Using such terms as science and technology, which have been relatively - cently adopted, to write about situations and events that occurred 2,500 years ago, may be a paradox. The Homeric Epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, refer to the Mycenean Era, a civilisation that ?ourished from the 16th to 12th c- tury BCE. The seeming paradox ceases to be one when modern specialists, searching through the ancients texts, discover knowledge and applications so advanced, that can be termed as scienti?c or technological in the modern sense of the words. The present book is based on extensive research performed by the author and his associates at the University of Patras, along with the presentations of other researchers at two international symposia, which he organized in 1 Ancient Olympia. It consists of ?ve parts, of which Part I is introductory, including such chapters as Homer and Homeric Epics, Troy and the mythological causes of the War, Achilles and his wrath, the siege and fall of Troy, Odysseus' long way home, the Trojan war and the cultural tradition, scienti?c knowledge in the Homeric Epics and ?nally an account on science and technology. Part II includes three chapters on applications of principles of natural s- ence, including chariot racing and the laws of curvilinear motion, creep in wood and hydrodynamics of vortices and the gravitational sling.

A gripping narrative of the love and betrayal of J. Robert Oppenheimer, told through the lives of three unique women.

Set against a dramatic backdrop of war, spies, and nuclear bombs, "An Atomic Love Story "unveils a vivid new view of a tumultuous era and one of its most important figures. In the early decades of the 20th century, three highly ambitious women found their way to the West Coast, where each was destined to collide with the young Oppenheimer, the enigmatic physicist whose work in creating the atomic bomb would forever impact modern history. His first and most intense love was for Jean Tatlock, though he married the tempestuous Kitty Harrison--both were members of the Communist Party--and was rumored to have had a scandalous affair with the brilliant Ruth Sherman Tolman, ten years his senior and the wife of another celebrated physicist. Although each were connected through their relationship to Oppenheimer, their experiences reflect important changes in the lives of American women in the 20th century: the conflict between career and marriage; the need for a woman to define herself independently; experimentation with sexuality; and the growth of career opportunities.

Beautifully written and superbly researched through a rich collection of firsthand accounts, this intimate portrait shares the tragedies, betrayals, and romances of an alluring man and three bold women, revealing how they pushed to the very forefront of social and cultural changes in a fascinating, volatile era.

Machines have always gone hand-in-hand with the cultural development of m- kind throughout time. A book on the history of machines is nothing more than a specific way of bringing light to human events as a whole in order to highlight some significant milestones in the progress of knowledge by a complementary persp- tive into a general historical overview. This book is the result of common efforts and interests by several scholars, teachers, and students on subjects that are connected with the theory of machines and mechanisms. In fact, in this book there is a certain teaching aim in addition to a general historical view that is more addressed to the achievements by "homo faber" than to those by "homo sapiens," since the proposed history survey has been developed with an engineering approach. The brevity of the text added to the fact that the authors are probably not com- tent to tackle historical studies with the necessary rigor, means the content of the book is inevitably incomplete, but it nevertheless attempts to fulfil three basic aims: First, it is hoped that this book may provide a stimulus to promote interest in the study of technical history within a mechanical engineering context. Few are the co- tries where anything significant is done in this area, which means there is a general lack of knowledge of this common cultural heritage.

This volume contains a selection of papers whose content have been presented at the International conferences CIPHI on Cultural Heritage and History of Engineering at University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands, Spain, in recent years. The conference series is aimed at bringing together researchers, scholars and students from a broad range of disciplines referring to the History of Engineering and Cultural Heritage, in a unique multidisciplinary forum to stimulate collaboration among historians, architects, restaurateurs, and engineers.

These papers illustrate, by treating specific emblematic topics and problems, technical developments in the historical evolution of engineering concerning cultural heritage. Thus, emphasis is given to a discussion of matters of cultural heritage with engineering history by reporting authors' experiences and views. Topics treated include: reutilization of industrial heritage: the unique example of the Royal Segovia Mint in Spain; the image of factories; Pedro Juan De Lastanosa and "the twenty-one books of devices and machines of Juanelo"; the historical development of paper-mills and their machines in South Latium during 19th century; a virtual reconstruction of a wave-powered flour mill from 1801; 3D modelling and animation study of the industrial heritage wonders; a new model of the hydraulic machine known as "el artificio de Juanelo"; and the mystery of one Havana portrait, on the first steam machine in Cuba. This work has been made possible thanks to the invited authors who have enthusiastically shared this initiative and who have spent time and effort in preparing the papers in much more detail that in the conference presentations."

