In 1832, William MacGillivray published this abridged version of the explorer and naturalist Alexander von Humboldt's Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent During the Years 1799 1804, which had appeared in a seven-volume English translation between 1814 and 1829. MacGillivray's edition, intended for the general public, also includes Humboldt's accounts of his explorations of the Ural Mountains and Caspian Sea. Humboldt became a major figure in physical geography as a result of his arduous five-year trip to explore Central and South America. This book offers a brief biographical sketch of the scientist and covers his exciting journeys from the Island of Tenerife across the Atlantic Ocean to Caracas, and up the Orinoco River by canoe. Humboldt fights mosquitoes in dense rain forests and climbs Andean peaks in Peru without mountain gear, taking detailed notes at every stage.

William Swainson F. R. S., was recognised principally as a zoologist, an ornithologist and a skilled and prolific illustrator. He also had a tremendous enthusiasm for seeking and identifying new species. In this 1834 volume however, Swainson addressed the nature of, foundations for and successful pursuit of zoology. It argues firmly for the key importance of taxonomy. Swainson was an ardent advocate of MacLeay's now entirely outmoded 'quinary' system of classification - even then a distinctly minority view. This sought affinities, patterns and analogies among organisms, in order to discern God's order. More than a mere curiosity, such work was of pivotal concern to enterprising naturalists of the 1820s and 1830s - including the young Charles Darwin. It also reached Robert Chambers, whose 1844 Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation was an important landmark in the development of the theory of evolution.

Alfred Russel Wallace (1823 1913) is regarded as the co-discoverer with Darwin of the theory of evolution. It was an essay which Wallace sent in 1858 to Darwin (whom he greatly admired and to whom he dedicated his most famous book, The Malay Archipelago) which impelled Darwin to publish an article on his own long-pondered theory simultaneously with that of Wallace. As a travelling naturalist and collector in the Far East and South America, Wallace already inclined towards the Lamarckian theory of transmutation of species, and his own researches convinced him of the reality of evolution. On the publication of On the Origin of Species, Wallace became one of its most prominent advocates, and Darwinism, published in 1889, supports the theory and counters many of the arguments put forward by scientists and others who opposed it.

Alfred Russel Wallace (1823 1913) is regarded as the co-discoverer with Darwin of the theory of evolution. It was an essay which Wallace sent in 1858 to Darwin (to whom he had dedicated his most famous book, The Malay Archipelago) which impelled Darwin to publish an article on his own long-pondered theory simultaneously with that of Wallace. As a travelling naturalist and collector in the Far East and South America, Wallace already inclined towards the Lamarckian theory of transmutation of species, and his own researches convinced him of the reality of evolution. On the publication of On the Origin of Species, Wallace became one of its most prominent advocates. This second, corrected, edition (1871) of a series of essays published in book form in 1870, shows the development of his thinking about evolution, and emphasises his admiration for, and support of, Darwin's work.

Sir Francis Bond Head (1793 1875) known as 'Galloping Head', was a soldier who later served as lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada, but who was dismissed from his post when rebellion broke out there in 1837. Before this, he had tried unsuccessfully to set up a mining company in Argentina. It is from this period of his life that the characteristically entitled Rough Notes Taken During Some Rapid Journeys Across the Pampas and Among the Andes (published in 1826) were written, in a headlong and jocular style which belies the actual hardships of his journey. Part of the interest of the account today lies in the fact that Charles Darwin had read it and referred to it frequently and admiringly in his letters home as he traversed the same country six years later: 'Do you know Head's book? it gives an excellent account of the manners of this country'.

John Fleming (1785 1857) was a minister of the Church of Scotland, but in his time at the University of Edinburgh he had also studied geology and zoology. In the tradition of the country parson who was also a talented and knowledgeable naturalist, he published his first works on the geology of the Shetland Islands while serving there as a minister. His subsequent works led to his being offered the chair of natural philosophy at the University of Aberdeen, and subsequently at the newly created chair of natural history at the Free Church College in Edinburgh. The two-volume Philosophy of Zoology was published in 1822, and the young Charles Darwin is recorded as borrowing it from the library of Edinburgh University in 1825/6. His intention in the book was to 'collect the truths of Zoology within a small compass, and to render them more intelligible, by a systematical arrangement'.

