Inventing Television Culture

Download Inventing Television Culture PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0198742231
Total Pages : 219 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (987 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Inventing Television Culture by : Janet Thumim

Download or read book Inventing Television Culture written by Janet Thumim and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2004-12-16 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines the formation of television during the years 1955-1965, through a study of production strategies, and of the role television played in the concept of "the feminine."

Inventing Television Culture

Download Inventing Television Culture PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 019151392X
Total Pages : 219 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (915 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Inventing Television Culture by : Janet Thumim

Download or read book Inventing Television Culture written by Janet Thumim and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2004-12-16 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the fertile decade 1955-65 the television institution emerged in a form which would be familiar for the next half century: this book attends to two aspects of its formation. The first entails the production strategies, programmes, schedules, and emergent generic modes as these were invented through a process of trial and error, allied to a close attention to building the mass audience - in short the question of how television invented itself. The second aspect concerns the place of women and the concept 'feminine' in the new institution. Television offered women access to the public sphere in ways that were potentially disruptive of the order prevailing in mid-1950s Britain. Apart from new employment opportunities, images of women and definitions of the feminine were purveyed nightly to an heterogeneous audience of millions, an audience that was itself under construction throughout the period. Through close attention to three discrete areas of programming (women's programmes, news and current affairs, and popular drama), the book aims to convey a sense of the excitement entailed in establishing the institution and to ask where and how it may have posed challenges to the prevailing patriarchal hegemony. Hence the productive interplay of two terms, television and the feminine, both of which were evolving rapidly during the period, is explored in the context of the contemporary discursive climate.

Inventing Television Culture

Download Inventing Television Culture PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 206 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (18 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Inventing Television Culture by : Janet Thumim

Download or read book Inventing Television Culture written by Janet Thumim and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Television as we know it was invented by processes of trial and error. This book delivers the uncertainties and excitements of 1955-1965 by looking at women's programmes, current affairs, and popular drama. Janet Thumim illuminates televison's role in Britain of the 50s and 60s, revealing the interplay of media and the feminine.

Electronic Hearth

Download Electronic Hearth PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0195359984
Total Pages : 262 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (953 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Electronic Hearth by : Cecelia Tichi

Download or read book Electronic Hearth written by Cecelia Tichi and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1992-10-29 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We all talk about the "tube" or "box," as if television were simply another appliance like the refrigerator or toaster oven. But Cecilia Tichi argues that TV is actually an environment--a pervasive screen-world that saturates almost every aspect of modern life. In Electronic Hearth, she looks at how that environment evolved, and how it, in turn, has shaped the American experience. Tichi explores almost fifty years of writing about television--in novels, cartoons, journalism, advertising, and critical books and articles--to define the role of television in the American consciousness. She examines early TV advertising to show how the industry tried to position the new device as not just a gadget but a prestigious new piece of furniture, a highly prized addition to the home. The television set, she writes, has emerged as a new electronic hearth--the center of family activity. John Updike described this "primitive appeal of the hearth" in Roger's Version: "Television is--its irresistible charm--a fire. Entering an empty room, we turn it on, and a talking face flares into being." Sitting in front of the TV, Americans exist in a safety zone, free from the hostility and violence of the outside world. She also discusses long-standing suspicions of TV viewing: its often solitary, almost autoerotic character, its supposed numbing of the minds and imagination of children, and assertions that watching television drugs the minds of Americans. Television has been seen as treacherous territory for public figures, from generals to presidents, where satire and broadcast journalism often deflate their authority. And the print culture of journalism and book publishing has waged a decades-long war of survival against it--only to see new TV generations embrace both the box and the book as a part of their cultural world. In today's culture, she writes, we have become "teleconscious"--seeing, for example, real life being certified through television ("as seen on TV"), and television constantly ratified through its universal presence in art, movies, music, comic strips, fabric prints, and even references to TV on TV. Ranging far beyond the bounds of the broadcast industry, Tichi provides a history of contemporary American culture, a culture defined by the television environment. Intensively researched and insightfully written, The Electronic Hearth offers a new understanding of a critical, but much-maligned, aspect of modern life.

