About this item
We take thousands of inventions for granted, using them daily and enjoying their benefits. But how much do we really know about their origins and development? This absorbing new book tells the stories behind the inventions that have changed the world, with details about-- Convenience items, such as safety pins, toothbrushes, and bifocals Weapons of war, including explosives, gunpowder, and shrapnel shells Industrial advances, such as the steam engine and the power loom for weaving Transportation advances, including the airplane, the diesel engine, the automobile, and the air-inflated rubber tire Electronic marvels, including color television, the microprocessor, the personal computer, the compact disc, and the cell phone Medical advances, from antiseptic surgery to the electron microscope.
About the Author
Always frustrated by lack of clarity in books he read as a child, Jack long felt the need to make the amazing things that science and technology have achieved accessible to a wide audience. After studying physics in London, he trained as a science and maths teacher, then worked at London's Science Museum, in the education department and in their flagship interactive gallery, Launch Pad. Jack left the museum in 1991 to write science and technology books, and to write and perform science shows in museums, libraries and schools. He's been doing all that ever since, with nearly forty books to his name. He also works as a consultant on other people's science books, and sometimes in television, helping to develop new ideas or work up existing ones. He is also a musician and singer, writing, producing and performing music. He lives in Bristol, England.
