The history of science from 1945 to 2020, told from the perspective of Arnold Thackray, a pioneering expert in the fieldIn this fascinating personal account of what he calls the “American century,” Arnold Thackray**,** noted historian of the development of science, relates his life’s story, beginning in post-war Manchester, England, to his time as an undergraduate at Bristol University, followed by his years at Cambridge University, where he earned a Ph.D. in the n...

Our world today -- from the phone in your pocket to the car that you drive, the allure of social media to the strategy of the Pentagon -- has been shaped irrevocably by the technology of silicon transistors. Year after year, for half a century, these tiny switches have enabled ever-more startling capabilities. Their incredible proliferation has altered the course of human history as dramatically as any political or social revolution. At the heart of it all has been one quiet Californian: G...

Our world today—from the phone in your pocket to the car that you drive, the allure of social media to the strategy of the Pentagon—has been shaped irrevocably by the technology of silicon transistors. Year after year, for half a century, these tiny switches have enabled ever-more startling capabilities. Their incredible proliferation has altered the course of human history as dramatically as any political or social revolution. At the heart of it all has been one quiet Californian: Gordon ...

A New York Times Bestseller. A “fascinating” (Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times) look at how digital technology is transforming our work and our lives.In recent years, Google’s autonomous cars have logged thousands of miles on American highways and IBM’s Watson trounced the best human Jeopardy! players. Digital technologies—with hardware, software, and networks at their core—will in the near future diagnose diseases more accurately than ...

An "illuminating and important" look at the scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs who are working to save us from catastrophic climate change ( New York Journal of Books).Nikola Tesla was considered a mad scientist by the society of his time for predicting global warming more than a hundred years ago. Today, we need visionaries like him to find sources of alternative energy and solutions to this looming threat.Mad Like Tesla takes an in...

**The definitive history of America’s greatest incubator of innovation and the birthplace of some of the 20th century’s most influential technologies“Filled with colorful characters and inspiring lessons . . . The Idea Factory explores one of the most critical issues of our time: What causes innovation?” —Walter Isaacson, The New York Times Book Review“Compelling . . . Gertner's book offers fascinating evidence for those seeking to understand how a society...

Reveals the underlying story form of all great presentations that will not only create impact, but will move people to actionPresentations are meant to inform, inspire, and persuade audiences. So why then do so many audiences leave feeling like they've wasted their time? All too often, presentations don't resonate with the audience and move them to transformative action.Just as the author's first book helped presenters become visual communicators, Reson...

Barely fifty years ago a computer was a gargantuan, vastly expensive thing that only a handful of scientists had ever seen. The world’s brightest engineers were stymied in their quest to make these machines small and affordable until the solution finally came from two ingenious young Americans. Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce hit upon the stunning discovery that would make possible the silicon microchip, a work that would ultimately earn Kilby the Nobel Prize for physics in 2000. In this compl...

The astonishing story of America's airwaves, the two friends—one a media mogul, the other a famous inventor—who made them available to us, and the government which figured out how to put a price on air.This is the origin story of the airwaves—the foundational technology of the communications age—as told through the forty-year friendship of an entrepreneurial industrialist and a brilliant inventor.David Sarnoff, the head of RCA and equal parts Steve Jobs, Jack Welch, and Wil...

“This makes entertaining reading. Many accounts of the birth of personal computing have been written, but this is the first close look at the drug habits of the earliest pioneers.” —New York TimesMost histories of the personal computer industry focus on technology or business. John Markoff’s landmark book is about the culture and consciousness behind the first PCs—the culture being counter– and the consciousness expanded, sometimes chemically. It’s a brill...

Based on unprecedented access to the corporation's archives, The Intel Trinity is the first full history of Intel Corporation—the essential company of the digital age— told through the lives of the three most important figures in the company's history: Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore, and Andy Grove.Often hailed the "most important company in the world," Intel remains, more than four decades after its inception, a defining company of the global digital economy. The legendary inventors o...

In the fall of 1930, David Packard left his hometown of Pueblo, Colorado, to enroll at Stanford University, where he befriended another freshman, Bill Hewlett. After graduation, Hewlett and Packard decided to throw their lots in together. They tossed a coin to decide whose name should go first on the notice of incorporation, then cast about in search of products to sell.Today, the one-car garage in Palo Alto that housed their first workshop is a California historic landmark: the bi...