A brilliant takedown and exposé of the great con job of the twenty-first century—the metaverse, crypto, space travel, transhumanism—being sold by four billionaires (Peter Thiel, Mark Zuckerberg, Marc Andreesen, Elon Musk), leading to the degeneration and bankruptcy of our society.

At a time when the crises of income inequality, climate, and democracy are compounding to create epic wealth disparity and the prospect of a second American civil war, four billionaires are hyping schemes that are designed to divert our attention away from issues that really matter. Each scheme—the metaverse, cryptocurrency, space travel, and transhumanism—is an existential threat in moral, political, and economic terms.

In The End of Reality¸ Jonathan Taplin provides perceptive insight into the personal backgrounds and cultural power of these billionaires—Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Marc Andreesen (“The Four”) —and shows how their tech monopolies have brought middle-class wage stagnation, the hollowing out of many American towns, a radical increase in income inequality, and unbounded public acrimony. Meanwhile, the enormous amount of taxpayer money to be funneled into the dystopian ventures of "The Four," the benefits of which will accrue to billionaires, exacerbate these disturbing trends.

The End of Reality is both scathing critique and reform agenda that replaces the warped worldview of "The Four" with a vision of regenerative economics that seeks to build a sustainable society with healthy growth and full employment.

The incredible true story of the origin of human flight, by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author David McCullough. On a winter day in 1903, in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, two unknown brothers from Ohio changed history. But it would take the world some time to believe what had happened: the age of flight had begun, with the first heavier-than-air, powered machine carrying a pilot. Who were these men and how was it that they achieved what they did? David McCullough, two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, tells the surprising, profoundly human story of Wilbur and Orville Wright. Far more than a couple of unschooled Dayton bicycle mechanics who happened to hit on success, they were men of exceptional courage and determination, and of far-ranging intellectual interests and ceaseless curiosity, much of which they attributed to their upbringing. In this thrilling book, McCullough draws on the immense riches of the Wright Papers, including private diaries, notebooks, scrapbooks and more than a thousand letters from private family correspondence to tell the human side of the Wright Brothers' story, including the little-known contributions of their sister, Katharine, without whom things might well have gone differently for them.

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURED DIRECTED BY AND STARRING CHIWETEL EJIOFOR - AVAILABLE ON NETFLIX When William Kamkwamba was just 14 years old, his family told him that he must leave school and come home to work on the farm - they could no longer afford his fees. This is his story of how he found a way to make a difference, how he bought light to his family and village, and hope to his nation. Malawi is a country battling AIDS, drought and famine, and in 2002, a season of floods, followed by the most severe famine in fifty years, brought it to its knees. Like the majority of the population, William's family were farmers. They were totally reliant on the maize crop. By the end of 2001, after many lean and difficult years, there was no more crop. They were running out of food - had nothing to sell - and had months until they would be able to harvest their crop again. Forced to leave school at 14 years old, with no hope of raising the funds to go again, William resorted to borrowing books from the small local library to continue his education. One day, browsing the titles, he picked up a book about energy, with a picture of a wind turbine on the front cover. Fascinated by science and electricity, but knowing little more about the technology, William decided to build his own. Ridiculed by those around him, and exhausted from his work in the fields every day, and using nothing more than bits of scrap metal, old bicycle parts and wood from the blue gum tree, he slowly built his very own windmill. This windmill has changed the world in which William and his family live. Only 2 per cent of Malawi has electricity; William's windmill now powers the lightbulbs and radio for his compound. He has since built more windmills for his school and his village. When news of William's invention spread, people from across the globe offered to help him. Soon he was re-enrolled in college and travelling to America to visit wind farms. This is his incredible story. William's dream is that other African's will learn to help themselves - one windmill and one light bulb at a time - and that maybe one day they will be able to power their own computers, and use the internet, and see for themselves how his life has changed after picking up that book in the library.