Netflix and the Re-invention of Television

Download Netflix and the Re-invention of Television PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 3319943162
Total Pages : 295 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (199 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Netflix and the Re-invention of Television by : Mareike Jenner

Download or read book Netflix and the Re-invention of Television written by Mareike Jenner and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-07-24 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book deals with the various ways Netflix reconceptualises television as part of the process of TV IV. As television continues to undergo a myriad of significant changes, Netflix has proven itself to be the dominant force in this development, simultaneously driving a number of these changes and challenging television’s existing institutional structures. This comprehensive study explores the pre-history of Netflix, the role of binge-watching in its organisation and marketing, and Netflix’s position as a transnational broadcaster. It also examines different concepts of control and the role these play in the history of ancillary technologies, from the remote control to binge-watching as Netflix’s iteration of giving control to the viewers. By focusing on Netflix’s relationship with the linear television schedule, its negotiations of quality and marketing, as well as the way Netflix integrates into national media systems, Netflix and the Re-invention of Television illuminates the importance of Netflix’s role within the processes of TV IV.

Television

Download Television PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Greenhaven Publishing LLC
ISBN 13 : 1534563792
Total Pages : 106 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (345 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Television by : Katie Kawa

Download or read book Television written by Katie Kawa and published by Greenhaven Publishing LLC. This book was released on 2018-07-15 with total page 106 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is sometimes said that we are living in a Golden Age of television. What does that mean, and how did we get there? Readers find the answers as they trace the history of television, from its invention to the current age of "Peak TV." This fascinating story is presented to readers through informative main text, annotated quotations, detailed sidebars, primary sources, and a comprehensive timeline. Television has changed nearly every aspect of life in many countries, and readers are sure to be excited by this fun and fact-filled look at how history and television have influenced each other.

Inventing Vietnam

Download Inventing Vietnam PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Temple University Press
ISBN 13 : 0877228620
Total Pages : 329 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (772 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Inventing Vietnam by : Michael Anderegg

Download or read book Inventing Vietnam written by Michael Anderegg and published by Temple University Press. This book was released on 1991-10-11 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Vietnam War has been depicted by every available medium, each presenting a message, an agenda, of what the filmmakers and producers choose to project about America's involvement in Southeast Asia. This collection of essays, most of which are previously unpublished, analyzes the themes, modes, and stylistic strategies seen in a broad range of films and television programs. From diverse perspectives, the contributors comprehensively examine early documentary and fiction films, postwar films of the 1970s such as The Deer Hunter and Apocalypse Now, and the reformulated postwar films of the 1980s--Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, and Born on the Fourth of July. They also address made-for-television movies and serial dramas like China Beach and Tour of Duty. The authors show how the earliest film responses to America's involvement in Vietnam employ myth and metaphor and are at times unable to escape glamorized Hollywood. Later films strive to portray a more realistic Vietnam experience, often creating images that are an attempt to memorialize or to manufacture different kinds of myths. As they consider direct and indirect representations of the war, the contributors also examine the power or powerlessness of individual soldiers, the racial views presented, and inscriptions of gender roles. Also included in this volume is a chapter that discusses teaching Vietnam films and helping students discern and understand film rhetoric, what the movies say, and who they chose to communicate those messages. Excerpt Read an excerpt from Chapter 1 (pdf). Contents Acknowledgments Introduction - Michael Anderegg 1. Hollywood and Vietnam: John Wayne and Jane Fonda as Discourse - Michael Anderegg 2. "All the Animals Come Out at Night": Vietnam Meets Noir in Taxi Driver - Cynthia J. Fuchs 3. Vietnam and the Hollywood Genre Film: Inversions of American Mythology in The Deer Hunter and Apocalypse Now - John Hellmann 4. "Charlie Don't Surf": Race and Culture in the Vietnam War Films - David Desser 5. Finding a Language for Vietnam in the Action-Adventure Genre - Ellen Draper 6. Narrative Patterns and Mythic Trajectories in Mid-1980s Vietnam Movies - Tony Williams 7. Rambo's Vietnam and Kennedy's New Frontier - John Hellmann 8. Gardens of Stone, Platoon, and Hamburger Hill: Ritual and Remembrance - Judy Lee Kinney 9. Primetime Television's Tour of Duty - Daniel Miller 10. Women Next Door to War: China Beach - Carolyn Reed Vartanian 11. Male Bonding, Hollywood Orientalism, and the Repression of the Feminine in Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket - Susan White 12. Vietnam, Chaos, and the Dark Art of Improvisation - Owen W. Gilman, Jr. 13. Witness to War: Oliver Stone, Ron Kovic, and Born on the Fourth of July - Thomas Doherty 14. Teaching Vietnam: The Politics of Documentary - Thomas J. Slater Selected Bibliography Selected Filmography and Videography The Contributors Index About the Author(s) Michael Anderegg is Professor of English at the University of North Dakota, and author of two other books: William Wyler and David Lean. Contributors: Cynthia J. Fuchs, John Hellman, David Desser, Ellen Draper, Tony Williams, Judy Lee Kinney, Daniel Miller, Carolyn Reed Vartanian, Susan White, Owen W. Gilman, Jr., Thomas Doherty, Thomas J. Slater, and the editor.

