{"title":"Inventions","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"how-innovation-works-9780008334819b","title":"How Innovation Works","description":"\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003eBuilding on his bestseller \u003cspan style=\"font-style: italic;\"\u003eThe Rational Optimist\u003c\/span\u003e, Matt Ridley chronicles the history of innovation, and how we need to change our thinking on the subject.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eInnovation is the main event of the modern age, the reason we experience both dramatic improvements in our living standards and unsettling changes in our society. It is innovation that will shape the twenty-first century. Yet innovation remains a mysterious process, poorly understood by policy makers and businessmen alike.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMatt Ridley argues that we need to see innovation as an incremental, bottom-up, fortuitous process that happens as a direct result of the human habit of exchange, rather than an orderly, top-down process developing according to a plan. Innovation is crucially different from invention, because it is the turning of inventions into things of practical and affordable use to people. It speeds up in some sectors and slows down in others. It is always a collective, collaborative phenomenon, involving trial and error, not a matter of lonely genius. It still cannot be modelled properly by economists, but it can easily be discouraged by politicians. 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Filled with surprising stories of accidental genius and brilliant mistakes - from the French publisher who invented the phonograph before Edison but forgot to include playback, to the Hollywood movie star who helped invent the technology behind Wi-Fi and Bluetooth - How We Got to Now investigates the secret history behind the everyday objects of contemporary life.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e In his trademark style, Johnson examines unexpected connections between seemingly unrelated fields: how the invention of air-conditioning enabled the largest migration of human beings in the history of the species - to cities such as Dubai or Phoenix, which would otherwise be virtually uninhabitable; how pendulum clocks helped trigger the industrial revolution; and how clean water made it possible to manufacture computer chips. 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And he even tries to understand the significance of the voice-computing revolution first-hand — by building a chatbot version of his terminally ill father.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eVlahos’s research leads him to one fundamental question: What happens when our computers become as articulate, compassionate, and creative as we are?","brand":"Mariner Books","offers":[{"title":"Bargain","offer_id":42826209394768,"sku":"9781328606716B","price":10.49,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0592\/8173\/5760\/files\/9781328606716-l.jpg?v=1785904626"},{"product_id":"genius-inventions-the-stories-behind-history-s-greatest-tech-9780233005393b","title":"Genius Inventions: The Stories Behind History's Greatest Technological Breakthroughs","description":"\u003cb\u003eGo back in time to share the excitement of the greatest technological breakthroughs in history—and meet the inspired inventors who made them happen.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n \nThe light bulb. 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He then looks at three different types of inventions.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eInventions that failed to dominate as promised:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAirships\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNuclear fission\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSupersonic flight\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cbr\u003eInventions that turned disastrous:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLeaded gasoline \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDDT\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChlorofluorocarbons\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cbr\u003eInventions we have long been promised (and that would be highly beneficial):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTravel in vacuum (hyperloop)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNitrogen-fixing cereals\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNuclear fusion\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFinally, he offers a “wish list” of inventions that we most urgently need to confront the staggering challenges of the twenty-first century.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFilled with engaging examples and pragmatic approaches, this book is a sobering account of the folly that so often attends human ingenuity—and how we can, and must, better align our expectations with reality.","brand":"MIT Press","offers":[{"title":"Bargain","offer_id":42869752365136,"sku":"9780262048057B","price":14.49,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0592\/8173\/5760\/files\/9780262048057-l.jpg?v=1785906334"},{"product_id":"the-perfection-of-the-paper-clip-curious-tales-of-invention-9781476799872b","title":"The Perfection of the Paper Clip: Curious Tales of Invention, Accidental Genius, and Stationery Obsession","description":"\u003cb\u003eChange the way you look at office supplies forever with this wonderfully enlightening and quirky exploration of the fascinating of everyday objects, such as the humble and perfectly designed paper clip and the utilitarian, irreplaceable pencil.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHow many of humanity’s brightest ideas started out on a scrap of paper or in the margins of a notebook? 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