W. Bernard Carlson
Author
Language
English
Description
"Nikola Tesla was a major contributor to the electrical revolution that transformed daily life at the turn of the twentieth century. His inventions, patents, and theoretical work formed the basis of modern AC electricity, and contributed to the development of radio and television. Like his competitor Thomas Edison, Tesla was one of America's first celebrity scientists, enjoying the company of New York high society and dazzling the likes of Mark Twain...
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 32
Language
English
Description
Embark on a tour of personal computing, beginning with its roots in IBM's business machines in the 1920s and the massive electronic calculators of World War II. Then compare the mainframes of the 1960s with today's PCs and consider the key roles of software programming and graphical user interfaces.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 35
Language
English
Description
Inventions are not necessarily "finished" until they are put into the hands of consumers, and perhaps nowhere is this more apparent than in the world of social media, where a Tunisian blogger can be as much an "inventor" of Facebook as Mark Zuckerberg. This lecture looks at the evolution of social media and its role in recent political events around the world.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 6
Language
English
Description
We're all familiar with the glory of Roman engineering, from the Romans' system of roads to their impressive monuments. How did these structures work from a technical standpoint? And why build them? Delve into Roman history and explore the way in which technology served state ends.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 17
Language
English
Description
Chart the history of both water and sewer systems and see how they changed the world in the 19th century. From the Roman aqueducts to the London sewer system to indoor plumbing, a clean water supply has saved more lives than any other technology, a prime example of how inventions truly serve the public good.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 4
Language
English
Description
In addition to creating material abundance, technology, whether it's an oxcart or a telecommunications network, facilitates interaction between people. Explore the role of trade in early societies and how ships, coins, and the alphabet shaped the civilizations of the ancient Mediterranean.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 20
Language
English
Description
Electricity profoundly reshaped American culture and set the stage for the major inventions of the 20th century. This lecture introduces you to the history and science of electricity - arc lighting, the incandescent lamp, motors, and direct versus alternating currents. Learn about the inventions of Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla, and the rivalry between their electric companies.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 12
Language
English
Description
Discover the story of Prince Henry the Navigator. His promotion of ship design and navigation during the 15th century arguably marked the start of our modern way of deliberately using technology to shape society. Better ships, information about wind and currents, and new navigation techniques brought about remarkable political and economic change in Europe.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 25
Language
English
Description
Other than the personal computer, the Model T may be the single most important technology artifact of the 20th century. After surveying the history of automobiles, this lecture introduces you to Henry Ford and tells the story of the Model T - the car that changed the way Americans thought about travel and launched a consumer revolution.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 10
Language
English
Description
The story of invention is often the story of cultural contact. Witness the origins of gunpowder in ancient China and trace its movement into Europe. Then, shift your attention to the development of gunpowder weapons and consider how cannons, rifles, and handguns changed the face of warfare as well as the world's political and social structures.
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Series
Great Courses volume 5
Language
English
Description
To study the way people have used technology to secure and maintain political power, journey east to China and examine the role of the crossbow in the Warring States Era. As the world's first machine with interchangeable parts, the crossbow is a marvel of engineering that shaped the political history of China for centuries.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 7
Language
English
Description
Turn now to two inventions that moved humanity from the ancient to the modern world. The waterwheel was the first major energy source beyond human muscle and animal labor, which freed people to perform more sophisticated tasks. Meanwhile, the development of the mechanical clock redefined our sense of time.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 26
Language
English
Description
The story of aviation has one of the most important lessons in understanding great inventions - that social or political circumstances are as important for an invention's success as the technology itself. Trace the development of aviation from the Wright brothers' flight at Kitty Hawk through the jet age.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 9
Language
English
Description
Survey the development of writing from the days of clay tablets and parchment through the development of the printing press. You'll learn about the surprising history of movable type, which originated in Asia hundreds of years before the Gutenberg press in Europe. You'll also see how different cultural circumstances shaped the impact of different inventions.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 30
Language
English
Description
See how the combination of several essential functions - the detection of radio waves, the amplification of weak signals, and the operation of switches - led to all of our electronic gadgets, from radios to computers. Professor Carlson takes you into the fascinating world of vacuum tubes, transistors, and integrated circuits.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 2
Language
English
Description
Step back to the Stone Age and look at the craft of pottery and the development of metals. Although we might think of ancient people as "primitive," early humans were remarkably observant about the world around them, which led to several complex inventions.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 11
Language
English
Description
You might assume that all inventions arise from science, but this is not always so. As the history of telescopes and microscopes demonstrates, the invention of new technology facilitates scientific advances. In this case, optical technology drove the Scientific Revolution, allowing Galileo and others to establish the scientific method of observation.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 24
Language
English
Description
The engineering trends of the 20th century - economy of scale, mechanization, and scientific experimentation - were based on new materials. Dive into the world of steel, glass, and plastics and find out how these materials transformed our daily lives and our expectation of what the world should look like.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 3
Language
English
Description
One of the recurring themes in the history of invention is the way technology leads to material abundance. See how the Agricultural Revolution changed life for early humans. Then trace the development of alcoholic beverages from the earliest days of civilization through the Middle Ages and consider the cultural insights alcohol can offer.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 27
Language
English
Description
The sudden emergence of broadcasting in the 1920s upended existing business arrangements and led to the competition between the broadcast networks that are still with us today. Learn about the technology of radio and television, the challenges broadcasters faced, the origin of radio commercials, and the cultural effects of these new communications technologies.