As a civil engineer, Sir John Fowler (1817-98) devoted his life to the railways. His best-known achievements include the first railway bridge across the Thames in London, Manchester Central Station, the development of the London Underground and (with Sir Benjamin Baker) the Forth Bridge - arguably the most remarkable feat of engineering of the nineteenth century. Given access to friends and family papers, the author and social theorist Thomas Mackay (1849-1912) portrays a man who was fascinated by engineering as a child, and who continued to work up until his death. As a portrait of one of the architects of Victorian Britain, this biography, first published in 1900, will be of great interest to historians of the period as well as readers wishing to know more about the development of iconic infrastructure.

The book discusses the concept of the food chain from a new perspective, emphasising the historical dimension and conflicts. The inclusion of technology, as a core element, is an original approach to food studies. Thus, technology is related to agricultural production, packaging, transport and storing, wholesale and retailing, catering, and cooking. Also, the so-called middle field, such as political interference, farmers' education and scientific concerns, is addressed. This book pays attention to the history of agriculture, including such varied themes as water supply, fertilisers, land use, greenhouses, and EU policy. It tackles the history of shopping, cooking, health concerns, and fast food eating-places. Technology is not taken for granted, but seen as a field of conflict (action, reaction, and negotiation, perhaps best cast with the opposition fast food versus slow food). The concept of the food chain necessitates to consider all these elements as a whole, and to present them in one, integrated volume.

The essays in this volume explore how two domains of human experience and action-religion and technology-are implicated in each other. Contrary to commonsense understandings of both religion (as an "otherworldly" orientation) and technology (as the name for tools, techniques, and expert knowledges oriented to "this" world), the contributors to this volume challenge the grounds on which this division has been erected in the first place. What sorts of things come to light when one allows religion and technology to mingle freely? In an effort to answer that question, Deus in Machina embarks upon an interdisciplinary voyage across diverse traditions and contexts where religion and technology meet: from the design of clocks in medieval Christian Europe, to the healing power of prayer in premodern Buddhist Japan, to 19th-century Spiritualist devices for communicating with the dead, to Islamic debates about kidney dialysis in contemporary Egypt, to the work of disability activists using documentary film to reimagine Jewish kinship, to the representation of Haitian Vodou on the Internet, among other case studies. Combining rich historical and ethnographic detail with extended theoretical reflection, Deus in Machina outlines new directions for the study of religion and/as technology that will resonate across the human sciences, including religious studies, science and technology studies, communication studies, history, anthropology, and philosophy.

Telegraphy in the nineteenth century approximated the internet in our own day. Historian and electrical engineer David Hochfelder offers readers a comprehensive history of this groundbreaking technology, which employs breaks in an electrical current to send code along miles of wire. "The Telegraph in America, 1832-1920," examines the correlation between technological innovation and social change and shows how this transformative relationship helps us to understand and perhaps define modernity.

The telegraph revolutionized the spread of information--speeding personal messages, news of public events, and details of stock fluctuations. During the Civil War, telegraphed intelligence and high-level directives gave the Union war effort a critical advantage. Afterward, the telegraph helped build and break fortunes and, along with the railroad, altered the way Americans thought about time and space. Hochfelder thus supplies us with an introduction to the early stirrings of the information age.

April 12, 2011 is the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin s pioneering journey into space. To commemorate this momentous achievement, Springer-Praxis is producing a mini series of books that reveals how humanity s knowledge of flying, working, and living in space has grown in the last half century.
Tragedy and Triumph focuses on the 1980s and early 1990s, a time when relations between the United States and the Soviet Union swung like a pendulum between harmony and outright hostility. The glorious achievements of the shuttle were violently arrested by the devastating loss of Challenger in 1986, while the Soviet program appeared to prosper with the last Salyut and the next-generation Mir orbital station. This book explores the continued rivalry between the two superpowers during this period, with each attempting to outdo the other the Americans keen to build a space station, the Soviets keen to build a space shuttle and places their efforts in the context of a bitterly divisive decade, which ultimately led them into partnership.

