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Connections | 
| Author: James Burke
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Category: Book
List Price: $25.00
Buy New: $15.26
You Save: $9.74 (39%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  33 reviews
Sales Rank: 40252
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.2
Dimensions (in): 9.9 x 7.3 x 0.9
ISBN: 0743299558
Dewey Decimal Number: 609
EAN: 9780743299558
ASIN: 0743299558
Publication Date: July 3, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: BRAND NEW
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Amazon.com Review
You can make all the plans you will, plot to make a fortune in the commodities market, speculate on developing trends: all will likely come to naught, for "however carefully you plan for the future, someone else's actions will inevitably modify the way your plans turn out." So writes the English scholar and documentary producer James Burke in his sparkling book Connections, a favorite of historically minded readers ever since its first publication in 1978. Taking a hint from Jacob Bronowski's Ascent of Man, Burke charts the course of technological innovation from ancient times to the present, but always with a subversive eye for things happening in spite of, and not because of, their inventors' intentions. Burke gives careful attention to the role of accident in human history. In his opening pages, for instance, he writes of the invention of uniform coinage, an invention that hinged on some unknown Anatolian prospector's discovering that a fleck of gold rubbed against a piece of schist--a "touchstone"--would leave a mark indicating its quality. Just so, we owe the invention of modern printing to Johann Gutenberg's training as a goldsmith, for his knowledge of the properties of metals enabled him to develop a press whose letterforms would not easily wear down. With Gutenberg's invention, Burke notes, came a massive revolution in the European economy, for, as he writes, "the easier it is to communicate, the faster change happens." Burke's book is a splendid and educational entertainment for our fast-changing time. --Gregory McNamee
Product Description
- How did the popularity of underwear in the twelfth century lead to the invention of the printing press?
- How did the waterwheel evolve into the computer?
- How did the arrival of the cannon lead eventually to the development of movies?
In this highly acclaimed and bestselling book, James Burke brilliantly examines the ideas, inventions, and coincidences that have culminated in the major technological advances of today. With dazzling insight, he untangles the pattern of interconnecting events: the accidents of time, circumstance, and place that gave rise to the major inventions of the world. Says Burke, "My purpose is to acquaint the reader with some of the forces that have caused change in the past, looking in particular at eight innovations -- the computer, the production line, telecommunications, the airplane, the atomic bomb, plastics, the guided rocket, and television -- which may be most influential in structuring our own futures....Each one of these is part of a family of similar devices, and is the result of a sequence of closely connected events extending from the ancient world until the present day. Each has enormous potential for humankind's benefit -- or destruction." Based on a popular TV documentary series, Connections is a fascinating scientific detective story of the inventions that changed history -- and the surprising links that connect them.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 28 more reviews...
 6 Stars for this Series and Book...5 stars just isn't enough! June 2, 2008
I saw James Burke's Connections Series when it came out years ago and it made a tremendous impact on me. I then read the book cover to cover!
It was a joy to watch Burke carefully take us (the viewers) with him on an amazing journey. He showed time and again how people throughout history used their critical thinking skills to create amazing human creations from seemingly unrelated discoveries and decisions that were made before them.
Burke showed that whatever we create today, we can't possibly imagine what type of morphing it will go through time and what incredible thing it may become tomorrow.
Connections (the series and book) also allow us to peek into the mind of the inventor. For example in his book Connections, Burke writes about Thomas Edison: "When Edison died he had over a thousand patents filed in his name, thanks to the work of the men in his laboratory. Each man was a specialist in his field, serving the needs of Edison's fertile imagination as well as his acute understanding of the seller's market in which he lived. Edison never developed an idea unless he knew in advance that it would be profitable."
Years after reading the book and watching the series I went to a James Burke lecture. He is as personable, passionate, interesting, animated and fun in person as he is on the series! At one point during the lecture I asked a question and he answered it and joked with me. When he signed my book later he asked if I was okay with his ribbing. I said I was pleased that he had such a great sense of humor and allowed me to be part of it!
The underlying theme in connections is how we as humans are connected to our species though our works and discoveries. We are in this thing called life together!.
6 Stars for this Series and Book...5 stars just isn't enough!
The Re-Discovery of Common Sense: A Guide to: The Lost Art of Critical Thinking
Connections April 5, 2008
James Burke takes the reader through history and the inventions that were made. He is very insightful as to the reasons for the inventions and he explains how events lead from one thing to the next. It follows his TV series very closely. It would be useful to any history teacher as a reference.
For all of those who nearly died of boredom in history and science class March 13, 2008
James Burke has built a career out of showing people that not only aren't history and science boring but that the two disciplnes relate to one another in the most unexpected ways. Burke takes modern day events or objects and shows the reader how these things came to be, tracing back the origins to antiquity and describing the many interesting twists and turns of their development.
For those who have seen any of Burke's television series, (THE DAY THE UNIVERSE CHANGED and CONNECTIONS) this is an enjoyable companion work. Those who haven't seen either of the televised versions or read any of Burke's other works will find CONNECTIONS a delightful introduction to Burke's unusual approach to history. He makes history and science not only palpable but interesting to those who suffered through long boring lectures that required memorizing names, dates and formulae for the sole purpose of passing a standardized test.
Correlation is interchangeable with Causation August 10, 2006
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
After having consumed the Connections book, television miniseries and audiobook, I would like to comment on the three.
In terms of the volume of content, the book is peerless. It is by far more comprehensive than the audiobook or the tele series. It also allows the reader the luxury of re-reading selections or dwelling on areas as needed. This is not the case, of course with the audiobook or tele series, unless of course, you count the pause button.
The audio version is my least recommended of the three. It is a very demanding piece to listen to, and is generally too involved for the settings in which other audiobooks are generally consumed: driving, doing housework, etc. It is very difficult to follow and visualize all Burke covers without missing a turn on the road or missing a logical leap and having to rewind. However, it is read by Burke with his unique character.
I derive a large degree of enjoyment from Burke's distinctive wit and the frenetic pace at which he presents his material. The very way the tele series is shot showing him forever on the move while on trains, cars, enormous farm equipment, snowmobiles and other vehicles conveys the sense of movement with which progress, science and history are moving forward before our eyes. Actually seeing the processes he describes in the tele series is most helpful.
Finally, all 2 versions include his approach of viewing scientific history as a series of interrelated cause and effect relationships which is most refreshing to me. He stands opposed to the standard American practice of glorifying the inventor or innovator, and instead credits the cumulative body of scientific knowledge, and the more than occasional accident.
For those interested in the subject matter, the print version offers the most comprehensive coverage. But for those who would like a little more entertainment and sugar with their medicine, the pricier tele miniseries is both enlightening and amusing.
The relationship of history and technology August 9, 2006
I used to regularly watch Mr. Burke's "Connections" television series on cable, and I enjoyed his rather unorthodox portrayal of history. However, some of his connections between events struck me as tenuous at best. Perhaps that was a result of the time constraints imposed by a television show, because many of the same examples appear in this book, and the connections are much more adequately explained.
How are technology, invention and progress impacted by the events of history? This is the question explored by James Burke in this book. Each chapter explores a chain of events and circumstances that produced a sequence of technological advances that ultimately produced a piece of our modern technology. Through these examples, he demostrates how the inventive process is dependent not only on the needs of a particular time and place, but also on earlier developments, many of which are in seemingly unrelated fields. Burke's view of history, which he explains in the final chapter, is a complex weaving of science and technology with the changes in politics, environment and economics, each driving a change in the other, ultimately creating the complex world we live in. This book includes lots of interesting historical information and provides unique insights into the role of science and technology in history.
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