The ideas that made the modern world ebook

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Maas Sarah J. Maas Books. About Sarah. Downloadable Free Activities. Teaching Resources. Education Series. Item added to basket. Checkout Continue Shopping. Add to basket. Add to wishlist. This title is available for inspection copy requests. Request an inspection copy. Paperback Ebook PDF. You must sign in to add this item to your wishlist. Please sign in or create an account. Description One thousand years ago, a traveler to Baghdad or the Chinese capital Kaifeng would have discovered a vast and flourishing city of broad streets, spacious gardens, and sophisticated urban amenities; meanwhile, Paris, Rome, and London were cramped and unhygienic collections of villages, and Europe was a backwater.

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Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. In this illustrated history, Steven Johnson explores the history of innovation over centuries, tracing facets of modern life refrigeration, clocks, and eyeglass lenses, to name a few from their creation by hobbyist From the New York Times—bestselling author of Where Good Ideas Come From and Everything Bad Is Good for You, a new look at the power and legacy of great ideas.

In this illustrated history, Steven Johnson explores the history of innovation over centuries, tracing facets of modern life refrigeration, clocks, and eyeglass lenses, to name a few from their creation by hobbyists, amateurs, and entrepreneurs to their unintended historical consequences. Filled with surprising stories of accidental genius and brilliant mistakes—from the French publisher who invented the phonograph before Edison but forgot to include playback, to the Hollywood movie star who helped invent the technology behind Wi-Fi and Bluetooth—How We Got to Now investigates the secret history behind the everyday objects of contemporary life.

In his trademark style, Johnson examines unexpected connections between seemingly unrelated fields: how the invention of air-conditioning enabled the largest migration of human beings in the history of the species—to cities such as Dubai or Phoenix, which would otherwise be virtually uninhabitable; how pendulum clocks helped trigger the industrial revolution; and how clean water made it possible to manufacture computer chips.

Accompanied by a major six-part television series on PBS, How We Got to Now is the story of collaborative networks building the modern world, written in the provocative, informative, and engaging style that has earned Johnson fans around the globe. Get A Copy. Hardcover , pages. Published September 30th by Riverhead Books first published September 25th More Details Original Title. Other Editions Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about How We Got to Now , please sign up.

According to Johnson, glass started out as trinkets, and a few thousand years later, it has become what? Larry Fiber optics See all 4 questions about How We Got to Now…. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews.

Showing Average rating 4. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. I'm a sucker for books that incorporate interdisciplinary thinking and then weave them into a narrative about history. It was fun to see the way innovations in one area could set off subsequent innovations that seem totally unrelated.

The unpredictable consequences of new discoveries is interesting and explaining it through history made it resonate much more, it really humanized the people being talked about.

I really appreciate the author's discussion about what actually helps people make these I'm a sucker for books that incorporate interdisciplinary thinking and then weave them into a narrative about history. I really appreciate the author's discussion about what actually helps people make these leaps and ideas that revolutionize everything because it's one that even though I see acknowledged more often now isn't as widely believed.

Which is awful because it holds people back from doing amazing things because they have a faulty view of how progress really works. I really enjoyed the book though, if you liked Freakonomics you'd probably like reading this one also, it utilizes the same out of the box thinking.

View all 8 comments. I picked this book up on holidays on the north coast right in the middle of one of the worst cold's I have ever had. So this review comes with a drugged up warning. Lots and lots of psuedoephidrine. The title's promise of "Six innovations that made the modern world" was probably stamped by some marketing schlep rather than the author. The book rather consists of six technological avenues that shaped how we live. These are divided by chapter and consist of concepts like 'cold', 'light', 'clean' an I picked this book up on holidays on the north coast right in the middle of one of the worst cold's I have ever had.

These are divided by chapter and consist of concepts like 'cold', 'light', 'clean' and 'sound'. Yes, by the title, sound was an innovation that made the modern world. Anyway the stories inside each chapter are somewhat fascinating and full of intrigue. The author develops several ideas throughout: that some technological developments are inevitable, and some are way out of left-field. Kinda what we know anyway, but it's great to hear these examples.

So I'd say a good, light holiday read for anyone who is fascinated by the history of technology. He is a good writer and I'll check out his other stuff.

But for me it could have delved a bit deeper into his premise and still been a great, light holiday read. View all 9 comments. SOUND - told me that the cave paintings might have been more for marking spots for the best sound than for art. Turns out even dabs of color in the Lascaux caves in France were mapped to the best echo spots, so it has a much older heritage than I'd previously thought. Even so, things really got hopping in the last century or two as we turned it into electric.

Sound illustrates this very well. Certainly he never thought it would be used for sonograms. Unintended consequences By the end of the decade, the sex ratio at birth in hospitals throughout China was almost boys to every girls, with some provinces reporting ratios as high as This may be one of the most astonishing, and tragic, hummingbird effects in all of twentieth-century technology The normal ratio is in the US which makes the statistic a little less tragic.

