The knowledge : how to rebuild our world from scratch /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Dartnell, Lewis.
Imprint:New York : The Penguin Press, 2014.
©2014
Description:340 pages : illustrations, map ; 23 cm
Language:English
Subject:Technology -- Popular works.
Knowledge, Theory of -- Popular works.
Discoveries in science -- Popular works.
Survival -- Popular works.
Self-reliant living.
Science -- Methodology -- Popular works.
TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING -- General.
SCIENCE -- General.
Discoveries in science.
Knowledge, Theory of.
Science -- Methodology.
Self-reliant living.
Survival.
Technology.
Naturvetenskapliga upptäckter.
Teknik.
Kunskapsteori.
Tecnología -- Obras de divulgación.
Descubrimientos en ciencia -- Obras de divulgación.
Supervivencia -- Obras de divulgación.
Teoría del conocimiento -- Obras de divulgación.
Survival -- Popular works.
Katastrophe
Zivilisation
Wissen
Überleben
Technologie.
Découvertes scientifiques.
Sciences.
Désastres.
Civilisations.
Popular works.
Format: Print Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11319501
Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:9781594205231
159420523X
Notes:Includes bibliographical references (pages 311-324) and index.
Summary:How would you go about rebuilding a technological society from scratch? If our technological society collapsed tomorrow, perhaps from a viral pandemic or catastrophic asteroid impact, what would be the one book you would want to press into the hands of the post-apocalyptic survivors? What crucial knowledge would they need to survive in the immediate aftermath and to rebuild civilization as quickly as possible -- a guide for rebooting the world? Human knowledge is collective, distributed across the population. It has built on itself for centuries, becoming vast and increasingly specialized. Most of us are ignorant about the fundamental principles of the civilization that supports us, happily utilizing the latest -- or even the most basic -- technology without having the slightest idea of why it works or how it came to be. If you had to go back to absolute basics, like some sort of postcataclysmic Robinson Crusoe, would you know how to re-create an internal combustion engine, put together a microscope, get metals out of rock, accurately tell time, weave fibers into clothing, or even how to produce food for yourself? Science journalist Lewis Dartnell proposes that the key to preserving civilization in an apocalyptic scenario is to provide a quickstart guide, adapted to cataclysmic circumstances. The Knowledge describes many of the modern technologies we employ, but first it explains the fundamentals upon which they are built. Every piece of technology rests on an enormous support network of other technologies, all interlinked and mutually dependent. You can't hope to build a radio, for example, without understanding how to acquire the raw materials it requires, as well as generate the electricity needed to run it. But Dartnell doesn't just provide specific information for starting over; he also reveals the greatest invention of them all -- the phenomenal knowledge-generating machine that is the scientific method itself. This would allow survivors to learn technological advances not explicitly explored in The Knowledge as well as things we have yet to discover. The Knowledge is a guide to the fundamentals of science and how it built our modern world as well as a thought experiment about the very idea of scientific knowledge itself.

Crerar, Lower Level, Bookstacks

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Call Number: T47.D37 2014
c.1 Available Loan period: standard loan  Scan and Deliver Request for Pickup Need help? - Ask a Librarian