The Ratchet of Technology

Book summaries and thoughts on history, technology & progress

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Category: Technology

January 26, 2021January 30, 2021 Michael Magoon

Book Summary: “The Age of Wood” by Roland Ennos

January 26, 2021 Michael Magoon

Book Summary: “The Box” by Marc Levinson

May 11, 2020May 11, 2020 Michael Magoon

Book Summary: “Alchemy of Air” by Thomas Hager

May 8, 2020May 7, 2020 Michael Magoon

Book Summary: “Ingenium: Five Machines that Changed the World” by Mark Denny

May 5, 2020May 6, 2020 Michael Magoon

Book Summary: “Prime Movers of Globalization” by Vaclav Smil

May 3, 2020May 3, 2020 Michael Magoon

Book Summary: “Power over Peoples” by Daniel Headrick

May 3, 2020May 3, 2020 Michael Magoon

Book Summary: “Technology: A World History” by Daniel Headrick

May 2, 2020May 6, 2020 Michael Magoon

Book Summary: “Transforming the Twentieth Century” by Vaclav Smil

May 1, 2020April 30, 2020 Michael Magoon

Book Summary: “Tools for the Job: A Short History of Machine Tools” by LTC Rolt

April 11, 2020April 10, 2020 Michael Magoon

Book Summary: “Fifty Inventions that Shaped the Modern Economy” by Tim Harford

April 8, 2020May 3, 2020 Michael Magoon

Book Summary: “Invisible Weapon: Telecommunications and International Politics 1851-1945” by Daniel Headrick

February 18, 2020May 3, 2020 Michael Magoon

Book Summary: “Tentacles of Progress: Technology Transfer in the Age of Imperialism 1850-1940” by Daniel R. Headrick

January 22, 2020February 6, 2020 Michael Magoon

Book Summary: “Learning by Doing” by James Bessen

January 13, 2020March 26, 2020 Michael Magoon

Book Summary: “Unbound: How Eight Technologies Made Us Human” by Richard L. Currier

January 10, 2020March 26, 2020 Michael Magoon

Book Summary: “The Nature of Technology” by W. Brian Arthur

January 1, 2020May 6, 2020 Michael Magoon

Book Summary: “Creating the Twentieth Century” by Vaclav Smil

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Top Posts & Pages

  • Book Summary: "The Nature of Technology" by W. Brian Arthur
  • Book Summary: "The Box" by Marc Levinson
  • Book Summary: "The Age of Wood" by Roland Ennos
  • Book Summary: "Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny" by Robert Wright
  • Book Summary: “Ultrasociety: How 10,000 Years of War Made Humans the Greatest Cooperators on Earth” by Peter Turchin
  • Book Summary: “Why Europe?” by Jack Goldstone
  • Summaries of Top Ten Books
  • Book Summary: “Alchemy of Air” by Thomas Hager
  • My Thoughts

Recent Posts

  • Book Summary: “A Question of Power” by Robert Bryce
  • Book Summary: “First Farmers” by David Bellwood
  • Book Summary: “The Age of Wood” by Roland Ennos
  • Book Summary: “The Box” by Marc Levinson
  • Book Summary: “How the Old World Ended” by Jonathan Scott

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