Engineering and Technology
94 Featured Titles
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Arsenals of Folly
The Making of the Nuclear Arms Race
Written by Richard Rhodes
Format: Trade Paperback, 432 pages
Publisher: Vintage
On Sale: November 4, 2008
Price: $16.95
ISBN: 978-0-375-71394-1 (0-375-71394-8)
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Rhodes delivers a riveting account of the nuclear arms race and the Cold War.
In the Reagan-Gorbachev era, the United States and the Soviet Union came within minutes of nuclear war, until Gorbachev boldly launched a campaign to eliminate nuclear weapons, setting the stage for the 1986... Read more >
The Making of the Nuclear Arms Race
Written by Richard Rhodes
Format: Trade Paperback, 432 pages
Publisher: Vintage
On Sale: November 4, 2008
Price: $16.95
ISBN: 978-0-375-71394-1 (0-375-71394-8)
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Rhodes delivers a riveting account of the nuclear arms race and the Cold War.
In the Reagan-Gorbachev era, the United States and the Soviet Union came within minutes of nuclear war, until Gorbachev boldly launched a campaign to eliminate nuclear weapons, setting the stage for the 1986... Read more >
Also available as an
unabridged audiobook download and an
eBook.
Hedy's Folly
The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World
Written by Richard Rhodes
Format: Trade Paperback, 288 pages
Publisher: Vintage
On Sale: August 7, 2012
Price: $15.00
ISBN: 978-0-307-74295-7 (0-307-74295-4)
What do Hedy Lamarr, avant-garde composer George Antheil, and your cell phone have in common? The answer is spread-spectrum radio: a revolutionary invention based on the rapid switching of communications signals among a spread of different frequencies. Without this technology, we would not have the digital comforts that we take for... Read more >
The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World
Written by Richard Rhodes
Format: Trade Paperback, 288 pages
Publisher: Vintage
On Sale: August 7, 2012
Price: $15.00
ISBN: 978-0-307-74295-7 (0-307-74295-4)
What do Hedy Lamarr, avant-garde composer George Antheil, and your cell phone have in common? The answer is spread-spectrum radio: a revolutionary invention based on the rapid switching of communications signals among a spread of different frequencies. Without this technology, we would not have the digital comforts that we take for... Read more >
Hedy's Folly
The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World
Written by Richard Rhodes
Format: Hardcover, 272 pages
Publisher: Doubleday
On Sale: November 29, 2011
Price: $26.95
ISBN: 978-0-385-53438-3 (0-385-53438-8)
What do Hedy Lamarr, avant-garde composer George Antheil, and your cell phone have in common? The answer is spread-spectrum radio: a revolutionary invention based on the rapid switching of communications signals among a spread of different frequencies. Without this technology, we would not have the digital comforts that we take for... Read more >
The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World
Written by Richard Rhodes
Format: Hardcover, 272 pages
Publisher: Doubleday
On Sale: November 29, 2011
Price: $26.95
ISBN: 978-0-385-53438-3 (0-385-53438-8)
What do Hedy Lamarr, avant-garde composer George Antheil, and your cell phone have in common? The answer is spread-spectrum radio: a revolutionary invention based on the rapid switching of communications signals among a spread of different frequencies. Without this technology, we would not have the digital comforts that we take for... Read more >
Magnificent Failure
Free Fall from the Edge of Space
Written by Craig Ryan
Format: Hardcover, 320 pages
Publisher: Smithsonian Books
On Sale: October 17, 2003
Price: $29.95
ISBN: 978-1-58834-141-9 (1-58834-141-0)
Locked in a desperate Cold War race against the Soviets to find out if humans could survive in space and live through a free fall from space vehicles, the Pentagon gave civilian adventurer Nick Piantanida’s Project Strato-Jump little notice until May Day, 1966. Operating in the shadows of well-funded, high-visibility Air... Read more >
Free Fall from the Edge of Space
Written by Craig Ryan
Format: Hardcover, 320 pages
Publisher: Smithsonian Books
On Sale: October 17, 2003
Price: $29.95
ISBN: 978-1-58834-141-9 (1-58834-141-0)
Locked in a desperate Cold War race against the Soviets to find out if humans could survive in space and live through a free fall from space vehicles, the Pentagon gave civilian adventurer Nick Piantanida’s Project Strato-Jump little notice until May Day, 1966. Operating in the shadows of well-funded, high-visibility Air... Read more >
Taking Charge
The Electric Automobile in America
Written by Michael Schiffer
Format: Trade Paperback, 240 pages
Publisher: Smithsonian Books
On Sale: June 22, 2010
Price: $19.95
ISBN: 978-1-58834-076-4 (1-58834-076-7)
The tumultuous history of inventors and corporations who have tried to bring the electric car to the market.
