PDF-[EBOOK]-Clausewitz\'s On War: A Biography (Books That Changed the World)

Perhaps the most important book on military strategy ever written Carl von Clausewitzs On War has influenced generations of generals and politicians has been blamed for the unprecedented death tolls in the First and Second World Wars and is required reading at military academies to this day But On War which was never finished and was published posthumously is obscure and fundamentally contradictory What Clausewitz declares in book 1 he discounts in book 8 The language is confusing and the relevance not always clear It is an extremely difficult book for the general reader to approach to reconcile with itself and to place in context Hew Strachan one of the worlds foremost military historians answers these problems He explains how and why On War was written elucidates what Clausewitz meant and offers insight into the books continuing significance This is a must read for fans of military history. We take thousands of inventions for granted, using them daily and enjoying their benefits. But how much do we really know about their origins and development? This absorbing new book tells the stories behind the inventions that have changed the world, with details about--Convenience items, such as safety pins, toothbrushes, and bifocals Weapons of war, including explosives, gunpowder, and shrapnel shells Industrial advances, such as the steam engine and the power loom for weaving Transportation advances, including the airplane, the diesel engine, the automobile, and the air-inflated rubber tire Electronic marvels, including color television, the microprocessor, the personal computer, the compact disc, and the cell phone Medical advances, from antiseptic surgery to the electron microscope. . . and much more.Inventors and pioneers of science and technology, including Eli Whitney, James Watt, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Bessemer, Thomas Edison, J.B. Dunlop, the Wright Brothers, Werner von Braun, Jonas Salk, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and many others are also discussed. Fascinating photos and illustrations complement authoritative summaries of each invention, and remarkable quotations from many of the inventors add to this chronicle of human ingenuity that began some 6,000 years ago with the invention of the wheel. Approximately 700 photos and illustrations in color and black and white. This book is available as a free open access PDF from ucl.ac.uk/ucl-press. Print copies are also available.How the World Changed Social Media is the first book in Why We Post, a book series that investigates the findings of anthropologists who each spent 15 months living in communities across the world. This book offers a comparative analysis summarising the results of the research and explores the impact of social media on politics and gender, education and commerce. What is the result of the increased emphasis on visual communication? Are we becoming more individual or more social? Why is public social media so conservative? Why does equality online fail to shift inequality offline? How did memes become the moral police of the internet?Supported by an introduction to the project’s academic framework and theoretical terms that help to account for the findings, the book argues that the only way to appreciate and understand something as intimate and ubiquitous as social media is to be immersed in the lives of the people who post. Only then can we discover how people all around the world have already transformed social media in such unexpected ways and assess the consequences.This book is available as a free open access PDF from ucl.ac.uk/ucl-press. Print copies are also available. This book is available as a free open access PDF from ucl.ac.uk/ucl-press. Print copies are also available.How the World Changed Social Media is the first book in Why We Post, a book series that investigates the findings of anthropologists who each spent 15 months living in communities across the world. This book offers a comparative analysis summarising the results of the research and explores the impact of social media on politics and gender, education and commerce. What is the result of the increased emphasis on visual communication? Are we becoming more individual or more social? Why is public social media so conservative? Why does equality online fail to shift inequality offline? How did memes become the moral police of the internet?Supported by an introduction to the project’s academic framework and theoretical terms that help to account for the findings, the book argues that the only way to appreciate and understand something as intimate and ubiquitous as social media is to be immersed in the lives of the people who post. Only then can we discover how people all around the world have already transformed social media in such unexpected ways and assess the consequences.This book is available as a free open access PDF from ucl.ac.uk/ucl-press. Print copies are also available. When Chinese alchemists fashioned the first manmade explosion sometime during the tenth century, no one could have foreseen its full revolutionary potential. Invented to frighten evil spirits rather than fuel guns or bombs—neither of which had been thought of yet—their simple mixture of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal went on to make the modern world possible. As word of its explosive properties spread from Asia to Europe, from pyrotechnics to battleships, it paved the way for Western exploration, hastened the end of feudalism and the rise of the nation state, and greased the wheels of the Industrial Revolution.With dramatic immediacy, novelist and journalist Jack Kelly conveys both the distant time in which the ?devil’s distillate” rose to conquer the world, and brings to rousing life the eclectic cast of characters who played a role in its epic story, including Michelangelo, Edward III, Vasco da Gama, Cortés, Guy Fawkes, Alfred Nobel, and E. I. DuPont. A must-read for history fans and military buffs alike, Gunpowder brings together a rich terrain of cultures and technological innovations with authoritative research and swashbuckling style. Steve Tomecek discusses 45 inventions that really shook up society. These big ideas inspired many other inventions and illuminate the changes that technology has made throughout time.From the hand ax and mathematics to IC chips and the laser, each technological touchstone in human history is described and placed in historical context. Each profile includes the who (if we know it), how the idea developed and how it works, the immediate impact of the idea, and the technological \'children\' of the idea. The time span is 3500 BC to today. The author closes with an epilogue that looks into the future, a bibliography, and a list of great Web sites for young inventors.Realistic, 4-color paintings, in technical drawing style, showcase the idea and its applications by humans. Without the