Whether hailed as heroes or cast as threats to social order, entrepreneurs - and their innovations - have had an enormous influence on the growth and prosperity of nations. "The Invention of Enterprise" gathers together, for the first time, leading economic historians to explore the entrepreneur's role in society from antiquity to the present. Addressing social and institutional influences from a historical context, each chapter examines entrepreneurship during a particular period and in an important geographic location. The book chronicles the sweeping history of enterprise in Mesopotamia and Neo-Babylon; carries the reader through the Islamic Middle East; offers insights into the entrepreneurial history of China, Japan, and Colonial India; and, describes the crucial role of the entrepreneur in innovative activity in Europe and the United States, from the medieval period to today. In considering the critical contributions of entrepreneurship, the authors discuss why entrepreneurial activities are not always productive and may even sabotage prosperity. They examine the institutions and restrictions that have enabled or impeded innovation, and the incentives for the adoption and dissemination of inventions. They also describe the wide variations in global entrepreneurial activity during different historical periods and the similarities in development, as well as entrepreneurship's role in economic growth. The book is filled with past examples and events that provide lessons for promoting and successfully pursuing contemporary entrepreneurship as a means of contributing to the welfare of society.

Beginning with the development of the compass, Ruling the Waves examines a series of technological revolutions that promised, in their time, to transform the world's politics and business. With Debora Spar's gifted storytelling, each chapter reads like an adventure tale as she recounts the histories of the printing press and maps; of the telegraph, radio, and satellite television; of software, encryption, and the advent of digital music. At each of these junctures Spar suggests that invention led to both a wave of commerce and of chaos. Entrepreneurs such as Samuel Morse and Rupert Murdoch carved new markets from the emerging technology and proclaimed that the old rules no longer applied. And for a while, they were right. But eventually--and inevitably--even cowboys need rules: rules of property, rules of coordination, rules of competition. The erstwhile pioneers thus turn to government, lobbying for order and setting the stage for the next wave of discovery. A fascinating history of business, Ruling the Waves is also an original, thought-provoking analysis of the parallels between past innovations and inventions and our own tumultuous times.

The only forensic psychiatrist writing suspense, Keith Ablow is being hailed as the heir to Thomas Harris. Keith Ablow's novels delve deep into that dark and deadly place that Ablow, one of the nation's leading forensic psychiatrists, knows best: the psyche of a killer. Ablow has explored the catacombs of the criminal mind to find out what makes them tick, and he brings that expertise to his new novel, a chilling and emotionally compelling story of the lengths to which one man will go to leave his own life behind. In Murder Suicide , Ablow and his alter-ego, Dr. Frank Clevenger, return to take on a murder case like no other. John Snow is a brilliant inventor who has made millions from his genius in aeronautics. He has everything a man could desire: wealth, family, even a beautiful mistress. But he also has a brain disease, a rare form of epilepsy, that threatens his most valuable possession -- his mind. Only one doctor may be able to cure it surgically, but at a terrible cost, one that Snow reveals to no one: Snow will have no memory whatsoever of his past - of its emotional entanglements or its secrets. He will be abandoning everyone he has ever known. But the night before he is scheduled to undergo the operation, he is found near the Massachusetts General Hospital, dead of a gunshot wound. Did he commit suicide, as the police suspect - or was he murdered? Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Frank Clevenger delves into Snow's complex past and tortured relationships to unlock the identity of Snow's killer: Was it the wife who can never forgive what he's done to their child and their marriage, the son who loathes him, the beautiful mistress who loves him so deeply but can never have him, or the business partner intent on taking control of his inventions? Only Frank Clevenger can unlock the door to Snow's startling past. And only Keith Ablow can take readers even further into the mind of a killer.

