Product Description
In September 2002, a second workshop on the theme of the social context of technological change was held at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge. Discussion has been the core of these meetings so far, with the aim being to relate the results of the specialist investigator to broad historical questions concerning the nature and development of ancient societies. The papers presented here address a wider context: geographically, with the inclusion of the Aegean and thematically, with papers on natural products and raw materials. The time frame remains the same in covering the Late Bronze Age/New Kingdom. The majority of the papers draw on Egyptian evidence, and illustrate a multiplicity of approaches to the problems set by ancient technologies: modelling, methodology of art history and archaeology applied to a problematic group of artefacts, integration of archaeological and textual sources, and the application of the results scientific analysis to illuminate ancient technology. (Oxbow Books 2004) ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (2)

Nice book
Nice book, ain't got chance to finish it.,

But initial experience is really good..

Great Book
There are tons of furniture books out there but this one is different from the norm. Not only does this book show images of the final product but it also has illustrations of how the furniture was built, the process of development and material call outs. This allows the reader to gain a much deeper understanding of the furnitures. I highly recommend this book. ... Read more

Product Description
Encyclopedia of American Indian Contributions to the World is a unique A-to-Z reference to the vast offerings made by American Indians throughout history. More than 450 entries provide a panorama of little-known information about the rich inventiveness of indigenous peoples of North, Central, and South America. To be included in the book, the item must have originated in one of those three regions, have been used by Indian people, and have been adopted in some way by other cultures. While many of those contributions can clearly be shown to have been first invented or used by Indians, some entries cover inventions that were made independently by others as well. In these cases, the unique features of the American Indian science or technology are covered and compared to the other version of the item or process. Entries include: Trousers (25,000 B.C.); Agriculture (8000-7000 B.C.); Adobe (3000 B.C.); Tax system (2000 B.C.); Urban planning (1700 B.C.); Geometry (1200 B.C.); Scalpels (1000 B.C.); Sports helmets (300 B.C.); Electricity (200 B.C.-A.D. 600); Zoned biodiversity (A.D. 595); Cigars (A.D. 1000); Aroma therapy (A.D. 1100-1519); Hydraulics (A.D. 1300); Thanksgiving (A.D.1621); Appaloosa horse breed (A.D. 1710); Diabetes medication (A.D. 1928). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A highly recommended resource for students
The collaborative effort of Emory Dean Keoke (multicultural relations and communications consultant and enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe) and Kay Marie Porterfield (journalist for the "Indian Country Today, the largest Native American owned weekly newspaper in America), Encyclopedia Of American Indian Contributions To The World: 15,000 Years Of Inventions And Innovations is an exciting resource covering the rich and varied histories of Native American tribes and their precontact discoveries and postcontact influences. From the anatomical knowledge of the Mesoamerican cultures at AD 1100; to Native American contributions to agriculture, medicine and pharmacology; to hammocks of forest cultures; to the American Indian influence on Tabasco sauce, and so much more, the Encyclopedia Of American Indian Contributions To The World is an absorbing, 384-page reference offering information and insights into the complexities of Native American cultural history, interaction and social evolution. A highly recommended resource for students of Native American history and culture, the Encyclopedia Of American Indian Contributions To The World is an essential and core addition to academic and community library Native American Studies collections.

A great book on a largely ignored subject
This is a very well researched and comprehensive book. It is quite monumental in its scope. To give you an example, I opened the book at random to page 139. One of the listings on this page is Ipecac. Many households know about this medication. It is
usually used to induce vomiting. Children often swallow things they should not. The books goes into some detail about where the plant was first found, how it is refined, and how it came to be used by Europeans. It then lists some sources for further reading.

It also has a great Appendix section. It shows which tribes lived where, including many good maps. The Chronology section lists when different things were discovered or invented by the indigenous people. It also has an appendix which lists the book's
entries by area, by subject and by which tribal group is associated with that item.

I know how long it took me to do the research associated with my book. I can only guess that the authors spent a very long time putting together the material in this book.

EAICW has a plethora of listings and information. EAICW is 384 pages long and measures (in inches): 1.19 x 11.20 x 8.44. It is a BIG book. It would make an excellent addition to any well stocked library.

I highly recommend it.

Resource facts for students and educators
Published reliable information on Native Americans and their culutral contributions is hard to find.One of these authors is Lakota (Sioux) and has achieved his goal of collecting information to be used by all peoples about the First Americans.This book was first recommended to me by a friend who is an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and an acquaintance of Mr. Keoke.I develop and present presentations to both University and Elementary students and often have a dozen or more books piled up to pull together exact references for my presentations.This book accomplishes that same reference task for me plus more.The information and maps in the appendix are much better than many other sources. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Engaging & Informative
Boston Firsts is a tribute not only to the innovative spirit of Boston, but also to human ingenuity and creativity.The book is divided into forty short essays which explore intriguing topics, such as the first novel, and the scandal behind it, the first YMCA, opening in 1852, and the first Boston Cream Pie, a treasure for pie-lovers everywhere.How did the tradition of First Night begin?What is the story of the USS Constitution?For readers who are curious and appreciate history and innovation presented in antecdotal style, this book is a joy.The book is written deftly by essayist Lynda Morgenroth, whose work has appeared in numerous journals and periodicals, including the New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor, and -- of course -- the Boston Globe.I recommend this book most highly. ... Read more

Product Description

How Chinese ingenuity changed the world.

