the last 10 years
This is book has a wealth of information on the early years of fibre optics that I have not seen anywhere else. It is full of names and brief explanations of their contribution. But overall I thought this was a dull,slow moving book with little insight. More of an ongoing collection ofnotes that have been put together for another better book on the history offibre once the real story finally emerges.There is very littlescience here. You won't learn much about light physics or why thetechnology works -only that it does and who patented it. (But the sciencemay be reserved for Hecht's other book.)Also , for those who aretrying to keep up with Gilder this book will be disappointing. There isnothing on DWDM (one brief, unexplained mention) ornothing that maps outthe current players, companies,ortechnologies. (I can tell that Gilderhas read it because some of the historical facts have been mentioned in theGTR) But there are only a few pages at the end that try to update where thetechnology has been in the last 10 years, where it is going or why. Hugegaps where a technology is mentioned but not even defined, much lessexplained. I wish there was a better book on the subject, but for now thisis it, and maybe it is worth reading for that reason alone. Sorry to be socritical, but if you like Burke's "Connections" this will onlyget you lost. It probably would not have been published but for the suddensurge in tech stocks. I hope the Slone series is not all like this. ... Read more

Product Description
How are media born? How do they change? And how do they change us?

Media Technology and Society offers a comprehensive account of the history of communications technologies, from the printing press to the internet. Brian Winston argues that the development of new media, from the telegraph and the telephone to computers, satellite and virtual reality, is the product of a constant play-off between social necessity and suppression: the unwritten law by which new technologies are introduced into society only insofar as their disruptive potential is limited. Winston's fascinating account examines the role played by individuals such as Alexander Graham Bell, Gugliemo Marconi, John Logie Baird, Boris Rozing and Charles Babbage, and challenges the popular myth of the present-day "information revolution." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Read the Back Cover, Folks
I loved this book. I first read it shortly after it was published, and since then it has stuck with me as the definitive and useful explanation for how and why media technologies are embraced by the general public. I'm writing largely because I find the two negative reviews annoying. Giving a book a bad rating solely because it didn't contain what you thought that it should contain is not useful to anyone. This book is a social history of media technology, something that it very clearly spells out both in its title and in the blurb on the back cover. And of course it's an academic book! It was written by an academic, published by an academic press, and intended for an audience familiar with the linguistic theories of Noam Chomsky (who's more than just a cranky critic of US foreign policy).

A Fantastic and Informative History of Technology
Very highly recommended for anyone with keen interest in the history of technology, society, and business.I love this book. Let me list a few of its many virtues:

First and foremost, it is a learned and fascinating account of the history of many key technologies of the past two hundred years.It is rich with detail about the technologies, their invention process, the people involved and both the scientific and societal contexts into which they emerged.Second, it burts the popular myth of the singular invention arising out of the mind of one genius -- and replaces it with the story of how most of these technologies were in some way inevitable once the scientific ground had been prepared -- and how in many cases, there were many fathers of the "inventions." It also sheds very interesting light on the roles of both societal and commercial inhibiting and accellerating forces on the development and profusion of technologies.

For someone who makes his or her living in the business of new technologies, this is an unforgettable if slightly challenging read.It will change the way you view invention and technology and how they enter and move through our societies.

Unreadable except by communications academics
This book is targeted at an academic audience and not at the general reader - and the academic area is not networking but human communications.If you're looking for a readable history of networks (including the Internet), look elsewhere.

useful nuggets, but a lot of mud
This book is written for an academic audience, and is only of limited relevance to telecom professionals looking for historical perspective on their industry. A sample quote: "Utterance is, for Saussure, thesurface expression of a deep-seated mental competence.In Chomskyanterms..."

The book's thesis - that today's "informationrevolution" is actually the result of a long-standing evolutionaryprocess - should hardly be controversial to anyone versed in telecom or thedevelopment of new technologies.However, Winston is so set on proving histhesis that it becomes a real chore to follow the historical narrative. There are useful nuggets in here, but you've got to sift through a lot ofmud to find them.

EXCELLENT PIECE OF RESEARCH & ANALYSIS
This book won the 1998 Best Book Award by the American Association for History and Computing. It not only provides a comprehensive account of the history of electronic communications from telegraphy to the Internet, butalso offers a model with which to understand the processes of change in thetechnologies of communication.

The purpose of book is not only toexplicate a fuller account of what actually occurred in thetelecommunications past but also to offer an interpretation, necessarilysynthetic and revisionist, of those occurrences. The model offers anunderstanding of the history and the current position of communications inour culture. This understanding is not solely dependent on the performanceof technology, but is also heavily dependent on an examination of theoperation of the social necessities and constraints.

Brian Winston'sfascinating account challenges the popular myth of a present-day`information revolution' in communications technology by highlighting thelong histories of such developments. The fax was introduced in 1884.Digitalization was demonstrated in 1938. Even the concept of the `web'dates back to 1945.

In Part I, the author applies the model to theelectrical systems of communication, the telegraph and the telephone. Then,in Part II, radio and television are dealt with. Part III is concerned withcomputing while Part IV looks at the whole development of electrical andelectronic networks from the telegraph to the Internet. The conclusionsuggestions, via a consideration of the current state of research intoholography, that the model is still valid.

This book is essential readingfor anyone interested in the social impact of technological change.

BrianWinston is Head of the School of Communication, Design and Media at theUniversity of Westminster, the world's leading school of media andcommunication studies. He was previously Dean of the College ofCommunications at the Pennsylvania State University, Chair of CinemaStudies at New York University and Founding Director of the GlasgowUniversity Media Group. As a television professional in the UK, he has wonan Emmy for documentary script-writing.

