The Renaissance Computer

The Renaissance Computer PDF Author: Jonathan Sawday
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113459979X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 459

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Book Description
In the fifteenth century the printing press was the 'new technology'. The first ever information revolution began with the advent of the printed book, enabling Renaissance scholars to formulate new ways of organising and disseminating knowledge. As early as 1500 there were already 20 million books in circulation in Europe. How did this rapid explosion of ideas impact upon the evolution of new disciplines? The Renaissance Computer looks at the fascinating development of new methods of information storage and retrieval which took place at the very beginning of print culture. And it asks some crucial questions about the intellectual conditions of our own digital age. A dazzling array of leading experts in Renaissance culture explore topics of urgent significance today, including: * the contribution of knowledge technologies to state formulation and national identity *the effect of multimedia, orality and memory on education *the importance of the visual display of information and how search engines reflect and direct ways of thinking.

The Renaissance Computer

The Renaissance Computer PDF Author: Jonathan Sawday
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113459979X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 459

Get Book Here

Book Description
In the fifteenth century the printing press was the 'new technology'. The first ever information revolution began with the advent of the printed book, enabling Renaissance scholars to formulate new ways of organising and disseminating knowledge. As early as 1500 there were already 20 million books in circulation in Europe. How did this rapid explosion of ideas impact upon the evolution of new disciplines? The Renaissance Computer looks at the fascinating development of new methods of information storage and retrieval which took place at the very beginning of print culture. And it asks some crucial questions about the intellectual conditions of our own digital age. A dazzling array of leading experts in Renaissance culture explore topics of urgent significance today, including: * the contribution of knowledge technologies to state formulation and national identity *the effect of multimedia, orality and memory on education *the importance of the visual display of information and how search engines reflect and direct ways of thinking.

The Renaissance Computer

The Renaissance Computer PDF Author: Neil Rhodes
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780415220637
Category : Books
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description


The New Renaissance

The New Renaissance PDF Author: Douglas S. Robertson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
The electronic computer, argues Douglas Robertson, is the most important invention in the history of technology, if not all history It has already set off an information explosion that has changed many facets of civilization beyond recognition. These changes have ushered in nothing less than the dawn of a new level of civilization. In The New Renaissance, Robertson offers an important historical perspective on the computer revolution, by comparing it to three earlier landmarks of human development--language, writing, and printing. We see how these three inventions changed how we capture, store, and distribute information, and how each thereby triggered an information explosion that transformed society, ushering in a new civilization utterly unlike anything before. But history has never seen a revolution on the scale of the one being sparked by computers today. What can we expect from the most important technological breakthrough in human history? Robertson lays out possible scenarios regarding transformations in science and mathematics, education, language, the arts, and everyday life. School children, for instance, will forsake pencil and paper for keyboard and calculator, much as their forebears forsook clay tablets and abaci for pencil and paper. In films, the computer simulations of Jurassic Park could be eclipsed by "synthespians," artificial actors indistinguishable from living ones. Whether one is a computer enthusiast, a popular science buff, or simply someone fascinated by the future, The New Renaissance provides a breathtaking peek at the magnitude of changes we can expect as the full power of computers is unleashed.

Engines of the Imagination

Engines of the Imagination PDF Author: Jonathan Sawday
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134267932
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 425

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Book Description
Challenging the artificial divide between technological studies and cultural history, Engines of the Imagination traces the story of the imaginative encounter with machines and machinery in the European Renaissance.

The New Renaissance

The New Renaissance PDF Author: Lee Noel
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 49

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Book Description


Leonardo to the Internet

Leonardo to the Internet PDF Author: Thomas J. Misa
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 1421401541
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 401

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Book Description
Historian Thomas J. Misa's sweeping history of the relationship between technology and society over the past 500 years reveals how technological innovations have shaped -- and have been shaped by -- the cultures in which they arose. Spanning the preindustrial past, the age of scientific, political, and industrial revolutions, as well as the more recent eras of imperialism, modernism, and global security, this compelling work evaluates what Misa calls "the question of technology." Misa brings his acclaimed text up to date by examining how today's unsustainable energy systems, insecure information networks, and vulnerable global shipping have helped foster geopolitical risks and instability. A masterful analysis of how technology and culture have influenced each other over five centuries, Leonardo to the Internet frames a history that illuminates modern-day problems and prospects faced by our technology-dependent world. Praise for the first edition "Closely reasoned, reflective, and written with insight, grace, and wit, Misa's book takes us on a personal tour of technology and history, seeking to define and analyze paradigmatic techno-cultural eras." -- Technology and Culture "Follows [Thomas] Hughes's model of combining an engaging historical narrative with deeper lessons about technology." -- American Scholar "His case studies, such as that of Italian futurism or the localizations of the global McDonalds, provide good starting points for thought and discussion." -- Journal of Interdisciplinary History "This review cannot do justice to the precision and grace with which Misa analyzes technologies in their social contexts. He convincingly demonstrates the usefulness of his conceptual model." -- History and Technology "A fascinating, informative, and well-illustrated book." -- Choice