invention of radar, Europe--and possibly even the world--might today be under Fascist rule. This well-written, technically accurate, and even exciting account captures the urgency of the race to win World War II, the people behind the magnetrons, screens and antennae, and the use of radar in the cold war. Trace the evolution of the Tin Lizzy from 1908-1927 This book by Bruce W. McCalley debunks popular myths, provides data on specific Model T parts, lists engine serial numbers by day of production, and features 1,367 photos presenting technical information. A fascinating look at how Boston became and remains a global center for innovation--told through 50 world-changing inventions.Since the seventeenth century, Boston has been one of the world\'s foremost sources of world-changing innovation. Boston built the country\'s first public school and university, saw the invention of the clipper ship and telephone, and is home to medical and biotech breakthroughs that have saved the lives of thousands. Boston-area inventors have contributed hundreds of significant social, scientific, and commercial innovations.Waves of Innovation tells the stories of 50 of these ground-breaking inventions. Each story can stand alone--but taken together, they provide an understanding of why Boston\'s history of innovation is not an accident: the city boasts a perfect storm of innovation drivers, including strong entrepreneurship, funding, and networking. Across four waves of boom and decline, Boston has maintained an uncanny ability to innovate. These 50 stories, each one engagingly illustrated, present Boston creations that have entertained, helped, and healed people around the world. We take thousands of inventions for granted, using them daily and enjoying their benefits. But how much do we really know about their origins and development? This absorbing new book tells the stories behind the inventions that have changed the world, with details about--Convenience items, such as safety pins, toothbrushes, and bifocals Weapons of war, including explosives, gunpowder, and shrapnel shells Industrial advances, such as the steam engine and the power loom for weaving Transportation advances, including the airplane, the diesel engine, the automobile, and the air-inflated rubber tire Electronic marvels, including color television, the microprocessor, the personal computer, the compact disc, and the cell phone Medical advances, from antiseptic surgery to the electron microscope. . . and much more.Inventors and pioneers of science and technology, including Eli Whitney, James Watt, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Bessemer, Thomas Edison, J.B. Dunlop, the Wright Brothers, Werner von Braun, Jonas Salk, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and many others are also discussed. Fascinating photos and illustrations complement authoritative summaries of each invention, and remarkable quotations from many of the inventors add to this chronicle of human ingenuity that began some 6,000 years ago with the invention of the wheel. Approximately 700 photos and illustrations in color and black and white. Steve Tomecek discusses 45 inventions that really shook up society. These big ideas inspired many other inventions and illuminate the changes that technology has made throughout time.From the hand ax and mathematics to IC chips and the laser, each technological touchstone in human history is described and placed in historical context. Each profile includes the who (if we know it), how the idea developed and how it works, the immediate impact of the idea, and the technological \'children\' of the idea. The time span is 3500 BC to today. The author closes with an epilogue that looks into the future, a bibliography, and a list of great Web sites for young inventors.Realistic, 4-color paintings, in technical drawing style, showcase the idea and its applications by humans. Without the invention of radar, Europe--and possibly even the world--might today be under Fascist rule. This well-written, technically accurate, and even exciting account captures the urgency of the race to win World War II, the people behind the magnetrons, screens and antennae, and the use of radar in the cold war. A fascinating look at how Boston became and remains a global center for innovation--told through 50 world-changing inventions.Since the seventeenth century, Boston has been one of the world\'s foremost sources of world-changing innovation. Boston built the country\'s first public school and university, saw the invention of the clipper ship and telephone, and is home to medical and biotech breakthroughs that have saved the lives of thousands. Boston-area inventors have contributed hundreds of significant social, scientific, and commercial innovations.Waves of Innovation tells the stories of 50 of these ground-breaking inventions. Each story can stand alone--but taken together, they provide an understanding of why Boston\'s history of innovation is not an accident: the city boasts a perfect storm of innovation drivers, including strong entrepreneurship, funding, and networking. Across four waves of boom and decline, Boston has maintained an uncanny ability to innovate. These 50 stories, each one engagingly illustrated, present Boston creations that have entertained, helped, and healed people around the world. Civilization might have been spared much of the damage suffered in the world wars this century if the influence of Clausewitz\'s On War  had been blended with and balanced by a knowledge of Sun-tzu\'s The Art of Warfare.  --B.H. Liddel HartFor two thousand years, Sun-tzu\'s The Art of Warfare was the indispensable volume of warcraft. Although his work is the first known analysis of war and warfare, Sun-tzu struck upon a thoroughly modern concept: The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.        Karl von Clausewitz, the canny military theorist who famously declared that war is a continuation of politics by other means, also claims paternity of the notion total war.   His is the magnum opus of the era of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic vars.Now these two great military minds are made to share the same tent, metaphorically speaking, in The Book of War. What a bivouac it is, and what a conversation into the night.Military writer Ralph Peters has written a new Introduction for this Modern Library edition. Karl von Clausewitz (1780-1831) is considered by many to have been one of the greatest writers on war. His study On War was described by the American strategic thinker Bernard Brodie as not simply the greatest, but the only great book about war. It is hard to disagree. Even though he wrote his only major work at a time when the range of firearms was fifty yards, much of what he had to say remains relevant today. Michael Howard explains Clausewitz\'s ideas in terms both of his experiences as a professional soldier in the Napoleonic Wars, and of the intellectual background of his time.