The most significant machines of the 19th and 20th centuries. Fifty Machines that Changed the Course of History is a fascinating survey of the mechanical devices that propelled 18th-century society into the 19th and 20th centuries. The book celebrates more than 200 years of technological development at the height of the Industrial Revolution. These are not generic inventions but rather specific; branded machines whose names in many cases have become synonymous with the machine or its purpose. The entries fall into eight categories relating to their sphere of influence: Industry; Agriculture; Media; Transport; Science; Computing; Energy and Home. Concise text describes the machines; what led to their invention; and the effects on society. Annotated diagrams; illustrations; photographs and "Key Feature" insets enrich the coverage. These are a few of the 50 machines described: Stephenson's Rocket (1829); the first locomotive designed for passenger transport Harrison power loom (1851) produced the bulk of the world's cotton cloth during the First Industrial Revolution Westinghouse alternating current system (1887) brought electrical power and lighting to homes and workplaces Hoover suction sweeper (1908) revolutionized domestic cleaning Lumière cine projector (1896) and Marconi radio (1897) together heralded the dawn of the media age Baird "Televiso" (1930); the first television set More recently; the Motorola DynaTAC cellphone (1983) ensured that we would always be able to "phone home."Fifty Machines that Changed the Course of History is perfect for history buffs and anyone who is fascinated by the complexity and beauty of mechanical devices.
#1410167 in Books imusti 2016-09-06 2016-09-06Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 .33 x 1.27 x 5.52l; .0 #File Name: 1632866234464 pagesBLOOMSBURY USA
Review
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Awful and CompellingBy drfiddler1This non-fiction account of the author's search for information about her grandfather's persecution of Jews during WWII is both awful and compelling. Awful in the sense that the horror of what she found made me put the book down often. Compelling in the sense that I continued to pick up the book and read again. It was as if I had to digest the horror before I could move on. GUEST is well-written with many pictures of the relatives and people she located after several years of intensive and emotionally painful research in the Ukraine; Israel; and the United States. If you want to know what it was like to live in Eastern Europe during WWII; you will not get a more faithful and truthful understanding any where else. I highly recommend this as an important historically researched document. I hope it will be picked up by history departments in colleges and high schools as required reading.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Could have used a stern editorBy Phelps GatesThis documents the author's efforts to find out what her grandfather did as a collaborationist in Lithuania during the Holocaust. The results of her inquiry are not surprising: he did what just about what you would have expected. Witnesses and documents are cited; but the book is mostly about the author's own experiences and emotions. Her previous published work has been poetry; and this is a very poetic book: she often describes in poetic terms what she imagines to have happened during the war. The book is more about her than about her grandfather: we didn't need to know about her plumbing problems in her New York apartment; or her childhood traumas; or the many other digressions and descriptions of her relatives; which I kept losing track of. If you're interested in a book about these events during the war; I suggest The Holocaust by Bullets: A Priest's Journey to Uncover the Truth Behind the Murder of 1.5 Million Jews; which goes into much more detail on the role of the Einsatzgruppen; and is by a professional researcher.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. ok but a bit choppyBy U291832Just finished this book; I had found it through some search on and immediately wanted to read it; there is a dearth of books about the perpetrators of the Holocaust; about the everyday people who helped the Nazi's with the Final Solution. It is now common knowledge that without the aid of the local population in the areas the Nazi's took over (especially Eastern Europe); the Nazi's would not have been able to do what they did. I wanted to see what Gabis would find out; would there be any contrition or sorrow for her grandfather's role in the Lithuanian police and working with the SS?Unfortunately the answer is no; her grandfather never admitted to what he had done and there was never any apologies.The premise of this book was really good but I think it definitely could have used a ghost writer or someone more experienced in writing historical non-fiction. Part of the reason I couldn't give this book higher marks is that it was difficult to read; Gabis is all over the place; she starts a story; telling of someone's fate and than diverges on some other point. Almost like reading someone's blog or journal. It made it very confusing to follow. Plus she had numerous different threads in this story; I think it would have been better to have just stuck with her search for her grandfather's past.This is another issue with the book; while Gabis says that she wants to find out about her Lithuanian grandfather during WWII; I got the impression in the book that as she got closer to the truth or if she saw the truth she didn't want to believe it or wanted to search further to find something that said explicitly what her grandfather did; when to me it was beyond clear that her grandfather had participated in the Jewish massacre at Poligny and the Polish massacre after German commander Beck's death. It is also beyond clear that her grandfather had no issue with violence and killing what he thought was not pure (see the story of the fish; egads).What did disturb me most was that the grandfather was allowed to come to America; like a thief in the night (in this instance a killer in the night); he; like other Nazi collaborators; blended right back into polite society. He was never held to account for what he did.Not sure if I would recommend this book; it was interesting but so very difficult to follow; maybe for a book club; as there is lots of themes here to discuss. Or if you are studying WWII or that period in history.
