Making Sense Of The Industrial Revolution

This comprehensive and innovative book on the Industrial Revolution uses carefully chosen case studies, illustrated with extracts from contemporary documents, to offer new perspectives on the process and impact of industrialization. The authors look at the development of economic structures, the financing of the Industrial Revolution, technological advances, markets and demand, and agricultural progress. The book also deals with changes in demography, the household, families, and the built environment.

Why did the industrial revolution take place in 18th century Britain and not elsewhere in Europe or Asia? Robert Allen argues that the British industrial revolution was a successful response to the global economy of the 17th and 18th centuries.

World-renowned economist Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, explains that we have an opportunity to shape the fourth industrial revolu­tion, which will fundamentally alter how we live and work. Schwab argues that this revolution is different in scale, scope and complexity from any that have come before. Characterized by a range of new technologies that are fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds, the developments are affecting all disciplines, economies, industries and governments, and even challenging ideas about what it means to be human. Artificial intelligence is already all around us, from supercomputers, drones and virtual assistants to 3D printing, DNA sequencing, smart thermostats, wear­able sensors and microchips smaller than a grain of sand. But this is just the beginning: nanomaterials 200 times stronger than steel and a million times thinner than a strand of hair and the first transplant of a 3D printed liver are already in development. Imagine “smart factories” in which global systems of manu­facturing are coordinated virtually, or implantable mobile phones made of biosynthetic materials. The fourth industrial revolution, says Schwab, is more significant, and its ramifications more profound, than in any prior period of human history. He outlines the key technologies driving this revolution and discusses the major impacts expected on government, business, civil society and individu­als. Schwab also offers bold ideas on how to harness these changes and shape a better future—one in which technology empowers people rather than replaces them; progress serves society rather than disrupts it; and in which innovators respect moral and ethical boundaries rather than cross them. We all have the opportunity to contribute to developing new frame­works that advance progress.

Making Sense of World History is a comprehensive and accessible textbook that helps students understand the key themes of world history within a chronological framework stretching from ancient times to the present day. To lend coherence to its narrative, the book employs a set of organizing devices that connect times, places, and/or themes. This narrative is supported by: Flowcharts that show how phenomena within diverse broad themes interact in generating key processes and events in world history. A discussion of the common challenges faced by different types of agent, including rulers, merchants, farmers, and parents, and a comparison of how these challenges were addressed in different times and places. An exhaustive and balanced treatment of themes such as culture, politics, and economy, with an emphasis on interaction. Explicit attention to skill acquisition in organizing information, cultural sensitivity, comparison, visual literacy, integration, interrogating primary sources, and critical thinking. A focus on historical “episodes” that are carefully related to each other. Through the use of such devices, the book shows the cumulative effect of thematic interactions through time, communicates the many ways in which societies have influenced each other through history, and allows us to compare and contrast how they have reacted to similar challenges. They also allow the reader to transcend historical controversies and can be used to stimulate class discussions and guide student assignments. With a unified authorial voice and offering a narrative from the ancient to the present, this is the go-to textbook for World History courses and students. The Open Access version of this book has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Named a Best Book of 2021 by the Financial Times and a Best Science Book of 2021 by The Guardian “Rovelli is a genius and an amazing communicator… This is the place where science comes to life.” ―Neil Gaiman “One of the warmest, most elegant and most lucid interpreters to the laity of the dazzling enigmas of his discipline...[a] momentous book” ―John Banville, The Wall Street Journal A startling new look at quantum theory, from the New York Times bestselling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, The Order of Time, and Anaximander. One of the world's most renowned theoretical physicists, Carlo Rovelli has entranced millions of readers with his singular perspective on the cosmos. In Helgoland, he examines the enduring enigma of quantum theory. The quantum world Rovelli describes is as beautiful as it is unnerving. Helgoland is a treeless island in the North Sea where the twenty-three-year-old Werner Heisenberg made the crucial breakthrough for the creation of quantum mechanics, setting off a century of scientific revolution. Full of alarming ideas (ghost waves, distant objects that seem to be magically connected, cats that appear both dead and alive), quantum physics has led to countless discoveries and technological advancements. Today our understanding of the world is based on this theory, yet it is still profoundly mysterious. As scientists and philosophers continue to fiercely debate the meaning of the theory, Rovelli argues that its most unsettling contradictions can be explained by seeing the world as fundamentally made of relationships rather than substances. We and everything around us exist only in our interactions with one another. This bold idea suggests new directions for thinking about the structure of reality and even the nature of consciousness. Rovelli makes learning about quantum mechanics an almost psychedelic experience. Shifting our perspective once again, he takes us on a riveting journey through the universe so we can better comprehend our place in it.