Amazingly, in 1900 28 percent of all cars were electric. By 1920 the electric car had all but vanished and gas-powered cars dominated the market. In Taking Charge, Schiffer deftly explores how cultural factors... Read more >
The Electric Automobile in America
Written by Michael Schiffer
Format: Trade Paperback, 240 pages
Publisher: Smithsonian Books
On Sale: June 22, 2010
Price: $19.95
ISBN: 978-1-58834-076-4 (1-58834-076-7)
The tumultuous history of inventors and corporations who have tried to bring the electric car to the market.
Amazingly, in 1900 28 percent of all cars were electric. By 1920 the electric car had all but vanished and gas-powered cars dominated the market. In Taking Charge, Schiffer deftly explores how cultural factors... Read more >
The Man Who Invented the Computer
The Biography of John Atanasoff, Digital Pioneer
Written by Jane Smiley
Format: Hardcover, 256 pages
Publisher: Doubleday
On Sale: October 19, 2010
Price: $25.95
ISBN: 978-0-385-52713-2 (0-385-52713-6)
One night in the late 1930s, in a bar on the Illinois–Iowa border, John Vincent Atanasoff, a professor of physics at Iowa State University, after a frustrating day performing tedious mathematical calculations in his lab, hit on the idea that the binary number system and electronic switches, combined with an array... Read more >
The Biography of John Atanasoff, Digital Pioneer
Written by Jane Smiley
Format: Hardcover, 256 pages
Publisher: Doubleday
On Sale: October 19, 2010
Price: $25.95
ISBN: 978-0-385-52713-2 (0-385-52713-6)
One night in the late 1930s, in a bar on the Illinois–Iowa border, John Vincent Atanasoff, a professor of physics at Iowa State University, after a frustrating day performing tedious mathematical calculations in his lab, hit on the idea that the binary number system and electronic switches, combined with an array... Read more >
Also available as an
unabridged audiobook download and an
eBook.
How the Great Pyramid Was Built
Written by Craig Smith
Afterword by Mark Lehner
Foreword by Zahi Hawass
Format: Hardcover, 272 pages
Publisher: Smithsonian Books
On Sale: October 17, 2004
Price: $27.95
ISBN: 978-1-58834-200-3 (1-58834-200-X)
Going beyond even the expertise of archaeologists and historians, world-class engineer Craig B. Smith explores the planning and engineering behind the incredible Great Pyramid of Giza. How would the ancient Egyptians have developed their building plans, devised work schedules, managed laborers, solved specific design and engineering problems, or even improvised on... Read more >
Written by Craig Smith
Afterword by Mark Lehner
Foreword by Zahi Hawass
Format: Hardcover, 272 pages
Publisher: Smithsonian Books
On Sale: October 17, 2004
Price: $27.95
ISBN: 978-1-58834-200-3 (1-58834-200-X)
Going beyond even the expertise of archaeologists and historians, world-class engineer Craig B. Smith explores the planning and engineering behind the incredible Great Pyramid of Giza. How would the ancient Egyptians have developed their building plans, devised work schedules, managed laborers, solved specific design and engineering problems, or even improvised on... Read more >
We Have Capture
Tom Stafford and the Space Race
Written by Tom Stafford
Format: Trade Paperback, 302 pages
Publisher: Smithsonian Books
On Sale: January 17, 2004
Price: $16.95
ISBN: 978-1-58834-101-3 (1-58834-101-1)
What an amazing career. Tom Stafford attained the highest speed ever reached by a test pilot (28,547 mph), carried a cosmonaut’s coffin with Soviet Secretary Leonid Brezhnev, led the team that designed the sequence of missions leading to the original lunar landing, and drafted the original specifications for the B-2 stealth... Read more >
Tom Stafford and the Space Race
Written by Tom Stafford
Format: Trade Paperback, 302 pages
Publisher: Smithsonian Books
On Sale: January 17, 2004
Price: $16.95
ISBN: 978-1-58834-101-3 (1-58834-101-1)
What an amazing career. Tom Stafford attained the highest speed ever reached by a test pilot (28,547 mph), carried a cosmonaut’s coffin with Soviet Secretary Leonid Brezhnev, led the team that designed the sequence of missions leading to the original lunar landing, and drafted the original specifications for the B-2 stealth... Read more >
Our Own Devices
How Technology Remakes Humanity
Written by Edward Tenner
Format: Trade Paperback, 336 pages
Publisher: Vintage
On Sale: June 8, 2004
Price: $18.00
ISBN: 978-0-375-70707-0 (0-375-70707-7)
From the author of Why Things Bite Back—which introduced us to the revenge antics of technology—Our Own Devices is a wonderfully revealing look at the inventions of everyday things that protect us, position us, or enhance our performance.