This work derives from a conference discussing the history of computing in education. This conference is the first of hopefully a series of conferences that will take place within the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) and hence, we describe it as the First Conference on the History of Computing in Education (HCE1). These proceedings represent a collection of works presented at the HCE1 Conference held in association with the IFIP 2004 World Computer Congress held in Toulouse, France. Contributions to this volume range from a wide variety of educational perspectives and represent activities from four continents. The HCE1 conference represents a joint effort of the IFIP Working Group 9.7 on the History of Computing and the IFIP Technical Committee 3 on Education. The HCE1 Conference brings to light a broad spectrum of issues and spans fourcontinents. It illustrates topics in computing education as they occurred in the "early days" of computing whose ramifications or overtones remain with us today. Indeed, many of the early challenges remain part of our educational tapestry; most likely, many will evolve into future challenges. Therefore, this work provides additional value to the reader as it will reflect in part the future development of computing in education to stimulate new ideas and models in educational development.

The New Kingmakers documents the rise of the developer class, and provides strategies for companies to adapt to the new technology landscape. From recruiting to retention, it provides a playbook to work more efficiently and effectively with the most important members of your organization.

The Red Taylorist traces the adult life and works of Walter Polakov, focusing on his socialist scientific management ideals and the ways these were constrained by conventionality in the USA in the first half of twentieth century. Tracing Polakov's activities and achievements, this book explores the contradictions of a prolific writer, socialist engineer and scientific management ideologue in the decades until his death in 1948. Written from a management history scholarly perspective, it presents a unique and detailed viewpoint. There have been no prior biographies on Polakov, and very few on his fellow scientific managers, consulting engineers, or like-minded public intellectuals. Moreover, perceptions of scientific management or Taylorism have tended to emphasise the negative impacts on workers, whereas Polakov's socialist commitment suggests a much more nuanced approach. Aimed at scholars of management and history of management, Diana Kelly offers a detailed narrative of this important individual, while greatly enriching understanding of the broader historical and industrial context.

Over his four-decade career, Sid Meier has produced some of the world's most popular video games, including Sid Meier's Civilization, which has sold more than 51 million units worldwide and accumulated more than one billion hours of play. Sid Meier's Memoir! is the story of an obsessive young computer enthusiast who helped launch a multi-million-pound industry. Writing with warmth and ironic humour, Meier describes the genesis of his influential studio, MicroProse, founded in 1982 after a trip to a Las Vegas arcade, and recounts the development of landmark games, from vintage classics like Pirates! and Railroad Tycoon, to Civilization and beyond. Articulating his philosophy that a videogame should be "a series of interesting decisions", Meier also shares his perspective on the history of the industry, the psychology of gamers and fascinating insights into the creative process, including his ten rules of good game design.

These proceedings derive from an international conference on the history of computing and education. This conference is the second of hopefully a series of conferences that will take place within the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) and hence, we describe it as the "Second IFIP Conference on the History of Computing and Education" or simply "History of Computing and Education 2" (HCE2). This volume consists of a collection of articles presented at the HCE2 conference held in association with the IFIP 2006 World Computer Congress in Santiago, Chile. Articles range from a wide variety of educational and computing perspectives and represent activities from five continents. The HCE2 conference represents a joint effort of the IFIP Working Group 9. 7 on the History of Computing and the IFIP Technical Committee 3 on Education. The HCE2 conference brings to light a broad spectrum of issues. It illustrates topics in computing as they occurred in the "early days" of computing whose ramifications or overtones remain with us today. Indeed, many of the early challenges remain part of our educational tapestry; most likely, many will evolve into future challenges. Therefore, these proceedings provide additional value to the reader as it will reflect in part the future development of computing and education to stimulate new ideas and models in educational development. These proceedings provide a spectrum of interesting articles spanning many topics of historical interest.

