Alex Henshaw had the luck to grow up in the '20s and '30s during the golden age of flying. The Blue Riband of flying in the British Isles between the two World Wars was the King's Cup: Henshaw set his heart on it, developing a technique of racing which extracted the very maximum from his aircraft: firs the Comper Swift and then the DH Leopard Moth. Parallel with his search for speed was an obsession with making accurate landfalls, and he developed this blind-flying taken deliberately in a flying partnership with his father on many carefully planned long-distance survery flights. His exciting apprenticeship in these two skills was crowned by the acquisition of the Percival Mew Gull G-AEXF in 1937. His amazing solo flight to Cape Town and back in February 1939 established several solo records that still stand today, almost 60 years later. This feat of navigation and airmanship must surely be one of man's greatest flights - 12,754 miles over desert, sea and jungle in a single-engined light aircraft.

What we see through our windshields reflects ideas about our national identity, consumerism, and infrastructure. For better or worse, windshields have become a major frame for viewing the nonhuman world. The view from the road is one of the main ways in which we experience our environments. These vistas are the result of deliberate historical forces, and humans have shaped them as they simultaneously sought to be transformed by them. In Consuming Landscapes, Thomas Zeller explores how what we see while driving reflects how we view our societies and ourselves, the role that consumerism plays in our infrastructure, and ideas about reshaping the environment in the twentieth century. Zeller breaks new ground by comparing the driving experience and the history of landscaped roads in the United States and Germany, two major automotive countries. He focuses specifically on the Blue Ridge Parkway in the United States and the German Alpine Road as case studies. When the automobile was still young, an early twentieth-century group of designers-landscape architects, civil engineers, and planners-sought to build scenic infrastructures, or roads that would immerse drivers in the landscapes that they were traversing. As more Americans and Europeans owned cars and drove them, however, they became less interested in enchanted views; safety became more important than beauty. Clashes between designers and drivers resulted in different visions of landscapes made for automobiles. As strange as it may seem to twenty-first-century readers, many professionals in the early twentieth century envisioned cars and roads, if properly managed, as saviors of the environment. Consuming Landscapes illustrates how the meaning of infrastructures changed as a result of use and consumption. Such changes indicate a deep ambivalence toward the automobile and roads, prompting the question: can cars and roads bring us closer to nature while deeply altering it at the same time?

Encyclopedia of Architectural and Engineering Feats presents more than 200 achievements in architecture and structural engineering in all the inhabited continents, from prehistory to the present. An architect once described the built environment as "the manifestation of the human spirit in stone, wood, and steel." In this new volume, readers can explore the most innovative and magnificent architectural expressions of the human spirit, from pre-history to the present, from all parts of the world. Readers can visit the Acropolis and Chartres cathedral, along with less familiar places like the ruins of Great Zimbabwe, once the greatest city in sub-Saharan Africa, and China's 71 meter high, 1,200 year old Grand Buddha, carved from stone. They'll learn the secrets behind audacious engineering feats like the Panama Canal, the U.S. interstate highway system, and the Deltaworks in the Netherlands. They will discover that many of these awe-inspiring projects were not the work of trained architects and engineers, but of "underdeveloped" communities, where unified will, tight social organization, and shared commitment to a spiritual ideal were more important than the inventions of the Industrial Age. 200+ A-Z, fully cross-referenced entries on fascinating structures such as Angkor Wat, a Cambodian temple complex that remains the largest religious monument ever constructed A wealth of illustrations covering diverse topics such as dams, agrarian terracing, cathedrals, temples, bridges, monuments, palaces, skyscrapers, aqueducts, and highway systems Numerous photographs of world famous structures such as the Taj Mahal and the Pont du Gard, and lesser known wonders such as Nazca Lines in Peru depicting a 300 foot long monkey A glossary of explanations for many architectural and engineering terms used around the globe

