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How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World

Page 21

by Steven Johnson

impact on settlement patterns of, 80

  Babbage, Charles, 185, 245–46, 247, 248, 250–53

  Babylonians, 198

  Baliani, Giovanni Battista, 166

  Baltimore, 180

  Bangkok, 83

  Bar codes, 233–34, 236

  Barovier, Angelo, 19

  Basker, Emek, 233–34

  Batchelor, Charles, 211

  Bathing, 45, 137–38, 139, 140

  Bathing suits, women’s, 149–50

  Beatles, 114

  Beecher, Catharine, 138

  Bell, Alexander Graham, 9, 94, 97–98, 98, 103

  Bell Labs, 30, 100–105, 107, 108, 113, 114, 116, 184, 211, 232

  Bering Land Bridge, 191

  Berlin Jazz Festival, 112–13

  Best Buy, 234

  Betamax, 7

  Bible, 25

  Old Testament, 216

  Biden, Joe, 83

  Big Bang, 40

  Binary code, 30, 158

  Birdseye, Clarence, 72, 73, 74–75, 84

  in Labrador, 68, 70, 71, 253

  Birmingham (England), 174

  Black Friday stock market crash, 74

  Bohr, Niels, 186, 194

  Bombay, 53, 55

  B&O Railroad, 182

  Boston, 58, 250

  ice shipped from, 48–52, 54, 57

  Water Works in, 130

  Boston Gazette, 49

  Boulders, The (Las Vegas), 228

  Boyle, Robert, 64

  Boys, Charles Vernon, 27, 28, 29

  Brand, Steward, 192

  Brasília, 226, 229

  Brazil, 8, 210

  Briggs House (Chicago), 133

  Bright, Arthur A., 206, 208

  Broad Exchange (New York), 100

  Brooklyn, 110, 219, 220

  Brown, Denis Scott, 226, 229–31

  Brunelleschi, Filippo, 32

  Brush Electric Light, 214

  Buckley, O. E., 104–5

  Butterfly effect, 5

  Byron, Annabella, 242, 244, 245

  Byron, George Gordon, Lord, 241, 242, 244, 245

  Calcutta, 55

  California, 83

  Caltech, 156, 158

  Candles, 19, 20, 198, 200–201, 204, 205, 217

  Cape Town, 128

  Carbon dating, 190–92

  Carré, Ferdinand, 66–67

  Carrier, Willis, 76–80, 82, 83

  Carrier Corporation, 76, 77, 79

  Cattle ranching, 58

  Cave paintings, 87–90, 89, 120, 122

  Celsius scale, 64

  Cell phones, 31, 100, 102, 189–90, 194

  Central Council for Health Education, 139

  Central time zone, 183

  Cesium, 186–87, 189, 190, 192, 194

  Chaos theory, 1, 5

  Charleston (South Carolina), 55

  Chauvet cave paintings, 87

  Chennai, 83

  Chesbrough, Ellis, 127, 130, 131, 132, 134, 154, 160

  Chicago, 57–61, 106, 127–30, 132, 133, 134–36, 154

  African-Americans in, 110

  Board of Sewerage Commissioners of, 129–30

  Chicxulub asteroid, 197

  China, 8, 122–23, 211

  Great Wall of, 231

  Chlorination of water supply, 143–44, 148–50

  Chlorine bleach, 151

  Chlorine Revolution, The (McGuire), 144

  Cholera, 3, 129, 140–41, 141, 143, 145, 147, 158

  Chronometers, 173, 194

  Cincinnati, 182

  City of the Century (Miller), 58–60

  City Noise, 117

  Civil rights movement, 9, 82, 112–14, 231

  Civil War, 66–67, 143, 179, 251

  Clark, A. B., 103

  Claude, Georges, 226–28, 230, 231

  Clean rooms, 159, 159–61

  Clocks, 166–68

  atomic, 186–88

  digital, 42

  pendulum, 6, 170, 171, 176, 184, 185

  Clorox bleach, 151, 153

  Coevolution, 4, 22

  Columbia Railroad, 180, 182

  Columbia University, 66, 186

  Columbus, Christopher, 168

  Comets, 43

  Computers, 29–30, 38–39, 42, 100, 158, 161, 236, 254

  Bell Labs and, 102, 108

  graphic interfaces of, 65

  for inventory management, 234

  nineteenth-century precursor of, 245–46, 248, 249, 250, 252

  time measurement and, 185, 192

  waveforms converted to sound by, 96

  See also Microchips; Microprocessors

  Congress, U.S., 6

  Constantinople, fall of, 10, 14, 17

  Contested Waters (Wiltse), 149

  Copernican universe, 186

  Corning Glassworks, 30

  Cotton Club (Harlem), 110, 118

  Craigslist, 7

  Cretaceous age, 3

  Crystals, 190

  ice, 19, 70

  quartz, 19, 184–86

  silicon dioxide, 13 (see also Glass)

