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A journey inside the minds that build our world.Dubai's Burj Khalifa -- the world's tallest building -- looks nothing like Microsoft's Office Suite, and digital surround sound doesn't work like a citywide telecommunication grid. Yet these engineering feats have much in common.Applied Minds explores the unique visions and mental tools of engineers to reveal the enormous -- and often understated -- influence they wield in transforming problems into opportunities. The resulting account pairs the innovators of modern history -- Thomas Edison, the Wright brothers, Steve Jobs -- with everything from ATMs and the ZIP code system to the disposable diaper.An engineer himself, Guru Madhavan introduces a flexible intellectual tool kit called modular systems thinking as he explains the discipline's penchant for seeing structure where there is none.