Reviewed by Azlan Adnan. FormerlyBusiness Development Manager with KPMG,Azlan is currently ManagingPartner of Azlan & Koh Knowledge and Professional Management Group, aneducation and management consulting practice based in Kota Kinabalu. Heholds a Master's degree in International Business and Management from theUniversity of Westminster in London. ... Read more

Product Description
For the first time, information has been gathered on the people who have made the most significant advances in technology. From ancient times to the present day, and from around the world, the major inventors, discoverers and entrepreneurs are profiled, and their contribution to society explained and assessed. ... Read more

Product Description
Scholars working at the intersection of African-American history and the history of technology are redefining the idea of technology to include the work of the skilled artisan and the ingenuity of the self-taught inventor. Although denied access through most of American history to many new technologies and to the privileged education of the engineer, African-Americans have been engaged with a range of technologies, as makers and as users, since the colonial era. A Hammer in Their Hands (the title comes from the famous song about John Henry, "the steel-driving man" who beat the steam drill) collects newspaper and magazine articles, advertisements for runaway slaves, letters, folklore, excerpts from biography and fiction, legal patents, protest pamphlets, and other primary sources to document the technological achievements of African-Americans.

Included in this rich and varied collection are a letter from Cotton Mather describing an early method of smallpox inoculation brought from Africa by a slave; selections from Frederick Douglass's autobiography and Uncle Tom's Cabin; the Confederate Patent Act, which barred slaves from holding patents; articles from 1904 by Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. DuBois, debating the issue of industrial education for African-Americans; a 1924 article from Negro World, "Automobiles and Jim Crow Regulations"; a photograph of an all-black World War II combat squadron; and a 1998 presidential executive order on environmental justice. A Hammer in Their Hands and its companion volume of essays, Technology and the African-American Experience (MIT Press, 2004) will be essential references in an emerging area of study.

Published in cooperation with the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the Smithsonian Institution ... Read more

Product Description

The aftermath of September 11, 2001, brought the subject of engineering-failure forensics to public attention as had no previous catastrophe. In keeping with the engineering profession's long tradition of building a positive future out of disasters, Lessons amid the Rubble uses the collapse of the World Trade Center towers to explore the nature and future of engineering education in the United States.

Sarah K. A. Pfatteicher draws on historical and current practice in engineering design, construction, and curricula to discuss how engineers should conceive, organize, and execute a search for the reasons behind the failure of man-made structures. Her survey traces the analytical journey engineers take after a disaster and discusses the technical, social, and moral implications of their work. After providing an overview of the investigations into the collapse of the Twin Towers, Pfatteicher explores six related events to reveal deceptively simple lessons about the engineering enterprise, each of which embodies an ethical dilemma at the heart of the profession. In tying these themes together, Pfatteicher highlights issues of professionalism and professional identity infused in engineering education and encourages an explicit, direct conversation about their meaning.

Sophisticated and engagingly written, this volume combines history, engineering, ethics, and philosophy to provoke a deep discussion about the symbolic meaning of buildings and other structures and the nature of engineering.

Product Description
From a fledgling agrarian nation clinging to the Atlantic seaboard in 1800, the United States by the 1900s was the world's leading industrial nation, manufacturing a third of the world's industrial output. Through nearly 200 photographs and drawings, America Transformed: Engineering and Technology in the Nineteenth Century highlights not only the obvious icons of achievement such as the Brooklyn Bridge and Erie Canal but also the development of the nation's industrial, manufacturing, and transportation infrastructure. Development and innovation in mining; textile, iron and steel mills; water treatment, power and irrigation systems, canals, railroads and bridges all served to transform American life. In 1969 the National Park Service, the Library of Congress, and the American Society of Civil Engineers formed the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) program to document nationally and regionally significant engineering and industrial sites. HAER documentation--in the forms of measured and interpretive drawings, large-format photographs, and written histories--record for posterity the enormous historic engineering and industrial legacy of the United States. Using these resources, Dean Herrin has created a visual sampler of America's nineteenth-century engineering and technology that illuminates the scope and variety of America's industrial transformation. ... Read more

Product Description

In this impressively researched and highly original work, Paul Lucier explains how science became an integral part of American technology and industry in the nineteenth century. Scientists and Swindlers introduces us to a new service of professionals: the consulting scientists. Lucier follows these entrepreneurial men of science on their wide-ranging commercial engagements from the shores of Nova Scotia to the coast of California and shows how their innovative work fueled the rapid growth of the American coal and oil industries and the rise of American geology and chemistry. Along the way, he explores the decisive battles over expertise and authority, the high-stakes court cases over patenting research, the intriguing and often humorous exploits of swindlers, and the profound ethical challenges of doing science for money.

Starting with the small surveying businesses of the 1830s and reaching to the origins of applied science in the 1880s, Lucier recounts the complex and curious relations that evolved as geologists, chemists, capitalists, and politicians worked to establish scientific research as a legitimate, regularly compensated, and respected enterprise. This sweeping narrative enriches our understanding of how the rocks beneath our feet became invaluable resources for science, technology, and industry.

Product Description

This entry in the Major Problems in American History series examines the history of technology in America, from colonial times to the present. Each of the 14 chapters contains an introduction, secondary readings, documents, headnotes, and suggested readings.

Product Description

"The biggest contribution of Vincenti's splendidly crafted book may well be that it offers us a believably human image of the engineer." -- Technology Review.

Johns Hopkins Studies in the History of Technology.

Merritt Roe Smith, Series Editor.

