Thomas P. Hughes | University of Chicago Press, 2004 | Book
This is best all-around introduction to the history of technology between the Civil War and the rise of personal computing, by one of the masters and founders of the field. Hughes shows even Soviet communists had nothing but praise for American ideals of efficiency.
Tim Harford | Riverhead Books, 2016 | Book
A prolific economics columnist, Tim Harford illustrates how innovation can depend on mistakes and randomness — a lighter but still serious take on serendipity.
David Mindell | Viking, 2015 | Book
A historian of technology as well as a roboticist and professor of aeronautical and astronautical engineering, David Mindell is ideally qualified to analyze the potential and limits of artificial intelligence.
Deborah Lupton | Polity, 2016 | Book
Do smartwatches and other forms of self monitoring always promote health and well-being? The evidence is mixed, and this is the leading book on the topic.
Jerry Z. Muller | Princeton University Press, 2018 | Book
Quantifying results has never been easier — or more often misused. Jerry Z. Muller, a leading historian of political and economic ideas, turns a skeptical eye on the overuse of measurement in academia, science, and beyond, showing how incentives can bite back by distorting behavior.
David Sax | PublicAffairs, 2016 | Book
The value of print and other physical media and technology is not just sentimental nostalgia but a fact supported by research. Sax shows how digital and analog technology can complement and enrich each other.
Edward Tenner | Chronicle of Higher Education Review, 2007 | Article
Sadie Dingfelder | Washington Post Express, 2019 | Article