Roots of Modern Technology : An Elegant Survey of the Basic Mathematical and Scientific Concepts

If the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates came to life again today, he would wonder how airplanes fly and light bulbs glow, but not wonder much about the world’s political and social changes that took place since his time. The author puts himself in the position of explaining to Socrates the technological fundamentals behind all our modern conveniences . Since he takes Socrates seriously, the author accepts the challenge of introducing the relevant mathematical and technical concepts, and he does so in a remarkably easy-tounderstand and accurate way. The result is a comprehensive overview of the elements of our technical civilization, an overview properly based upon elementary but solid mathematical and scientific principles. Everyone with an inclination toward science and technology can take advantage of the clear structure, the comprehensive presentation and the many wonderfully-illustrated examples of the book. Front Matter....Pages - Explaining Modern Technology....Pages 1-9 Front Matter....Pages 11-11 Mathematicians Are Humans Like You and Me – They Count and Arrange....Pages 13-51 Mathematicians Are Nothing Special – They Draw and Compare....Pages 53-80 When It Helps to Ignore Any Meaning....Pages 81-108 About the Methods for Computing the Future....Pages 109-130 What Talking and Writing Have in Common....Pages 131-143 Front Matter....Pages 145-145 What the Moon Has to Do with Mechanical Engineering....Pages 147-172 How Albert Einstein Disregarded Common Sense....Pages 173-205 How a Few Frog Legs Triggered the Origin of Electrical Engineering....Pages 207-240 Small, Smaller, Smallest – How the Components of Matter Were Found....Pages 241-265 How the Difference between Particles and Waves Disappeared....Pages 267-307 How “Recipes” in the Cells of Living Organisms Were Found and Can Be Rewritten....Pages 309-343 Front Matter....Pages 345-345 Why Engineers Are “Playing with Models”....Pages 347-388 Everything becomes Digital – Really Everything?....Pages 389-436 Back Matter....Pages - "If the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates came to life again today he would not marvel much about the political and social changes the world underwent since his time, but why light bulbs shine and airplanes fly. The author puts himself in the position of explaining to Socrates the technological fundamentals of all the modern comforts. As he takes Socrates seriously, the author accepts the challenge of introducing the relevant mathematical and technical concepts, and he does so in a remarkably easy-to-understand but accurate way. The result is a comprehensive overview of the constituents of our technical civilization properly based upon elementary but solid mathematical and scientific ground. Everybody with an inclination for science and technology can take advantage from the clear structuring and the comprehensive presentation the book provides to this body of knowledge. Some residual high-school math will help increasing reading speed but is not necessarily required."--Jacket.