  Cuba, 210–11

  Curie, Jacques, 184

  Curie, Marie, 190

  Curie, Pierre, 184, 190

  Cutler, David, 148

  Daguerreotypes, 217

  Dark Ages, 198

  Darwin, Charles, 4, 253

  Darwinism, 3

  Davy, Humphry, 206

  Decibels, 114–15

  De Forest, Lee, 106–8, 109, 110, 113, 116, 117

  De Landa, Manuel, 1–2

  Democratic Party, 81–83

  De Moleyns, Frederick, 20

  Dennison, Aaron, 176, 177, 178, 180, 181

  Descartes, René, 41

  Dialectical materialism, 40

  Dickens, Charles, 138, 175, 220

  Disease, 62, 129, 134, 154, 211

  bathing seen as cause of, 137

  Civil War deaths from, 143

  germ theory of, 136, 140, 142, 152, 156, 158

  waterborne, 148 (see also Cholera)

  Draggoo, Vaughn, 237

  Dreiser, Theodor, 60

  Dubai, 83

  Dürer, Albrecht, 31, 35

  DVDs, 7

  Dynamics, 166, 184

  Dysentery, 129, 143

  Eastern time zone, 183

  Edgartown (Massachusetts), 202

  Edison, Thomas Alva, 9, 100, 149, 207

  development of lightbulb by, 206, 208–12, 213, 215, 218, 250

  phonograph invented by, 92, 97, 252

  Edison Electric Light Company, 212

  Egypt, ancient, 14, 164, 199, 216–17

  Einstein, Albert, 189

  Ekirch, Roger, 200

  Elizabeth I, Queen of England, 138

  Elevators, 99, 100

  Epidemics, 129, 140, 143, 154

  Ellington, Duke, 110, 111, 112, 118

  England, 48, 138, 170, 217

  Greenwich Mean Time in, 182

  industrial revolution in, 172–74

  Longitude Prize in, 168

  in World War I, 120

  See also London

  Enlightenment, 90

  Eno, Brian, 192

  Erie Canal, 60

  Essex (ship), 202

  Etruscans, ancient, 165

  Evolution, 2–5, 22, 40, 42

  Eyeglasses, see Spectacles

  Factories, 61, 151, 158, 174

  artificial light in, 200, 224

  for neon lights, 230

  time measurement and, 185

  See also Mills

  Fahrenheit scale, 65

  Favelas, 129, 154

  Favorite (ship), 49, 54

  Feaster, Patrick, 96

  Federal-Aid Highway Act (1956), 6

  Fessenden, Reginald, 119–20, 121, 122

  Feynman, Richard, 9–10

  Fiberglass, 29, 31

  Fiber-optic cables, 30, 143

  Fielding, Henry, 241

  Fisheries Association, 72

  Fitzgerald, Ella, 112

  Five
Points (Manhattan), 220, 223, 225

  Flash Gordon (comic strip, movies and television series), 232, 234

  Flatiron Building (New York), 100

  Fletcher, Henry, 114

  Florence Baptistry, 32

  Florida, 80, 83

  Ford, Henry, 74, 149

  Ford Motor Company, Rouge Plant, 175

  Fossil fuels, 42, 54, 203–4

  France, 67, 87–88, 90, 118, 137, 217, 228

  See also Paris

  Franchise businesses, 228, 230

  Franklin, Benjamin, 201–2

  Frigidaire, 76

  Frozen food, 72, 73, 74–76, 75, 84

  naturally occurring, in Labrador, 68, 70, 71, 253

  Fuller, George Warren, 144

  Gaedicke, Johannes, 218, 225

  Galileo Galilei, 10, 25, 38

  pendulum clock invented by, 164–66, 168, 169, 170, 171, 184, 190, 194

  García Márquez, Gabriel, 50

  Gardiner, Robert, 48

  Gaslight, 106, 203, 217

  Gates, Bill and Melinda, Foundation, 156, 157

  General Conference on Weights and Measures (Paris, 1967), 163–64, 187

  General Electric, 69

  General Foods, 74

  General Seafood, 74

  Geochemistry, 43

  Georgia, 67

  Germany, 104, 120, 218

  Germ theory, 136, 140, 142, 152, 156, 158

  Gertner, Jon, 100, 232

  Giovannoni, David, 96

  Glasses, see Spectacles

  Glassmaking, 14, 17–19, 42, 184

  See also Lenses; Mirrors; Silicon dioxide

  Global trade, 46, 60, 170, 172

  Google, 7, 174, 250

  Gorrie, John, 62, 63, 65–66

  Gould, Gordon, 232

  GPS (Global Positioning System), 189

