02528cam a2200265Ii 4500 on1155701808 OCoLC ta 210608s2021 mau 001 0 eng d 0262542269 (pbk.) 9780262542265 (pbk.) (OCoLC)1155701808 TA403.2 .R36 2021 Ramirez, Ainissa, 1969- The alchemy of us : how humans and matter transformed one another / Ainissa Ramirez. Cambridge, Mass. : The MIT Press, 2021. xv, 308 p., 64 unnumbered p. of plates : ill. (black and white) Includes bibliographical references and index. Interact -- Connect -- Convey -- Capture -- See -- Share -- Discover -- Think. In The Alchemy of Us, scientist and science writer Ainissa Ramirez examines eight inventions-clocks, steel rails, copper communication cables, photographic film, light bulbs, hard disks, scientific labware, and silicon chips-and reveals how they shaped the human experience. Ramirez tells the stories of the woman who sold time, the inventor who inspired Edison, and the hotheaded undertaker whose invention pointed the way to the computer. She describes, among other things, how our pursuit of precision in timepieces changed how we sleep; how the railroad helped commercialize Christmas; how the necessary brevity of the telegram influenced Hemingway's writing style; and how a young chemist exposed the use of Polaroid's cameras to create passbooks to track Black citizens in apartheid South Africa. These fascinating and inspiring stories offer new perspectives on our relationships with technologies. Ramirez shows not only how materials were shaped by inventors but also how those materials shaped culture, chronicling each invention and its consequences-intended and unintended. Filling in the gaps left by other books about technology, Ramirez showcases little-known inventors-particularly people of color and women-who had a significant impact but whose accomplishments have been hidden by mythmaking, bias, and convention. Doing so, she shows us the power of telling inclusive stories about technology. She also shows that innovation is universal-whether it's splicing beats with two turntables and a microphone or splicing genes with two test tubes and CRISPR. Materials History Popular works. Inventions History Popular works. Technology Social aspects Popular works. lcc BK 0 0 0 0 PNLIB PNLIB GEN 2021-06-17 TA403.2 .R36 2021 PNLIB21062391 2021-06-17 2021-06-17 BK 2578 2578