'Ferrara's book is an introduction to writing as a process of revelation, but it's also a celebration of these things still undeciphered, and many other tantalising mysteries besides.' The Spectator This book tells the story of our greatest invention. Or, it almost does. Almost, because while the story has a beginning - in fact, it has many beginnings, not only in Mesopotamia, 3,100 years before the birth of Christ, but also in China, Egypt and Central America - and it certainly has a middle, one that snakes through the painted petroglyphs of Easter Island, through the great machines of empires and across the desks of inspired, brilliant scholars, the end of the story remains to be written. The invention of writing allowed humans to create a record of their lives and to persist past the limits of their lifetimes. In the shadows and swirls of ancient inscriptions, we can decipher the stories they sought to record, but we can also tease out the timeless truths of human nature, of our ceaseless drive to connect, create and be remembered. The Greatest Invention chronicles an uncharted journey, one filled with past flashes of brilliance, present-day scientific research and the faint, fleeting echo of writing's future. Professor Silvia Ferrara, a modern-day adventurer who travels the world studying ancient texts, takes us along with her; we touch the knotted, coloured strings of the Incan khipu and consider the case of the Phaistos disk. Ferrara takes us to the cutting edge of decipherment, where high-powered laser scanners bring tears to an engineer's eye, and further still, to gaze at the outline of writing's future. The Greatest Invention lifts the words off every page and changes the contours of the world around us - just keep reading. 'The Greatest Invention is a celebration not of achievements, but of moments of illumination and "the most important thing in the world: our desire to be understood".' TLS

A prismatic look at the meeting of Marie Curie and Albert Einstein and the impact these two pillars of science had on the world of physics, which was in turmoil.

In 1911, some of the greatest minds in science convened at the First Solvay Conference in Physics. Almost half of the attendees had won or would go on to win the Nobel Prize. Over the course of those few days, these minds began to realise that classical physics was about to give way to quantum theory, a seismic shift in our history and how we understand not just our world, but the universe.

At the centre of this meeting were Marie Curie and a young Albert Einstein. In the years preceding, Curie had faced the death of her husband. She was on the cusp of being awarded her second Nobel Prize, but scandal erupted all around her when the French press revealed that she was having an affair with a fellow scientist, Paul Langevin.

The subject of vicious misogynist and xenophobic attacks in the French press, Curie found herself in a storm that threatened her scientific legacy.

Albert Einstein proved a supporter in her travails. He was young and already showing flourishes of his enormous genius. Curie had been responsible for one of the greatest discoveries in modern science. Utilising never before seen correspondence and notes, Jeffrey Orens reveals the human side of these brilliant scientists, one who pushed boundaries and demanded equality in a man’s world, no matter the cost, and the other, who was destined to become synonymous with genius.

Who wore the first pants? Who painted the first masterpiece? Who first rode the horse? Who invented soap? This madcap adventure across ancient history uses everything from modern genetics to archaeology to uncover the geniuses behind these and other world-changing innovations. Who invented the wheel? Who told the first joke? Who drank the first beer? Who was the murderer in the first murder mystery, who was the first surgeon, who sparked the first fire--and most critically, who was the first to brave the slimy, pale oyster? In this book, writer Cody Cassidy digs deep into the latest research to uncover the untold stories of some of these incredible innovators (or participants in lucky accidents). With a sharp sense of humor and boundless enthusiasm for the wonders of our ancient ancestors, Who Ate the First Oyster? profiles the perpetrators of the greatest firsts and catastrophes of prehistory, using the lives of individuals to provide a glimpse into ancient cultures, show how and why these critical developments occurred, and educate us on a period of time that until recently we've known almost nothing about.

This volume collects 50 stories of gardening invention, innovation and discovery. Among them is that of Thomas Hyl, who in 1577 devised the first water sprinkler; Nathaniel Ward who began a craze for indoor gardening in 1829 with his terrarium case; and Henry Telende, who in 1720 grew England's first pineapple. From the invention of the trellis, flower pots and the waterscrew in the ancient world; via secateurs, jute string and flame guns in the Victorian age; to the Gro-Bag and Flymo of modern times, the ingenious achievements make an inspiring international collection.

In the bestselling tradition of The Soul of a New Machine, Dealers of Lightning is a fascinating journey of intellectual creation. In the 1970s and '80s, Xerox Corporation brought together a brain-trust of engineering geniuses, a group of computer eccentrics dubbed PARC. This brilliant group created several monumental innovations that triggered a technological revolution, including the first personal computer, the laser printer, and the graphical interface (one of the main precursors of the Internet), only to see these breakthroughs rejected by the corporation. Yet, instead of giving up, these determined inventors turned their ideas into empires that radically altered contemporary life and changed the world.

Based on extensive interviews with the scientists, engineers, administrators, and executives who lived the story, this riveting chronicle details PARC's humble beginnings through its triumph as a hothouse for ideas, and shows why Xerox was never able to grasp, and ultimately exploit, the cutting-edge innovations PARC delivered. Dealers of Lightning offers an unprecedented look at the ideas, the inventions, and the individuals that propelled Xerox PARC to the frontier of technohistoiy--and the corporate machinations that almost prevented it from achieving greatness.

