50 inventions that shaped the modern economy / Tim Harford.
Title:
50 inventions that shaped the modern economy / Tim Harford.
ISBN:
9780735216136
Personal Author:
Publication Information:
New York : Riverhead Books, 2017.
©2017
Physical Description:
321 pages ; 24 cm
Contents:
Plow -- I: Winners and losers: Gramophone ; Barbed wire ; Seller feedback ; Google search ; Passports ; Robots ; Welfare state -- II: Reinventing how we live. Infant formula ; TV dinners ; Pill ; Video games ; Market research ; Air-conditioning ; Department stores -- III: Inventing new systems. Dynamo ; Shipping container ; Bar code ; Cold chain ; Tradable debt and the tally stick ; Billy bookcase ; Elevator -- IV: Ideas about ideas. Cuneiform ; Public-key cryptography ; Double-entry bookkeeping ; Limited liability companies ; Management consulting ; Intellectual property ; Compiler -- V: Where do inventions come from?. IPhone ; Diesel engines ; Clocks ; Chemical fertilizer ; Radar ; Batteries ; Plastic -- VI: Visible hand. Bank ; Razors and blades ; Tax havens ; Leaded gasoline ; Antibiotics in farming ; M-Pesa ; Property registers -- VII: Inventing the wheel. Paper ; Index funds ; S-bend ; Paper money ; Concrete ; Insurance -- Conclusion: Looking forward -- Epilogue: Lightbulb.
Summary:
"In [this book], author and economist Tim Harford paints an epic yet intimate picture of economic change by telling the stories of the ideas, people, and tools that have had far-reaching and unexpected consequences for all of us. Drawing on his hugely popular BBC radio program and podcast ..., Harford expands on them with fascinating glimpses into the inventions that have transformed the ways we work, play, and live. From the plow to artificial intelligence, from Gillette's disposable razor to IKEA's Billy bookcase, Harford recounts the memorable story of each invention and introduces us to the characters who developed them, profited from them, and were in some cases ruined by them."--Jacket.
OCLC Number:
ocn965717398
Availability:
Rosemount - Robert Trail~1
Eagan - Wescott~1