John Fleming (1785 1857) was a minister of the Church of Scotland, but in his time at the University of Edinburgh he had also studied geology and zoology. In the tradition of the country parson who was also a talented and knowledgeable naturalist, he published his first works on the geology of the Shetland Islands while serving there as a minister. His subsequent works led to his being offered the chair of natural philosophy at the University of Aberdeen, and subsequently at the newly created chair of natural history at the Free Church College in Edinburgh. The two-volume Philosophy of Zoology was published in 1822, and the young Charles Darwin is recorded as borrowing it from the library of Edinburgh University in 1825/6. His intention in the book was to 'collect the truths of Zoology within a small compass, and to render them more intelligible, by a systematical arrangement'.

When planes crash, bridges collapse, and automobile gas tanks explode, we are quick to blame poor design. But Henry Petroski says we must look beyond design for causes and corrections. Known for his masterly explanations of engineering successes and failures, Petroski here takes his analysis a step further, to consider the larger context in which accidents occur. In To Forgive Design he surveys some of the most infamous failures of our time, from the 2007 Minneapolis bridge collapse and the toppling of a massive Shanghai apartment building in 2009 to Boston's prolonged Big Dig and the 2010 Gulf oil spill. These avoidable disasters reveal the interdependency of people and machines within systems whose complex behavior was undreamt of by their designers, until it was too late. Petroski shows that even the simplest technology is embedded in cultural and socioeconomic constraints, complications, and contradictions. Failure to imagine the possibility of failure is the most profound mistake engineers can make. Software developers realized this early on and looked outside their young field, to structural engineering, as they sought a historical perspective to help them identify their own potential mistakes. By explaining the interconnectedness of technology and culture and the dangers that can emerge from complexity, Petroski demonstrates that we would all do well to follow their lead.

A revealing genealogy of image-recognition techniques and technologies   Today’s most advanced neural networks and sophisticated image-analysis methods come from 1950s and ’60s Cold War culture—and many biases and ways of understanding the world from that era persist along with them. Aerial surveillance and reconnaissance shaped all of the technologies that we now refer to as computer vision, including facial recognition. The Birth of Computer Vision uncovers these histories and finds connections between the algorithms, people, and politics at the core of automating perception today. James E. Dobson reveals how new forms of computerized surveillance systems, high-tech policing, and automated decision-making systems have become entangled, functioning together as a new technological apparatus of social control. Tracing the development of a series of important computer-vision algorithms, he uncovers the ideas, worrisome military origins, and lingering goals reproduced within the code and the products based on it, examining how they became linked to one another and repurposed for domestic and commercial uses. Dobson includes analysis of the Shakey Project, which produced the first semi-autonomous robot, and the impact of student protest in the early 1970s at Stanford University, as well as recovering the computer vision–related aspects of Frank Rosenblatt’s Perceptron as the crucial link between machine learning and computer vision. Motivated by the ongoing use of these major algorithms and methods, The Birth of Computer Vision chronicles the foundations of computer vision and artificial intelligence, its major transformations, and the questionable legacy of its origins. Cover alt text: Two overlapping circles in cream and violet, with black background. Top is a printed circuit with camera eye; below a person at a 1977 computer.

Recipient of the 2020 IISE Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers Joint Publishers Book-of-the-Year Award Industrial engineering is the profession dedicated to making collective systems function better with less waste, better quality, and fewer resources, to serve the needs of society more efficiently and more effectively. This book uses a story-telling approach to advocate and elaborate the fundamental principles of industrial engineering in a simple, interesting, and engaging format. It will stimulate interest in industrial engineering by exploring how the tools and techniques of the discipline can be relevant to a broad spectrum of applications in business, industry, engineering, education, government, and the military. Features Covers the origin of industrial engineering Discusses the early pioneers and profiles the evolution of the profession Presents offshoot branches of industrial engineering Illustrates specific areas of performance measurement and human factors Links industrial engineering to the emergence of digital engineering Uses the author's personal experience to illustrate his advocacy and interest in the profession