Tele-Visionaries

Download Tele-Visionaries PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 0471743704
Total Pages : 188 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (717 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Tele-Visionaries by : R. C. Webb

Download or read book Tele-Visionaries written by R. C. Webb and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2005-10-27 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This excellent publication provides a historical background of the dream of sight/sound extension by electric means and identification of the major participants is given. The book examines the foremost problem delaying the early progress of television and explores how the development of full-colour television by examining the inventions needed to achieve the dream, the people who produced them, the role of the motion picture industry, and more. * Offers both a personal historical perspective of the development of television and an overview of the technology * A unique opportunity to learn of the beginnings of television from one of RCA's pioneering engineers

How Television Invented New Media

Download How Television Invented New Media PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Rutgers University Press
ISBN 13 : 0813550947
Total Pages : 203 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (135 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis How Television Invented New Media by : Sheila C. Murphy

Download or read book How Television Invented New Media written by Sheila C. Murphy and published by Rutgers University Press. This book was released on 2011-03-17 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now if I just remembered where I put that original TV play device--the universal remote control . . . Television is a global industry, a medium of representation, an architectural component of space, and a nearly universal frame of reference for viewers. Yet it is also an abstraction and an often misunderstood science whose critical influence on the development, history, and diffusion of new media has been both minimized and overlooked. How Television Invented New Media adjusts the picture of television culturally while providing a corrective history of new media studies itself. Personal computers, video game systems, even iPods and the Internet built upon and borrowed from television to become viable forms. The earliest personal computers, disguised as video games using TV sets as monitors, provided a case study for television's key role in the emergence of digital interactive devices. Sheila C. Murphy analyzes how specific technologies emerge and how representations, from South Park to Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog, mine the history of television just as they converge with new methods of the making and circulation of images. Past and failed attempts to link television to computers and the Web also indicate how services like Hulu or Netflix On-Demand can give rise to a new era for entertainment and program viewing online. In these concrete ways, television's role in new and emerging media is solidified and finally recognized.

The History of Television, 1880 to 1941

Download The History of Television, 1880 to 1941 PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 376 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The History of Television, 1880 to 1941 by : Albert Abramson

Download or read book The History of Television, 1880 to 1941 written by Albert Abramson and published by . This book was released on 1987 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It would be difficult to cite any technological innovation whose impact on the fabric of daily living has been as pervasive as that of television. Within a few decades after its invention, television was providing, literally, a window to the world. A sole inventor of television does not exist. Instead, it came about through a remarkable interaction of several hundred scientists. Interviews with the scientists whose imagination and enterprise combined to make television a reality, extensive archival research worldwide, and rare photos make this book the one definitive history and the only authoritative account. Early inventions, the first devices, early camera tubes, the mechanical era, the kinescope, the iconoscope, and more. Extensive references.

That's the Way It Is

Download That's the Way It Is PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 022642152X
Total Pages : 331 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (264 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis That's the Way It Is by : Charles L. Ponce de Leon