Customer Reviews (3)

interesting chapters from aeronautical history
As Prof. Vincenti points out in the preface, the people interested in the history of aviation may prefer to omit epistemological parts of the book. I must agree. The epistemological part (introduction of the book, introductions and conclusions of the chapters, 50 pages after the chapter 6) is too wordy to my taste. I can't say it isn't interesting (based on what I learned about differences between engineers and scientists I can say that I am engineer) but it is definitely not easy to read (with lot of redundancy and abstraction).

The narrative part of the chapters 2-6 is other case. There are very interesting stories about:
2. airfoil design and use (laminar flow, Davis's airfoil used in B-24 Liberator)
3. flying quality specification
4. development of control volume analysis (in Prandtl's aerodynamics)
5. air-propeller test (by Durand and Lesley)
6. development of flush riveting

The notes in pages 259-318 contain also comprehensive bibliography to all stories.

a glimpse into engineering information gathering and use
One commonly held view of the relationship between scientists and engineers assumes that the latterrepresent an applied form of the former. Vincenti shatters this notion by showing how engineers develop their knowledge and use that information in the context of the problems they solve.While engineers and scientists share in their formative education a curriculum heavily devoted to mathematics (at least through differential equations) and fundamental physical forces, their priorities diverge at the context of their assigned tasks and in the type and quality of information that can be made available to complete their purposes.In particular, engineering knowledge does not exist for its own sake, in contrast to science.

Vincenti cites several examples from the aeronautics industry.While these descriptions take on an anecdotal character, these collected narratives nonetheless impose his conclusion as well as any philosophical essay could and probably better.In each case, _What_Do_Engineers_Know_?_ demonstrates that incomplete information may yield intermediate results having little or no effect on the intended problem.

The first example relates to a wing design for the B-24.The history of the Davis airfoil design is explained, as well as its incorporation for the B-24 wing.At the time of its adoption, various airfoil shapes had been investigated, and the Davis form subsequently was found to resemble the high performance laminar-flow airfoil.But did this form benefit the B-24 performance.Probably not, answers the author.Laminar flow can be difficult to maintain at the Reynolds numbers typical of modern aircraft, particularly in wartime conditions when surface roughness will likely increase tripping the boundary layer to turbulent (with resulting increased drag -- laminar flow has a thinner boundary layer, but is more prone to flow separation).The B-24 was considered a fine aircraft, in part due to its wing length.

The second example describes flying-quality characteristics and relative design priorities regarding stability and control.(The Wright brothers had emphasized stability in the infancy of manned powered flight.)Designers had to determine what characteristics made an airplane desirable to pilots, and which would consign them to the scrapyard.This ergonomic study evolved as pilot and aircraft capabilities expanded in speed and flight duration.An appendix provides qualitative criteria used to compare stability performance.

The third example compares how thermodynamics is treated by physicists and engineers.The latter employ control volume analysis as developed by Ludwig Prandtl for economy and accuracy rather than the understanding of nature governing thermal energy transfer.The fourth example covers data collection for airplane propellers.Subtle changes in camber, pitch and twist in a design can have subtle or profound effects on efficiency.These were evaluated using empirical studies, in contrast to a more analytical treatment where the contributing second and third order effects are more difficult to distinguish.The fifth example explains the struggles in riveting thin metal sheets with countersunk joints for aircraft production.The establishment of standard head angles required more detailed material behavior for both rivets and attaching sheets than previously known.

Finally Vincenti concludes with a synthesis on how design knowledge develops from functional collections of information. The writing style can be tedious at times, and other times smooth, but this is a matter of personal taste for the reader.While a typical engineer may find some aspects of the work, particularly among the examples, more familiar than other chapters, it nonetheless remains a beneficial insight into how engineering knowledge is acquired, organized and utilized to address the concern at hand.

Vincenti shows the way technologies mature
I am an instructional technologist dealing a lot with the design and development of products in a young technology, computer-based instruction. My technology is in its youth compared to other technologies that have become essential to our social and economic operations. I am interested in knowing the stages my technology will go through and the types of knowledge it must accumulate as it matures, which seems certain, given current interest and ferment.

Vincenti describes how aeronautics technologies grew and went through their stages, and this has given me insight into my own. This is not a book of idealized process for implementing technology. It is s set of historical case studies, some of which Vincenti himself participated in, others of which he researched.

The book is not easy to read, but I have found it very rewarding. It is full of technical terms and heavy technology. At the same time, if you pay the price in effort and study this book carefully, you will not be disappointed. You will see how technologies develop, and knowing this, you will be able to anticipate developments and needs in your own area of growth. ... Read more

Product Description
From classical temples to twentieth century towers, engineers have learned more about design from failure than from success. The concept of error, according to the author of Design Paradigms, is central to the design process. As a way of explaining the enduring aspects of engineering design, Henry Petroski relates stories of some of the greatest engineering successes and failures of all time. These case studies, drawn from a wide range of times and places, from Ancient Greece and Rome to modern America, serve as paradigms of error and judgment in engineering design. By showing how errors were introduced in the design process and how they might be avoided, the book suggests how better quality and reliability might be achieved in designed devices, structures, and systems of all kinds.Clearly written, with striking illustrations, the book will appeal to engineering students, practicing engineers, historians of science and technology, and all those interested in learning about the process of design. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A "Must Read" for Structural Engineers
I read this book when it first came out in 1994, and have just finished re-reading it.

I can attest that the lessons which emerge from Dr. Petroski's study of structural engineering failures have proved valuable throughout my career, particularly when designing bridges which pushed the envelope.Indeed, any engineer aiming to be innovative in any way needs to temper that laudable ambition with a serious and even somber study of how things have gone wrong in the past, and this book is an excellent vehicle for that purpose.

