The Big Idea: How Breakthroughs of the Past Shape the Future

From the Pythagorean theorem to DNAs double helix, from the discovery of microscopic life-forms to the theory of relativity—the big ideas of science and technology shape an eras worldview. Open this book, grasp the newest ideas from thought leaders of today, then spring off from them to move back through the past, one big idea at a time. Meet the people who gave birth to these ideas—and those who fought against them. Meet the MIT electrical engineer currently developing a way to turn on the lights cordlessly, then move back through Nikola Teslas visionary concept of the wireless transfer of energy, Thomas Edisons groundbreaking work in developing a nationwide electrical grid, Ben Franklins experiments to capture electricity, all the way back to ancient Greece, where Thales of Miletus described static electricity as a property of naturally occurring amber.