Circles: Fifty Round Trips Through History Technology Science Culture

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Simon and Schuster, Sep 8, 2003 - Literary Collections - 286 pages
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 all illustrate the 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, a musing which sets off a chain of thought that leads from the bridge's engineer to Samuel Morse, to firearms inventor Sam Colt, and finally to a trombonist named Gustav Holst, who once lived in the very house that blocks Burke's view.
So it goes with Burke's entertaining and informative essays as each one highlights 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. This unique collection is sure to stimulate and delight history buffs, technophiles, and anyone else with a healthy intellectual curiosity.
 

Contents

Foreword
13
A BIT OF A FLUTTER
17
SATISFIED CUSTOMERS
22
FOLIES DE GRANDEUR
28
A LOT OF BALONEY
34
IMPRESSIONS
39
MAKING YOUR MARK
44
WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND
49
SHEER POETRY
158
LUCKY HE MISSED
163
CHEERS
168
WHATS IN A NAME?
173
FEATHERED FRIENDS
180
SCRIBBLE SCRIBBLE
186
HEAVY STUFF
191
TICK Tock
196

SWEET DREAMS
54
WAVING THE FLAG
60
THE SILK CIRCUIT
65
OUT OF GAS
71
ORDINARY BUFFOONS
77
BREAKFAST THOUGHTS
83
STONES AND BONES
89
IS THIS ESSAY NOTICEABLY DIFFERENT?
95
SHOWTIME
101
COOL STUFF
107
REVOLUTIONARY MATTERS
112
DONT FORGET THIS ONE
117
TAKE Two ACRONYMS
123
THE BUCK STARTS HERE
128
HEALTHY BLOOMS
133
AND NOW THE WEATHER
138
On TRACK
143
IS THERE ANYBODY THERE?
148
TURKISH DELIGHT
153
REBELLIOUS AFFAIRS
201
LOCAL COLOR
206
DOES THIS TAKE YOU BACK?
211
OOPS
216
TEA ANYONE?
221
A LIGHT LITTLE NUMBER
226
LEND ME YOUR EAR
233
ENTENTE CORDIALE
237
Zzzzzzz
242
A FEW NOTES
247
SOUND IDEAS
252
OR MAYBE NOT
257
A MATTER OF DEGREE
262
ROOM WITH HALF A VIEW
267
VARIOUS UNREQUITED
272
THE O ZONE
277
Select Bibliography
282
Copyright

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About the author (2003)

James Burke is the author of several bestselling books, including Circles, American Connections, and The Knowledge Web. He is a monthly columnist at Scientific American and also serves as director, writer, and host of the television series Connections 3 on The Learning Channel. He is the founder of the James Burke Institute for Innovation in Education, whose flagship project, the Knowledge Web, an interactive website, was recently launched. He lives in London.

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