  Great Pyramid of Giza, 216–17

  Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), 182, 183

  Gutenberg, Johannes, 4, 6, 20, 22, 25, 32

  Half-life, 190

  Hamburg, 127

  Hard Times (Dickens), 175

  Harper’s Weekly, 220

  Harvard University, 148, 198

  Havana, 46, 48, 53

  Hawaii, 37–40, 39

  Heisenberg, Werner, 186

  Hendrix, Jimi, 115

  Hennessey, Meagan, 96

  Hillis, Danny, 192

  Hitler, Adolf, 114

  Holiday, Billie, 112

  Hollywood, 150

  Homo sapiens, 191

  evolution of, 40

  Hooke, Robert, 22–23,

  illustration by, 24

  microscope designed by, 26

  Hoover Dam, 228

  Houston, 80

  How Congress Evolves (Polsby), 81

  How the Other Half Lives (Riis), 223

  Hughes Aircraft, 232

  Hurricanes, 62

  Hussey, Captain, 201

  Hutchinson, Benjamin, 58

  Hygiene, 137, 161

  See also Bathing; Public health

  Ice Age, 60

  “Ice House Diary” (Tudor), 48–49

  Ice trade, 45–46, 48–57, 61–62, 84–85, 167, 253

  climate and disruptions of, 57, 62, 65

  failure of early attempts at, 49–52

  Idea Factory, The (Gertner), 100

  Immigrants, 58, 224

  to warmer climates, air-conditioning and, 80, 83

  India, 53, 55

  Indiana, 180

  Industrial revolution, 6, 42, 61, 170, 172–75

  Infant mortality, 148, 152

  Innovation, “genius” theory of, 205

  Instagram, 31

  Internet, 30, 112, 134

  Inuits, 68, 70, 74, 253

  iPod, 205, 210

  Irvin Theatre, 81

  Italy, 20, 37

  iTunes, 250

  Jack the Ripper, 134

  Jacquard loom, 2

  Jakarta, 83

  Janssen, Hans, 22

  Janssen, Zacharias, 22, 24

  Japan, 36, 211

  Jazz, 8, 110, 112–13

  Jersey City, water supply of, 143–46, 150, 156, 158

  Jobs, Steve, 209, 254

  Jungle, The (Sinclair), 134–35

  Jupiter, moons of, 25

  Justice Department, U.S., 102

  Karachi, 83

  Kauffman, Stuart, 64

  Keck Observatory, 38–40, 39, 89

  Kelly, Kevin, 192–93

  Kentucky Fried Chicken, 228

  Kerosene lamps, 200, 203, 205

  Khufu, 216

  King, Martin Luther, Jr., 112–13

  “I Have a Dream” speech, 114, 231

  Koch, Robert, 141–42

  Kramers, Jan, 43

  Kruesi, John, 211

  Labrador, 68, 70, 71, 72, 253

  Lagos, 83

  Lancet, The, 140

  Lasers, 30, 38–39, 100, 158, 232–37

  Las Vegas, 226, 227, 228–31

  Latitude, 168

  Lawrence Livermore Labs, 235

  Leal, John, 142–46, 148, 150, 151, 154, 156, 158, 160

  Learning from Las Vegas (Brown and Venturi), 230, 231

  LEDs, 205, 250

  Led Zeppelin, 115

  Lenses, 2, 6, 8, 10, 30, 31, 41, 156, 251

  camera, 25, 27, 42

  lasers and, 235

  microscope, 22–24, 34, 141–42

  of spectacles, 2, 4, 20, 22, 27

  telescope, 24–25, 34, 38

  Leonardo da Vinci, 31, 34, 252

  Libyan Desert, 13–14, 43

  “Lightbulb moments,” 72, 198

  Lightbulbs, 2, 8, 41, 103, 198, 200–201, 205–15, 218, 228

  fluorescent, 200, 205

  lasers and, 232–33

  LED, 205, 250

  neon, see Neon lights

  Lighthouses, 118

  Limelight, 217, 225

  Lippershey, Hans, 25, 38

  Listerine, 151, 152

  Live Aid, 114

  Liverpool, 110

  London, 83, 104, 127, 134, 138, 152, 154, 181, 241, 246

  cholera in, 140, 141, 147

  Clockmakers’ Museum in, 173

  underground in, 133, 135

  Longitude, 168, 172

  Long Now Foundation, 192–93

  Clock of, 192, 193

  Los Angeles, South Central, 110

  Louis XIII, King of France, 138

  Louisiana, 67

  Lovelace, Augusta Ada Byron, Countess of, 241–42, 243, 244–46, 248, 250–52, 255

  Lovelace, William King, Earl of 241–42

  MacFarlane, Alan, 34, 36

  Macintosh computers, 254

  Madagascar (ship), 45

