Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I sampled this book on a whim on my Kindle and then bought the whole thing, even though it was a steep $20 plus. Smil does an excellent job describing how critical technologies such as electrical transmission, motors, and lighting actually evolved, far beyond the Edison-invented-the-lightbulb stories we have all heard. I am just a couple of chapters in, but I am confident in saying if you are leaning towards buying this book, you probably should. He goes into more detail than you may want concerning such things as the efficiency of various electrical technologies, yet somehow he makes the story of leaps and steady improvements rather mesmerizing.
Quite striking is his major thesis that the technological revolution before WWI was sui generis, a singularity in its own right. He explains how the technologies developed then are still very much with us and unlikely to be superceded anytime soon. This is a good antidote to the presentism of the Age of Information and AI enthusiasts. Unless you are already an engineer, you are likely to learn a lot about basic technologies we take for granted. IP lawyers may also find the various patent struggles of interest.
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