Made in USA

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Andrew Utterson

Uncovers the early history of cinema and computers and looks at how filmmakers first encountered the defining technology of the digital age. --from publisher description.

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Paul Rabinow

Making PCR is the fascinating, behind-the-scenes account of the invention of one of the most significant biotech discoveries of our time - the polymerase chain reaction. Skillfully blending narrative description and interviews with all the major players, Paul Rabinow explores what it means to be a "scientist" today, the effects of doing science in the high-risk, high-reward environment of biotech, and what a scientific discovery or invention is at a time when it is possible to patent life itself. PCR has profoundly transformed the practices and potential of molecular biology by extending scientists' ability to identify and manipulate genetic material. It facilitates the identification of precise segments of DNA and accurately reproduces millions of copies of the given segment in a short period of time. In sum, Making PCR shows how a contingently assembled practice emerged, composed of distinctive subjects, the site in which they worked, and the object they invented.

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Michael L. Dertouzos

Michael Dertouzos has been an insightful commentator and an active participant in the creation of the Information Age.Now, in What Will Be, he offers a thought-provoking and entertaining vision of the world of the next decade -- and of the next century. Dertouzos examines the impact that the following new technologies and challenges will have on our lives as the Information Revolution progresses:all the music, film and text ever produced will be available on-demand in our own homesyour "bodynet" will let you make phone calls, check email and pay bills as you walk down the streetadvances in telecommunication will radically alter the role of face-to-face contact in our livesglobal disparities in infrastructure will widen the gap between rich and poorsurgical mini-robots and online care will change the practice of medicine as we know it. Detailed, accessible and visionary, What Will Be&nbsp is essential for Information Age revolutionaries and technological neophytes alike.

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Paul A. Redhead

It is altogether fitting that the American Vacuum Society commemorate its 40th anniversary by paying tribute to the pioneers who laid the foundations of modern vacuum science. Through new biographies and historical reviews, and reprints of seminal papers, Vacuum Science and Technology: Pioneers of the 20th Century gives us a fresh appreciation for the groundbreaking work done in the first part of this century. This volume begins with a brief history of the AVS by former Westinghouse researcher Jack Singleton. Section 1 presents original biographies of those scientists and engineers who were at the vanguard of vacuum technology and whose contributions greatly furthered our knowledge of the production, measurement, and use of vacuum. These include such important figures as Pieter Clausing, Wolfgang Gaede, Irving Langmuir, and Martin Knudsen. Section 2 covers some of the major breakthroughs of the half-century from 1900 to 1960, including reviews of the development of diffusion pumps, molecular-drag pumps, high-vacuum turbopumps, and the quest for ultrahigh vacuum. Finally, Section 3 affords us an opportunity to revisit papers that are now regarded as milestones in vacuum science. Among them are Saul Dushman's 1915 paper, "Theory and Use of the Molecular Gauge," Pieter Clausing's 1932 classic, "The Flow of Highly Rarefied Gases through Tubes of Arbitrary Length," and L.D. Hall's 1958 piece, "Electronic Ultra-High Vacuum Pump.". In putting together this work, editor Paul A. Redhead called upon some of the most highly respected names in the field today, including Daniel Alpert, H. Adam, W. Steckelmacher, P.S. Choumoff, Gunter Reich, J.M. Lafferty, and George Wise. For researchers and technicians involved in vacuum technology and related fields, and for those interested in the rich history of the field, this anniversary volume will prove both entertaining and informative.