Acupuncture, gunpowder and the secrets to spinning silk are innovations that we have come to associate with China. But did you know that the Chinese also invented the umbrella? And toilet paper, initially made from rice straw clumped together, was first used in China!

Through the ages, the Chinese have used the resources available to them to improve their lives. Their development of the compass and the paddleboat helped facilitate the often difficult tasks of travel and trade, and many foods associated with health and wellness -- from green tea to tofu -- have their origins in China.

Product Description
This unique study investigates the path of innovation in the electrical, electronics and communications engineering industries. It presents a holistic, multi-disciplinary analysis of innovation based on case studies of paradigm-changing inventions - spanning two hundred years - which altered the course of the global economy.

The stimuli and constraints which control the dynamics of these innovations are pin-pointed in this book and applied to emerging technologies. Roger Cullis tests the analysis using a recent technology which underpins the embryonic information-based economy. He demonstrates that it is possible to use the hierarchical and time dependent nature of the stimuli and constraints he has identified to predict the likely success of a new technological invention.

Considering the impact of all factors which contribute to the success of innovations, this unique book will be of great interest to inventors, patent attorneys and intellectual property practitioners and academics. It will also interest licensing executives and venture capitalists, innovation economists and government policymakers. ... Read more

Product Description
What exactly makes creative thinking so magical that, somehow, 'everyone can be creative' and, by implication, creativity is a good thing to have - to the point that this popular view is fast becoming a fashionable nonsense in this day and age of ours? To put things in a historical perspective - this popular view contrasts sharply with the opposing view in the older days (e.g., during the Enlightenment and Romantic eras), when people used to think that creativity was primarily for the selected few with extraordinary abilities. Contrary to the respective conventional wisdom in each of the two opposing eras, neither of the two views is valid. Ours is no more so than theirs. This is not to imply, of course, that there are only a few instances of creativity in human history, or, in reverse, that creativity can be equally taught to everyone - and, for that matter, that there is absolutely nothing good about creativity. Obviously, extreme views like this are far from the truth. The point in this book, however, is to show an alternative (better) way to understand the nature of creative thinking, which goes beyond both convergent and divergent thinking, while learning from them. The current fashionable nonsense on creative thinking has tended to minimize its hidden downsides and exaggerate its overstated promises, as part of a new ideology in this age of ours. In addition, there is nothing intrinsically good (or bad) about 'creative thinking' - just as there is nothing essentially good (or evil) about 'God', 'the King', 'Motherland', or the like, by analogy. They have all been used and misused in accordance to the interests and powers that be over the ages. If true, this seminal view will fundamentally change the way that we think about the nature of imagination and intuition, with its enormous implications for the future of invention and innovation, in a small sense, and what I originally called its 'post-human' fate, in a large one. ... Read more

Product Description
This ambitious book describes the many ways in which invention affects the environment (here defined broadly to include all forms of interaction between humans and nature). The book starts with nature itself and then leads readers to examine the built environment and then specific technologies in areas such as public health and energy.

Each part focuses on a single environmental issue. Topics range widely, from the role of innovation in urban landscapes to the relationship among technological innovation, public health, and the environment. Each part features an essay by a historian, an essay by a practitioner, and a "portrait of innovation" describing an individual whose work has made a difference. The mixture of historians and practitioners is critical because statements about the environment inevitably measure present and future conditions against those of the past. Early in the industrial revolution, smoke stacks were symbols of prosperity; at its end they were regarded as signs of pollution. Historical examples can also lead to the rediscovery of an old technology, as in the revival of straw bale construction. As it explores the history of invention for the environment, the book suggests many new ways to put the past to use for the common good. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Technology and sustainability
I'm surprised that there haven't been reviews posted yet for this book. It fills a much needed void in the conversation between technologists (labeled as inventors here) and those concerned with sustainability (labeled as the environment). There are great resources on the technical side which can solve many, though certainly not all, of the problems currently facing the environment. All too often the instinctual reactions of environmentalists have been anti-technology. This is a piece of the dialogue to restore beneficial connections between ecology and innovative science and engineering. ... Read more

Product Description
This comprehensive collection presents the classic articles in the economics of invention and innovation. It covers topics related to sources of inventive and innovative activity, including exogenous and endogenous innovation, with an emphasis on R&D activity and the diffusion of new techniques. Professor Link has prepared an original introduction, which offers an authoritative overview of a subject that is of growing importance to both economists and management scientists. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume explores the ways in which drawings were employed and appreciated in various European cities from late medieval times, through to the Renaissance and Reformation periods and into the early 17th century. The essays examine the relationship between preparatory sketches and finished artworks in more durable and expensive materials, and consider roles played by various drawing types such as studies from different kinds of model and student copies from a master's examplar. They also investigate how drawings and their mechanically reproduced equivalents - engravings, etchings, etc - came to be collected for both practical and connoisseurial purposes, and how iconographic and stylistic inventiveness were linked to imaginative artistic interpretations of traditional subjects and to technical innovations in drawings and printmaking. ... Read more

Product Description
This book brings together important new research on two of the primary engines of economic progress; innovation and invention. The scope of this book includes diffusion and adoption of innovations, funding, tariffs and their impact, labour supply and diversity. ... Read more