Charles Babbage was thirty years old in 1821, as was his close friend, John Herschel, and in English intellectual circles they were both regarded as brilliant mathematicians. One day as Babbage worked in preparing logarithmic tables, a tedious and boring task, he commented to Herschel that he thought he could invent a machine to do these calculations with far more speed and accuracy than a human calculator could. And so was born an idea that would fascinate, tantalize, and absorb him for the remainder of his life. Over the years he drew plans, expanded them, modified them, and finally invented two machines, the Difference Engine and the Analytical Engine. The first was capable only of generating tables, but the Analytical Engine could do much more. It could convert into numbers and print the results of any formula that might be required. It could also develop any analytical formula the laws of whose formation were given. Using punched cards it could store early results in a calculation and then use them to make further calculations when they were required. He had invented the first mechanical computer.

** Featured as a Guardian Long Read ** '[A] fast-paced, myth busting expose' Max Blumenthal, author of The Management of Savagery 'Contentious... forceful... salutary' The New Yorker EVERYTHING WE HAVE BEEN TOLD ABOUT THE DEMOCRATIC NATURE OF THE INTERNET IS A MARKETING PLOY. As the Cambridge Analytica scandal has shown, private corporations consider it their right to use our data (and by extension, us) which ever way they see fit. Tempted by their appealing organisational and diagnostic tools, we have allowed private internet corporations access to the most intimate corners of our lives. But the internet was developed, from the outset, as a weapon. Looking at the hidden origins of many internet corporations and platforms, Levine shows that this is a function, not a bug of the online experience. Conceived as a surveillance tool by ARPA to control insurgents in the Vietnam War, the internet is now essential to our lives. This book investigates the troubling and unavoidable truth of its history and the unfathomable power of the corporations who now more or less own it. Without this book, your picture of contemporary society will be missing an essential piece of the puzzle. 'A masterful job of research and reporting about the military origins of the 'world wide web' and how its essential nature has not changed in the years since its creation during the Cold War.' - Tim Shorrock, author of Spies For Hire

Mail armour (commonly mislabelled 'chainmail') was used for more than two millennia on the battlefield. After its invention in the Iron Age, mail rapidly spread all over Europe and beyond. The Roman army, keen on new military technology, soon adopted mail armour and used it successfully for centuries. Its history did not stop there and mail played a vital role in warfare during the Middle Ages up to the Early Modern Period. Given its long history, one would think mail is a well-documented material, but that is not the case. For the first time, this books lays a solid foundation for the understanding of mail armour and its context through time. It applies a long-term multi-dimensional approach to extract a wealth of as yet untapped information from archaeological, iconographic and written sources. This is complemented with technical insights on the mail maker's chaine operatoire.

Cutting-edge historians explore ideas, communities, and technologies around modern computing to explore how computers mediate social relations. Computers have been framed both as a mirror for the human mind and as an irreducible other that humanness is defined against, depending on different historical definitions of "humanness." They can serve both liberation and control because some people's freedom has historically been predicated on controlling others. Historians of computing return again and again to these contradictions, as they often reveal deeper structures. Using twin frameworks of abstraction and embodiment, a reformulation of the old mind-body dichotomy, this anthology examines how social relations are enacted in and through computing. The authors examining "Abstraction" revisit central concepts in computing, including "algorithm," "program," "clone," and "risk." In doing so, they demonstrate how the meanings of these terms reflect power relations and social identities. The section on "Embodiments" focuses on sensory aspects of using computers as well as the ways in which gender, race, and other identities have shaped the opportunities and embodied experiences of computer workers and users. Offering a rich and diverse set of studies in new areas, the book explores such disparate themes as disability, the influence of the punk movement, working mothers as technical innovators, and gaming behind the Iron Curtain. Abstractions and Embodiments reimagines computing history by questioning canonical interpretations, foregrounding new actors and contexts, and highlighting neglected aspects of computing as an embodied experience. It makes the profound case that both technology and the body are culturally shaped and that there can be no clear distinction between social, intellectual, and technical aspects of computing. Contributors: Janet Abbate, Marc Aidinoff, Troy Kaighin Astarte, Ekaterina Babinsteva, Andre Brock, Maarten Bullynck, Jiahui Chan, Gerardo Con Diaz, Liesbeth De Mol, Stephanie Dick, Kelcey Gibbons, Elyse Graham, Michael J. Halvorson, Mar Hicks, Scott Kushner, Xiaochang Li, Zachary Loeb, Lisa Nakamura, Tiffany Nichols, Laine Nooney, Elizabeth Petrick, Cierra Robson, Hallam Stevens, Jaroslav Svelch