Beyond the study of engineering failure, as a fringe benefit, the book also provides nice discussion of important episodes from the history of structural engineering.Such historical perspective is usually lacking among engineers both in practice and academia.Yet this is a subject which engineers would ideally be exposed to throughout their careers, not just during the leisurely and retrospective years of retirement.

To give a balanced review, allow me to point out a few minor negatives.First, the writing style is sometimes a bit stuffy, and a more plainspoken style would have made the book more appealing.Second, there's a good bit of repetition throughout the book; shortening and focusing the book would have improved it.Third, the case studies mostly involve bridges; this will obviously please bridge engineers, but will reduce appeal for readers seeking a more diverse range of case studies.

In sum however, the book is an excellent and valuable contribution from Dr. Petroski, and we should be especially thankful that it exists considering the lack of literature on this important topic, especially at a scholarly level.

Highly recommended for bridge engineers and other structural engineers at all stages of their careers - indeed, a "must read."

Must Read for Every Technical Professional...
Many technical professionals (and others as well) think technology has the answers and the solutions to many of the issues / failures we have experienced in the past.WRONG!!

Read this precious book to understand why.

Although somewhat dated (considerting we are in 2006) - the basic tenets still apply. Be forewarned - you need to read it with an open mind and a willingness to be brutally honest about your answers when the author poses some questions to you.
With such a paradigm, you will find the book full of value in understanding the types of errors we make as humans.Once you recognize these, preventing them can become feasible.But, just realizing that is not enough, you will need to change (which is very hard to do) some habits that the workplace has built into you over time.

Enjoy - and be error free...if you can, if you care...

Towards More Successful Development
I came across this title while researching the parallels between traditional professional engineering and systems engineering. Petroski makes a compelling case for us to formally study our failures in systems engineering - not for laying blame, but in order to continually improve our processes, assumptions, beliefs, methods, and thinking patterns. Using case studies from bridge building, ship building, and other construction feats, Petroski show us how errors in scalability, design changes, selective use of history, logic, and human factors can lead to disasterous consequences. If you care about public safety and want to see any industry progress to a real level of professionalism, read and study this work. ... Read more

Product Description
Documenting over 1800 years, Donald Hill illustrates how classical and medieval engineers designed early irrigation systems, dams, bridges, clocks and how they harnessed the power of both water and wind. This fascinating study documents over 1800 years of early engineering. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Dry but useful as a reference
This is a rather dry accounting of some of the key technological accomplishments in the given era. Although the title says "history," the book is organized by subject rather than chronology. Part One focuses on civil engineering: irrigation, dams, bridges, surveying, etc. Part Two deals with mechanical engineering: water-raising devices, mills, etc. And Part Three looks at "fine technology:" instruments, automata, and particularly clocks.

I think it's almost better as a reference book for that reason. I found L. Sprague de Camp's Ancient Engineers (a source for this book) and Frances and Joe Gies' Cathedral, Forge, and Waterwheel more interesting and more readable. So I think I'd recommend this more for reference or for someone who's intensely interested in the subject. ... Read more

Product Description
This new book was commissioned in celebration of the100th Anniversary of Powered Flight. It is written by one the mostrespected authors in the aerospace world. John D. Anderson Jr. iscurator for aerodynamics at the National Air and Space Museum,Professor Emeritus, Department of Aerospace Engineering, University ofMaryland, and the author of several world-renowned textbooks.

Contrary to popular belief, the Wright brothers did not invent theairplane; rather they invented the first successful airplane. Theconcept of the airplane was invented a hundred years earlier, and theWrights inherited a century's worth of prior aeronautical research anddevelopment. The Wrights did not work in a vacuum; they admitted thatthey "worked on the shoulders of giants." Indeed, if Orville andWilbur had not entered the field of aeronautics, and their momentousflight on 17 December 1903 had not taken place, the first successfulairplane would have been invented by someone else within thedecade. The time was right. The Wrights were the right people at theright time.

Just what aeronautical technology did the Wrights inherit from their predecessors? How much was right? How much was wrong? Who were the major players in the development of this technology and why?

This book will answer those questions. It is a history of the technology of the airplane, written with the nontechnical reader in mind, but telling a story that the technical reader can also enjoy. This history begins centuries before the Wright brothers and takes us to the present day. "After you finish this book, I hope that the next time you get on an airplane, you will feel the history of its technology. If you do, then I will have accomplished my goal." -- John D. Anderson Jr.

Technical and nontechnical readers alike will find this book fascinating reading. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

promising but disappointing
After having read Anderson's wonderful book A History of Aerodynamics and his college text Introduction to Flight, I looked forward to a full historical coverage of technology as a whole in the history of aircraft. That is not really what we have here. Rather there are three chapters taking us up to the Wright brothers with lots of well presented material that has I must say been just as well covered in some of the other references Anderson himself cites.Then three chapters take us through the strut and wire biplance, the mature propeller driven airplance and the modern jet aircraft. In these three chapters are a lot of interesting stories about technology development but they seem to represent just those areas that the author has specific interest in and there is not a strong attempt to construct or de-construct any coherent narrative.
Specific shortcomings include ignoring a great deal of aeronuatical engineering going on the United Kingdom and paying attention to German developments only as they affected American activities. Apparently there was not much aviation technology going on anywhere else and perhaps that was really the case. If so, that should at least have been explained in some fashion. In addition, since Anderson is an aerodynamicist, structural technology is covered less extensively and less intensively, and the whole area of aircraft power (non-propulsive) and control systems is just taken for granted.
The main problem with this book is not what is in it, but what is not in it to justify the grand title. If you are an aviation enthusiast at whatever technical level, this is a good book to buy and enjoyable to own and read but I rated it three stars to warn about expectations. To give due credit to John Anderson, the Preface to the book makes clear this is a personal choice of stories and if you could read the Preface before you buy the book, you wouldn't need this review. Unfortunately, the Inside feature starts with the first chapter.

