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The Pinball Effect: How Renaissance Water Gardens Made the Carburetor Possible—And Other Journeys Through Knowledge
by
James Burke
The Pinball Effect takes the reader on many different journeys through the web of knowledge. Knowledge, it turns out, has many unforeseen and surprising effects. The book, for instance, owes its existence to German jeweler Johannes Gutenberg's getting the date wrong one day in the fifteenth century. James Burke, author and host of the highly rated documentary series Connec...more
Paperback, 310 pages
Published
August 1st 1996
by Little, Brown & Co (T)
(first published July 15th 1996)
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This book employs a very neat mechanism to demonstrate a host of connections between people, inventions, and events across the world and through history. Burke’s basic premise is that history is non-linear, with closer resemblance to a spider web. So every chapter is chock full of names and terms with superscripts and “gates” in the adjacent margins. A gate indexes you to another place in the book where that subject appears. The result is a non-fiction “Choose-Your-Own-Adventure.” Depending how...more
I have loved James Burke's method of teaching history ever since I saw my first episode of Connections on PBS all those years ago. I had a chance to hear this brilliant man speak in person at the Arlene Schnitzer concert hall in Portland, OR. He is no less amazing in person as he is on his well thought out television program.
This book is a wonderful collection of more of those interesting historical connections, told by a man who understands dry humor. This is another in a series of books writte...more
This book is a wonderful collection of more of those interesting historical connections, told by a man who understands dry humor. This is another in a series of books writte...more
This is a very interesting concept, but the flow of ideas made it difficult to read. It felt a bit manic at times and I never felt like I was getting enough information about anything for the bits of knowledge to make an impression. I'd get about halfway through a chapter, be reading about button snaps and have no idea how I got there. I only made it about half way through.
Fun and delightful meandering through the causes and effects of the history of innovation over the last 500 years. Imagine a book written by John Doe from the one-season Fox TV show of the same name (what? am I the only one who remembers that series?).
A joy to read because the author takes such obvious joy in his subject. Loved this book as a young person; happily revisit it as a slightly-less-young person.
Burke links ideas as they have bounced around labs, workshops, and any space inhabited by a clever mind and brings them to life.
this was really interesting- like reading wikipedia in book form. it starts with the invention of the perm, and then goes back and forth with inventions that led to that and inventions that came after. it was a lot of information to take in, but i learned a lot of cool stuff that i had never really thought about before.
It's like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" for history lovers
Fantastic. Shows how great ideas derive from other seemingly unrelated ideas. Very readable and a good book to read alongside his companion book to the PBS series "Connections".
Listened to the audiobook. While the stories of invention were nicely interwoven together, I thought the mentions of each seemed brief and would have found a richer experience if there was more elaboration. Good though if you want the executive summary and a starting point to learn more about a given topic.
I love Burke's books and series, the way he connects things from different times and places. I love that he shares bizarre details like how someone was a fan of mouse on toast. Fun, engaging, and informative.
Even though this book can be very dry and I can only take it in stages, I find it extremely interesting. The author shows how discoveries of the past and present are linked to each other.
The historical background and informational tidbits flow from chapter to chapter, as Burke relates one event to another in amazing fashion. Entertaining as well as informative.
Jim gave me this book at the same time Tara gave me all those popular science non-fiction books from her class. He just said it was interesting. I still haven't read it.
This is my emergency car book because it's very easy to pick up & put down (and fits nicely in my car door)
Entertaining book on the interconnectedness of scientific discoveries throughout history.
May 11, 2013
Tricia
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Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
James Burke (born 22 December 1936) is a Northern Irish science historian, author and television producer best known for his documentary television series called Connections, focusing on the history of science and technology leavened with a sense of humour.
-Wikipedia
More about James Burke...
James Burke (born 22 December 1936) is a Northern Irish science historian, author and television producer best known for his documentary television series called Connections, focusing on the history of science and technology leavened with a sense of humour.
-Wikipedia
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