The British naturalist and explorer Alfred Russel Wallace (1823 1913) was one of the leading evolutionary thinkers of the nineteenth century. He is best known for working in parallel with Darwin on evolution and natural selection. A social reformer and a prolific writer, he criticised the social and economic system in nineteenth-century Britain, and raised concerns over the environmental impact of human activity. First published in 1898, this book looks back over the history of the nineteenth century, and describes its material and intellectual achievements with the aim 'to show how fundamental is the change they have effected in our life and civilization'. The book surveys technological inventions such as the railway, the telegraph and telephone, as well as photography. But it also analyses the century's 'failures', and discusses the issues of poverty, greed and militarism.

Over 200 images, including three-view drawings, photos of the He 162 in wartime service with JG 1, and the later surrender of at least thirty-one flight ready He 162s to British ground forces at Lech. Subsequent test flights of He 162s in post-war England, USSR, South Wales, Australia, and the United States are also covered. No other publication has this large a quantity of images of the He 162 in a single volume.

Examples of enduring feats of civil engineering endeavour can be seen around the world's seas and waterways, from the SS Great Britain to the Panama Canal. In this beautifully illustrated book, John Laverick offers an insight into the intriguing field of civil engineering, taking you on a journey that crosses three continents and three centuries, exploring extraordinary achievements including the artificial waterways of the Panama and Suez canals, floating concepts such as the concrete Mulberry harbours, the world's only rotating ship lift at Falkirk, a man-made island in the Baltic linking the crossings between two countries and the ambitious restoration of the Wilts & Berks Canal.

Sixty years ago, cars and aeroplanes were deathtraps waiting to happen. Today, both are safer than they were, thanks in part to a pioneering US Air Force doctor's research on seatbelts and ejection seats. The exploits of John Paul Stapp (1910-1999) come to life in this biography of a man who was once blasted across the desert in his Sonic Wind rocket sledge, only to be slammed to a stop in barely a second. The experiment put him on the cover of Time magazine and allowed his swashbuckling team to gather the data needed to revolutionise car and aeroplane design. From the high-altitude balloon tests that ensued to the battles for car safety legislation, Craig Ryan's book is as much a history of the transition into the Jet Age as it is a biography of the man who got us there more safely.

Scholars in this edited collection tackle the issue of teaching students Technology while Technology Education has not been decolonized or made relevant to indigenous technological worldviews. This book provides solutions that address the question: How to decolonize Technology Education? The solutions include the African Technology Education Decolonization Framework that should guide the design and development of the Technology Education curriculum and its methodologies in tune with the local realities and tailored towards the African agenda on sustainable development. This book offers fresh ideas to conceptualize Technology Education from an indigenous perspective.

The International Symposium on the History of Machines and Mechanisms is the main activity of the Permanent Commission (PC) for the History of Mechanism and Machine Science (HMM) of the International Federation for the Promotion of Mechanism and Machine Science (IFToMM). The first symposium, HMM2000, was initiated by Dr. Marco Ceccarelli and was held at the University of Cassino (Cassino, Italy) on May 11-13, 2000. The second symposium, HMM2004, was chaired by Dr. Marco Ceccarelli and held at the same venue on May 12-15, 2004. The third symposium, HMM2008, was chaired by Dr. Hong-Sen Yan and held at the National Cheng Kung University (Tainan, Taiwan) on November 11-14, 2008. The mission of IFToMM is to promote research and development in the field of machines and mechanisms by theoretical and experimental methods, along with their practical applications. The aim of HMM2008 is to establish an international forum for presenting and discussing historical developments in the field of Mechanism and Machine Science (MMS). The subject area covers all aspects of the development of HMM, such as machine, mechanism, kinematics, design method, etc., that are related to people, events, objects, anything that assisted in the development of the HMM, and presented in the forms of reasoning and ar- ments, demonstration and identification, and description and evaluation.

Frederick Overman (1810 1852) was a German-born engineer who emigrated to Pennsylvania in the United States and worked in the booming field of iron manufacturing. He wrote that his book, first published in Philadelphia and then in London in 1850, was designed to be of 'practical utility' to engineers working in the industry. It includes 150 woodcuts to illustrate fully the many different aspects of making iron. Overman covers every part of the process, from the mining of iron ore to the variety of forges that were used, and also includes a chapter about the related steel industry. Today this historic engineering text sheds light on nineteenth-century industrial processes on both sides of the Atlantic during the height of Victorian innovation, making it essential reading for scholars, students, and enthusiasts of this period.