Scientists don't really know what drives the difference in the sex ratio in most cases, although China's is a fact. The clean up of cities was amazing. I hadn't realized the entire city of Chicago was jacked up, though. That 3 billion people still live in squalor is ridiculous. His examples of train schedules was excellent as were the explanations of how it got more accurate as technology progressed.

He also made a great example of how Edison was not a genius inventor on his own. He was one of the pioneers of having a team in various disciplines. LIGHT - was very expensive before the electric light. Not much more than a century ago, we were hunting sperm whales to mine their heads for oil. Now we're using lasers in an attempt to create a sun. I highly recommend this. Johnson even engages in some what-if scenarios. Indeed, we've come a long way, baby!

Jan 22, Andrew rated it really liked it. History is most frequently told from the perspective of hero protagonist or the victorious civilization or as if everything was part of an inexorable and clear plan of progress. History writing is by definition hindsight, and we are wont to weave all details into one clear narrative. The genius of this book is to show the chaos of history and juxtapose it next to the inevitability of basic chemistry and physics.

Steven Johnson succeeds exceptionally well in this enjoyable and delightful read abo History is most frequently told from the perspective of hero protagonist or the victorious civilization or as if everything was part of an inexorable and clear plan of progress. Steven Johnson succeeds exceptionally well in this enjoyable and delightful read about invention and the making of modern society. In this book Steven Johnson considers six innovation that the modern world really cannot live without.

These are cold, glass, sound, light, time and clean. Slightly obscure you might think, but these six objects have given us so many things like air conditioning, microscopes, clean water, time zones, lasers and the telephone.

As he writes about each subject, he reminds you of life before these inventions, with no artificial light, drinking water that could kill you in 48 hours and food that spot In this book Steven Johnson considers six innovation that the modern world really cannot live without.

As he writes about each subject, he reminds you of life before these inventions, with no artificial light, drinking water that could kill you in 48 hours and food that spot quickly in the summer.

He tells about the characters that put their reputations and money on the line to get these things off the ground. Others then saw the potential of the ideas and the spinoff ideas from the initial one have been phenomenal. For example before Gutenberg, it was only a handful of monks that needed glasses for near sighted work. After the first books appeared, people realised that they couldn't see the text and the market for reading glasses, using the newly developed lenses took off.

The most fascinating was the way that the entire city of Chicago was jacked up to allow space underneath to install a sewerage system. Johnson has a way of conveying ideas and concepts that make this a pleasure to read, well worth reading. View all 4 comments. Feb 12, Jason Anthony rated it it was amazing. When reading nonfiction, I have two set rules: 1 Did I learn something new? In this book which isn't short, but feels very short because you want to race right through it , Johnson tracks how some of our most important inventions glass, water treatment, electricity changed the world in both predictable and unpredictable ways.

The writing is quick and entertaining; When reading nonfiction, I have two set rules: 1 Did I learn something new? The writing is quick and entertaining; the tidbits of knowledge are non-stop. For example, did you know that the phrase "always a bridesmaid, never a bride" originated as a Listerine ad for the ladies? I did not! The closest parallel I can think to this book is the work of Malcolm Gladwell. However, as Gladwell treads in my research domain, I often know when he's exaggerating, twisting, or taking credit for others' ideas.

Here, there's none of the latter he speaks of others genius and rarely hints at his own ideas but I can't speak to the world of physics and hard science. That being said, I have no reason to doubt his historical accuracy.

I strongly recommend the book and only wish it lasted longer. View 2 comments. Jul 30, Fred Forbes rated it really liked it. I find it interesting to read the history of trends and technology that have impacted our lives, enjoy it even more when it is delivered in energetic and amusing fashion. Beyond the "butterfly effect" wherein the interaction of the air of the flap of wings of a butterfly in California, say, leads to the formation of a storm in the Atlantic.

While this is an interesting aspect of chaos theory, the author prefers the "hummingbird effect" where the changes in on thing can be directly linked to anot I find it interesting to read the history of trends and technology that have impacted our lives, enjoy it even more when it is delivered in energetic and amusing fashion. While this is an interesting aspect of chaos theory, the author prefers the "hummingbird effect" where the changes in on thing can be directly linked to another like the role of pollen on hummingbird flight patterns and wing development.

This effect the author puts to use to describe "strange chains of influence" where "innovation or cluster of innovations, in one field ends up triggering changes that seem to belong to a different domain altogether.

Johnson analyses 6 major areas of development glass, cold, sound, clean, time and light. The book is full of interesting anecdotes - the New Englander who thought he could make a fortune delivering ice to the tropics only to find once he got there that no one wanted it. Or the Frenchman who invented a method of recording sound long before Edison's phonograph and who would be honored today but for one problem - he forgot about playback!

The author posits that most inventions tend to arise in clusters based on where current practice and technology exist in the "adjacent possible". But he also notes that some "time travelers" are able to develop ideas long before they can be put to practical use a la Babbage and his analytical engine and Ada Lovelace's designs for computer programming, DaVinci and his helicopters, etc. The book is well illustrated, moves at a rapid clip and is an amusing and educational read.

View 1 comment. May 12, Radwa rated it really liked it Shelves: e-books. Bookclub pick by: Good Mythical Morning book club.