How Invention Begins

How Invention Begins PDF Author: John H. Lienhard
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199885567
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 288

Get Book Here

Book Description
In How Invention Begins, Lienhard reconciles the ends of invention with the individual leaps upon which they are built, illuminating the vast web of individual inspirations that lie behind whole technologies. He traces, for instance, the way in which thousands of people applied their combined inventive genius to airplanes, railroad engines, and automobiles. As he does so, it becomes clear that a collective desire, an upwelling of fascination, a spirit of the times--a Zeitgeist--laid its hold upon inventors. The thing they all sought to create was speed itself. Likewise, Lienhard shows that when we trace the astonishingly complex technology of printing books, we come at last to that which we desire from books--the knowledge, the learning, that they provide. Can we speak of speed or education as inventions? To do so, he concludes, is certainly no greater a stretch than it is to call radio or the telephone an "invention." Throughout this marvelous volume, Lienhard illuminates these webs of insight or inspiration by weaving a fabric of anecdote, history, and technical detail--all of which come together to provide a full and satisfying portrait of the true nature of invention.

How Invention Begins

How Invention Begins PDF Author: John H. Lienhard
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199885567
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 288

Get Book Here

Book Description
In How Invention Begins, Lienhard reconciles the ends of invention with the individual leaps upon which they are built, illuminating the vast web of individual inspirations that lie behind whole technologies. He traces, for instance, the way in which thousands of people applied their combined inventive genius to airplanes, railroad engines, and automobiles. As he does so, it becomes clear that a collective desire, an upwelling of fascination, a spirit of the times--a Zeitgeist--laid its hold upon inventors. The thing they all sought to create was speed itself. Likewise, Lienhard shows that when we trace the astonishingly complex technology of printing books, we come at last to that which we desire from books--the knowledge, the learning, that they provide. Can we speak of speed or education as inventions? To do so, he concludes, is certainly no greater a stretch than it is to call radio or the telephone an "invention." Throughout this marvelous volume, Lienhard illuminates these webs of insight or inspiration by weaving a fabric of anecdote, history, and technical detail--all of which come together to provide a full and satisfying portrait of the true nature of invention.

The Architecture of Matter

The Architecture of Matter PDF Author: Thomas Anand Holden
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199263264
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 318

Get Book Here

Book Description
Holden presents a study of theories of the internal architecture of matter in the 17th & 18th centuries. He offers a synthesis of discussions by Galileo, Descartes, Newton and Kant, amongst others, and gives his own interpretation of the debate.

The Bible, Protestantism, and the Rise of Natural Science

The Bible, Protestantism, and the Rise of Natural Science PDF Author: Peter Harrison
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521000963
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 330

Get Book Here

Book Description
An examination of the role played by the Bible in the emergence of natural science.

Creators of Science Fiction

Creators of Science Fiction PDF Author: Brian Stableford
Publisher: Wildside Press LLC
ISBN: 1434457591
Category : Science fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 214

Get Book Here

Book Description
Well-known critic and novelist Brian Stableford here discusses the writers, editors, and publishers who helped create the modern genre of science fiction: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe, Camille Flammarion, Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, Hugo Gernsback, John W. Campbell Jr., Edward E. "Doc" Smith, Robert A. Heinlein, James Blish, Gregory Benford, and Ian Watson. Complete with bibliography and index.

The Scientific Intellectual

The Scientific Intellectual PDF Author: Lewis S. Feuer
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000680096
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 260

Get Book Here

Book Description
The birth of modern science was linked to the rise in Western Europe of a new sensibility, that of the scientific intellectual. Such a person was no more technician, looking at science as just a job to be done, but one for whom the scientific stand-point is a philosophy in the fullest sense. In The Scientific Intellectual, Lewis S. Feuer traces the evolution of this new human type, seeking to define what ethic inspired him and the underlying emotions that created him.Under the influence of Max Weber, the rise of the scientific spirit has been viewed by sociologists as an offspring of the Protestant revolution, with its asceticism and sense of guilt acting as causative agents in the rise of capitalism and the growth of the scientific movement. Feuer takes strong issue with this view, pointing out how it is at odds with what we know of the psychological conditions of modern societies making for human curiosity and its expression in the observation of and experiment with nature.Feuer shows that wherever a scientific movement has begun, it has been based on emotions that issue in what might be called a hedonist-libertarian ethic. The scientific intellectual was a person for whom science was a 'new philosophy,' a third force rising above religious and political hatreds, seeking in the world of nature liberated vision, a intending to use and enjoy its knowledge. In his new introduction to this brilliantly readable volume, Professor Feuer reviews the book's critical reception and expands the scope of the original edition to include fascinating discussions of Francis Bacon, Thomas Edison, Charles Darwin, Thomas Hardy, and others. The Scientific Intellectual will be of interest to scientists and intellectual historians.

Monthly Bulletin

Monthly Bulletin PDF Author: St. Louis Public Library
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 434

Get Book Here

Book Description
"Teachers' bulletin", vol. 4- issued as part of v. 23, no. 9-

The Nation

The Nation PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Great Britain
Languages : en
Pages : 754

Get Book Here

Book Description


The New York Times Index

The New York Times Index PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Indexes
Languages : en
Pages : 636

Get Book Here

Book Description


Monthly Bulletin. New Series

Monthly Bulletin. New Series PDF Author: St. Louis Public Library
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 790

Get Book Here

Book Description


The United States Catalog

The United States Catalog PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : American literature
Languages : en
Pages : 2188

Get Book Here

Book Description