The European Renaissance in American Life

The European Renaissance in American Life PDF Author: Paul F. Grendler
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0313038481
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 358

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Book Description
An informative but light-hearted look at the popularity of the Renaissance today, this book was written by a Renaissance scholar intrigued with the way his subject continues to resonate outside the scholarly community. His purpose is to uncover and describe the many manifestations of America's love of the Renaissance. Why do millions don costumes to attend Renaissance Faires? Why do novels and films about the period enjoy continued popularity, as do Renaissance icons such as Elizabeth I, Michelangelo, Shakespeare and the Mona Lisa? How is it that American politicians and business leaders still look to Machiavelli as a symbol of wisdom-or of evil? Grendler posits that Americans embrace the Renaissance as a model of culture and sophistication, seeing it as confirmation that the individual can achieve greatness against long odds, a belief at the core of our own society. After an examination of The Real Renaissance (1400-1620), the book looks at ways in which Americans relive the experience (including Faires and Living Last Suppers), ways in which we re-create the Renaissance in our own world, and finally, ways in which the Renaissance is portrayed, for better or worse, in fiction and film.

THE RENAISSANCE OF THE RAILROAD

THE RENAISSANCE OF THE RAILROAD PDF Author: Frank Richter
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 145208436X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 266

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Book Description
Although its author does not put it that way, the book bearing that title could well be put as “A story that needs to be told.” Indeed, the chronicle of a mighty transformation that is too often overshadowed by other events. . At the beginning of the 20th century the steam locomotive powered train was supreme in transportation. Then by mid century it had all but disappeared. Yet at the dawn of the new century the auto, truck, and airplane was little more than a hobby of the few. That railroad at the turn of the century had a dramatic excitement and position in the culture of its own. Yet now, at the present beginning of the new 21st century that “railroad” still occupies a prominent place in the world of transportation. It did not suffer the fate of the horse and buggy, as commonplace in the late 19th, century. Instead, the railroad underwent a transformation as dynamic as the auto, truck and plane, and even the oncoming telephone, radio, moving picture and television and computer. That steam powered Iron Horse has been replaced by the diesel-electric locomotive, the “electric” train, and even as the 21st century emerged, the “floating train” maglev. But there was far more to that transformation indeed. That is the story that has been told more comprehensively than ever before in the just public book of that title. And it shows together how well man and machine have worked together to draw upon other emerging technologies and advances that swept into reality far more in the 20th century than any time in the history of man.

Histories of Computing

Histories of Computing PDF Author: Michael Sean Mahoney
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674055683
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 261

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Book Description
Computer technology is pervasive in the modern world, its role ever more important as it becomes embedded in a myriad of physical systems and disciplinary ways of thinking. The late Michael Sean Mahoney was a pioneer scholar of the history of computing, one of the first established historians of science to take seriously the challenges and opportunities posed by information technology to our understanding of the twentieth century. MahoneyÕs work ranged widely, from logic and the theory of computation to the development of software and applications as craft-work. But it was always informed by a unique perspective derived from his distinguished work on the history of medieval mathematics and experimental practice during the Scientific Revolution. His writings offered a new angle on very recent events and ideas and bridged the gaps between academic historians and computer scientists. Indeed, he came to believe that the field was irreducibly pluralistic and that there could be only histories of computing. In this collection, Thomas Haigh presents thirteen of MahoneyÕs essays and papers organized across three categories: historiography, software engineering, and theoretical computer science. His introduction surveys MahoneyÕs work to trace the development of key themes, illuminate connections among different areas of his research, and put his contributions into context. The volume also includes an essay on Mahoney by his former students Jed Z. Buchwald and D. Graham Burnett. The result is a landmark work, of interest to computer professionals as well as historians of technology and science.

New Media, Old Media

New Media, Old Media PDF Author: Wendy Hui Kyong Chun
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 9780415942249
Category : Digital media
Languages : en
Pages : 436

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Book Description
In this history of new media technologies, leading media and cultural theorists examine new media against the background of traditional media such as film, photography, and print in order to evaluate the multiple claims made about the benefits and freedom of digital media.