Excellent coverage of the first 40 years
This work covers excellently the first 40 years of flight, up to and through the golden years of the piston aircraft. That is unlikely to be bettered for a long time. The remaining period to the present is covered much less comprehensively, but remains an good introduction to the salient features of this -as seen from a USA perspective.

It flies!
This book is terrific. But let me introduce my background first, so you know my perspective. I have passed two PhD qualification exams (both at first try) in Material Science and Engineering, and Electrical Engineering in a top research university, but have never taken a class in fluid mechanics or aeronautics, or read any book on them. I got this book about a week ago, and have finished all of its 358 pages. Although an early sleeper, several nights I read it until 2am in the morning. This book is very clear, and no doubt is a masterpiece written by a grand master for everyone, unlike some books that were written by genius for genius. I have some trouble understanding the engines due to the lack of my background. I guess I need an introduction book on engine to make that up. Other than that, I would say I understand the rest pretty well. A little complaint here: the index sometime does not include some of the technical terminology. For example, I missed the definition of "camber ratio" the first time, and had a hard time to find it later.
This is the first book review I wrote, simply because this book is so good. Too bad the highest review one can give in Amazon is only 5 stars. This book flies way above it.

Masterfully Conceived and Written
With the publication of John Anderson's seminal overview of the history of aerodynamics, "A History of Aerodynamics, and Its Impact on Flying Machines" (Cambridge University Press, 1997), the former Glenn L. Martin Distinguished Professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Maryland and current curator for aerodynamics at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum established himself as the preeminent interpreter of the history of flight technology in the United States. This book solidifies Anderson's stature with its outstanding analysis of the evolution of the airplane from its origins before the Wright brothers through the design revolution wrought by the advent of jet propulsion.

Anderson begins with an introduction that serves as chapter 1. He then offers six additional chapters chronologically exploring the development of aeronautics. These include: (2) aeronautical thought and research before the nineteenth century, (3) work during the nineteenth century but before the Wright brothers, (4) the efforts of the Wrights and their revolutionary Flyer, (5) the era of the strut-and-wire biplane which Anderson characterizes as "seat-of-the-pants" design, (6) the development of the mature propeller-driven airplane which the author considers the first design revolution, (7) and the second design revolution wrought by jet propulsion.

This work is written for the general reader, and Anderson does a fine job of communicating difficult concepts without reliance on jargon and a plethora of equations. There are a few of the latter, but they are kept to a minimum and the author takes pains to explain them clearly. This is also a large format book well illustrated with diagrams and photographs that do much than just decorate the text by serving to illustrate the principles of flight.

Anderson also does a good job of demonstrating the state of the art of flight at critical points in the evolution of the airplane. For example, while most people believe that Wilbur and Orville Wright "invented" the airplane, Anderson shows that the idea of the airplane predated them by centuries and that they inherited a considerable body of knowledge about the principles of flight. This, and their own work, enabled the Wrights to fly the first successful airplane. Others following in their footsteps significantly advanced knowledge about the technology of flight and brought us to the point we are now. Always, Anderson explores the evolution of the major technologies required for flight: aerodynamics, materials and structures, propulsion, guidance and control, and the systems and processes that guide the development of any airplane.

While there are no footnotes in the text, there is a bibliography and Anderson often refers to specific publications in his text. Prepared in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of powered flight, this is quite an excellent work and highly recommended. ... Read more

Product Description
A unique study of the engineering and tools used to create Egyptian monuments

• Presents a stone-by-stone analysis of key Egyptian monuments, including the statues of Ramses II and the tunnels of the Serapeum

• Reveals that highly refined tools and mega-machines were used in ancient Egypt

From the pyramids in the north to the temples in the south, ancient artisans left their marks all over Egypt, unique marks that reveal craftsmanship we would be hard pressed to duplicate today. Drawing together the results of more than 30 years of research and nine field study journeys to Egypt, Christopher Dunn presents a stunning stone-by-stone analysis of key Egyptian monuments, including the statue of Ramses II at Luxor and the fallen crowns that lay at its feet. His modern-day engineering expertise provides a unique view into the sophisticated technology used to create these famous monuments in prehistoric times.

Using modern digital photography, computer-aided design software, and metrology instruments, Dunn exposes the extreme precision of these monuments and the type of advanced manufacturing expertise necessary to produce them. His computer analysis of the statues of Ramses II reveals that the left and right sides of the faces are precise mirror images of each other, and his examination of the mysterious underground tunnels of the Serapeum illuminates the finest examples of precision engineering on the planet. Providing never-before-seen evidence in the form of more than 280 photographs, Dunn’s research shows that while absent from the archaeological record, highly refined tools, techniques, and even mega-machines must have been used in ancient Egypt. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Amazing
Brilliant, playful, challenging--to see somone outside The Club asking questions all the members have agreed to ignore--isn't that what the Academy needs?And the second foreward is nails.Who are these guys?Where is Danville?What's next?

A very solid foundation
After reading Chris Dunn's book, "Lost Technologies of Ancient Egypt", I was underwhelmed, much as I was underwhelmed the first time I saw the Grand Canyon, the first time I listened to the Beatles' White Album, the first time I tried avocado, or the first time I watched Star Wars.Nevertheless, all of these things eventually made a profound impression on me, and slowly became awesome to me.And needless to say, I have learned not to trust first impressions until things play out a little more in my consciousness."Lost Technologies of Ancient Egypt" is slowly but surely doing just that.

