Book Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- CONTENTS -- Introduction -- Chapter 1 Communication -- CUNEIFORM -- ORIGINS IN SUMERIA -- AKKADIAN CUNEIFORM -- THE PAPYRUS SCROLL -- IN ANCIENT EGYPT -- IN ANCIENT GREECE -- THE GREEK AND LATIN ALPHABETS -- THE GREEK ALPHABET -- THE LATIN ALPHABET -- PARCHMENT AND VELLUM -- PAPER -- THE PRINTING PRESS -- ORIGINS IN CHINA -- REINVENTION IN EUROPE -- PHOTOGRAPHY -- ANTECEDENTS -- HELIOGRAPHY -- DAGUERREOTYPE -- THE TELEGRAPH -- PREELECTRIC TELEGRAPH SYSTEMS -- THE MORSE SYSTEM -- THE TELEPHONE -- EARLY SOUND TRANSMITTERS -- GRAY AND BELL: THE TRANSMISSION OF SPEECH -- THE PHONOGRAPH -- EDISON'S PHONOGRAPH -- THE GRAPHOPHONE AND GRAMOPHONE -- THE RACE TO MARKET -- COIN SLOTS AND HOME PHONOGRAPHS -- MOTION PICTURES -- SEQUENTIAL PHOTOGRAPHS -- EDISON'S KINETOGRAPH AND KINETOSCOPE -- THE CINÉMATOGRAPHE -- RADIO -- HERTZ: RADIO-WAVE EXPERIMENTS -- MARCONI'S WIRELESS TELEGRAPH -- THE FLEMING DIODE AND DE FOREST AUDION -- TRANSMISSION OF SPEECH -- TELEVISION -- MECHANICAL SYSTEMS -- ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS -- THE TRANSISTOR -- MOTIVATION AND EARLY RADAR RESEARCH -- INNOVATION AT BELL LABS -- THE COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE -- THE PERSONAL COMPUTER -- THE INTERNET -- Chapter 2 Transportation -- THE WHEELED CHARIOT -- SAILING SHIPS -- FROM ROWED VESSELS TO SAILS -- TYPES OF SAILS -- THE COMPASS -- THE STEAMBOAT -- FULTON'S STEAMBOAT -- THE RAILROAD -- THE PLATEWAY -- THE STOCKTON AND DARLINGTON RAILWAY -- THE LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER RAILWAY -- THE BICYCLE -- FROM VELOCIPEDES TO BONESHAKERS -- THE PENNY-FARTHING -- THE SAFETY BICYCLE -- THE AUTOMOBILE -- THE FOUR-STROKE GASOLINE ENGINE -- KARL BENZ -- GOTTLIEB DAIMLER -- THE AIRPLANE -- EARLY EXPERIMENTS -- THE WRIGHT BROTHERS -- THE SPACE LAUNCHER -- TSIOLKOVSKY, GODDARD, AND OBERTH -- FROM THE V-2 TO THE ICBM -- THE FIRST "ALL-CIVILIAN" SYSTEM -- THE JETLINER -- GPS.

Chapter 3 Power and Energy -- CONTROLLED FIRE -- THE WATERWHEEL -- THE WINDMILL -- THE STEAM ENGINE -- THE ELECTRIC BATTERY -- GALVANI AND VOLTA -- APPLICATIONS IN CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS -- THE ELECTRIC GENERATOR AND MOTOR -- THE INCANDESCENT LIGHTBULB -- THE STEAM TURBINE -- EARLY PRECURSORS -- MODERN STEAM TURBINES -- THE GASOLINE ENGINE -- THE JET ENGINE -- THE NUCLEAR REACTOR -- THE LASER -- THE WIND TURBINE -- THE SOLAR CELL -- THE FUEL CELL -- Chapter 4 Building Construction and Civil Engineering -- THE ARCH -- ORIGINS IN THE POST AND LINTEL -- DEVELOPMENT OF THE ARCH -- BRICK -- DAMS -- THE ROMANS -- EARLY DAMS OF EAST ASIA -- THE 15TH TO THE 18TH CENTURY IN EUROPE -- THE AQUEDUCT -- THE ROMAN DOME -- PLUMBING -- THE PAVED ROAD -- PIERRE-MARIE-JÉRÔME TRÉSAGUET -- THOMAS TELFORD -- JOHN LOUDON MCADAM -- REINFORCED CONCRETE -- THE SUSPENSION BRIDGE -- DYNAMITE -- THE SKYSCRAPER -- THE ELEVATOR -- HEATING, VENTILATION, AND AIR CONDITIONING -- Chapter 5 Medical Milestones -- THE SMALLPOX VACCINE -- GENERAL ANESTHESIA -- PASTEURIZATION -- X-RAY IMAGING -- INSULIN -- ANTIBIOTICS -- BLOOD TRANSFUSION -- POLIO VACCINE -- THE BIRTH CONTROL PILL -- HEART TRANSPLANTATION -- GENETIC ENGINEERING -- CLONING -- EARLY CLONING EXPERIMENTS -- REPRODUCTIVE CLONING -- THERAPEUTIC CLONING -- Chapter 6 Military Technology -- THE SPEAR -- THE BOW AND ARROW -- THE EARLY BOW -- ARROWS -- GUNPOWDER -- RIFLED MUZZLE-LOADERS -- EARLY RIFLING -- MINIÉ RIFLES -- THE SUBMARINE -- THE MACHINE GUN -- RECOIL -- GAS OPERATION -- BLOWBACK -- THE ASSAULT RIFLE -- THE TANK -- THE BALLISTIC MISSILE -- THE V-2 -- THE FIRST ICBMS -- NUCLEAR WEAPONS -- THE FIRST ATOMIC BOMBS -- THE FIRST HYDROGEN BOMBS -- Chapter 7 Observation and Measurement -- THE GREGORIAN CALENDAR -- THE CLOCK -- THE WATCH -- THE TELESCOPE -- THE MICROSCOPE -- RADAR -- THE ATOMIC CLOCK.

Chapter 8 Agriculture and Industry -- BRONZE -- IRON -- THE PLOWSHARE -- THE POWER LOOM -- THE BASIC WEAVING PROCESS -- AUTOMATED AND POWER-DRIVEN LOOMS -- CANNING -- REFRIGERATION -- STEEL -- ALUMINUM -- EARLY LABORATORY EXTRACTION -- ELECTROLYTIC PRODUCTION -- SHEET AND PLATE GLASS -- RAYON -- BAKELITE -- THE COMBINE HARVESTER -- INDUSTRIAL ROBOTS -- FULLERENES -- Glossary -- For Further Reading -- Index -- Back Cover.