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The dawn of the new millennium presented an opportunity not only to look ahead to the future, but also to reflect on the ingenuity and inventions of the past. Electricity, automobiles, telephones, radio, television, and computers are just a few of the innovations introduced by engineers in the twentieth century. In this coffee table volume, the National Academy of Engineering and a consortium of professional engineering societies present the most significant engineering triumphs of the last hundred years, encompassing dramatic and highly visible engineering feats, such as the first flight at Kitty Hawk and the birth of the Internet, as well as advances that have had profound effects but are so much a part of our lives that we take them for granted. Each chapter focuses on the "life story" of a specific achievement and features a personal reflection by a notable engineer involved in its development. Among them are Bill Gates, who brought the personal computer into our homes; Charles Townes, inventor of the laser; Robert Kahn, one of the originators of the Internet; Bill Anders, the Apollo 8 astronaut who took the famous "Earthrise" photograph while in lunar orbit; and Wilson Greatbatch, inventor of the pacemaker. Time lines trace the evolution of each achievement, and many stunning photographs and drawings show how things actually work. With a forward by Neil Armstrong and afterward by Arthur C. Clarke, this book is sure to have a wide appeal.
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