Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Inventive History of Technology, November 20, 2004
This magazine is devoted to American inventions and technology that have affected our lives. In essence, this magazine is a historical magazine about American technology. Within each issue are multiple articles about a historical invention. The articles can either focus on the technology or focus on an individual who has been a key contributor to the advancement of that technology. Typically, each issue also has an interview with an inventor or inventors whose contributions have materially affected our lives or society.
The scope of the magazine is broad. There have been articles on the Trans-Canada highway. Another recent issue had an excellent article on tunnel boring machines. In yet another article the development of refinery cracking was described in the context of the development of higher performance engines. The contribution of high octane gasoline to the winning of the air war was mentioned, an interesting piece of trivia of which I was previously unaware.
The scope of the magazine is beyond the physical sciences. Biology and the development of medical technology are also covered. While the magazine is written at a level that an educated non-expert can understand, some of the biology related articles challenge my attention.
This magazine is an excellent source of technological history. However, while the technical jargon used is that appropriate to a technology, this magazine is not light reading for those unfamiliar with a specific field. As an example, I had to read portions of the article on refinery cracking a couple of times to understand the general description of how the cracking process works. Therefore, while I highly recommend this magazine to anyone with an interest in the history of technology, realize that for some readers, for example elementary school students, this magazine could present a reading challenge.
Most articles also provide pictures or other artwork. Frequently this artwork is unavailable from any other magazine source because there are so few magazines that deal with technological history. The quality of the images varies because many of the pictures have not been well-preserved, but in many cases they are the only pictures available.
This magazine frequently mentions the Inventor's Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio, which is sponsored by the United States Patent & Trademark Office. A number of articles have covered inductees to the Inventor's Hall of Fame, showing that while the articles are historical in nature, they are also currently relevant.
There are a large number of magazines that are either about technology, or have had articles about technology. There are a large number of trade magazines that cover technology. Sometimes these magazines even have articles about the history of an invention. However, the "American Heritage of Invention & Technology" is the only magazine of which I am aware the covers the history of invention and technology. While the focus of the articles is American technology, it is inevitable that the relationship of foreign invention is covered occasionally as well when that technology was important in the development of American technology. I consider this magazine to be excellent for anyone with an interest in historical technology, and is an excellent complement to other historical magazines.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
History of technology for the layman., September 1, 2003
By A Customer
Of all the magazines I currently subscribe to, I have had this one the longest. Short, concise articles on everyday items are written for the layman and really open up the history of technology to the reader. I just wish I would have kept all the issues from the start of my subscription.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is easily my favorite magazine, July 14, 2004
I wish this magazine came out more often (as another reviewer said). It would be fascinating for anyone with the slightest interest in the history of technology and engineering. Recent articles have covered vacuum tubes, their history, and why some are still used now, and nuclear power and how that industry stalled in America. I remember reading another article in the mid-'90s about a guy in New York City who shoveled coal for a public school furnace. He explained his job and how hard it was to buy a coal shovel (the hardware store people couldn't believe it). A few years later they followed up with a note that all public schools in NYC had been converted from coal, and that the coal-shoveler's job was MUCH easier maintaining the new furnace. Stories on iron bridges and how Necco wafers are made (with the same machine for 100 years or so) and how buttons are made from seashells and how paper clips are made and how a Hollywood actress designed a frequency-jumping weapons guidance system and all sorts of others are included. Lots of cool articles about how everyday (and not-so-common) technologies went from ideas in someone's mind to products that are ready for use.
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