Angelo Secchi was a key figure in 19th century science. An Italian Jesuit and scientist, he helped lead the transition from astronomy to astrophysics and left a lasting legacy in the field. Secchi’s spectral classification of stars was a milestone that paved the way for modern astronomical research. He was also a founder of modern meteorology and an innovator in the design and development of new instruments and methods across disciplines.This contributed volume collects together reviews from an international group of historians, scientists and scholars representing the multiple disciplines where Secchi made significant contributions during his remarkable career. It analyzes both his famous and lesser known pioneering efforts with equal vigor, providing a well-rounded narrative of his life’s work. Beyond his scientific and technological work, his role as a Jesuit priest in Rome during the turbulent years of the mid 19th century is also described and placed in the context of his scientific and civic activities.

In the folklore of mathematics, James Joseph Sylvester (1814-1897) is the eccentric, hot-tempered, sword-cane-wielding, nineteenth-century British Jew who, together with the taciturn Arthur Cayley, developed a theory and language of invariants that then died spectacularly in the 1890s as a result of David Hilbert's groundbreaking, 'modern' techniques. This, like all folklore, has some grounding in fact but owes much to fiction. The present volume brings together for the first time 140 letters from Sylvester's correspondence in an effort to establish the true picture. It reveals - through the letters as well as through the detailed mathematical and historical commentary accompanying them - Sylvester the friend, man of principle, mathematician, poet, professor, scientific activist, social observer, traveller. It also provides a detailed look at Sylvester's thoughts and thought processes as it shows him acting in both personal and professional spheres over the course of his eighty-two year life. The Sylvester who emerges from this analysis - unlike the Sylvester of the folkloric caricature - offers deep insight into the development of the technical and social structures of mathematics.

This book provides a technological history of modern India, in particular the Nehruvian development in the context of the Cold War. Through a series of case studies about military modernization, transportation infrastructure, and electric power, it examines how the ideals of autarky and technological indigenization conflicted with the economic and political realities of the Cold War world. Where other studies tend to focus on the political leaders and economists who oversaw development, this book demonstrates how the perspective of the engineers, government bureaucrats, and aid workers informed and ultimately implemented development.

An expert introduction to the fascinating world of robotics, artificial intelligence, and how machines learn. In Artificial Intelligence and Robotics: Ten Short Lessons, leading expert Peter J. Bentley breaks down the fast-moving world of computers into ten pivotal lessons, presenting the reader with the essential information they need to get to understand our most powerful technology and its remarkable implications for our species. From the origins and motivation behind the birth of AI and robotics to using smart algorithms that allow us to build good robots, from the technologies that enable computers to understand a huge range of sensory information, including language and communication, to the challenges of emotional intelligence, unpredictable environments, and imagination in artificial intelligence, this is a cutting-edge, expert-led guide for curious minds. Packed full of easy-to-understand diagrams, pictures, and fact boxes, these ten lessons cover all the basics, as well as the latest understanding and developments, to enlighten the nonscientist. About the series: The Pocket Einstein series is a collection of essential pocket-sized guides for anyone looking to understand a little more about some of the most important and fascinating areas of science in the twenty-first century. Broken down into ten simple lessons and written by leading experts in their field, the books reveal the ten most important takeaways from those areas of science you've always wanted to know more about.

