These two non-fiction books deal with
some amazing technologies: one developed in the last 50 years and one developed
over thousands of years.
Pinpoint
by Greg Milner relates the relatively recent but very interesting history of GPS
(Global Positioning System). He notes,
for example, that “although it is less visible, GPS’s influence on the world
equals or exceeds that of the Internet… This seems odd because while the
internet is a vast database … GPS is just a radio pulse, a descendant of the rhythmic
blip emitted by Sputnik. But this whisper is so dependable, so ordered and
clean, that GPS has become our heartbeat.”
In fact, he cites numerous statistics
like the estimate of roughly 5 billion GPS receivers. Milner also notes
varied examples of applications like fleet management whether monitoring
rickshaws in India, garbage trucks in China or taxis worldwide. Inextricably related to military issues like
terrorism and privacy concerns for parolees and the rest of us, the development
and maintenance of GPS is a topic sure to fascinate our students and teachers. Pinpoint by Greg Milner received
a starred review from Booklist.
Paper
by Mark Kurlansky (author of Salt and Cod) is subtitled “paging
through history.” Kurlansky discusses details of paper invention and use first
in China, then Korea, later in the Arab world and in Europe roughly a thousand
years after the Chinese invented it; noting how “paper
came into use at very different times in very different cultures as societies
evolved and developed a need for it and circumstances required a cheap and easy
writing material.”
Throughout, Kurlansky argues that technology
does not change society, but is a response to it. Referring to inventors like Cai Lun,
Gutenberg, or Edison, Kurlansky says, “these were people who took existing
ideas or machines that were not suiting society’s needs and reworked them into
technologies that did.” Paper
by Mark Kurlansky received a starred review from Booklist.
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