In the bestselling tradition of Stuff Matters and The Disappearing Spoon: a clever and engaging look at materials, the innovations they made possible, and how these technologies changed us. Finalist for the 41st Los Angeles Times Book Award in Science and Technology and selected as one of the Best Summer Science Books Of 2020 by Science Friday. In The Alchemy of Us, scientist and science writer Ainissa Ramirez examines eight inventions--clocks, steel rails, copper communication cables, photographic film, light bulbs, hard disks, scientific labware, and silicon chips--and reveals how they shaped the human experience. Ramirez tells the stories of the woman who sold time, the inventor who inspired Edison, and the hotheaded undertaker whose invention pointed the way to the computer. She describes, among other things, how our pursuit of precision in timepieces changed how we sleep; how the railroad helped commercialize Christmas; how the necessary brevity of the telegram influenced Hemingway's writing style; and how a young chemist exposed the use of Polaroid's cameras to create passbooks to track Black citizens in apartheid South Africa. These fascinating and inspiring stories offer new perspectives on our relationships with technologies.
✔ Author(s): Ainissa Ramirez
✔ Title: The Alchemy of Us: How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another (Mit Press)
✔ Rating : 4.6 out of 5 base on (463 reviews)
✔ ISBN-10: 0262542269
✔ ISBN-13: 9780262542265
✔ Language: English
✔ Format ebook: PDF, EPUB, Kindle, Audio, HTML and MOBI
✔ Device compatibles: Android, iOS, PC and Amazon Kindle
Readers' opinions about The Alchemy of Us by Ainissa Ramirez
Thea Bell
The author's writing style is so captivating; I couldn't put the book down. Every sentence was beautifully crafted, and the descriptions painted vivid images in my mind. A true literary gem.
Lucy Garraway
The plot twists were executed masterfully. I was left gasping at every unexpected turn, and the suspense kept me on edge throughout. Bravo to the author for keeping me guessing.
Violet Tyler
The plot was so well-paced that I lost track of time while reading. I was completely immersed in the story, eagerly turning the pages to uncover the next twist.