This book is about the nature of publishing: its processes, history and technologies. It also explores the relationship of technology to pedagogy and how publishing has been a part of reading and writing instruction throughout the 20th century. Today publishing is both an individual and a collaborative process that is commercially, organizationally and pedagogically driven. The goal of the book is to provide a theoretical, historical, and philosophical conception of publishing that would help teachers who are beginning to work in computer-supported environments.

In 1978, John Couch was working as a software engineer at Hewlett-Packard when a young, ambitious entrepreneur named Steve Jobs unexpectedly showed up on his doorstep. It was Steve's second time trying to persuade John to join him at his promising startup, Apple Computer, where he needed help building a "revolutionary computer." John was one of UC Berkeley's first fifty computer science graduates and a leader at HP, working under the tutelage of its iconic founder, Bill Hewlett, so Steve knew he was one of the few people in the world capable of achieving such a task. He was thrilled when John agreed to help, becoming Apple's 54th employee and, ultimately, its first VP of Software and first VP of Education. Over time, John and Steve's business relationship would grow into an unbreakable, decades-long friendship.

Offers an eye-opening and revealing look into an interpersonal/scientific conflict involving the 'Father of Modern Soil Mechanics' Karl von Terzaghi.

Exemplifies the 'human side' of science in which, sometimes, the prominence of a theorist and the inertia of the 'accepted wisdom' can inhibit progress and rational discussion of the facts.

More than 100 illustrations combine with historical details in the text to evoke a vivid picture of the lost era of pre-WWII Vienna.

Drawing on entirely new evidence, The English Renaissance Stage: Geometry, Poetics, and the Practical Spatial Arts 1580-1630 examines the history of English dramatic form and its relationship to the mathematics, technology, and early scientific thought during the Renaissance period. The book demonstrates how practical modes of thinking that were typical of the sixteenth century resulted in new genres of plays and a new vocabulary for problems of poetic representation. In the epistemological moment the book recovers, we find new ideas about form and language that would become central to Renaissance literary discourse; in this same moment, too, we find new ways of thinking about the relationship between theory and practice that are typical of modernity, new attitudes towards spatial representation, and a new interest in both poetics and mathematics as distinctive ways of producing knowledge about the world. By emphasizing the importance of theatrical performance, the book engages with continuing debates over the cultural function of the early modern stage and with scholarship on the status of modern authorship. When we consider playwrights in relation to the theatre rather than the printed book, they appear less as 'authors' than as figures whose social position and epistemological presuppositions were very similar to the craftsmen, surveyors, and engineers who began to flourish during the sixteenth century and whose mathematical knowledge made them increasingly sought after by men of wealth and power.

Cambridge Engineering: The First 150 Years takes the reader on a journey that starts with the genesis of engineering as an academic discipline, leads to the creation of the Department in 1875, and looks forward to its plans for the 150th anniversary in 2025. The history is told through the extraordinary lives of engineering leaders, who fought through the initial derision of other disciplines to take the faculty from a workshop in a wooden hut to stand as the largest department in the University. The narrative comes right up to date with stories from the latest research and its positive impact on the world. Cambridge Engineering concludes with the vision for the future as the Department moves to its new state-of-the-art home at West Cambridge and takes a global lead in redefining the discipline. Richly illustrated with images from past and present, this hardback will appeal not only to alumni, but to anyone, old or young, who is ready to explore how engineering has changed the world and dream how it will drive further revolutions.

This book foregrounds the pressures that three transformative technologies in the long sixteenth century-the printing press, gunpowder, and the magnetic compass-placed on long-held literary practices, as well as on cultural and social structures. Sheila J. Nayar disinters the clash between humanist drives and print culture; places the rise of gunpowder warfare beside the equivalent rise in chivalric romance; and illustrates fraught attempts by humanists to hold on to classicist traditions in the face of seismic changes in navigation. Lively and engaging, this study illuminates not only how literature responded to radical technological changes, but also how literature was sometimes forced, through unanticipated destabilizations, to reimagine itself. By tracing the early modern human's inter-animation with print, powder, and compass, Nayar exposes how these technologies assisted in producing new ways of seeing, knowing, and being in the world.