Technology has existed for as long as humankind has invented items that improve and enhance daily living. The innovators of technology profiled in this comprehensive resource have affected nearly every facet of life, from transportation and communication to science and entertainment. Their developments have built upon one another, each a stepping-stone toward even greater advances in technology. Their names range from the familiar, such as Thomas...

Thirty years ago Bill McKibben offered one of the earliest warnings about climate change. Now he broadens the warning: the entire human game, he suggests, has begun to play itself out. Even as climate change shrinks the space where our civilization can exist, new technologies like artificial intelligence and robotics threaten to bleach away the variety of human experience. Falter tells the story of these converging trends and of the ideological fervor...

A squad of soldiers stranded on an isolated military sea base on a near future Earth, wait for the relief or the enemy, whichever comes first.

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
“A new masterpiece from one of my favorite authors… [How The World Really Works] is a compelling and highly readable book that leaves readers with the fundamental grounding needed to help solve the world’s toughest challenges.”—Bill Gates
 
“Provocative but perceptive . . . You can agree or disagree with Smil—accept or doubt his...

Eighth-grader Emily Lemon wakes up and discovers that none of the gadgets around her house are working properly, and the computers at her middle school seem to have a mind of their own--but when the scoreboard in the gym displays the words "the revolution has begun, down with humanity" she realizes that humanity has lost control and civilization as we know it is in serious trouble.

For centuries, the residents of the underground City of Ember have flourished in an amazing world of glittering lights and quiet contentment. But when the City's massive power generator begins to fail, the streetlamps fade - along with the hopes of the townspeople. Now it will be up to two courageous teenagers to follow a trail of clues left by the ancient builders to find the way out of Ember before their world is plunged into complete darkness.

"From a renowned historian comes a groundbreaking narrative of humanity's creation and evolution--a #1 international bestseller--that explores the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be "human." One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one--homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us? Most...