I was expecting more pyramid talk and got chapters on Rameses statues.Those are primitive sculptures compared to the Great Pyramid, I had thought.Now, I am totally turned around by Dunn's discussion of the kind of intricate construction of these statues, not to mention the other items he painstakingly reviews.There is no doubt in my mind that the expertise behind the obelisks, the pillars, the big building blocks, the ubiquitous carvings of ancient Egypt was from the same engineering brotherhood as the big boy itself.And I am at a loss to explain it, chronologically speaking, since I still place the Great Pyramid and Sphinx thousands of years earlier than the rest of the Egyptian treasures on the timeline.Thus, I am now compelled by this book's evidence to assert the mind-boggling conclusion that ancient Egyptian engineering not only goes way back in time, but it also has a continuity far exceeding any other civilization on Earth.

Having read Dunn's earlier book, "The Giza Power Plant", I expected this companion volume, "Lost Technologies of Ancient Egypt"to be the Philosopher's Stone of ancient technology.It may not quite be that, but it sets a foundation for further investigation into the mystery of what the tools of the trade were, as well as the baffling question of where they are.

This is a real winner!!
This book was well researched and clearly grounded in fact -not theory.Though tools that would further support the conclusions of the author have yet to be found, the precision that the author personally discovered time and again in ancient statuary intemples, palaces and the pyramids at Giza leaves little doubt that ancient Egyptian engineers and artisans had rather advanced tools at their disposal.In fact, from all accounts it seems that it would prove difficult for modern day engineers and machinists to duplicate the precision found in the Great Pyramid at Giza.

A Voice of Reason and Fact in a Speculative Field
When it comes to the study of ancient technology,there are a lot of far-out theories vying for attention.Many (some would say most) are too far out, consisting of speculations with no foundation in fact, and often no internal consistency.

Chris Dunn has always been a refreshing voice of reason in this field, a man who doesn't just speculate.Prepared with physical facts and on-location research, Dunn demonstrates exactly how and why his concepts of ancient technology work.He brings the technologies of the ancients to vivid life.

Dunn also proves to be a talented writer.His prose reads smoothly as he provides succinct explanations of how (ancient) things work, never talking down to or lecturing the reader.In addition to being informative, Chris Dunn is an entertaining read.

Buy Lost Technologies of Ancient Egypt and prepare to be amazed, even enthralled by what once was.

Extremely Interesting!!
In the north, there were the pyramids. In the south, there were temples. Both very mysterious in more ways than one. What were they for? Why were they built? Who built them?

Well, Christopher Dunn an engineer, has asked these questions for years. Now, he has done something about the lingering questions. He has studied and written about them.

How did the Egyptians get this marvelous technology to build with the precision of our most competent engineers? Who taught them the technologies? Were the techniques carried down from the earliest Eygptians? And, how did THEY gain the skills?

With his 280 pictures included in the book, Dunn makes a convincing case that the technology was precise and exact.

But, there exists no records of how Egyptian builders got it.
... Read more

Product Description
As any American who has traveled abroad knows, the American home contains more, and more elaborate, plumbing than any other in the world. Indeed, Americans are renowned for their obsession with cleanliness. Although plumbing has occupied a central position in American life since the mid-nineteenth century, little scholarly attention has been paid to its history. Now, in All the Modern Conveniences, Maureen Ogle presents a fascinating study that explores the development of household plumbing in nineteenth-century America.

Until 1840, indoor plumbing could be found only in mansions and first-class hotels. Then, in the decade before midcentury, Americans representing a wider range of economic circumstances began to install household plumbing with increasing eagerness. Ogle draws on a wide assortment of contemporary sources -- sanitation reports, builders' manuals, fixture catalogues, patent applications, and popular scientific tracts -- to show how the demand for plumbing was prompted more by an emerging middle-class culture of convenience, reform, and domestic life than by fears about poor hygiene and inadequate sanitation. She also examines advancements in water-supply and waste-management technology, the architectural considerations these amenities entailed, and the scientific approach to sanitation that began to emerge by century's end. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Long-overdue book by an American author
Several British authors have written books similar to this one, and I've always wondered why no American books had been written, especially in view of Americans' legendary love of plumbing.Ms Ogle extensively explores thesocoiological aspects of the development of domestic plumbing prettythoroughly, and also explodes the myth that indoor plumbing was developedonly after large municipal water supply systems were developed.I wouldhave liked a slightly more details on the techincal angles of things, butoverall, her work is good.It's a definite "must read" forpeople who are interested in such things. ... Read more

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"Israel synthesizes a decade of editorial work on the Edison papers with the Western Union papers at the Smithsonian Institution, patent records, and key court cases... The result is an elegant book on how machine shop culture fostered inventive activities."--British Journal for the History of Science.

Studies in the History of Technology, New Series.

Merritt Roe Smith, Series Editor.

Product Description
These thirteen essays explore a crucial historical question that has been notoriously hard to pin down: To what extent, and by what means, does a society's technology determine its political, social, economic, and cultural forms?Karl Marx launched the modern debate on determinism with his provocative remark that "the hand-mill gives you society with the feudal lord; the steam-mill, society with the industrial capitalist," and a classic article by Robert Heilbroner (reprinted here) renewed the debate within the context of the history of technology. This book clarifies the debate and carries it forward.Marx's position has become embedded in our culture, in the form of constant reminders as to how our fast-changing technologies will alter our lives. Yet historians who have looked closely at where technologies really come from generally support the proposition that technologies are not autonomous but are social products, susceptible to democratic controls. The issue is crucial for democratic theory. These essays tackle it head-on, offering a deep look at all the shadings of determinism and assessing determinist models in a wide variety of historical contexts.Contributors: Bruce Bimber. Richard W. Bulliet. Robert L. Heilbroner. Thomas P. Hughes. Leo Marx. Thomas J. Misa. Peter C. Perdue. Philip Scranton. Merritt Roe Smith. Michael L. Smith. John M. Staudenmaier. Rosalind Williams. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Nice balanced collection of essays
Great collection of ssays from both sides of the fence backed of with concrete examples. Good book for a class touching on the subject.