Plots, spies and inventors abound in an epic adventure set between London and Paris ... Mischief is afoot, and Queen Victoria is not amused. Her stalker must be stopped. Forget the cavalry – this is a job for Her Majesty’s League of Remarkable Young Ladies! The League’s newest recruit is Winifred Weatherby, a feisty girl-genius and gadget-maker. Winnie’s creations are remarkable, but is she clever enough to protect the Queen – and achieve her own dream of winning the top prize in Paris for young inventors . . . ?  A debut Victorian romp and the winner of the Times/Chicken House Institution of Engineering and Technology Prize, 2021 A celebration of girls in STEM – and the hurdles they overcome  Combines fact and fiction: the novel draws on real-life historical inventions and events Perfect for readers aged 9 and up

Charles Ludwig retells Michael Faraday's remarkable life story in fictionalized form. Here is the father of the electric motor, the dynamo, the transformer, the generator. Few persons are aware of the brilliant man's deep Christian convictions and his determination to live by the Sermon on the Mount. For ages 12 to 15. 212 Pages.

This book presents a broad overview of the multifaceted phenomena of innovation networks, which have assumed increasing importance with the emergence of the so-called 'knowledge economy'. The topic of innovation networks is analysed through different lenses, bringing together the theory of self-organisation, complexity theory and recent developments in the economic and sociological literature on innovation. The aim of the book is the integration of these different perspectives in order to develop a common theory of innovation networks. In this respect, a general model of innovation networks is applied to different industrial sectors such as the biotechnology industry, the telecommunications industry, and knowledge-intensive business systems which form the backbone of the internet economy. By combining empirical case studies with theoretical work on the emergence of innovation networks, the authors are able to identify the mechanisms and circumstances which can contribute to their successful development and evaluation. Innovation Networks is the result of a two year collaboration between academics from a range of different disciplines including theoretical physics, political science, computer science, sociology and economics. As such, it will appeal to students, scholars and researchers in all of these fields as well as business and R&D managers, and policymakers and politicians involved in the promotion of technology policy.

For over 30 years environmental policy has developed under the assumption that self-interest explains firms' environmental behaviour and that the problem of pollution can be rectified by technological fixes. This policy paradigm has been proved wrong: entrenched antagonism between firms and regulators, and greater environmental harm, have proved to be the dominant outcomes. This book re-focuses environmental policy analysis by demonstrating how behavioural models can be applied within the field to better understand the propensity of the firm to engage in pro-environmental, innovative activities. The book develops an essential tool for environmental policy analysis in the context of technical change. A rigorous theoretical and methodological framework is applied to identify sources of firms' willingness (or resistance) to engage in cleaner production and to evaluate under which conditions the firm's pro-environmental, innovative behaviour may be fostered. The author undertakes extensive research through a case study of the In-Bond industry in Mexico and assesses the significance and relationship of individual factors relating to a firm's innovative behaviour towards 'greener' production. The model developed helps to understand the planned behaviour of the firm in specific contexts, to shape and guide empirical inquiry, and to produce useful corporate and public policy recommendations. Environmental Policy and Technological Innovation comprehensively explores the factors which can influence a firm's behavioural approach towards developing clean technologies. Unlike many other studies on environmental policy, it addresses the origin of the problems and not just the symptoms. It will become an indispensable companion for local, national and international environmental regulators, environmental policymakers and analysts, and those interested in technological innovation and technology policy.

A lively and highly readable account of the origins, invention and discovery of just about everything on the planet, the truly global coverage of The First of Everything ranges from the Big Bang to driverless cars.

The First of Everything follows a context-setting introduction with seven stimulating sections: In the Beginning (The Big Bang to Homo Sapiens), At Home (the first glass windows to dentures and bikinis); Health and Medicine (herbs to heart transplants); Getting About (donkeys to double deckers); Science and Engineering (potter's wheel to webcam); Peace and War (the first king to fighter-bombers); and Culture (cave painting to rap). This fascinating book takes in the full sweep of human development and ingenuity over twelve millennia; Africa, for example, gave us the first monarch, algebra and great religions emerged from the Middle East, democracy was born in Europe, and America made the first flying machines. More than just a string of dry lists, the colourful text's intriguing insights and asides make it as enjoyable for the casual browser as the more serious researcher.