Eric Chaline

Confession: I wasn't expecting this book to be so interesting! Actually it's very well done, insofar as the information is intriguing and objective, and modern in its outlook - it takes into account the effects of our interactions with ohter animals. The illustrations could be higher quality, but I guess that would mean a much more expensive book. I imagined myself ducking in and out of this book to check on specific entries of interest, but instead I read it from cover to cover. show more Congratulations to Eric Chaline! I hope he regularly puts out updated versions. show less

In this fun book, Chaline explores all sorts of real-life dilemma and looks at them from various philosophical points to view to demonstrate that morality, ethics and social conventions can vary widely depending on the lens applied to the problem. Divided into themes such as Personal, War, Religion, Medicine or Techonology, these vignettes are both fun and engaging.

FIFTY MACHINES is a fun, thought-provoking book that talks about a variety of machines (since the Industrial Revolution) that changed society in a dramatic way. The author covers a wide range of devices. Everything from the first brick cell-phone to washing machines; from the Jacquard loom to the electron microscope... and more.

Machines get at a minimum, 2 pages which present a little bit about who invented them and why; as well as what changes they evoked and what people thought about them. show more There are diagrams and pictures.

There's no real introduction that provides a deep and meaningful backdrop to how tools and machines have changed the world. Instead the author just jumps off and begins talking about them, dropping hints about the ramifications as he goes.

Well written, there is no worry that the reader is going to be over-whelmed by too-much information. Instead this is the type of book you might pick up and read a quick chapter at any time.

Fun book. Would make a fine addition to a school or classroom library. Or to the shelves of someone with a nascent interest in machines. Not a book for someone interesting in in-depth research. show less

This is written along the lines of a tourist book circa 415 BC. It is it different approach where the author is attempting to make a contemporary statement about a snapshot in Greek history. Popularly written this may be an interesting approach for many.