| Vendor | |
|---|---|
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Mohrbooks Literary Agency
Sebastian Ritscher |
| Original language | |
| English | |
| Weblink | |
| www.stevenberlinjohnson.com/ | |
HOW WE GOT TO NOW
Six Innovations That Made the Modern World
The companion book to the six-part series “How We Got to Now” (airs Fall 2014), to be produced for PBS by Nutopia in association with BBD Worldwide. Hosted by Steven Johnson, the popular science author and media theorist, the book explores the power and the legacy of great ideas. Topics include why and how ideas happen, and their sometimes unintended results.
In this illustrated volume, 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.
Following are descriptions of the six episodes featured in “How We Got to Now”:
• REFRIGERATION: How our mastery of “cold on demand” helped give birth to at least four million babies, created the Golden Age of Hollywood, and unlocked the secrets of the universe.
• CLEAN: How our battle against dirt created the sidewalk, the swimming pool, the flat screen, and the iPhone.
• LIGHT: How our quest to harness light changed our genetic make-up and gave birth to Times Square, Las Vegas, video downloads, and an artificial sun.
• SOUND: How the journey to harness sound not only created the modern world of instant communication, but also helped put thousands of planes in the sky, changed the face of warfare, and created a new way for teenagers to rebel.
• TIME: How our journey to calculate time helped create international trade and travel, victory for the North in the Civil War, GPS, and an understanding of the origins of human life.
• SIGHT: How our quest to see better helped us see the world differently, whether right in front of our noses with the birth of eyeglasses or far beyond our visible universe with the creation of the telescope. Steven Johnson is both a successful web entrepreneur and bestselling author. His books include Where Good Ideas Come From, Everything Bad is Good For You, The Ghost Map, The Invention of Air, and Future Perfect.
Steven Johnson is the author of the bestsellers Where Good Ideas Come From, The Invention of Air, The Ghost Map, Everything Bad Is Good for You, Mind Wide Open, Emergence, and Interface Culture, and is the editor of the anthology The Innovator’s Cookbook. He is the founder of a variety of influential websites and writes for Time, Wired, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Johnson lives in Marin County, California, with his wife and three sons.
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.
Following are descriptions of the six episodes featured in “How We Got to Now”:
• REFRIGERATION: How our mastery of “cold on demand” helped give birth to at least four million babies, created the Golden Age of Hollywood, and unlocked the secrets of the universe.
• CLEAN: How our battle against dirt created the sidewalk, the swimming pool, the flat screen, and the iPhone.
• LIGHT: How our quest to harness light changed our genetic make-up and gave birth to Times Square, Las Vegas, video downloads, and an artificial sun.
• SOUND: How the journey to harness sound not only created the modern world of instant communication, but also helped put thousands of planes in the sky, changed the face of warfare, and created a new way for teenagers to rebel.
• TIME: How our journey to calculate time helped create international trade and travel, victory for the North in the Civil War, GPS, and an understanding of the origins of human life.
• SIGHT: How our quest to see better helped us see the world differently, whether right in front of our noses with the birth of eyeglasses or far beyond our visible universe with the creation of the telescope. Steven Johnson is both a successful web entrepreneur and bestselling author. His books include Where Good Ideas Come From, Everything Bad is Good For You, The Ghost Map, The Invention of Air, and Future Perfect.
Steven Johnson is the author of the bestsellers Where Good Ideas Come From, The Invention of Air, The Ghost Map, Everything Bad Is Good for You, Mind Wide Open, Emergence, and Interface Culture, and is the editor of the anthology The Innovator’s Cookbook. He is the founder of a variety of influential websites and writes for Time, Wired, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Johnson lives in Marin County, California, with his wife and three sons.
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Book
Published 2014-09-30 by Riverhead |
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Book
Published 2014-09-30 by Riverhead |