Book description
I> is a chronicle of man's attempts from prehistoric times to the
space age to exploit for his own purposes the slowly discerned laws of
nature. Exciting, instructive, and eminently readable, this mine of
information covers the broad sweep of technological achievements, from
the invention of the wheel more than six millennia ago to the
miniaturization of the electronic computer. Beginning with a description
of the early builders in the days of ancient Babylon, continuing through
to the end of the Roman Empire, the author goes on to explain the
engineering principles that were gradually developed in the Dark Ages,
enabling men to build the medieval cathedrals; to try to drain the
Pontine marshes near Rome, the meres of Holland, and the British
fenlands; and to raise the new military defenses that transformed
warfare. Discussion of the work of Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo leads
on to the development of steam as a new source of power, and to the
growth of civil engineering that followed in Europe and the rest of the
world. Further chapters cover the change from sail to steam; canals;
railways; the use of electricity; the growth of manned flight; the rise
of the plastics industry; nuclear engineering; and the problems of space exploration.
Work of Man<
I> is a chronicle of man's attempts from prehistoric
times to the space age to exploit for his own purposes the slowly
discerned laws of nature. Exciting, instructive, and eminently
readable, this mine of information covers the broad sweep of
technological achievements, from the invention of the wheel more than
six millennia ago to the miniaturization of the electronic computer.
Beginning with a description of the early builders in the days of
ancient Babylon, continuing through to the end of the Roman Empire,
the author goes on to explain the engineering principles that were
gradually developed in the Dark Ages, enabling men to build the
medieval cathedrals; to try to drain the Pontine marshes near Rome,
the meres of Holland, and the British fenlands; and to raise the new
military defenses that transformed warfare. Discussion of the work of
Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo leads on to the development of steam as
a new source of power, and to the growth of civil engineering that
followed in Europe and the rest of the world. Further chapters cover
the change from sail to steam; canals; railways; the use of
electricity; the growth of manned flight; the rise of the plastics
industry; nuclear engineering; and the problems of space
exploration.Work of Man<