This Volume 1 of Part II considers the factors that make science progress. It lays out the differences between normal science and pseudoscience by showing the importance of the scientific method in the advancement of science. It introduces the concept of Truth in science by raising the point that even though truth is based on the scientific method, can science be true? Can it depict reality? The author focuses on modern science, which, he thinks, was born thanks to the Scientific Revolution which started with Galileo Galilei and led to the Industrial Revolution. The impacts of the latter is analyzed in light modernism, modernization, and modernity, all three linked to scientific progress. The book also talks about the Newtonian scientific leap – by analyzing particularly the then social and political fabrics of England – and Albert Einstein by showing how he changed history. According to the author, our very physical world can help us understand scientific progress. So, he explains, among other things, the structure of atoms and molecules, the role of physics in the understanding of our universe, Quantum Mechanics, and the importance of Higgs-Boson. On the other hand, the book is a stunning revelation of how important information is to scientific progress. To make his point, the author, first, talks about John Vincent Atanasoff as the Father of computer thanks to the invention of his ABC computer and then, Alan Turing as the Father of modern computer thanks to his Turing Test and his views on Artificial Intelligence. Both men played a momentous role in the Digital Revolution and in the Information Age, according to the book. Finally, the author talks about nanotechnology, which explores the world of small, meaning at the atomic and the molecular levels and is an inescapable tool in the molecular biology revolution which, itself, is an important factor in scientific progress and in transhumanism or human enhancement defined as the ideology according to which man can surpass his present state by improving his genetic material.

In 2000, for the first time, a majority of the world's population was living in cities. The trend towards increasing urbanization shows no sign of slowing and the third millennium looks set to be an unprecedentedly urban one. 'Making Sense of Cities' provides an up-to-date, vibrant and accessible introduction to urban geography. It offers students a sense of the patterns and processess of urbanization and the spatial organisation of cities, recognizing the significance of globalization, economics, politics and culture from a range of perspectives. Above all, it seeks to provide a relevant approach, inviting students to engage with competing theories of the urban and to assess them against the background of their own opinions and personal experience. Examples and case studies are drawn from a range of international settings, from San Francisco to Shanghai, Sydney to Singapore, giving a genuinely global coverage. The book is written in a fresh and engaging stlye, and is fully illustrated throughout. It is designed to appeal to any student of the urban and will be essential to students of geography, urban studies, town planning and land economy.

The world of economics is changing. Years of turmoil in the global economy mean that nothing will ever be quite the same again. This is the starting point and theme of this radically revised Economist books classic, now available for the first time in America. Richard Davies, economics editor of The Economist, takes us on a journey through the paper's own analysis of the state of the world's economies, how we reached this point and what to expect in the next decade. He explores: what's gone wrong since 2008, why it's happened and how we can stop it happening again; the shifting focus of economics from banking to labor economics; the future hopes and challenges for the world economy. Along the way, we encounter the global economy laid bare, from banks, panics, and crashes to innovative new policies to improve how markets function; from discussions around jobs, pay, and inequality to the promise of innovation and productivity; from the implications of emerging markets and the globalisation of trade through to the sharing economy and the economics of Google and eBay. The result is a fascinating review of the global economy and the changing role of economics in the new world order.