This complete edition of Newton's optical papers contains two volumes: the first details his Optical Lectures, delivered at Cambridge University between 1670 and 1672, while the second documents the evolution of the Opticks, the most influential optical and experimental work of the eighteenth century. The Lectures is Newton's first major scientific treatise, and represents a crucial link between his early years of discovery and his mature publications. The complete text of both surviving versions of the Lectures, an early version and a vastly expanded revision, is included here, together with translation and commentary. The second volume opens with the first edition of the Opticks (1704) and the first draft in Latin. The manuscripts of the queries that Newton added to the Latin translation in 1706 and the second English edition (1717) follow this, accompanied by shorter manuscripts, copious notes and commentary. This is an essential resource for the study of Newtonian science.

First published in 1901. This study presents an account of the remarkable discoveries and inventions which distinguished the nineteenth-century. The author examines an assortment of developments, including that in the sciences, architecture, travel, and communications. This title will be of great interest to students of the history of science and technology.

"You can print from an iPhone(R). It's the dumbest thing." - Bo Fahs, writer and host of Tele-Friends From the moment we began to digitise our world, we created machines that worked tirelessly to pull all that information zooming around back to the physical world. Enter: the home printer. Perhaps as payback for forming a nonsensical dichotomy, these printers couldn't just work. Not without a fight, at least. No. They insisted on screeching at plane-like decibels, plopping out pages at an excruciatingly slow pace, streaking only the most important documents and running out of ink when you know you JUST refilled the cartridge. From the first consumer inkjet to more modern monstrosities, Sh*tty Printers breaks down the worst offenders of our home offices. Featuring popular and exasperating home staples such as: - The HP Thinkjet 2225A - The Lexmark Z22 - The long forgotten Canon BJC-85 - and many more Each printer is beautifully photographed and ruthlessly torn to shreds as their individual strengths, weaknesses and charisma are scored on sliding scales born from relatable frustration.

Alexander Graham Bell and his team of innovative young engineers created groundbreaking new technologies during three years of furious activity in Baddeck, Nova Scotia, in the early 1900s. The knowledge and skills of this group allowed them to innovate flight technologies which have continued to be fundamental to aircraft design. In this book, aviation author Terrance MacDonald puts together, for the first time, the full story of their achievements.Bell's unique group of engineers, a mechanical specialist and a military officer, built over twenty airplanes, which incorporated many new sophisticated technological developments. Bell's well-known Silver Dart was only one of a long line of his team's experimental airplanes.This book describes the aircraft, the people, and the communities who participated with Bell in his mission to construct a reliable and secure flying machine. Over the years the group started to lose members, and when the Canadian government refused to purchase aircraft based on Bell's experiments the reconfigured group folded. Meanwhile, one group member left to found a major aircraft manufacturing operation in the US.Bell's team carefully documented all their work, and as a consequence there are hundreds of compelling photos from this era. The book includes 60+ of these images, and offers links to early movies documenting these aircraft and their flights.

'Speckled with anecdotes, insights and surprises. It is great fun - and utterly timely' Sunday Times 'Standage writes with a masterly clarity' New York Times 'The product of deep research, great intelligence and burnished prose . . . It is rare that I encounter a non-fiction author whose prose is so elegant that it is worth reading for itself. Standage is a writer of this class' Wall Street Journal Beginning around 3,500 BC with the wheel, and moving through the eras of horsepower, trains and bicycles, Tom Standage puts the rise of the car - and the future of urban transport - into a broader historical context. Our society has been shaped by the car in innumerable ways, many of which are so familiar that we no longer notice them. Why does red mean stop and green mean go? Why do some countries drive on the left, and some on the right? How did cars, introduced only a little over a century ago, change the way the world was administered, laid out and policed, along with experiences like eating and shopping? And what might travel in a post-car world look like? As social transformations from ride-sharing to the global pandemic force us to critically re-examine our relationship with personal transportation, A Brief History of Motion is an essential contribution to our understanding of how the modern world came to be.

First published in 1925. This study examines the advances in engineering and science in the nineteenth century. The author examines topics on locomotion and sea travel, photography, chemistry, electricity amongst many other industrial and scientific developments. This title will be of interest to historians as well as scientists and engineers.