Download or read book That's the Way It Is written by Charles L. Ponce de Leon and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2016-09-09 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ever since Newton Minow taught us sophisticates to bemoan the descent of television into a vast wasteland, the dyspeptic chorus of jeremiahs who insist that television news in particular has gone from gold to dross gets noisier and noisier. Charles Ponce de Leon says here, in effect, that this is misleading, if not simply fatuous. He argues in this well-paced, lively, readable book that TV news has changed in response to broader changes in the TV industry and American culture. It is pointless to bewail its decline. "That s the Way It Is "gives us the very first history of American television news, spanning more than six decades, from Camel News Caravan to Countdown with Keith Oberman and The Daily Show. Starting in the latter 1940s, television news featured a succession of broadcasters who became household names, even presences: Eric Sevareid, Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley, Peter Jennings, Brian Williams, Katie Couric, and, with cable expansion, people like Glenn Beck, Jon Stewart, and Bill O Reilly. But behind the scenes, the parallel story is just as interesting, involving executives, producers, and journalists who were responsible for the field s most important innovations. Included with mainstream network news programs is an engaging treatment of news magazines like "60 Minutes" and "20/20, " as well as morning news shows like "Today" and "Good Morning America." Ponce de Leon gives ample attention to the establishment of cable networks (CNN, and the later competitors, Fox News and MSNBC), mixing in colorful anecdotes about the likes of Roger Ailes and Roone Arledge. Frothy features and other kinds of entertainment have been part and parcel of TV news from the start; viewer preferences have always played a role in the evolution of programming, although the disintegration of a national culture since the 1970s means that most of us no longer follow the news as a civic obligation. Throughout, Ponce de Leon places his history in a broader cultural context, emphasizing tensions between the public service mission of TV news and the quest for profitability and broad appeal."

Electronic Hearth

Download Electronic Hearth PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780197723906
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (239 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Electronic Hearth by : Cecelia Tichi

Download or read book Electronic Hearth written by Cecelia Tichi and published by . This book was released on 2023 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We all talk about the "tube" or "box," as if television were simply another appliance like the refrigerator or toaster oven. But Cecilia Tichi argues that TV is actually an environment - a pervasive screen-world that saturates almost every aspect of modern life. In 'Electronic Hearth', she looks at how that environment evolved, and how it, in turn, has shaped the American experience. Tichi explores almost fifty years of writing about television - in novels, cartoons, journalism, advertising, and critical books and articles - to define the role of television in the American consciousness. She examines early TV advertising to show how the industry tried to position the new device as not just a gadget but a prestigious new piece of furniture, a highly prized addition to the home. The television set, she writes, has emerged as a new electronic hearth - the centre of family activity.

When Women Invented Television

Download When Women Invented Television PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : HarperCollins
ISBN 13 : 0062973339
Total Pages : 361 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (629 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis When Women Invented Television by : Jennifer Keishin Armstrong

Download or read book When Women Invented Television written by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2021-03-23 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New and Noteworthy —New York Times Book Review Must-Read Book of March —Entertainment Weekly Best Books of March —HelloGiggles “Leaps at the throat of television history and takes down the patriarchy with its fervent, inspired prose. When Women Invented Television offers proof that what we watch is a reflection of who we are as a people.” —Nathalia Holt, New York Times bestselling author of Rise of the Rocket Girls New York Times bestselling author of Seinfeldia Jennifer Keishin Armstrong tells the little-known story of four trailblazing women in the early days of television who laid the foundation of the industry we know today. It was the Golden Age of Radio and powerful men were making millions in advertising dollars reaching thousands of listeners every day. When television arrived, few radio moguls were interested in the upstart industry and its tiny production budgets, and expensive television sets were out of reach for most families. But four women—each an independent visionary— saw an opportunity and carved their own paths, and in so doing invented the way we watch tv today. Irna Phillips turned real-life tragedy into daytime serials featuring female dominated casts. Gertrude Berg turned her radio show into a Jewish family comedy that spawned a play, a musical, an advice column, a line of house dresses, and other products. Hazel Scott, already a renowned musician, was the first African American to host a national evening variety program. Betty White became a daytime talk show fan favorite and one of the first women to produce, write, and star in her own show. Together, their stories chronicle a forgotten chapter in the history of television and popular culture. But as the medium became more popular—and lucrative—in the wake of World War II, the House Un-American Activities Committee arose to threaten entertainers, blacklisting many as communist sympathizers. As politics, sexism, racism, anti-Semitism, and money collided, the women who invented television found themselves fighting from the margins, as men took control. But these women were true survivors who never gave up—and thus their legacies remain with us in our television-dominated era. It's time we reclaimed their forgotten histories and the work they did to pioneer the medium that now rules our lives. This amazing and heartbreaking history, illustrated with photos, tells it all for the first time.

