Technology Biography

Mary Anning was only 12 years old when, in 1811, she discovered the first dinosaur skeleton - of an ichthyosaur - while fossil hunting on the cliffs of Lyme Regis, England. Until Mary's incredible discovery, it was widely believed that animals did not become extinct.

As a child growing up in Detroit, Ben Carson (1951-) has a dream of becoming a physician, a dream that rose out of struggles with poverty, racism, and poor grades. As Ben persevered and strove for academic excellence, his life became one of compassion and service. Today, Benjamin Carson, MD, is known as the American neurosurgeon with gifted hands.

ENFILEZ VOTRE COMBINAISON, FERMEZ L'ÉCOUTILLE ET PRÉPAREZ-VOUS AU DÉCOLLAGE ! De l'entraînement au lancement, de la sortie dans l'espace à la rentrée dans l'atmosphère, Tim Peake a une réponse fascinante à tout ce que vous avez toujours voulu savoir. Inspiré de sa mission et des milliers de questions qui lui ont été posées depuis son retour sur Terre, ce livre révèle les secrets scientifiques extraordinaires et les merveilles de la vie quotidienne à bord de la Station spatiale internationale.

Benjamin Franklin was one of the preeminent scientists of his time. Driven by curiosity, he conducted cutting-edge research on electricity, heat, ocean currents, weather patterns, chemical bonds, and plants. But today, Franklin is remembered more for his political prowess and diplomatic achievements than his scientific creativity. In this incisive and rich account of Benjamin Franklin's life and career, Richard Munson recovers this vital part of Franklin's story.

Discover a fascinating look into the lives of six historic trailblazers in this World War II-era story of the American women who programmed the world's first modern computer. "Kleiman’s persistence in sleuthing out the story of the ENIAC 6 programmers has resulted in an admirable contribution...

Bestselling children's author Andy Stanton has made a career out of writing differently—from the unconventional ‘hero' of his bestselling Mr Gum series to his penchant for absurdist plots, his children's books are anything but formulaic. When a friend introduces him to ChatGPT, the new large language chatbot, Andy is as sceptical as he is curious. Can this jumble of algorithms really mimic the spontaneity of human thought? Could it one day replace human authors like him for good? And are we soon to be ruled over by despotic robot overlords.

Directing his polemics against the pedantry of his time, Galileo, as his own popularizer, addressed his writings to contemporary laymen. His support of Copernican cosmology, against the Church’s strong opposition, his development of a telescope, and his unorthodox opinions as a philosopher of science were the central concerns of his career and the subjects of four of his most important writings. Drake’s introductory essay place them in their biographical and historical context.

100 Great Scientists Who Changed the World introduces the giants of scientific discovery and examines their achievements - the men and women who, often in the face of extreme skepticism or worse, have striven and succeeded in pushing back the boundaries of human knowledge. Ranging across the spectrum of scientific endeavor from the cosmology of Copernicus and Galileo through the medical revolutions of Hippocrates and Galen, it includes the fields of physics, biology, chemistry, and genetics.

'When I left Jabalpur, the small town where I grew up, to pursue a career, I could not have dreamt that I would find myself at the vanguard of pathbreaking revolutions that would transform India.' Entrepreneur, sportsman, salesman, engineer, educationist, jazz aficionado and investor-meet Ajai...

They never knew how he did it. Few composers write more than one or two symphonies in their lifetimes. Beethoven spent a year on his shorter symphonies but more than six years on his 9th Symphony. The prodigy Mozart finished his last three symphonies (39, 40, and 41) in the span of a few weeks. His 25th Symphony took only two days.

Walter Isaacson vertelt het verhaal van DNA-expert en Nobelprijswinnaar Jennifer Doudna. In oktober 2020 ontving biochemicus Jennifer Doudna samen met haar collega Emmanuelle Charpentier de Nobelprijs voor de Scheikunde voor hun doorslaggevende bijdrage aan de ontwikkeling van CRISPR-Cas. Met deze techniek kunnen wetenschappers het menselijk genoom bewerken door te knippen en plakken in DNA-sequenties.

Auf ausgedehnten Reisen erkundete Alexander von Humboldt nicht nur die Natur. Ebenso gehörte der rege Kontakt mit internationalen Geistesgrößen zum Wirken des universal Interessierten, der von Zeitgenossen ein "neuer Aristoteles" genannt wurde. Andreas Daums kompakte Einführung in Leben und Werk Alexander von Humboldts bietet einen Überblick über die vielfältigen Netzwerke des Forschers, dessen Jahrhundertleben so zum Spiegel mehrerer Epochen und ihrer dramatischen Umwälzungen.

For the larger-than-life personalities now staking their fortunes on the development of rocket ships, the new race to explore space could be a dead end, a lucrative opportunity - or the key to humanity's salvation. Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos take center stage in this fast-paced narrative as they attempt to disrupt the space economy, feed their own egos, and maybe even save the world.

Humans from the earliest civilizations were spellbound by the night sky - craning their necks each night, they used the stars to orient themselves in the large, strange world around them. Stargazing is a pursuit that continues to fascinate us: from Copernicus to Carl Sagan, astronomers throughout history have spent their lives trying to answer the biggest questions in the universe. Now, award-winning astronomer Emily Levesque shares the stories of modern-day stargazers.

The Four Trials of Henry Ford chronicles Henry Ford’s forays into landmark litigation during the early years of the 20th century. Ford was a man of extraordinary genius in the intricacies and workings of mechanical objects and in the identification and hiring of talented engineers and administrative managers. But he was constitutionally unable to permit a light to shine on anyone other than himself and often employed humiliating tactics to terminate any employee who rose to prominence.

While 1858 in London may have been noteworthy for its broiling summer months and the related stench of the sewage-filled Thames River, the year is otherwise little remembered. And yet, historian Rosemary Ashton reveals in this compelling microhistory, 1858 was marked by significant, if unrecognized, turning points. For ordinary people, and also for the rich, famous, and powerful, the months from May to August turned out to be a summer of consequence.

Apfel mit Biss und andere Visionen – Steve Jobs plaudert aus dem Nähkästchen. In "Steve Jobs: Die autorisierte Biografie des Apple-Gründers" von Walter Isaacson tauchen wir tief ein in das Leben und Wirken von Steve Jobs. Die enge Zusammenarbeit des Autors mit Jobs, dessen Familie, Freunden und Bekannten ermöglicht es dem Biografen, den Lebensweg des Apple-Gründers facettenreich und informativ nachzuzeichnen.

The discovery of DNA’s structure is the story of five towering minds in pursuit of the advancement of science, and for almost all of them, the prospect of fame and immortality: Watson, Crick, Rosalind Franklin, Maurice Wilkins, and Linus Pauling. Howard Markel skillfully recreates the intense intellectual journey, and fraught personal relationships, that ultimately led to a spectacular breakthrough. But it is Rosalind Franklin - fiercely determined, relentless, and an outsider at Cambridge and the University of London in the 1950s - who becomes a focal point for Markel.

The work of Commander Valiant Thor and his Venusian associates was obviously of great importance in helping mankind through a difficult time. What we will ultimately do with the many concepts that Thor gifted Tesla, Keith, Cooper, Barker, and others is, of course, still up in the air. But, so far, so good.

For astronaut Ron Garan, living on the International Space Station was a powerful, transformative experience - one that he believes holds the key to solving our problems here on Earth. On space walks and through windows, Garan was struck by the stunning beauty of the Earth from space but sobered by knowing how much needed to be done to help this troubled planet.