Inventions History

In this fascinating history spanning continents and centuries, historian David Wootton offers a lively defense of science, revealing why the Scientific Revolution was truly the greatest event in our history. The Invention of Science goes back 500 years in time to chronicle this crucial transformation, exploring the factors that led to its birth and the people who made it happen. Wootton argues that the Scientific Revolution was actually five separate yet concurrent events that developed independently.

What makes us moral beings? How do we decide what is good and what is evil? And has it always been that way? Hanno Sauer's sweeping new history of humanity, covering five million years of our universal moral values, comes at a crucial moment of crisis for those values, and helps to explain how they arose—and why we need them. Modern societies are in crisis: a shared universal morality seems to be a thing of the past. Hanno Sauer explains why this appearance is deceptive: in fact, there are universal values that all people share. 

Discover the Weird, the Wonderful, and the Downright Mind-Boggling! Did you know that the internet weighs about as much as a single strawberry? Or that it actually rains glass sideways on a gas giant planet 63 light-years away? 1,000 Weird But True Facts takes you on a journey through 40 themed chapters packed with 25 incredible facts each. This isn’t just a list of trivia; it’s a window into the fascinating science, history, and culture that shape our world. From the "beating heart" glacier on Pluto to the reason why birds are actually living dinosaurs, this collection is designed to ...

The Underground Knowledge Series VI–X plunges readers deeper into the shadows of global power, exposing the hidden forces shaping society in ways most people never imagine. In this controversial and explosive box set, bestselling authors James & Lance Morcan continue their relentless investigation into the world’s most secretive institutions, controversial subjects, and suppressed truths. BANKRUPTING THE THIRD WORLD: How the Global Elite Drown Poor Nations in a Sea of Debt reveals how developing nations are systematically crippled by debt, corruption, and predatory global financial ...

What do the wheel, the printing press, the light bulb, and the smartphone have in common? Each began as a simple idea—and went on to change the course of human history. 100 Inventions That Changed the World takes readers on a fascinating journey through the breakthroughs that shaped civilization. From the earliest tools that helped humans survive to the advanced technologies that define modern life, this book reveals how creativity, curiosity, and problem-solving have driven progress for thousands of years. Inside, you’ll discover: How ancient inventions laid the foundations of society ...

History’s Biggest Oops: The Blunders That Changed the World A witty, eye-opening journey through the most surprising mistakes that made history. What do global superpowers, billion-dollar companies, genius inventors, and well-meaning leaders all have in common? At some point, they all got it spectacularly wrong. This laugh-out-loud and deeply curious collection explores the unexpected missteps, miscalculations, and “what were they thinking?” moments that ended up shaping the world in strange and powerful ways. Blending sharp insight with irreverent humor, this book offers a guided ...

The world is never finished catching up with Vaclav Smil. In his latest and perhaps most digestible book, Invention and Innovation, the prolific author—a favorite of Bill Gates—pens an insightful and fact-filled jaunt through the history of human invention. Impatient with the hype that so often accompanies innovation, Smil offers in this book a clear-eyed corrective to the overpromises that accompany everything from new cures for diseases to AI.

Dyson has become a byword for high-performing products, technology, design, and invention. Now, James Dyson, the inventor and entrepreneur who made it all happen, tells his remarkable and inspirational story in Invention: A Life, “one of the year’s most relevant and revelatory business...

The first volume of two in a new, updated edition of the 2012 book Playing at the World, which charts the vast and complex history of role-playing games. This new edition of Playing at the World is the first of two volumes that update the 720-page original tome of the same name from 2012. This first volume is The Invention of Dungeons & Dragons, which explores the publication of that iconic game.

"Lauritzen has some good ideas..." — Daniel Dennett, Philosopher & Author "Anyone interested in science and religion should read this book." — Dr. Elizabeth Loftus, Ph.D., Award-Winning Psychologist "Bill Lauritzen is some kind of genius." — Sir Arthur C. Clarke "An interesting and thought-provoking book." — Dr. Mamikon Mnatsakanian, Ph.D, Astrophysicist, Caltech How did mythology and religion first begin? Where did the ideas of “God,” “spirit,” and “soul” come from? In this groundbreaking work, the author takes us back to our prehistoric roots, showing how early humans ...