In helping and hurting us, these body technologies have produced consequences that their makers... Read more >
How Technology Remakes Humanity
Written by Edward Tenner
Format: Trade Paperback, 336 pages
Publisher: Vintage
On Sale: June 8, 2004
Price: $18.00
ISBN: 978-0-375-70707-0 (0-375-70707-7)
From the author of Why Things Bite Back—which introduced us to the revenge antics of technology—Our Own Devices is a wonderfully revealing look at the inventions of everyday things that protect us, position us, or enhance our performance.
In helping and hurting us, these body technologies have produced consequences that their makers... Read more >
Also available as an
eBook.
Why Things Bite Back
Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences
Written by Edward Tenner
Format: Trade Paperback, 448 pages
Publisher: Vintage
On Sale: September 2, 1997
Price: $18.95
ISBN: 978-0-679-74756-7 (0-679-74756-7)
In this perceptive and provocative look at everything from computer software that requires faster processors and more support staff to antibiotics that breed resistant strains of bacteria, Edward Tenner offers a virtual encyclopedia of what he calls "revenge effects"--the unintended consequences of the mechanical, chemical, biological, and medical forms of ingenuity... Read more >
Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences
Written by Edward Tenner
Format: Trade Paperback, 448 pages
Publisher: Vintage
On Sale: September 2, 1997
Price: $18.95
ISBN: 978-0-679-74756-7 (0-679-74756-7)
In this perceptive and provocative look at everything from computer software that requires faster processors and more support staff to antibiotics that breed resistant strains of bacteria, Edward Tenner offers a virtual encyclopedia of what he calls "revenge effects"--the unintended consequences of the mechanical, chemical, biological, and medical forms of ingenuity... Read more >
At the Edge of Space
The X-15 Flight Program
Written by Milton O. Thompson
Foreword by Neil A. Armstrong
Format: Trade Paperback, 392 pages
Publisher: Smithsonian Books
On Sale: February 17, 2003
Price: $24.95
ISBN: 978-1-58834-078-8 (1-58834-078-3)
In At the Edge of Space, Milton O. Thompson tells the dramatic story of one of the most successful research aircraft ever flown. The first full-length account of the X-15 program, the book profiles the twelve test pilots (Neil Armstrong, Joe Engle, Scott Crossfield, and the author among them) chosen for... Read more >
The X-15 Flight Program
Written by Milton O. Thompson
Foreword by Neil A. Armstrong
Format: Trade Paperback, 392 pages
Publisher: Smithsonian Books
On Sale: February 17, 2003
Price: $24.95
ISBN: 978-1-58834-078-8 (1-58834-078-3)
In At the Edge of Space, Milton O. Thompson tells the dramatic story of one of the most successful research aircraft ever flown. The first full-length account of the X-15 program, the book profiles the twelve test pilots (Neil Armstrong, Joe Engle, Scott Crossfield, and the author among them) chosen for... Read more >
How to Wreck a Nice Beach
The Vocoder from World War II to Hip-Hop, The Machine Speaks
Written by Dave Tompkins
Format: Trade Paperback, 352 pages
Publisher: Stop Smiling Books
On Sale: November 8, 2011
Price: $25.95
ISBN: 978-1-61219-092-1 (1-61219-092-8)
The history of the vocoder: how popular music hijacked the Pentagon’s speech scrambling weapon
The vocoder, invented by Bell Labs in 1928, once guarded phones from eavesdroppers during World War II; by the Vietnam War, it was repurposed as a voice-altering tool for musicians, and is now the ubiquitous voice of popular... Read more >
The Vocoder from World War II to Hip-Hop, The Machine Speaks
Written by Dave Tompkins
Format: Trade Paperback, 352 pages
Publisher: Stop Smiling Books
On Sale: November 8, 2011
Price: $25.95
ISBN: 978-1-61219-092-1 (1-61219-092-8)
The history of the vocoder: how popular music hijacked the Pentagon’s speech scrambling weapon
The vocoder, invented by Bell Labs in 1928, once guarded phones from eavesdroppers during World War II; by the Vietnam War, it was repurposed as a voice-altering tool for musicians, and is now the ubiquitous voice of popular... Read more >