The History of Television, 1942 to 2000

Download The History of Television, 1942 to 2000 PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : McFarland
ISBN 13 : 0786432438
Total Pages : 319 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (864 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The History of Television, 1942 to 2000 by : Albert Abramson

Download or read book The History of Television, 1942 to 2000 written by Albert Abramson and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2007-09-29 with total page 319 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Albert Abramson published (with McFarland) in 1987 a landmark volume titled The History of Television, 1880-1941 ("massive...research"--Library Journal; "voluminous documentation"--Choice; "many striking old photos"--The TV Collector). At last he has produced the follow-up volume; the reader may be assured there is no other book in any language that is remotely comparable to it. Together, these two volumes provide the definitive technical history of the medium. Upon the development in the mid-1940s of new cameras and picture tubes that made commercial television possible worldwide, the medium rose rapidly to prominence. Perhaps even more important was the invention of the video tape recorder in 1956, allowing editing, re-shooting and rebroadcasting. This second volume, 1942 to 2000 covers these significant developments and much more. Chapters are devoted to television during World War II and the postwar era, the development of color television, Ampex Corporation's contributions, television in Europe, the change from helical to high band technology, solid state cameras, the television coverage of Apollo II, the rise of electronic journalism, television entering the studios, the introduction of the camcorder, the demise of RCA at the hands of GE, the domination of Sony and Matsushita, and the future of television in e-cinema and the 1080 P24 format. The book is heavily illustrated (as is the first volume).

Inventing the Television

Download Inventing the Television PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : New York ; St. Catharines, Ont. : Crabtree Pub.
ISBN 13 : 9780778728351
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (283 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Inventing the Television by : Joanne Richter

Download or read book Inventing the Television written by Joanne Richter and published by New York ; St. Catharines, Ont. : Crabtree Pub.. This book was released on 2006 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No other form of communication reaches people in as many parts of the world as television. Broadcasts are received by audiences in every country, in nearly every language. This fascinating history follows the evolution of television from early technology to its development as the world's most popular global medium. The book also takes a close up look at the contributions of different inventors, the growth of broadcasting, and the cultural implications of TV viewing. Detailed illustrations also help explain the basics of electronic signals and transmission.

I Like to Watch

Download I Like to Watch PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 0525508961
Total Pages : 386 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (255 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis I Like to Watch by : Emily Nussbaum

Download or read book I Like to Watch written by Emily Nussbaum and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The big picture : how Buffy the vampire slayer turned me into a TV critic -- The long con ("The Sopranos") -- The great divide : Norman Lear, Archie Bunker, and the rise of the bad fan -- Difficult women ("Sex and the city") -- Cool story, bro ("True detective," "Top of the lake" and "The fall") -- Last girl in Larchmont : the legacy of Joan Rivers -- Girls girls girls : "Girls," "Vanderpump rules," "House of cards and Scandal," "The Amy Schumer show," "Transparent" -- Confessions of the human shield -- How jokes won the election -- In praise of sex and violence : "Hannibal," "Law et order : SVU," "Jessica Jones," -- "The jinx," "The Americans" -- The price is right : what advertising does to TV -- In living color : Kenya Barris' -- Breaking the box : "Jane the virgin," "The comeback," "The good wife," "The newsroom," "Adventure time," "The leftovers," "High maintenance." -- Riot girl : Jenji Kohan's hot provocations -- A disappointed fan is still a fan ("Lost") -- Mr. big : how Ryan Murphy became the most powerful man in television.

Icons of Invention [2 volumes]

Download Icons of Invention [2 volumes] PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 0313347441
Total Pages : 720 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (133 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Icons of Invention [2 volumes] by : John W. Klooster

Download or read book Icons of Invention [2 volumes] written by John W. Klooster and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2009-07-14 with total page 720 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These two volumes provide in-depth coverage of 24 of history's most important inventors and their inventions. Who invented the sewing machine, the telephone, the internal combustion engine? Who pioneered vaccination? Who gave the world television, nylon, the nuclear reactor? The answers to some of these questions are straightforward, the answers to others much less so. All of them are explored in the fascinating Icons of Invention: The Makers of the Modern World from Gutenberg to Gates. This in-depth resource tells the stories of 24 of the most influential and well-known inventions of the modern age—and of the individuals most responsible for their development. Presented in chronological order, the entries provide background on the lives and work of inventors such as Thomas Edison, Alexander Fleming, and Tim Berners-Lee. At the same time, the set profiles their competitors and details the sometimes-controversial, often-mistake-plagued routes almost all of them took to their most famous creations.