Best engineering & technology history books according to redditors

The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Our World from Scratch https://www.amazon.ca/dp/159420523X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_I43RCbJ5WTTD6

Okay, I now understand that you got the correlation measure from that paper instead of calculating it yourself. Why you did not mention this or link to this paper in your OP is beyond me, but whatever.

So: what is the actual correlation referring to? Turns out the correlation is between total innovation rate per decade between 1450-1950 (N=50 decades). The two datasets are (1) Murray's, and (2) Huebner's, who literally gets his data from the innovations included in this book (which are arbitrary innovations the authors of the book liked, I guess).

So you cannot use the fact that the correlation is high to conclude anything about whether Murray's data is culturally biased. You cannot use the fact that the correlation is high to conclude anything about the middle ages in Europe. You also probably shouldn't use it to conclude innovation is declining, mostly because that's not-even-wrong (it's not well-defined).

Was it this?

Or was it a reddit post?

Was it a torrent of over 100GB of files/dvds?

Was it a link to a directory about what to do if a pole shift event happened?

I'm curious as to what you were originally referring to.

Eric Drexler's Engines of Creation, which is mentioned, is a jaw dropping book about what could be possible when this technology develops.

The biggest hurdle is advanced mechanosynthesis. Unfortunately progress on mechanosynthesis beyond the basic 2003 proof of concept mentioned has been disappointing so far. It will be a revolution of revolutions when we get it.

I was just asked this the other day by an incoming graduate student. It's really hard -- textbooks are a real hassle. For history, the best book I know, though it's limited in scope, is David Lindberg's The Beginnings of Western Science. It runs up through 1450. After that, you have trouble -- you have to start looking at individual figures or periods. H.F. Cohen's The Scientific Revolution is nice for its period. Then you get really fragmented. The Cambridge Studies in the History of Science series (1 2 3) is really nice for what it covers, if its topics interest you.

For PoS, again, textbooks are hard. I like the Curd and Cover anthology, it's got lots of primary readings with good explanatory material (dt already recommended that one, I see -- I didn't realize it because I've never referred to it by title...). Rosenberg's Routledge Introduction also seems pretty good, though I should warn that I've never read it, I'm going on brief skims and what I know of the author's other stuff (which is great).

Good luck! You can always come back here to ask questions!

This thread is dangerously close to being an invitation to circlejerk. There are a lot of kooks, yes. If anyone's interested in actually learning more, then read one or two books from a man that's very much not a kook.

His first one is available for free to read in a browser here. It's 30 years old, and despite there being a later updated version available somewhere as an ebook to buy, the only chapter in it that's dated is the one where he talks about how we will build some sort of web of pages on networked computers :) This is a great read, and will expand the world view of anyone who hasn't been exposed to the ideas. I'd go so far as to say that people can't meaningfully participate in any serious conversation about the future without basic understanding of the concepts introduced here. Sadly this group seems to include 99% or more of the population.

http://e-drexler.com/d/06/00/EOC/EOC_Table_of_Contents.html

Then the last one, from a year and a half ago, setting the record straight on why progress the last 30 years has been the way it has, calling out and highlighting a lot of bullshit, and charting a course forward. Not as good a read as the first one, but certainly enlightening. It's not available for free, (except on pirate sites, and I suspect Eric wouldn't mind), so here's the Amazon link.

http://www.amazon.com/Radical-Abundance-Revolution-Nanotechnology-Civilization/dp/1610391136/

If anyone reads this, and posts questions or challenges or anything serious, I'll volunteer to check the thread and reply to each of you.

It isn't possible with current technology.

BUT (read Engines of Creation)-
We eventually will have that ability with molecular nanotechnology (ie nanites not carbon nanotubes) ... What that is, is a long discussion but the important bit to it is it would give us the ability to work on problems with cells in the body or dna en mass to do just about whatever we wanted to our bodies including addressing the several causes of aging. 20 years ago they said that it was 50 years away, although it's nearly impossible to guess these things.

The only ways to stave off overpopulation I can think of if mortality is off the table is to not have more kids, create more environment (off planet, underground etc) - which coincidentally becomes pretty possible with molecular nanotechnology, or change the nature of what it is to be human. It's hard to imagine but you could for example go virtual and move in and out of your body if you could model the human brain and how to translate that to and from the structures of the brain.
Sounds way too good to be true but if you achieve the technology there's really no reason for it all not to be possible since it radically affects so many of our abilities.

I'm reading Drexler's new book Radical Abundance (2013), it's quite good. Except perhaps for the chapters dedicated to the difference between science and engineering, which i thought were too long.

http://www.amazon.com/Radical-Abundance-Revolution-Nanotechnology-Civilization/dp/1610391136

He counters many of the claims made by his detractors. Explaining how it's often just a case of misunderstanding.

You can learn about Drexler's explanation of what Robert is basing his predictions off of in Engines of Creation, or his newer book Radical Abundance. Additionally, some way less digestible stuff can be found on Robert Freitas' website. I think this video is the only thing I've really understood when it comes to his work and findings. Ray Kurzweil is also very accessible but a lot of people are skeptical about him because of things unrelated to his rational predictions.