This audiobook is narrated by an AI Voice. 'A remarkable achievement' - Stephen Fry In 2015 #thedress captured the world's imagination. Was the dress in the picture white and gold or blue and black? It inspired the author to ask: if people in the same time and place can see the same thing...

A FASCINATING DELVE INTO THE HISTORY OF THE CITY, BY THE SUNDAY TIMES #1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF A HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN 47 BORDERS 'Charming and outstandingly nerdish' ROBERT WEBB 'I love Jonn Elledge; I love the way he looks at the world' MARINA HYDE _________ For over 10,000 years, we humans...

A rollicking, enlightening examination of humanity’s changing relationship to creativity, written from the perspectives of the Greek Muses. The thing that sets humans apart from other animals is our ability to create, to imagine how one thing could become something else. For millennia, art and...

In this extraordinary book, an award-winning author tells the story of how humans invented history, from the Stone Age to the Virtual Age “Terrific… Tamim Ansary explores the underappreciated ways that empires, nations, and smaller sets of people have responded to their surroundings...

A tiny flash of yellow in a California millrace was all it took to send the world running west. In 1848, James Marshall discovered gold near an unfinished sawmill. The news was supposed to remain secret. Instead, it emptied ships, abandoned farms, overwhelmed towns, created fortunes, destroyed fortunes, and transformed California almost overnight. Strange But True: The Weird History of the California Gold Rush digs beyond the familiar stories of bearded prospectors and overflowing gold pans to uncover the stranger, funnier, darker, and more surprising side of the rush west. Inside, you will...

What if the greatest inventions in history had a much stranger family tree than anyone remembers? STRANGE BUT TRUE: THE WEIRD HISTORY OF FAILED INVENTIONS dives into the wonderfully bizarre world of machines, gadgets, vehicles, weapons, household devices, and futuristic ideas that promised to change everything—and then absolutely did not. Inside, you’ll meet steam-powered mechanical men, giant monowheels, propeller cars, amphibious automobiles, flying tanks, rocket-delivered mail, horse-drawn vacuum cleaners, radioactive health products, electric miracle belts, pigeon-guided weapons, ...

Before modern surgery became a science of sterile rooms, anesthesia, and precision instruments, it was a dangerous art practiced at the edge of pain, blood, and uncertainty. In the brilliant medical world of al-Andalus, one physician helped change that forever. Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi, known to Latin Europe as Albucasis, was one of the most influential surgeons in history. His monumental medical encyclopedia, Al-Tasrif, transformed operative medicine by describing surgical procedures, illustrating instruments, warning against reckless practice, and teaching future physicians that surgery ...

Sicily has always acted as a gateway between Europe and the rest of the world. Fought over by the Phoenicians and Greeks, the Romans, Goths and Byzantines, Arabs and Normans, Germans, and the Spanish and the French for thousands of years, Sicily became a unique melting pot where diverse traditions merged, producing a unique heritage and singular culture. In this fascinating account of the island from the earliest times to the present day, author and journalist Jamie Mackay leads us through this most elusive of places.

Embark on a breathtaking adventure through the captivating world of optics with "Light through the Ages: A Global History of Optics." This enthralling and comprehensive guide will take you on an exhilarating ride, unveiling the mysteries of light and its applications that have shaped human history and transformed our understanding of the universe. From the ingenious discoveries of the ancient Egyptians to the cutting-edge advancements in quantum optics, this riveting book brings to life the inspiring stories of the remarkable pioneers, inventors, and visionaries who have revolutionized the ...

Written by an author with plenty of experience holding a scalpel, Dr. David Schneider's in-depth biography is an encompassing history of the practice that has leapt forward over the centuries from the dangerous guesswork of ancient Greek physicians through the world-changing implant revolution of the 20th century.