Scientific American Inventions and Discoveries : All the Milestones in Ingenuity From the Discovery of Fire to the Invention of the Microwave Oven [Hardcover]

Rodney Carlisle (Author), Scientific American (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2, 2004 | ISBN-10: 0471244104 | ISBN-13: 978-0471244103 | Edition: 1

A unique A-to-Z reference of brilliance in innovation and invention

Combining engagingly written, well-researched history with the respected imprimatur of Scientific American magazine, this authoritative, accessible reference provides a wide-ranging overview of the inventions, technological advances, and discoveries that have transformed human society throughout our history.

More than 400 entertaining entries explain the details and significance of such varied breakthroughs as the development of agriculture, the "invention" of algebra, and the birth of the computer. Special chronological sections divide the entries, providing a unique focus on the intersection of science and technology from early human history to the present. In addition, each section is supplemented by primary source sidebars, which feature excerpts from scientists' diaries, contemporary accounts of new inventions, and various "In Their Own Words" sources.

Comprehensive and thoroughly readable, Scientific American Inventions and Discoveries is an indispensable resource for anyone fascinated by the history of science and technology.

Topics include:

aerosol spray * algebra * Archimedes' Principle * barbed wire * canned food * carburetor * circulation of blood * condom * encryption machine * fork * fuel cell * latitude * music synthesizer * positron * radar * steel * television * traffic lights * Heisenberg's uncertainty principle

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This fact-filled compendium will delight students with a passion for science and technology, no matter what their age. Covering the history of humanity in five parts, from the ancient world to the present, Carlisle, a professor emeritus at Rutgers and an authority on the history of technology, explains the origins of objects as common as the ballpoint pen and as complex as the periodic table of elements. There are surprises to be found: for instance, while we associate the invention of the arch with the Romans, Carlisle says pre-Roman arches have been found in Egypt. On a less serious note, while the origin of the word "whisky" is Gaelic ("uisge"), distilled liquors probably existed as far back as 800 B.C. in China. Illustrations, summary tables (such as chronologies) and sidebars with pungent quotes from historical sources enrich the readable text.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Despite excluding night baseball and sliced bread, Carlisle's collection of the most important inventions includes the items that come immediately to mind, from beer to stainless steel. Formally arranged as an encyclopedia divided into six historical periods, the 418 inventions and 100 discoveries about nature are more a browser's trove suited to readers keen on the history of technology. That genre has been strikingly vibrant in the past decade, during which many of the devices Carlisle selects have received book-length examination, for example the copy machine (see Copies in Seconds by David Owen, p.1885). Carlisle, a university professor, strives to impart a general appreciation for the widest trends of technological progress, pausing at junctures such as the decline of the Roman Empire to discuss the state of humanity's tool kit. The entries themselves are compact, studded with boldface references to other inventions that highlight how most innovations are dependent on a previous one. For libraries updating their history-of-technology collection. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (August 2, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471244104
• ISBN-13: 978-0471244103
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 7.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #851,913 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a grand sweep of major inventions, March 29, 2005

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This review is from: Scientific American Inventions and Discoveries : All the Milestones in Ingenuity From the Discovery of Fire to the Invention of the Microwave Oven (Hardcover)

If you like the style of a Scientific American issue, then you should check out this book. Their editors have amassed a chronicle of key inventions and discoveries, spanning the history of human civilisation. Some 400 inventions are explained. Albeit briefly, because of space considerations.

The book tries to put these into a context of ever onward and upward. Though in the historical periods (especially antiquity), these inventions must have been repeatedly invented and forgotten.

As an item of terminology - the "inventions" also include things which are arguably discoveries. Like the positron. It certainly existed in nature before physicists were aware of it. Though algebra might indeed be an invention, to some who would regard it as a pure construct of the mind. But others, especially some physicists, would pay that no heed; saying that such things exist independent of human consciousness.