A Scientist in the City
Written by James Trefil
Format: Trade Paperback, 288 pages
Publisher: Anchor
On Sale: December 1, 1994
Price: $19.00
ISBN: 978-0-385-26109-8 (0-385-26109-8)
In his previous books, A Scientist at the Seashore and Meditations at Sunset, James Trefil used commonplace settings in the natural world as a point of departure for probing the mysteries of nature. In A Scientist in the City, Trefil takes the opposite tack, looking at the quintessential man-made environment of... Read more >
Written by James Trefil
Format: Trade Paperback, 288 pages
Publisher: Anchor
On Sale: December 1, 1994
Price: $19.00
ISBN: 978-0-385-26109-8 (0-385-26109-8)
In his previous books, A Scientist at the Seashore and Meditations at Sunset, James Trefil used commonplace settings in the natural world as a point of departure for probing the mysteries of nature. In A Scientist in the City, Trefil takes the opposite tack, looking at the quintessential man-made environment of... Read more >
The Nation's Hangar
Aircraft Treasures of the Smithsonian
Written by Robert F. Van Der Linden
Photographed by Dane Penland
Format: Trade Paperback, 256 pages
Publisher: Smithsonian Books
On Sale: November 1, 2011
Price: $29.95
ISBN: 978-1-58834-316-1 (1-58834-316-2)
The Nation’s Hangar: Aircraft Treasures of the Smithsonian offers a fascinating textual and visual history of civilian, military, and commercial aviation from the earliest balloon flights to today’s most advanced aircraft.
The Nation’s Hangar charts the history of flight around the world. F. Robert Van Der Linden, a Smithsonian curator and... Read more >
Aircraft Treasures of the Smithsonian
Written by Robert F. Van Der Linden
Photographed by Dane Penland
Format: Trade Paperback, 256 pages
Publisher: Smithsonian Books
On Sale: November 1, 2011
Price: $29.95
ISBN: 978-1-58834-316-1 (1-58834-316-2)
The Nation’s Hangar: Aircraft Treasures of the Smithsonian offers a fascinating textual and visual history of civilian, military, and commercial aviation from the earliest balloon flights to today’s most advanced aircraft.
The Nation’s Hangar charts the history of flight around the world. F. Robert Van Der Linden, a Smithsonian curator and... Read more >
Also available as an
eBook.
Mustang Designer
Edgar Schmued and the P-51
Written by Ray Wagner
Format: Trade Paperback, 256 pages
Publisher: Smithsonian Books
On Sale: April 17, 2000
Price: $19.95
ISBN: 978-1-56098-994-3 (1-56098-994-7)
Mustang Designer tells the story of American wartime fighter development, including engines and armaments, as part of a nationwide program of aircraft builders and fliers, focusing on Edgar Schmued, the designer of the Mustang. The P-51 Mustang is widely regarded as the best propeller-driven fighter that ever flew. What many might... Read more >
Edgar Schmued and the P-51
Written by Ray Wagner
Format: Trade Paperback, 256 pages
Publisher: Smithsonian Books
On Sale: April 17, 2000
Price: $19.95
ISBN: 978-1-56098-994-3 (1-56098-994-7)
Mustang Designer tells the story of American wartime fighter development, including engines and armaments, as part of a nationwide program of aircraft builders and fliers, focusing on Edgar Schmued, the designer of the Mustang. The P-51 Mustang is widely regarded as the best propeller-driven fighter that ever flew. What many might... Read more >
Harvest the Wind
America's Journey to Jobs, Energy Independence, and Climate Stability
Written by Philip Warburg
Format: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Beacon Press
On Sale: April 23, 2013
Price: $19.00
ISBN: 978-0-8070-0049-6 (0-8070-0049-3)
Winds sweeping through the Great Plains once robbed the Farm Belt of its future, stripping away overworked topsoil and creating the dreaded Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Today, those winds are bringing new hope to the declining rural communities of the central United States. Nowhere is wind’s promise more palpable than... Read more >
America's Journey to Jobs, Energy Independence, and Climate Stability
Written by Philip Warburg
Format: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Beacon Press
