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Chargement... Circles : Fifty Roundtrips Through History Technology Science Culturepar James Burke
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Inscrivez-vous à LibraryThing pour découvrir si vous aimerez ce livre Actuellement, il n'y a pas de discussions au sujet de ce livre. James Burke is the king of connections; one of his earlier books even carries that title: Connections. This collection of essays is a lighter tome in some ways but similar in others, that is the connections in each essay. As the title suggests, each essay circles from some incident or anecdote through the connectedness of scientific and technological events to an end where you began. Each chapter performs this neat trick and the author's witty style makes for enjoyable reading. This is a great place to learn about technology if you have little background in the topic. For those with some knowledge and interest this may be lightweight fare, but it is good entertainment nonetheless. After producing the marvelous and engaging series "Connections", Burke seems to have gone to the well one to many times with "Circles". Burke trys to take his 'Connections' approach to identify complete circles in the connections of history. But rather than taking the connections where they lead, this self-imposed, artificial constraint leads to a combination of wild leaps and tidy little packages that just doesn't ring true. Burke comes out looking like he's just trying too hard, and a reader who's really paying attention will just refuse to follow. Okay, there are some curious and interesting historical connections identified here, but it's just too hard to follow Burke's route just to glean a few gems. Os.
"Burke returns to the theme of, and repeats anecdotes from, his previous books (The Pinball Effect; The Knowledge Web, LJ 6/15/99), showing by example the interconnectedness and role of serendipity in scientific discovery and progress."
From the bestselling author of The Knowledge Web come fifty mesmerizing journeys into the history of technology, each following a chain of consequential events that ends precisely where it began. Whether exploring electromagnetic fields, the origin of hot chocolate, or DNA fingerprinting, these essays -- which originally appeared in James Burke's popular Scientific American column -- all illustrate the serendipitous and surprisingly circular nature of change. In "Room with (Half) a View," for instance, Burke muses about the partly obscured railway bridge outside his home on the Thames. Thinking of the bridge engineer, who also built the steamship that laid the first transatlantic telegraph cable, causes him to recall Samuel Morse; which, in turn, conjures up Morse's neighbor, firearms inventor Sam Colt, and his rival, Remington. One dizzying connection after another leads to Karl Marx's daughter, who attended Socialist meetings with a trombonist named Gustav Holst, who once lived in the very house that blocks Burke's view of the bridge on the Thames. Burke's essays all evolve in this organic manner, highlighting the interconnectedness of seemingly unrelated events and innovations. Romantic poetry leads to brandy distillation; tonic water connects through Leibniz to the first explorers to reach the North Pole. Witty, instructive, and endlessly entertaining, Circles expands on the trademark style that has captivated James Burke fans for years. This unique collection is sure to stimulate and delight history buffs, technophiles, and anyone else with a healthy intellectual curiosity. Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque |
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Google Books — Chargement... GenresClassification décimale de Melvil (CDD)609Technology General Technology History, geographic treatment, biographyClassification de la Bibliothèque du CongrèsÉvaluationMoyenne:
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It's more like a collection of neat little stories than a real synthesis. Which is ok, but I wind up thinking that I'm merely being entertained instead of learning something. ( )