Fifty Machines That Changed The Course Of History

It could be argued that the most significant advances in the past two centuries have been made in the fields of science and technology, and that the defining objects of our culture are its mechanical devices. Rather than at looking at technology as a succession of generic inventions, 50 Machines that Changed the course of History identifies the most significant branded or one-off machines of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, placing them in their historical and technological contexts, and evaluating their impact on the development of human civilization. The preeminent machines of the First Industrial Revolution, the “Age of Steam,” include the first locomotive designed for passenger transport, Stephenson’s Rocket (1829), and the Corliss steam engine (1849) that powered Britain’s “Satanic mills,” in which the Harrison power loom (1851) produced the bulk of the world’s cotton cloth. The turn of the twentieth century, and the Second Industrial Revolution, saw the invention of many of the technologies that have created modern lifestyles: the Westinghouse AC system (1887) brought electrical power and lighting to homes and workplaces; the Berliner gramophone (1892), Lumière cine projector (1896), and Marconi radio (1897) heralded the dawn of the media age; and the age of the mass-produced automobile began with the Model T Ford (1908). Perfect for history buffs and anyone who is fascinated by complex and beautiful mechanical devices, Fifty Machines that Changed the Course of History is a celebration of 50 iconic machines, and of mechanical technology in general.

This book introduces materials and how advances in materials result in advances in technology and our daily lives. Each chapter covers a particular material, how the material was discovered or invented, when it was first used, how this material has impacted the world, what makes the material important, how it is used today, and future applications. The list of materials covered in this book includes stone, wood, natural fibers, metals, clay, lead, iron, steel, silicon, glass, rubber, composites, polyethylene, rare earth magnet, and alloys.

How the Computer Changed History examines the development of the computer, how it works, and how it has become a standard machine used in businesses, homes, and industries. Features include essential facts, a glossary, selected bibliography, websites, source notes, and an index, plus a timeline and maps, charts, and diagrams. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Essential Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.

This book uses food as a lens through which to explore important matters of society and culture. In exploring why and how people eat around the globe, the text focuses on issues of health, conflict, struggle, contest, inequality, and power. Whether because of its necessity, pleasure, or ubiquity, the world of food (and its lore) proves endlessly fascinating to most people. The story of food is a narrative filled with both human striving and human suffering. However, many of today's diners are only dimly aware of the human price exacted for that comforting distance from the lived-world realities of food justice struggles. With attention to food issues ranging from local farming practices to global supply chains, this book examines how food’s history and geography remain inextricably linked to sociopolitical experiences of trauma connected with globalization, such as colonization, conquest, enslavement, and oppression. The main text is structured alphabetically around a set of 70 ingredients, from almonds to yeast. Each ingredient's story is accompanied by recipes. Along with the food profiles, the encyclopedia features sidebars. These are short discussions of topics of interest related to food, including automats, diners, victory gardens, and food at world’s fairs. This project also brings a social justice perspective to its content—weighing debates concerning food access, equity, insecurity, and politics.

Facts and figures have been thoroughly updated and the work includes a comprehensive Guide to Resources, incorporating the major published literature along with a vetted list of websites and Internet resources for students and lay readers.

These days there is only one right answer when someone asks you what you are doing after work. Hitting the gym! With an explosion of apps, clothing, devices, and countless DVDs, fitness has never felt more modern, and the gym is its holy laboratory, alive with machinery, sweat, and dance music. But we are far from the first to pursue bodily perfection—the gymnasium dates back 2,800 years, to the very beginnings of Western civilization. In The Temple of Perfection, Eric Chaline offers the first proper consideration of the gym’s complex, layered history and the influence it has had on the development of Western individualism, society, education, and politics. As Chaline shows, how we take care of our bodies has long been based on a complex mix of spiritual beliefs, moral discipline, and aesthetic ideals that are all entangled with political, social, and sexual power. Today, training in a gym is seen primarily as part of the pursuit of individual fulfillment. As he shows, however, the gym has always had a secondary role in creating men and women who are “fit for purpose”—a notion that has meant a lot of different things throughout history. Chaline surveys the gym’s many incarnations and the ways the individual, the nation-state, the media, and the corporate world have intersected in its steamy confines, sometimes with unintended consequences. He shows that the gym is far more than a factory for superficiality and self-obsession—it is one of the principle battlefields of humanity’s social, sexual, and cultural wars. Exploring the gym’s history from a multitude of perspectives, Chaline concludes by looking toward its future as it struggles to redefine itself in a world in thrall to quick fixes—such as plastic surgery and pharmaceuticals—meant to attain the gym’s ultimate promises: physical fitness and beauty.

Today it seems that computers occupy every single space in life. This book traces the evolution of computers from the humble beginnings as simple calculators up to the modern day jack-of-all trades devices like the iPhone. Readers will learn about how computers evolved from humongous military-issue refrigerators to the spiffy, delicate, and intriguing devices that many modern people feel they can't live without anymore. Readers will also discover the historical significance of computers, and their pivotal roles in World War II, the Space Race, and the emergence of modern Western powers.

Celebrating the invention of vehicles, this collective biography tells the inspiring stories of the visionaries who changed the way we move across air, water, and land. Perfect for fans of Mistakes that Worked and Girls Think of Everything.