  Madras, 55

  Magna Carta, 2

  Malaria, 62

  Manila, 83

  Marconi, Guglielmo, 106

  Mariana, Queen of Spain, 32

  Marrison, W. A., 184

  Martin, Grady, 115, 116

  Martin, Richard, 96

  Martinique, 49–52, 54, 55

  Marxism, 40

  Materialism, 40

  Mauna Kea, 37–40, 39

  McDonald’s, 228

  McGuire, Michael J., 144

  McLuhan, Marshall, 20

  Meatpacking industry, 58–59

  freezing and, 74

  refrigeration and, 65

  Medici family, 37

  Megacities, 83, 129, 154, 156

  Melville, Herman, 202

  Memphis, 110

  Meninas, Las (Velázquez), 32, 33, 34

  Menlo Park, Edison’s lab at, 100, 206, 210–11

  Metric system, 217

  Metropolitan Opera (New York), 107

  Michigan, 180

  Microchips, 42, 80, 158–60, 185

  Micrographia (Hooke), 22–23, 24

  Microns, 158

  Microphones, 88, 107, 118

  amplified speakers and, 113–14, 116

  Microprocessors, 100, 158, 185
>
  Microscopes, 5, 26, 50, 70, 80, 172, 250

  germ theory and, 156, 158

  lenses of, 22–24, 27, 141–42

  Middle Ages, 137

  Miethe, Adolf, 218, 225

  Miller, Donald, 58–60

  Miller, Grant, 148

  Mills, 170, 174

  lumber, 52

  See also Factories

  Mirrors, 32, 34–37, 41

  lasers and, 235

  Renaissance paintings and, 33, 34

  in science fiction, 231

  in telescopes, 38–40

  Moby-Dick (Melville), 202

  Modernism, 31, 229

  Moon landing, 231

  Moore, William, 211

  Morse code, 106, 119, 233

  Mosquitoes, 62

  Mountain time zone, 183

  MP3 player, 209, 210

  Muckraking, 60, 134, 215, 218, 223

  Mumbai, 154

  Mumford, Lewis, 34–35

  Murano, 17–19, 18, 27, 32, 184, 251

  Murray, Annie, 151

  Nanoseconds, 187, 190

  Nantucket (Massachusetts), 201, 202

  Napster, 105

  National Association of Broadcasters, 110

  National Ignition Facility (NIF), 235–38, 237

  Navigation, 168, 170

  See also Shipping

  Neanderthals, 87, 88, 90, 118, 122

  Neolithic era, 22, 113

  Neon lights, 228–30, 236

  Netherlands, 22, 35

  Nevada, 191

  New Jersey, 206

  New Orleans, 55, 110

  New York City, 58, 67, 72, 74, 77, 83, 127, 152, 154, 209, 218

  artificial light in, 206, 214, 214–15

  clock time in, 180, 182, 183

  Harlem, 59, 110

  Metropolitan Opera, 107

  Noise Abatement Society, 114

  skyscrapers in, 99–100

  slums of, 220, 223–25, 224

  subways, 133

  Times Square, 229

  World’s Fair in, 79

  New York State, 72

  Tenement House Act (1901), 223

  New York Times, 57, 107

  NeXT computer, 254

  Nobel Prize, 142, 190

  Noise abatement, 114–15

  Nordhaus, William D., 204–5

  Nundinal calendar, 165

  Nuremberg rallies, 8, 114

  Oakland (California), 151

  Obama, Barack, 83

  Observatories, 38–39, 164, 183

  Odorono antiperspirant, 151

  Ogden, William Butler, 128

  Oil lamp, 199

  On the Origin of Species (Darwin), 4, 253

  One Hundred Years of Solitude (García Márquez), 50

  On the Various Contrivances by Which British and Foreign Orchids are Fertilised by Insects, and the Good Effects of Intercrossing (Darwin), 253

  Pacific time zone, 183

  Paleolithic era, 88

  Palmolive soap, 151

  Paramount Pictures, 77, 79

  Paris, 66, 83, 87, 127, 133, 138, 152, 163, 190, 226

  Academy of Sciences, 96

  chandlers in, 198

  Grand Palais, 228

  University of, 88

  Pasteur, Louis, 142

  Patents, 25, 102, 107, 148, 215

  of laser, 232

  of lightbulb, 206

  of neon lights, 228

  of phonautograph, 65–66, 92

  Pendulums, 6, 166, 170, 171, 176, 184, 185

 

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