Internationally honored for brilliant achievements throughout his career, author of Cybernetics, ExProdigy, and the essay God and Golem, Inc., which won the National Book Award in 1964, Norbert Wiener was no ordinary mathematician. With the ability to understand how things worked or might work at a very deep level, he linked his own mathematics to engineering and provided basic ideas for the design of all sorts of inventions, from radar to communications networks to computers to artificial limbs. Wiener had an abiding concern about the ethics guiding applications of theories he and other scientists developed. Years after he died, the manuscript for this book was discovered among his papers. The world of science has changed greatly since Wiener's day, and much of the change has been in the direction he warned against. Now published for the first time, this book can be read as a salutary corrective from the past and a chance to rethink the components of an environment that encourages inventiveness.Wiener provides an engagingly written insider's understanding of the history of discovery and invention, emphasizing the historical circumstances that foster innovations and allow their application. His message is that truly original ideas cannot be produced on an assembly line, and that their consequences are often felt only at distant times and places. The intellectual and technological environment has to be right before the idea can blossom. The best course for society is to encourage the best minds to pursue the most interesting topics, and to reward them for the insights they produce. Wiener's comments on the problem of secrecy and the importance of the "free-lance" scientist are particularly pertinent today. Steve Heims provides a brief history of Wiener's literary output and reviews his contributions to the field of invention and discovery. In addition, Heims suggests significant ways in which Wiener's ideas still apply to dilemmas facing the scientific and engineering communities of the 1990s.

This is the first volume of the series Ages in Chaos, in which Immanuel Velikovsky undertakes a reconstruction of the history of antiquity. With utmost precision and the exciting style of a presentation that's typical for him he shows, beyond doubt, what nobody would consider possible: in the conventional history of Egypt - and therefore also of many neighboring cultures - a span of 600 years is described, which has never happened! This assertion is as unbelievable and outrageous as the assertions in Worlds in Collision or Earth in Upheaval. But Velikovsky takes us on a detailed and highly interesting journey through the - corrected - history and makes us a witness to how many question marks disappear, doubts vanish and corresponding facts from the entire Near East furnish a picture of overall conformity and correctness. You will meet an Egyptian eyewitness of the biblical plagues and the mysterious Queen of Sheba. You will find out to where her legendary visit led her. You will, moreover, learn surprising details about the temple of Solomon and learn who was behind its sacking. In the end you do not only wonder how conventional historiography has come into existence, but why it is still taught and published. Just as Velikovsky became the father of "neo-catastrophism" by Worlds in Collision, he became the father of "new chronology" by Ages in Chaos.

Includes alphabetically arranged entries under twenty-seven topics, such as anthropology, sports, and games, and offers a section on the sociology and psychology of hoaxes

One of the world's top puzzle- and game-makers compiled this visually stunning assortment of 86 mathematical challenges. Ivan Moscovich presents his own inventions along with classic mind-bogglers from throughout history. Each promotes creative thinking, providing intellectual satisfaction as well as entertainment. These thought-provoking puzzles offer fresh insights into many concepts common to art, science, and everyday life. They include a tribute to Leonardo da Vinci that involves his famous hidden messages as well as several of his dissection dilemmas. "The Hamilton Way" concerns the problem of visiting all of the vertices of a graph, and "Catenary: The Gravity Curve" suggests a captivating experiment with a chain or a necklace. Each puzzle is accompanied by colorful graphics that help explain the underlying mathematics. Complete answers appear at the end, presenting not only solutions but also explanations that illustrate simple mathematical principles.

Meet Samuel Todd When he wakes up, Samuel Todd looks in the mirror to make sure he's still Samuel Todd. The mirror is just the first of the great inventions that Samuel Todd celebrates every day. From the belt loops and Velcro that make it easier to get and stay dressed, to the training wheels that make four wheels twice as good as three, to one last check with the mirror before bedtime (yes, he's still Samuel Todd), his day is filled with important inventions that make his life better -- and more fun. Who but two-time Newbery Medalist E.L. Konigsburg could so perfectly capture a child's wonder at everyday miracles like step stools and french fries?