First published in 1978. This biography aims solve the problem of the lack of access to information regarding American engineers and technologists of the nineteenth-century, whilst also providing opportunities for scholars to study and assess the work of hitherto little known, potentially important figures. This title will be of interest to scholars and students of science and history.

How much further should the affluent world push its material consumption? Does relative dematerialization lead to absolute decline in demand for materials? These and many other questions are discussed and answered in Making the Modern World: Materials and Dematerialization. Over the course of time, the modern world has become dependent on unprecedented flows of materials. Now even the most efficient production processes and the highest practical rates of recycling may not be enough to result in dematerialization rates that would be high enough to negate the rising demand for materials generated by continuing population growth and rising standards of living. This book explores the costs of this dependence and the potential for substantial dematerialization of modern economies. Making the Modern World: Materials and Dematerialization considers the principal materials used throughout history, from wood and stone, through to metals, alloys, plastics and silicon, describing their extraction and production as well as their dominant applications. The evolving productivities of material extraction, processing, synthesis, finishing and distribution, and the energy costs and environmental impact of rising material consumption are examined in detail. The book concludes with an outlook for the future, discussing the prospects for dematerialization and potential constrains on materials. This interdisciplinary text provides useful perspectives for readers with backgrounds including resource economics, environmental studies, energy analysis, mineral geology, industrial organization, manufacturing and material science.

A fascinating life of Sir Joseph Banks which restores him to his proper place in history as a leading scientific figure of the English Enlightenment "An extensive, admiring account of his subject's circuitous route to fame and power."-Wall Street Journal "Readers interested in the British Enlightenment, the history of science, or the lives of great figures who played leading roles in England's emergence as a global presence will enjoy this highly informative book."-Choice As official botanist on James Cook's first circumnavigation, the longest-serving president of the Royal Society, advisor to King George III, the "father of Australia," and the man who established Kew as the world's leading botanical garden, Sir Joseph Banks was integral to the English Enlightenment. Yet he has not received the recognition that his multifarious achievements deserve. In this engaging account, Toby Musgrave reveals the true extent of Banks's contributions to science and Britain. From an early age Banks pursued his passion for natural history through study and extensive travel, most famously on the HMS Endeavour. He went on to become a pivotal figure in the advancement of British scientific, economic, and colonial interests. With his enquiring, enterprising mind and extensive network of correspondents, Banks's reputation and influence were global. Drawing widely on Banks's writings, Musgrave sheds light on Banks's profound impact on British science and empire in an age of rapid advancement.

Christian Encounters, a series of biographies from Thomas Nelson Publishers, highlights important lives from all ages and areas of the Church. Some are familiar faces. Others are unexpected guests. But all, through their relationships, struggles, prayers, and desires, uniquely illuminate our shared experience.

A generation of 20th-century Americans knew him as a gentle, stoop-shouldered old black man who loved plants and discovered more than a hundred uses for the humble peanut. "George Washington Carver" goes beyond the public image to chronicle the adventures of one of history's most inspiring and remarkable men.

George Washington Carver was born a slave. After his mother was kidnapped during the Civil War, his former owners raised him as their own child. He was the first black graduate of Iowa State, and turned down a salary from Thomas Edison higher than the U.S. President to stay at the struggling Tuskegee Institute, where he taught and encouraged poor black students for nearly half a century.

Carver was an award-winning painter and acclaimed botanist who saw God the Creator in all of nature. The more he learned about the world, the more convinced he was that everything in it was a gift from the Almighty, that all people were equal in His sight, and that the way to gain respect from his fellow man was not to demand it, but to earn it.

Originally published in 1881, but here reissuing the 1906 edition with a new introduction by Stephen J. Scaysbrook, the Mitchell's Building and Construction Stage 2, 3 and Honours book offers an unparalleled insight into historic construction techniques and materials. Originally written to provide a concise handbook and guide for students and for practitioners, this reissue of Mitchell's 1906 Advanced and Honours edition now provides a valuable addition to building pathology, allowing students and practitioners to research construction methods and materials pertinent to the period.