The Greatest Invention

The Greatest Invention
Author: Silvia Ferrara
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Total Pages: 227
Release: 2022-03-01
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0374601631

In this exhilarating celebration of human ingenuity and perseverance—published all around the world—a trailblazing Italian scholar sifts through our cultural and social behavior in search of the origins of our greatest invention: writing. The L where a tabletop meets the legs, the T between double doors, the D of an armchair’s oval backrest—all around us is an alphabet in things. But how did these shapes make it onto the page, never mind form complex structures such as this sentence? In The Greatest Invention, Silvia Ferrara takes a profound look at how—and how many times—human beings have managed to produce the miracle of written language, traveling back and forth in time and all across the globe to Mesopotamia, Crete, China, Egypt, Central America, Easter Island, and beyond. With Ferrara as our guide, we examine the enigmas of undeciphered scripts, including famous cases like the Phaistos Disk and the Voynich Manuscript; we touch the knotted, colored strings of the Inca quipu; we study the turtle shells and ox scapulae that bear the earliest Chinese inscriptions; we watch in awe as Sequoyah single-handedly invents a script for the Cherokee language; and we venture to the cutting edge of decipherment, in which high-powered laser scanners bring tears to an engineer’s eye. A code-cracking tour around the globe, The Greatest Invention chronicles a previously uncharted journey, one filled with past flashes of brilliance, present-day scientific research, and a faint, fleeting glimpse of writing’s future.

What Is the Most Important Invention?

What Is the Most Important Invention?
Author: Tony Stead
Publisher: Capstone Classroom
Total Pages: 26
Release: 2014-07-01
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1625218893

"We depend on inventions to live in the 21st century, such as washing machines and smoke detectors, but which one is the most important invention? This fourth grade class looks at nine inventions and argues why each is the most important. Read this book to help you decide: What is the most important invention?" -- back cover.

The 100 Inventions

The 100 Inventions
Author: Fakrudeen Ali Ahmed
Publisher: Independently Published
Total Pages: 472
Release: 2021-06-16
Genre:
ISBN:

When thinking about inventions I am reminded of the quote, "We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters". This book aims to list 100 greatest hits of humanity in terms of inventions to introduce and motivate future generations of inventors to the true range of human inventions. One of the books which made an impact on me as a child was The 100 by Princeton professor Michael Hart. This book takes a similar style and I hope will motivate a few future inventors. This is a book which ranks all the innovations we people invented and played a role in shaping humanity itself. This book ranks innovation based on impact to human cultural evolution irrespective whether it was purely positive. I have tried to give the rankings rational justification as much as possible, particularly by comparing an invention with its closest competitors and why it is ranked in a particular place relative to them. Think about the collective loss to humanity if Jonas Salk went to work on financial innovations for Goldman Sachs or advertising optimization for Google in the 1950s. How many of us know Robert Cochrane's work in India on leprosy (chapter on Antibiotic) or Maurice Hilleman's work who invented 40 vaccines including MMR (chapter on Vaccine) while we know all about the umpteenth billionaire selling a battery driven car or yet another useless form of social media. If humanity doesn't get our priorities right, the innovation that powered human productivity can slow down and human talent will be wasted away in serving advertisements a few more milliseconds faster or serving celebrities' thoughts in the toilet in one sentence bites or trading stocks using sophisticated neural networks. If the book helps few of the readers focus on fundamental inventions and human productivity this book will have done its job.

Greatest Inventions in History

Greatest Inventions in History
Author: IntroBooks
Publisher: IntroBooks
Total Pages: 32
Release: 2018-02-19
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN:

The history of inventions is in one form, the history of civilisation as well. This is because inventions are the only means through which mankind has pushed itself forward and is still keeping itself in momentum as years pass, keeping up with the process of evolution. Yes, the process of evolution indeed reinforces the human activity of introducing inventions. Be it the importance of a wheel, or anatlatl, a telephone or an aircraft, every single invention that hs been included in this text has given new insights into the life humans have lived so far, and to a considerable extent, shaped up their lives as well. This is considering that there have been thousands of inventions in the past that have contributed to the history of civilisation in some form or the other. Indeed, the most prominent of inventions are still remembered as ‘life changing’ inventions today, and in fact, harness themselves into more modern forms as we keep up the process of evolution.

Building a Cashless Society

Building a Cashless Society
Author: Niklas Arvidsson
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 96
Release: 2019-02-22
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3030106896

This open access book tells the story of how Sweden is becoming a virtually cashless society. Its goal is to improve readers’ understanding of what is driving this transition, and of the factors that are fostering and hampering it. In doing so, the book covers the role of central banks, political factors, needs for innovation, and the stakeholders involved in developing a cashless ecosystem. Adopting a historical standpoint, and drawing on a unique dataset, it presents an academic perspective on Sweden’s leading role in this global trend. The global interest in the future of cash payments makes the Swedish case particularly interesting. As a country that is close to becoming a cashless economy, it offers a role model for many other countries to learn from - whether they want to stimulate or reduce the use of cash. This highly topical book will be of interest to politicians, researchers, businesses, financial service providers and payment service providers, as well as fintech start-ups, regulators and other authorities.

Creativity For Engineers

Creativity For Engineers
Author: B S Dhillon
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 202
Release: 2006-02-06
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 9814479152

Creativity is playing an ever more important role in the success or failure of organizations in the global competitive economy. The field of engineering is no exception. The objective of this book is to satisfy this vital need, which has been covered very little elsewhere.The book, which assumes no prior knowledge, will be useful to many people including all kinds of professional engineers, engineering managers, graduate and senior undergraduate students of engineering, and researchers and instructors in engineering, psychology, and business administration. At the end of each chapter there are numerous problems to test readers' comprehension. The book also includes a comprehensive list of references directly or indirectly related to creativity in engineering.

Great Inventions and Discoveries

Great Inventions and Discoveries
Author: Willis Duff Piercy
Publisher: Legare Street Press
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2023-07-18
Genre:
ISBN: 9781020734298

This book explores the most important inventions and discoveries throughout human history, from the wheel to the internet. Each chapter presents a different invention or discovery, explaining its impact on society and how it came to be. This is a must-read for anyone interested in science, technology, and the history of human development. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Inventors Who Changed the World

Inventors Who Changed the World
Author: Heidi Poelman
Publisher: Abrams
Total Pages: 17
Release: 2018-10-01
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1641707585

From the ranging curiosity of Leonardo da Vinci to the dedication and sacrifice of Marie Curie, Inventors Who Changed the World is a young child's first introduction to the brilliant people who taught us the meaning of perseverance and innovation. Simple text and adorable illustrations tell the contributions of nine renowned inventors from around the world: Cai Lun, Leonardo da Vinci, Marie Curie, Thomas Edison, Orville and Wilbur Wright, Grace Hopper, Johannes Gutenberg, and Louis Pasteur. Inspire your own little inventor with the words of these inventive heroes who changed the world.

The Most Powerful Idea in the World

The Most Powerful Idea in the World
Author: William Rosen
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 401
Release: 2012-03-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 0226726347

"The Most Powerful Idea in the World argues that the very notion of intellectual property drove not only the invention of the steam engine but also the entire Industrial Revolution." -- Back cover.