From the author of THE PARENT AGENCY comes a thrilling, funny and touching new adventure. Fred and Ellie are twins. But not identical (because that's impossible for a boy and a girl). They do like all the same things, though. Especially video games. Which they are very good at. They aren't that good, however, at much else - like, for example, football, or dealing with the school bullies. Then, they meet the Mystery Man, who sends them a video game controller, which doesn't look like any other controller they've ever seen. And it doesn't control any of their usual games. When the twins find out what it does control, though, it seems like the answer to all their problems. And the key to all their wildest dreams. At least it seems like that...

Describes simple inventions used by the American Indians to make their life comfortable; tells how these same processes are applied to develop more sophisticated inventions today; and includes simple experiments to duplicate early Indian technology.

What's "Your" Favorite color? Samuel Todd likes colors, colors of all kinds. Colors are full of surprises: A pumpkin is all orange, but not all orange is a pumpkin. And if pink is supposed to be for little girls, why are boy flamingos just as pink as girl flamingos? Most surprising of all is that -- even though all colors are great -- some of the best things have no color at all. After all, what color is a hug or a song? As in "Samuel Todd"s Book of Great Inventions," two-time Newbery Medalist E. L. Konigsburg gets inside the mind and heart of a little boy marveling at the world he lives in, and creates a fresh and perceptive look at everyday things.

A brilliant collaboartion from Cory Doctorow and Charles Stross, two defining personalities of post-cyberpunk SF—now repackaged with a new cover! Welcome to the fractured future, at the dusk of the twenty-first century. Earth has a population of roughly a billion hominids. For the most part, they are happy with their lot, living in a preserve at the bottom of a gravity well. Those who are unhappy have emigrated, joining one or another of the swarming densethinker clades that fog the inner solar system with a dust of molecular machinery so thick that it obscures the sun. The splintery metaconsciousness of the solar-system has largely sworn off its pre-post-human cousins dirtside, but its minds sometimes wander...and when that happens, it casually spams Earth's networks with plans for cataclysmically disruptive technologies that emulsify whole industries, cultures, and spiritual systems. A sane species would ignore these get-evolved-quick schemes, but there's always someone who'll take a bite from the forbidden apple. So until the overminds bore of stirring Earth's anthill, there's Tech Jury Service: random humans, selected arbitrarily, charged with assessing dozens of new inventions and ruling on whether to let them loose. Young Huw, a technophobic, misanthropic Welshman, has been selected for the latest jury, a task he does his best to perform despite an itchy technovirus, the apathy of the proletariat, and a couple of truly awful moments on bathroom floors.

In France, on the eve of the Revolution, a young man named Claude Page sets out to become the most ingenious and daring inventor of his time. In the course of a career filled with violence and passion, Claude learns the arts of enameling and watchmaking from an irascible, defrocked abbé, apprentices himself to a pornographic bookseller, and applies his erotic erudition to the seduction of the wife of an impotent wigmaker. But it is Claude's greatest device-a talking mechanical head-that both crowns his career and leads to an execution as tragic as that of Marie Antoinette, and far more bizarre. Hailed by critics for the shimmering brilliance of its inventions and its uncanny fidelity to the textures of the past, A Case of Curiosities places Allen Kurzweil securely in the ranks of the finest literary artists of our time.

AN INVENTED LIFE: The story of Alan Amron is one of a free-thinking individual, unencumbered by self-imposed constraints. Alan invented the first Post-It sticky notes, battery operated water guns, temperature alarms to prevent blood and food spoilage, the first ever Digital Photo wallet for Nikon, and much more. It is a glimpse into the creative mind of an inventor, entrepreneur, businessman and Federal Court Plaintiff vs. 3M.With over 40 United States patents for his inventions, Alan's journey is truly an inspiration. Who would have thought that a Brooklyn boy would go on to rub shoulders with Frank Sinatra, Kristy McNichol, have a shouting match with J.D. Salinger and partner with the boxing champion of the world Muhammad Ali, who at the time was more famous than the President of the United States, to bring back the Beatles?An Invented Life is a fun roller-coaster ride, with humor in Alan's naivety, heart aches and accomplishments. His charming personality comes through in all that he has accomplished, seeing the ridiculousness of the moments and the displays of his natural chutzpah.The $1.5 Billion dollar SMOKING GUN corroborating Federal Court Testimony by Christopher Turner, former 3M corporate senior VP of new product development from 1964-1990."I knew first hand for the last 40 years, that Alan Amron invented the Post-It sticky notes for 3M, but 3M management had threatened me with losing my pension if I ever came forward. The only reason I'm coming forward now, is those people that threatened my pension are gone."