The Machines Rule (Or Do They?)
This collection of essays purportedly addresses the philosophical theory of technological determinism - the belief that human behavior and culture is driven by technology and its unintended (or intended) consequences. Of course, the theory has many nuances and permutations, which are explored in depth by the various writers here. The book starts off with fine introductions to the topic, particularly the opening essay by Merritt Roe Smith and the seminal "Do Machines Make History?" by Robert Heilbroner. Unfortunately the book then descends into standard turgid theoretical obfuscations of dubious usefulness to anyone other than each professor's immediate colleagues. Examples include the standard academic exercise of reinterpreting the ideas of earlier thinkers and calling the results a new theory (Bruce Bimber, Thomas Mina), or forcing existing theories together and taking credit for the resulting "breakthrough" (Rosalind Williams, Leo Marx). Another running issue in this book is a lack of distinction among technology, progress, and modernity, as can be seen in the otherwise fascinating historical report by Michael L. Smith. And as usual for academic books that collect essays by various professors, everybody repeats the basic tenets of the theory at issue before embarking on their particular interpretation or example of interest. One benefit of this book is that the editors (both in their introduction and through the essay selection process) do not try to nail down a particular position on the many nuances of technological determinism, which is healthy for purposes of discussion. Regardless, little is accomplished by the writers except esoteric reinterpretations and feeble grasps for significance. [~doomsdayer520~]

gives perspective on technological change
This book is a fascinating summary of a centuries long debate in history. Can the development of technology shape large scale historical trends in a society? The essays in the book are as timely now as when it first came out ten years ago. While the authors talk about the general sweep of technology, across history,it lets readers possibly get some perspective on the changes currently underway.

From reading this book, you may get the sense that maybe our age isnot unique in experiencing vast technological changes. Whichever side you come down on, in the book's debate, you might now look with scepticism on claims that our age is unique in this regard. Unless of course you go with the Extropians and their siren call of an approaching singularity. ... Read more

Product Description
This book surveys the history of American technology from the early 17th century to the present, focusing on the key individuals, ideas, and systems that have shaped the important technological developments throughout American history. Cowan demonstrates how technological change has always been closely related to social development, and examines the important relationship between social history -- the family, women and work, and the home -- with that of technological developments in the factory, business, and the scientific community. In a fascinating concluding chapter, Cowan examines the vast social implications of recent technological developments, and how these technologies are causing crucial changes in America's political, economic, and social structure. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A history book written like a novel
Unlike normal event-name-date-place-next event history books, this one is written to be read.It draws the reader into the story of the social and cultural interaction with the development of technology.It is a great read for anyone interested in how we got to where we are.

A start to a very ambitious project
Ruth Cowan attempts to show how technology has developed since the colonial days through the present trends of biotechnology. This is a daunting task and it is pulled off as well as can be expected. There is a lot of information to be found here but a great deal more is missing.This book is still the best general overview on the history of technology and while more can be done this is a good start.If you want to understand how technology shaped our society you can't go wrong with this book.

The early chapters on the colonial economy are very well done and tightly analyzed. After that it starts to spread apart a little and the technology jumps around.The transportation revolution chapter is one of the more disappointing for me. While she does a decent job on the railroads she completely misses the significance of the canals on the early development in America.Her chapters on innovation and technological systems provide nice summaries of the relevant literature.Most of the chapters leading up to the twentieth century are filler that really don't address too many technological issues. The automobile chapter tries to do an amazingly quick history of cars and a lot gets left out in the process with even more wrong.The communications chapter does a better job of showing the evolution while looking at the technologies. The history of the military-academic-industrial complex provides an interesting look at how the Manhattan Project and NASA changed the way technology was developed. Cowan does a very good job on this particular topic and it is probably her best chapter in the later part of the book.The final chapter is on biotechnology and covers genetic corn, birth control and penicillin.These advancements while important are not really given justice.

Very Broad
Very broad overview of American technology starting with the beginning of the United States all the way through fairly current biotechnology.There are a few good stories in here and the second half is by far the best.Ireally liked the sections on the railroad, the automobile, radiocommunication, penicillin, and the section on the birth control pill was byfar the best.Is it true that doctors and researchers weren't allowed totalk about birth control till past the early 1950's in the United States?Here's an interesting quote...

"In short, by 1880 if by some weirdaccident all the batteries that generated electricity for telegraph lineshad suddenly run out, the economic and social life of the nation would havefaltered.Trains would have stopped running; businesses with branchoffices would have stopped functioning; newspapers could have not covereddistant events; the president could not have communicated with his Europeanambassadors; the stock market would have to close; family members separatedby long distances could have not relayed important news to each other.Bythe turn of the century, the telegraph system was both literally andfiguratively a network, linking together various aspects of national life-making people increasingly dependent on one another."

Y2K, ay? ... Read more

Product Description
From the ancient conquest of fire and the first turn of a wheel to the latest in scientific leaps toward the stars, this easy-access history offers a panoramic perspective on humankind’s restless quest for the laws, theories, and tools by which we can grasp and master our universe.

