Hi > On Sep 4, 2017, at 10:32 PM, Nick Sayer via time-nuts <[email protected]> > wrote: > > I happened to be at Powell's bookstore in Portland the day after the eclipse > and came across this book and wound up buying it. It's attraction to me was > the same that I felt growing up watching the documentaries hosted by James > Burke - Connections and The Day The Universe Changed. > > Both Burke and Steven Johnson (the author) have the same playbook - showing > how disparate inventions and innovations drive change in surprising ways. > Johnson's book divides into six topics: Glass, Cold, Sound, Clean, Time and > Light. His overarching theme is what he calls the Hummingbird Effect. > > How did a hummingbird evolve? There was no niche for hummingbirds until the > symbiosis of flowering plants and bees came about, and that symbiosis created > an opening for a bird if it could exploit the availability of nectar intended > by the flower as a bribe for the bees. > > One anecdote is how the development of chlorinated drinking water led to > swimming pools and to the rapid diminishment of ladies swimming fashions > compared to what they were at the beginning of the 20th Century. > > But it's the chapter on Time that is relevant to us here. It is a whirlwind > examination of the history of measurement of time and what our increasing > penchant and ability to measure it accurately has meant for us as a species > and, in fact, for the definition of time itself. > > I dare say that most of what is there will be familiar to most Time Nuts, but > having so much of it concentrated into a single volume is not only a great > deal of fun to read, but also can serve as an indoctrination tool to others. > > But it's not just the Time chapter. The chapter on Clean ends in a TI > cleanroom where advanced semiconductors are made. A place where the water is > too clean to drink
Clean room water actually works quite well in a coffee maker …. I have *years* (years being a dimension of time, making this on topic) of data on this :) Bob > and the workers wear protective suits not to protect themselves from the > environment, but vice-versa. The Sound chapter touches on SIGSALY, the first > digital audio transmission system. > > Anyway, if you haven't come across this book, I think it's worth a look - > particularly if you're a fan of the work of James Burke. > > Sent from my iPhone > _______________________________________________ > time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts > and follow the instructions there. _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