Here's a back-and-forth between Drexler and Richard Smalley, an accomplished chemist who criticises Drexler's vision of nanotechnology. I find it important to understand the criticism lobbied against nanotechnology, and in my opinion the criticism from Smalley is paper thin. He is constantly conceding to Drexler until he has to end his last response with some nonsense about children being afraid of what he's saying. I haven't come across a truly substantial argument against the possibility of manipulating matter at the scale Drexler describes with nanofactories and fleets of medical nanobots, but I hope whatever criticism that is helps the technology become more substantial in our lives.

Radical Abundance: How a Revolution in Nanotechnology Will Change Civilization

> I don't think Drexler really gets this.

I assure you he does. Read his new book, Radical Abundance.

I think you may be referring to this book: The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Our World from Scratch

There are also historical and geographical reasons, to be fair. Although it's centered around the development of cell phone standards in the UK and not the US, this book has a good section about why cell phone rollout was such a shit show in the US compared to Europe: https://smile.amazon.com/Backroom-Boys-Secret-Return-British-ebook/dp/B004FN1K48/

(ignore the annoying jingoistic tone of the book if you can)

>Is such a machine possible?

Yes, it's called a molecular assembler. It's the holy grail of nanotechnology.

Eric Drexler (the guy who popularized the idea in the 80s and 90s) has a new book on this subject, titled Radical Abundance. You should check it out.

>I imagine a world where technological progress has been inhibited, and the world has been in a medieval state. (...)

In a "Medieval state", so, that can be summed up by much quicker technological advancement than either in Roman times or during the renaissance?

Medieval as in, religion had much less importance to civic life than in Rome (when religious festivals were a civic duty, which did put Christians at odds with traditions) and much less power than during the renaissance (when the papacy had regained independence from secular states)? a Church which basically is struggling to liberate itself from secular domination - until it did, at the very end of the middle ages, thanks to the Cluniac movement. A church that is the main driving engine of scientific progress (oh, this one will hurt some Redditors' head to no end.)

In short, a "middle ages" that would look nothing like the actual middle ages. This period was anything but low-tech or dominated by religion, and religious institutions such as the papacy and monasteries were incredibly important to scientific/technological progress. I wonder how much time before the public psyche catches up to historical research in this area. Because those views are totally at odds.

Sources:

• God's Philosophers: How the Medieval World Laid the Foundations of Modern Science
  
• The Beginnings of Western Science: The European Scientific Tradition in Philosophical, Religious, and Institutional Context, Prehistory to A.D. 1450
  
• The Foundations of Modern Science in the Middle Ages: Their Religious, Institutional and Intellectual Contexts - Cambridge Studies in the History of Science
  
• God and Reason in the Middle Ages
  
  

I dunno, but maybe try Release That Witch. (The translation is not good at all, but it's readable, give it like twenty chapters, y'know?) You could also try The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Civilization in the Aftermath of a Cataclysm, The Disaster Diaries: One Man's Quest to Learn Everything Necessary to Survive the Apocalypse and How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler.

Anyone interested in this topic might want to check out The Knowledge, by Lewis Dartnell: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/159420523X

It is from the book "engines of creation" by Eric Drexler. Very worthwhile reading. A lot of what you read in science fiction is borrowed directly or indirectly from Drexler. Some of the ideas are older but Drexler put them together in one package.

Buon Natale!

A History of Technology non é stato scannerizzato, questo é il prezzo piú basso che si trova

I haven't read it, but you might want to check out "The Knowledge".

Tending the Wild: Native American Knowledge and the Management of California's Natural Resources

Plowman's Folly

The Humane Gardener: Nurturing a Backyard Habitat for Wildlife

Garden Revolution: How Our Landscapes Can Be a Source of Environmental Change

There's http://www.amazon.com/The-Knowledge-Rebuild-World-Scratch/dp/159420523X/ which is probably not going to do a lot of good if you don't already know or have done most of this.

It'd be really meta if it was the other author AMA guy's book. :P

http://www.amazon.com/The-Knowledge-Rebuild-World-Scratch/dp/159420523X

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.amazon.com/How-Technology-Works-Things-Work/dp/1465479643&ved=2ahUKEwj_2dHO-9DjAhVnAp0JHbAkAhUQFjAIegQIAhAB&usg=AOvVaw1LuDALWBRad10fdiK2xS3L

I have this book beside me because I love to learn things. Because I know I can use these things in the future.

Highly recommend Mark Klein's book, "Wiring up the Big Brother Machine..and fighting it." Terrific book in which he talks about his experience with the NSA, AT&T and the EFF.
http://www.amazon.com/Wiring-Big-Brother-Machine-Fighting/dp/1439229961/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1300667710&sr=8-1

This book may not be exactly what you're looking for but it does have a lot of information about the american food industry, food supplies, and refrigeration. I absolutely loved it: https://www.amazon.com/Fresh-Perishable-History-Susanne-Freidberg/dp/0674057228

Some of us read for funsies Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology, but then again, in 1986, I didn't have an xbox and the internet. All I had was imagination and snow both ways uphill.