Scientific, Technological, and Social

Charles Bernstein is our postmodern jester of American poesy, equal part surveyor of democratic vistas and scholar of avant-garde sensibilities. In a career spanning thirty-five years and forty books, he has challenged and provoked us with writing that is decidedly unafraid of the tensions between ordinary and poetic language, and between everyday life and its adversaries. Attack of the Difficult Poems , his latest collection of essays, gathers some of his most memorably irreverent work while addressing seriously and comprehensively the state of contemporary humanities, the teaching of unconventional forms, fresh approaches to translation, the history of language media, and the connections between poetry and visual art. Applying an array of essayistic styles, Attack of the Difficult Poems ardently engages with the promise of its title. Bernstein introduces his key theme of the difficulty of poems and defends, often in comedic ways, not just difficult poetry but poetry itself. Bernstein never loses his ingenious ability to argue or his consummate attention to detail. Along the way, he offers a wide-ranging critique of literature’s place in the academy, taking on the vexed role of innovation and approaching it from the perspective of both teacher and practitioner. From blues artists to Tin Pan Alley song lyricists to Second Wave modernist poets, The Attack of the Difficult Poems sounds both a battle cry and a lament for the task of the language maker and the fate of invention.

Describes simple inventions used by Eskimos to make their life comfortable; tells how these same processes are applied to develop more sophisticated or modern inventions today; and includes simple experiments to duplicate the early Eskimo technology.

Mimesis: the idea of imitation. Alterity: the idea of difference, the opposition of Self and Other. In his most accomplished work to date, Michael Taussig explores these complex and often interwoven concepts. Arguing that mimesis is the nature that culture uses to create second nature, he maintains that mimesis - variously experienced in different societies - is not only a faculty but also a history. That history, Taussig writes, is deeply tied to "Euroamerican colonialism, the felt relation of the civilizing process to savagery, to aping, sensateness caught in the net of passionful images spun for several centuries by the colonial trade with wildness." For anthropologists, social scientists, cultural critics, artists and everyone else caught up in the enigma of the postmodern, framing the question "What is Reality" is crucial to gaining an understanding of what it is we know and who we are. Why is it important to understand that traditions are inventions and that social life is a construction when they grip us with all the force of the "natural"? And how is it that we understand reality as both real and really made up? In Mimesis and Alterity Taussig undertakes an eccentric history of the mimetic faculty. He moves easily from the nineteenth-century invention of mimetically capacious machines, such as the camera, backwards to the fable of colonial "first-contact" and alleged mimetic prowess of "primitives," and then forward to contemporary time, when the idea of alterity is increasingly unstable. Utilizing anthropological theory, Taussig blends Latin American ethnography and colonial history with the insights of Walter Benjamin, Adorno and Horkheimer. Vigorous and unorthodox, Taussig's understanding of mimesis in different cultures deepens our meanings of ethnography, racism and society.

First published in 1990, The Myths We Live By explores how memory and tradition are continually reshaped and recycled to make sense of the past from the standpoint of the present. The book makes use of the rich material of recorded life stories, with examples stretching from the transient myths of contemporary Italian school children on strike, back to the family legends of classical Greece, and the traditional storytelling of Canadian Indians. The range of examples is international and together they advocate a transformed history, which actively relates subjective and objective, past and present, politics and poetry, and highlights history as a living force in the present. The Myths We Live By will appeal to anyone interested in oral history, memory, and myth.