On Sale: April 23, 2013
Price: $19.00
ISBN: 978-0-8070-0049-6 (0-8070-0049-3)
Winds sweeping through the Great Plains once robbed the Farm Belt of its future, stripping away overworked topsoil and creating the dreaded Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Today, those winds are bringing new hope to the declining rural communities of the central United States. Nowhere is wind’s promise more palpable than... Read more >
Harvest the Wind
America's Journey to Jobs, Energy Independence, and Climate Stability
Written by Philip Warburg
Format: Hardcover, 256 pages
Publisher: Beacon Press
On Sale: April 17, 2012
Price: $27.95
ISBN: 978-0-8070-0107-3 (0-8070-0107-4)
Winds sweeping across the Great Plains once robbed the Farm Belt of its future, stripping away overworked topsoil and creating the dreaded Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Today, those winds are bringing new hope to the declining rural communities of the central United States. Nowhere is wind’s promise more palpable than... Read more >
America's Journey to Jobs, Energy Independence, and Climate Stability
Written by Philip Warburg
Format: Hardcover, 256 pages
Publisher: Beacon Press
On Sale: April 17, 2012
Price: $27.95
ISBN: 978-0-8070-0107-3 (0-8070-0107-4)
Winds sweeping across the Great Plains once robbed the Farm Belt of its future, stripping away overworked topsoil and creating the dreaded Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Today, those winds are bringing new hope to the declining rural communities of the central United States. Nowhere is wind’s promise more palpable than... Read more >
Also available as an
eBook and a
trade paperback.
The Young and the Digital
What the Migration to Social Network Sites, Games, and Anytime, Anywhere Media M eans for Our Future
Written by S. Craig Watkins
Format: Trade Paperback, 272 pages
Publisher: Beacon Press
On Sale: September 7, 2010
Price: $18.00
ISBN: 978-0-8070-0616-0 (0-8070-0616-5)
In The Young and the Digital, S. Craig Watkins skillfully draws from more than 500 surveys and 350 in-depth interviews with young people, parents, and educators to understand how a digital lifestyle is affecting the ways youth learn, play, bond, and communicate. Timely and deeply relevant, the book covers the influence... Read more >
What the Migration to Social Network Sites, Games, and Anytime, Anywhere Media M eans for Our Future
Written by S. Craig Watkins
Format: Trade Paperback, 272 pages
Publisher: Beacon Press
On Sale: September 7, 2010
Price: $18.00
ISBN: 978-0-8070-0616-0 (0-8070-0616-5)
In The Young and the Digital, S. Craig Watkins skillfully draws from more than 500 surveys and 350 in-depth interviews with young people, parents, and educators to understand how a digital lifestyle is affecting the ways youth learn, play, bond, and communicate. Timely and deeply relevant, the book covers the influence... Read more >
Also available as an
eBook.
The Match
"Savior Siblings" and One Family's Battle to Heal Their Daughter
Written by Beth Whitehouse
Format: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Beacon Press
On Sale: March 8, 2011
Price: $16.00
ISBN: 978-0-8070-0121-9 (0-8070-0121-X)
Selected as a 2011 University Press Book for Public and Secondary School Libraries
•Rated O - Outstanding
Katie Trebing was diagnosed at three months old with Diamond Blackfan anemia, a rare form of anemia that prevents bone marrow from producing red blood cells. Even with a lifetime of monthly blood transfusions, she faced... Read more >
"Savior Siblings" and One Family's Battle to Heal Their Daughter
Written by Beth Whitehouse
Format: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Beacon Press
On Sale: March 8, 2011
Price: $16.00
ISBN: 978-0-8070-0121-9 (0-8070-0121-X)
Selected as a 2011 University Press Book for Public and Secondary School Libraries
•Rated O - Outstanding
Katie Trebing was diagnosed at three months old with Diamond Blackfan anemia, a rare form of anemia that prevents bone marrow from producing red blood cells. Even with a lifetime of monthly blood transfusions, she faced... Read more >
Also available as an
eBook.