If you want a good read, but a real practical look at how to re-establish civilization, then you'll enjoy The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Civilization in the Aftermath of a Cataclysm by Lewis Dartnell.

Was it some of my words you didn't understand or was it the composition of these words?

I can make a few clarifications, the nano assembler is a machine that can compose new matter atom by atom. The research started in the late 80-ies originally after ideas from Richard Feynman. One can say that the field was initiated by Eric Drexler's book Engines of Creation (you get a copy of that book if you become a senior member of Foresight Institute )

The field has recently taken some great steps forward by Gorman 2008, earlier essential steps forward was e.g. Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer's scanneling tunelling microscope which they invented 1981 (Nobel prize 1986).

Some words about future economical crises and grey goo can be read about on this page from CRN (Center for Responsible Nanotechnology). At this place is also an easy to read summary of the potentials and risks.

If you haven't seen it before I really recommend watching this short movie "Productive Nanosystems" which was made 2004, sponsored by Mark Simms and Nanorex. The video has later been improved somewhat.

We are not at all working with nano technology, we will only be the glue between enabling technologies and end consumers. Our goal is that all this technology will be easily accessible for everyone, everyone should be able to be an inventor, creating personal super products.

"The Day the Universe Changed"

Well one cheap way would be an earthenware and sand chamber with charcoal and a bellows... This is very labor intensive though and you might have an easier time building a small 'box' out of fire brick and run a propane burner into it. Such a structure built into the ground is very well insulated and maintains more consistent heat.You can probably do option #2 for 30 bucks or so...

If you want to go reeeally cheap you can always pit fire them... This involves an ordinary fire pit... slowly dry out the clay on the stones of the fire ring, turning regularly. Then move the pieces closer and closer until they are in the fire. Build a big fire around the pieces and let it burn all night. The slow heating and cooling cycle will temper it and the proximity to the fuel source will give the piece a lovely patina.

One note on using ancient methods- you can make almost anything using ancient furnaces and kilns that you can make with modern ones- you just have to make more of them because your results wont be as consistent and you are much more likely to break or ruin the piece. Size is also a consideration. Try not to get too attached to ceramics you intend to pit fire.

here's a couple of great reference books with great illustrations and directions...
http://www.amazon.com/Primitive-Technology-Book-Earth-Skills/dp/0879059117

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00268EV9K/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_3?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0879059117&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1NQEHPV654RVB6RSZE4X

OP is an idiot, the book was edited by Martin Bauer.

Found it!

I'm reading Drexler's book on radical abundance. He is the guy who came up "nanotechnology" or more precisely APM - atomically precise manufacturing. His claim is the revolution that is coming for physical production is akin to the digital information revolution. I'd give it a read so far it is fascinating.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1610391136

A Short History of Nearly Everything

The Hole In The Universe

Universe on a T-Shirt

Light Years

Before The Big Bang

Why Does e=mc^2? (and why should we care?)

Your Inner Fish (about evolution)

And just because it was one of my first pop science books, I'll add The Telescope. Which is of course, about telescopes. It's a lot more interesting than it sounds!

Knowledge is preserved--population is not. It would take some time, and if we were smart about it, population would be capped somehow. IDK how.

As for rebuilding, this book might be useful to own. I plan to buy my copy soon. As a teacher at the end of the summer/beginning of the school year, I'm not quite broke, but close. Two weeks to payday 1 of the new school year. Yeehaw!

"The Knowledge: How to Rebuild our World From Scratch."

http://www.amazon.com/The-Knowledge-Rebuild-World-Scratch/dp/159420523X/?tag=io9amzn-20&ascsubtag=[referrer|www.google.com[type|link[postId|1566170266[asin|159420523X[authorId|5717795175536518860

Excepting that, an SAS/Army Ranger guide or a college chemistry textbook.

Knowledge is power. If you know how the basic ingredients and building blocks of our modern world work, you can apply that knowledge to your world and improve on it.

Sure, they may call you crazy for collecting massive amounts of bat guano out of caves and mixing it with charcoal, but once you prove what your 'insane' magic can do, you'll be in a position of power, and able to keep on advancing your science. Whether you can, is entirely up to you. Valar morghulis.

If you're into this kind of thought experiment, I would strongly recommend The Knowledge. The premise is almost exactly what you are describing.

If you have read any of Eric Drexler's books on nano-technology, like Engines of Creation or Radical Abundance - he expects the future of nano-tech to be Atomically Precise Manufacturing decentralized at the local level.

I'm very interested in futurology & I find it interesting that two trends that seem to be underpinning all technological change in the 21st century are decentralization and disintermediation.

So in a sense, i'd say Marx may be half right - it is the ultimate fate of the means of production to pass from the control of traditional capitalists, but not to the the state, a body whose significance will fade in our lives as the 21st century goes on, but rather pass closer to regular people at the decentralized local level.