Great Feuds in Technology: Ten of the Liveliest Disputes Ever - Hellman, Hal

Product DescriptionThe colorful true stories of ten monumental feuds in the history of technologyThe history of technology is full of heated disputes over who, exactly, invented what. In this encore to his international bestsellers Great Feuds in Science and Great Feuds in Medicine, Hal Hellman brings to life ten of technology's most celebrated quarrels. Whether illuminating the battles between Philo Farnsworth and RCA (television), and Samuel Morse and Joseph Henry (telegraph) or the feuds currently raging over nuclear submarines and genetically modified foods, Hellman clearly explains the technology involved while providing vivid portraits of the disputants and their times.Hal Hellman (Leonia, NJ) is the author of numerous science books, including Great Feuds in Science (0-471-35066-4) and Great Feuds in Medicine (0-471-20833-7).Review“Hellman does a good job of putting them [inventions] into a commercial context. The book works well as a reference…” (Focus, June 2004)“… lively and compelling…” (New Scientist, 15 May 2004)“… a bright idea…” (The Guardian, 20 May 2004)"...entertaining new book..." (Sunday Telegraph, 28 March 2004)"There's nothing like a good feud to grab your attention. When it comes to describing the battle, Hellman is a master." (New Scientist)From the AuthorTECHNOLOGY FEUDS QUIZTrue or False:1. The word "technology" refers specifically and only to tangible, working machinery, stuff you can touch.2. The idea that nature is good and human attempts at mastering it are bad is a new one, and had its start with the rise of the Industrial Revolution.3. The Luddites went about smashing textile machinery in early 19th century England because they hated and feared all kinds of technology.4. The miner's safety lamp was probably the most important invention in the early days of the Industrial Revolution.5. Samuel F. D. Morse was a well-recognized painter before he ever even thought of the electromagnetic telegraph.6. Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse fought "the war of the currents" toward the end of the nineteenth century. Edison won, as usual, which is why we have alternating current as the main form of electricity today.7. When Henry Ford was a young man, his only interest was in designing and building vehicles for motorized transportation.8. The Wright brothers were the first people to fly a powered, heavier-than-air vehicle.9. Electronic television was invented by David Sarnoff.10. The fact that the U.S. Navy has a strong nuclear component has had much to do with the efforts of one man, who managed to head two different organizations, one civilian and one military, at the same time.11. Now that biotechnologists have sequenced the human genome, it should be possible to take a single blood sample from a patient and, when prescribing a drug, determine the precise dose needed and whether it will have any side effects.12. Jeremy Rifkin and many others say that we should not allow a new technology or product, such as genetically modified foods, to be introduced until it has been thoroughly tested and shown to be risk-free. Theyre right, of course.13. Public feelings about science and technology have always been generally positive and remain so today.Answers1. False. The term has a much wider meaning and refers to any tools, methods or techniques in use for getting a job done. So it can include linguistic and intellectual tools, including communications technologies, and computer software as well as hardware. It also includes the world of living things. Today there is probably more excitement in biotechnology than there is in any of the typical hard technologies.2. False. The idea that nature is good and human attempts at mastering it are bad has appeared over and over again throughout history. Goethe's Faust and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein story are just two of the better known examples out of many. Earlier, the French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau had written of the noble savag