Ocean State Libraries

"A look at potential future developments in space exploration, including settlements on Mars, as well as orbiting telescopes and other technologies that are currently considered state-of-the-art"--Provided by publisher.

It is the world's most widely recognized weapon, the most profuse tool for killing ever made. More than fifty national armies carry the automatic Kalashnikov, as do an array of police, intelligence, and security agencies all over the world. In this tour de force, prizewinning New York Times reporter C. J. Chivers traces the invention of the assault rifle, following the miniaturization of rapid-fire arms from the American Civil War, through World War...

A structural engineer examines the seven most basic building blocks of engineering that have shaped the modern world.--

The Internet as we know it is great for collaboration and communication, but is deeply flawed when it comes to commerce and privacy. The new blockchain technology facilitates peer-to-peer transactions without any intermediary such as a bank or governing body. Keeping the user's information anonymous, the blockchain validates and keeps a permanent public record of all transactions. That means that your personal information is private and secure, while...

"What is the relationship between leadership and innovation? How can some companies innovate again and again--continuously producing products and services that customers want--while most other firms cannot? How do you unleash consistent creativity in those around you? In this important new book, a team of preeminent thinkers--leadership scholar and Harvard Business School professor Linda Hill (Becoming a Manager, Being the Boss), former Pixar technology...

"A lively and endlessly fascinating deep-dive into nature and the many groundbreaking human inventions inspired by the wild. When astronomers wanted a telescope that could capture X-rays from celestial bodies, they looked to the lobster. When doctors wanted a medication that could stabilize Type II diabetic patients, they found their muse in a lizard. When scientists wanted to drastically reduce emissions in cement manufacturing, they observed how...

A manual for survival and success that asks the most important question today's leaders, in any industry, can ask themselves: What would Google do? To demonstrate how to emulate Google, Jarvis lays out his laws of what he calls "the new Google century," including such insights as: Think distributed; Become a platform; Join the post-scarcity, open-source, gift economy; The middleman has died; Your worst customers are your best friends and your best...

Building on his national bestseller The Rational Optimist, Innovation is the main event of the modern age, the reason we experience both dramatic improvements in our living standards and unsettling changes in our society. Forget short-term symptoms like Donald Trump and Brexit, it is innovation that will shape the twenty-first century. Yet innovation remains a mysterious process, poorly understood by policy makers and businessmen alike.Matt Ridley...