Cranston Public Library

A comprehensive, 20-volume reference encyclopedia on science and technology.

"From the New York Times-bestselling author of Where Good Ideas Come From and Everything Bad Is Good for You, a new look at the power and legacy of great ideas. In this illustrated volume, Steven Johnson explores the history of innovation over centuries, tracing facets of modern life (refrigeration, clocks, and eyeglass lenses, to name a few) from their creation by hobbyists, amateurs, and entrepreneurs to their unintended historical consequences....

"The Candy House opens with the staggeringly brilliant Bix Bouton, whose company, Mandala, is so successful that he is "one of those tech demi-gods with whom we're all on a first name basis." Bix is 40, with four kids, restless, desperate for a new idea, when he stumbles into a conversation group, mostly Columbia professors, one of whom is experimenting with downloading or "externalizing" memory. It's 2010. Within a decade, Bix's new technology, "Own...

"We are approaching a critical threshold in the history of our species. Everything is about to change. Soon you will live surrounded by AIs. They will organize your life, operate your business, and run core government services. You will live in a world of DNA printers and quantum computers, engineered pathogens and autonomous weapons, robot assistants and abundant energy. None of us are prepared. As co-founder of the pioneering AI company DeepMind,...

Entering a profession on the brink of radical transformation by a new smartphone technology capable of diagnosing and treating patients, radiology resident George Wilson is horrified when his fiancee and several patients die after beta testing the technology. "The New York Times-bestselling author and master of the medical thriller returns with a top-notch fusion of groundbreaking medical science and edge-of-your-seat suspense. George Wilson, M.D.,...

"In her mid-twenties, at the height of tech industry idealism, Anna Wiener -- stuck, broke, and looking for meaning in her work, like any good millennial -- left a job in book publishing for the promise of the new digital economy. She moved from New York to San Francisco, where she landed at a big-data startup in the heart of the Silicon Valley bubble: a world of surreal extravagance, dubious success, and fresh-faced entrepreneurs hell-bent on domination,...

Explains what different parts make up a train, that trains travel on special railroad tracks, and what trains are used to transport.

"From a world-renowned expert on creative play and the impact of commercial marketing on children, a timely investigation into how big tech is hijacking childhood-and what we can do about it"--

The writer of the New York Times Magazine' s popular "Who Made That?" column explains how better ideas enter the world, revealing the fabled "ah-a" moment to be the result of a series of steps anyone can apply to solve the problems we encounter in everyday life. "The writer of the New York Times Magazine's popular "Who Made That?" column explains how better ideas enter the world, revealing the fabled "aha" moment to be the result of a series of steps...