Author:
Ramirez, Ainissa, 1969- author.
ImprintCambridge, Massachusetts : The MIT Press, [2020]
Descriptionxv, 308 pages, 64 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 23 cm
Note:Interact: how better clocks, made possible by small metal springs and vibrating gems, helped us keep time, but also made us lose track of something precious -- Connect: how steel stitched the country together with rails, but also how steel helped to manufacture culture -- Convey: how telegraph wires of iron and later copper gave rise to rapid forms of communication, and how these wires shaped information- and meaning -- Capture: how photographic materials captured us in visible and invisible ways -- See: how carbon filaments pushed back the darkness to help us see, but also veiled our eyes from viewing the impact of its overabundance -- Share: how magnetic bits of data made it possible to share, but also made it difficult to stop what is being shared about us -- Discover: how scientific glassware helped us discover new medicines and helped us discover the secret to our electronic age -- Think: how the creation of rudimentary telephone switches ushered in silicon chips for computers, but also rewired our brains.
Bibliography Note:Includes bibliographical references (pages 253-292) and index.
Note:In the bestselling tradition of Stuff Matters and The Disappearing Spoon: a clever and engaging look at materials, the innovations they made possible, and how these technologies changed us.
