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The Engines of Our Ingenuity: An Engineer Looks at Technology and Culture
John H. Lienhard
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Description for The Engines of Our Ingenuity: An Engineer Looks at Technology and Culture
paperback. Num Pages: 272 pages, 45 halftones & 23 line illus. BIC Classification: P; PDZ; TBD; TBX. Category: (G) General (US: Trade); (P) Professional & Vocational; (U) Tertiary Education (US: College). Dimension: 155 x 228 x 19. Weight in Grams: 436.
Millions of people have listened to John H. Lienhard's radio program "The Engines of Our Ingenuity." In this fascinating book, Lienhard gathers his reflections on the nature of technology, culture, and human inventiveness. The book brims with insightful observations. Lienhard writes that the history of technology is a history of us--we are the machines we create. Thus farming dramatically changed the rhythms of human life and redirected history. War seldom fuels invention--radar, jets, and the digital computer all emerged before World War II began. And the medieval Church was a driving force behind the growth of Western technology--Cistercian monasteries were virtual factories, whose water wheels cut wood, forged iron, and crushed olives. Lienhard illustrates his themes through inventors, mathematicians, and engineers--with stories of the canoe, the DC-3, the Hoover Dam, the diode, and the sewing machine. We gain new insight as to who we are, through the familiar machines and technologies that are central to our lives.
Product Details
Format
Paperback
Publication date
2003
Publisher
Oxford University Press United States
Number of pages
272
Condition
New
Number of Pages
272
Place of Publication
New York, United States
ISBN
9780195167313
SKU
V9780195167313
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 15 to 20 working days
Ref
99-23
About John H. Lienhard
John Lienhard is the M.D. Anderson Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering and History at the University of Houston. He is the author and host of "The Engines of Our Ingenuity," a daily radio essay on the history of creativity and invention, heard on many public radio stations. He is also the author of Inventing Modern: Growing up with X-Rays, Skyscrapers, and Tailfins. He lives in Houston, Texas.
Reviews for The Engines of Our Ingenuity: An Engineer Looks at Technology and Culture
John Lienhard brings a relentless optimism to his exposition of 'the complex mirroring processes that define technology-driven evolution'.
American Scientist
An extremely interesting and readable book. Examples drawn from agriculture, sanitary engineering, military engineering, steam power, space travel, manufacturing, transportation, communications, mathematics, and numerous other areas of science, engineering, and technology enable Lienhard to illustrate exactly the points he wishes to make. Unusual and refreshing.
Technology and Culture
A fitting introduction to the human obsession with invention.
Publishers Weekly
A wonderful book for both those not yet initiated in the field of science and technology and those who aspire to make contributions through their scientific discoveries and technological innovations.
Nam P. Suh, author of The Principles of Design and Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT
John Lienhard has a great ear for concise narrative, and The Engines of Our Ingenuity is a wonderful collection of compelling stories about engineers and engineering accomplishments."-Henry Petroski, A.S. Vesic Professor of Civil Engineering and Professor of History, Duke University and author of Engineers of Dreams Never mind kings or prophets or explorers. What matters more to our immediate world are the efforts of people, both known and nameless, who have given us the devices with which we're surrounded. John Lienhard celebrates their achievements, exploring of the mysterious alchemy of technology, science, and creativity that underly invention. Graceful writing, insightful analyses, good stories-a book for technophobes and technophiles alike."- Steven Vogel, James B. Duke Professor of Zoology, Duke University, and author ofCats' Paws and Catapults: Mechanical Worlds of Nature and People
American Scientist
An extremely interesting and readable book. Examples drawn from agriculture, sanitary engineering, military engineering, steam power, space travel, manufacturing, transportation, communications, mathematics, and numerous other areas of science, engineering, and technology enable Lienhard to illustrate exactly the points he wishes to make. Unusual and refreshing.
Technology and Culture
A fitting introduction to the human obsession with invention.
Publishers Weekly
A wonderful book for both those not yet initiated in the field of science and technology and those who aspire to make contributions through their scientific discoveries and technological innovations.
Nam P. Suh, author of The Principles of Design and Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT
John Lienhard has a great ear for concise narrative, and The Engines of Our Ingenuity is a wonderful collection of compelling stories about engineers and engineering accomplishments."-Henry Petroski, A.S. Vesic Professor of Civil Engineering and Professor of History, Duke University and author of Engineers of Dreams Never mind kings or prophets or explorers. What matters more to our immediate world are the efforts of people, both known and nameless, who have given us the devices with which we're surrounded. John Lienhard celebrates their achievements, exploring of the mysterious alchemy of technology, science, and creativity that underly invention. Graceful writing, insightful analyses, good stories-a book for technophobes and technophiles alike."- Steven Vogel, James B. Duke Professor of Zoology, Duke University, and author ofCats' Paws and Catapults: Mechanical Worlds of Nature and People