How technological change in the West has been driven by the pursuit of improvement: a history of technology, from plows and printing presses to penicillin, the atomic bomb, and the computer.
Why does technology change over time, how does it change, and what difference does it make? In this sweeping, ambitious look at a thousand years of Western experience, Robert Friedel argues that technological change comes largely through the pursuit of improvement -- the deep-rooted belief that things could be done in a better way. What Friedel calls the "culture of improvement" is manifested every day in the ways people carry out their tasks in life -- from tilling fields and raising children to waging war.
Improvements can be ephemeral or lasting, and one person's improvement may not always be viewed as such by others. Friedel stresses the social processes by which we define what improvements are and decide which improvements will last and which will not. These processes, he emphasizes, have created both winners and losers in history.
Friedel presents a series of narratives of Western technology that begin in the eleventh century and stretch into the twenty-first. Familiar figures from the history of invention are joined by others -- the Italian preacher who described the first eyeglasses, the dairywomen displaced from their control over cheesemaking, and the little-known engineer who first suggested a grand tower to Gustav Eiffel. Friedel traces technology from the plow and the printing press to the internal combustion engine, the transistor, and the space shuttle. Friedel also reminds us that faith in improvement can sometimes have horrific consequences, as improved weaponry makes warfare ever more deadly and the drive for improving human beings can lead to eugenics and even genocide. The most comprehensive attempt to tell the story of Western technology in many years, engagingly written and lavishly illustrated, A Culture of Improvement documents the ways in which the drive for improvement has shaped our modern world.
Автор: Fatemeh Shayan Название: Security in the Persian Gulf Region ISBN: 113758677X ISBN-13(EAN): 9781137586773 Издательство: Springer Рейтинг: Цена: 13974.00 р. Наличие на складе: Есть у поставщика Поставка под заказ.
Описание: This book examines changes in the Persian Gulf security complex following the United States (US) invasion of Iraq in 2003, focusing on threats to the collective identities of two religious sects - Shia and Sunni.
Автор: Askari Hossein Название: Conflicts in the Persian Gulf ISBN: 1137358378 ISBN-13(EAN): 9781137358370 Издательство: Springer Рейтинг: Цена: 12577.00 р. Наличие на складе: Есть у поставщика Поставка под заказ.
Описание: This book analyzes the origins of conflicts and wars in the Persian Gulf, assesses the common factor(s) that have been their essential fuel, determines their fallout for the political, economic, and human development of the region, and provides insight into how they may be better contained.
Автор: Gary G. Sick; Lawrence G. Potter Название: The Persian Gulf at the Millennium ISBN: 0312175671 ISBN-13(EAN): 9780312175672 Издательство: Springer Рейтинг: Цена: 6288.00 р. Наличие на складе: Есть у поставщика Поставка под заказ.
Описание: Throughout the second half of the twentieth century, the Gulf has been the scene - and sometimes the source - of international political and economic turmoil.
Описание: New Millennium South Korea focuses on South Korea`s transformation during the early years of the new millennium, the book discusses the key features of recent transformations within the country.
Автор: Potter Название: The Persian Gulf in Modern Times ISBN: 1137485760 ISBN-13(EAN): 9781137485762 Издательство: Springer Рейтинг: Цена: 13974.00 р. Наличие на складе: Есть у поставщика Поставка под заказ.
Описание: This book explores the historiography, ports, and peoples of the Persian Gulf over the past two centuries, offering a more inclusive history of the region than previously available. Restoring the history of minority communities which until now have been silenced, the book provides a corrective to the `official story` put forward by modern states.
Описание: This book critically examines the origins of American diplomacy in the greater Persian Gulf region, arguing that it was the inability of the United States to contend effectively with the disintegration of British imperial authority in the Gulf that eventually led it to assume its current role in the region.
Автор: L. Potter Название: The Persian Gulf in Modern Times ISBN: 1349503800 ISBN-13(EAN): 9781349503803 Издательство: Springer Рейтинг: Цена: 12577.00 р. Наличие на складе: Есть у поставщика Поставка под заказ.
Описание: This book explores the historiography, ports, and peoples of the Persian Gulf over the past two centuries, offering a more inclusive history of the region than previously available. Restoring the history of minority communities which until now have been silenced, the book provides a corrective to the `official story` put forward by modern states.
Автор: A. Edwards Название: “Dual Containment” Policy in the Persian Gulf ISBN: 1349493422 ISBN-13(EAN): 9781349493425 Издательство: Springer Рейтинг: Цена: 8384.00 р. Наличие на складе: Есть у поставщика Поставка под заказ.
Описание: This book offers a concise account of US "dual containment" policy towards Iran and Iraq during the 1990s, an overlooked era between the tumult of the liberation of Kuwait and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
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