This concise, concentrated, consistently organized look at our species’ key scientific and innovative achievements spans all human history, presenting ten distinct eras from the first glimmers of intelligence to the cutting-edge technologies of the modern world. Within these intuitive divisions, all human scientific endeavors and achievement are divided into four general fields of inquiry and arrayed into four basic geocultural regions for easy comparison in a logical, systematic grid format highlighted by 350 photographs, maps, illustrations, and diagrams that add graphic emphasis to key information. Special two-page feature spreads explore the most revolutionary developments in greater depth; compelling, expertly composed essays and memorable quotations add sparkle; and informative sidebars provide specifically focused items of information about particular inventions, ideas, or themes. Completing this comprehensive approach, an extensive glossary explains unfamiliar terms, and a detailed index makes it a simple matter to follow a particular field or process from its origin through its complete cross-cultural evolution. This is a reference as usefully accessible as it is inherently fascinating. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Fascinating Book, Even For Non-Science People
This wonderfully illustrated, well-organized book may win over even the least scientifically minded.For people interested in science and invention, it provides hours of fascination.The drawings, photographs and timelines are interesting and beautiful.The writing style is lively and interesting, much more accessible than any standard science textbook.If I were teaching science to kids, I would use this book.It captivated both my 9-year-old daughter and me.

The short vignettes on each page that described a famous scientist or inventor were especially interesting.Their stories come to life as we learn personal details about them and their lives.The photography is excellent, up to the National Geographic standard of excellence.The way they put the advances in science in a timeline perspective was enlightening.Some inventions we think of as new actually pre-dated other inventions by centuries.It is fascinating and mind-bending to think about how people saw the world before much of modern science existed.More fascinating still is the inability of humans to foresee what amazing inventions and discoveries are yet to occur.

Amazing coffee table book
Let me get this out of the way first, this IS NOT a book that you will just "pick up" and read...it's meant to be a coffee table book...if you're hoping to start at page 1, read through and know everything about science and invention, look for another title!!!

I haven't, obviously, read the book from cover to cover, but have poked and prodded around aimlessly and have enjoyed it thoroughly...some of the stuff is superfluous and has no bearing on our lives (does it matter when Voltaire wrote Candide?Not really, the important part is that he did), but if you're a fun fact and *useless* information kinda fan, this is for you

as i was reading, i couldn't help but think that this book would come in handy for anybody studyinng to be on jeopardy or some trivia show...i suggest doing like i am, and making a point to pick it up for 5min a day and read a passage to learn something new each day

great buy so far, would definitely recommend to any avid science or technology readers ... Read more

Product Description

The United States registered phenomenal economic growth between the establishment of the new republic and the end of the Civil War. Ross Thomson's fresh study accounts for the unprecedented technological innovations that helped propel antebellum growth.

Thomson argues that the transition of the United States from an agrarian economy in 1790 to an industrial leader in 1865 relied fundamentally on the spread of technological knowledge within and across industries. Essential to this spread was a dense web of knowledge-diffusing institutions -- new occupations and industries, the patent office, machine shops, mechanics' associations, scientific societies, public colleges, and the civil engineering profession. Together they composed an integrated innovation system that generated, disseminated, and employed new technical knowledge across ever-widening ranges of the economy.

To trace technological change in fourteen major industries and the economy as a whole, Thomson analyzes 14,000 patents, the records of two dozen machinery firms, census data for 1,800 companies, and hundreds of business directories. This exhaustive research leads to his interesting interpretation of technological diffusion and development. Thomson's impressive study of the infrastructure that fueled and supported the young country's economic and industrial successes will interest students of economic, technological, and business history.

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Customer Reviews (2)

A New View of Early Japanese Railways
This is a lavishly produced book, large format, illustrated with pictures from the period, most of which have never before been published. Many of these are postcards and a surprising number are in hand-tinted colour. There's also quite a bit of realia, including dining car menus. The text is erudite and intelligent, reflecting a good understanding both of Japanese history and railways.

The author is American, which creates a few problems for the almost entirely British influenced Japanese railways of the period. Use of terms like mogul for a 2-6-0 would never have occurred on a British railway, in the wider sense of the word, and Japanese railways in the nineteenth century were British in much the same sense that Argentine or Australian railways were. He assumes some knowledge of railway terminology, which is totally reasonable for a book on this topic.

The book's strengths are many and, for anyone interested in the topic, it is indispensible. It does have design flaws. The text is too small to make reading comfortable, and the caption and appendix fonts are ludicrously small. For a book this size there are too many words and too many illustrations. Fewer larger illustrations would have made for a better book and so would fewer words in a larger font. The book would have benefited from a serious edit. The early chapters could have been reduced to a few paragraphs. The lack of editing is also evident in some errors in the text. Even the dreaded it's as a possessive makes an unwelcome appearance. Beyer, Peacock and Company always has a comma.

These are detail criticisms, however, and the book is strongly recommended. It is a model of how this important topic can be treated. Railways were immensely important in most countries in the second half of the nineteenth century and should form a more central part of historical discourse than they do. Dan Free has done scholarship a great service by putting railways at the centre of Meiji history and I, for one, applaud his efforts. I also look forward to similar books on the railway in other Asian countries.

A winning, unique collection
Any college-level collection strong in either Japanese history and culture or world transportation history needs EARLY JAPANESE RAILWAYS. Much attention has been given to Western railway development and too little on Asian events: this examines the rise of Japanese railways and the modernization that occurred because of them, pairing discussion and Japanese history with photos and historical research. A winning, unique collection offers details hard to unearth elsewhere.
... Read more