How We Got to Now
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. Download How We Got to Now – kino-fada.fr 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 , 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 It was fun to see the way innovations in one area could set off subsequent innovations that seem totally unrelated The unpred...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 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 and sound Yes, by the title, sound was an innovation that made the modern world Ugh.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...Johnson s long view of how innovations in 6 different fields shaped our civilization takes traces them from their original uses discoveries through their current uses It s an often amazing journey as he points out huge changes made possible by them the odd consequences in other portions of our lives that we normally wouldn t associate with them The Wall Street Journal did a good review here GLASS from King Tut s jewelry to dishes to lens Johnson s long view of how innovations in 6 different fields shaped our civilization takes traces them from their original uses discoveries through their current uses It s an often amazing journey as he points out huge changes made possible by them the odd consequences in other portions of our lives that we normally wouldn t associate with them The Wall Street Journal did a good review here GLASS from King Tut s jewelry to dishes to lenses, glass has certainly been one of our oldest most important arts Lenses meshing with the printing press for glasses eventually led to the microscope telescope, expanding our views immeasurably Its use as building communication materials is evenastonishing.2 COLD is eveninteresting in the way it blossomed in just the past couple of centuries has caused huge shifts in economics populations through food storage habitability Birdseye Carrier transformed our food living spaces.3 SOUND told me that t...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 History writing is by definition hindsight, and we are wont to weave all details into one clear narrat...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 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 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 appe...I find it interesting to read the history of trends and technology that have impacted our lives, enjoy it evenwhen 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 ...Bookclub pick by Good Mythical Morning book club.The most important thing with nonfiction books like this one is to learn something new, and that s what happened after reading this book.This book takes a different approach, as Johnson calls it The Hummingbird effect which is different from the butterfly effect, as in he looks at inventions that had their effect on other innovations in completely different fields, in an almost not intentional or intentional way He also talks about some of the Bookclub pick by Good Mythical Morning book club.The most important thing with nonfiction books like this one is to learn something new, and that s what happened after reading this book.This book takes a different approach, as Johnson calls it The Hummingbird effect which is different from the butterfly effect, as in he looks at inventions that had their effect on other innovations in completely different fields, in an almost not intentional or intentional way He also talks about some of the non standard inventions like glass and time and clean, or approaches some well established inventions in a new way that is new and refreshing like light and sound and cold Of course, the book as it says in the introduction looks solely on the way these innovations affected and came about in the US and Europe so the we in the title is actuallyabout how Americans and Europeans innovated these ideas or made any progress with them The only drawback is that he doesn t mention how some of the i...I love stuff like this like that old British tv series Connections that tell you how one discovery or technological improvement in the field of printing, for example, led to another discovery or great leap forward in the field of art, or rapid progress in science, etc Anyway, that s what this book i...When reading nonfiction, I have two set rules 1 Did I learn something new and 2 Did I enjoy the writing and or material Steven Johnson s How We Got to Now led me to strong YES responses for both.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 treatmen...
- 22 November 2017 Steven Johnson
- Hardcover
- 255 pages
- 1594632960
- Steven Johnson
- How We Got to Now