Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

The Design of Everyday Things

by Donald A. Norman, Donald A. Norman, Donald A. Norman

Donald Norman's best-selling plea for user-friendly design, with more than 175,000 copies sold to date, is now a Basic paperback. First, businesses discovered quality as a key competitive edge; next came service. Now, Donald A. Norman, former Director of the Institute for Cognitive Science at the University of California, reveals how smart design is the new competitive frontier. The Design of Everyday Things... (more)

iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon

How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It

by Gina Smith, Steve Wozniak

The mastermind behind Apple sheds his low profile and steps forward to tell his story for the first time. Before cell phones that fit in the palm of your hand and slim laptops that fit snugly into briefcases, computers were like strange, alien vending machines. They had cryptic switches, punch cards and pages of encoded output. But in 1975, a young engineering wizard named Steve Wozniak had an idea: What if you... (more)

Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture

Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture

by Ross King

Ross King has a knack for explaining complicated processes in a manner that is not only lucid but downright intriguing. . . . Fascinating." (Los Angeles Times) By all accounts, Filippo Brunelleschi, goldsmith and clockmaker, was an unkempt, cantankerous, and suspicious man-even by the generous standards according to which artists were judged in fifteenth-century Florence. He also designed and erected a dome... (more)

The Way Things Work Kit

by David MacAulay, T. Lodewijk

From levers to lasers, from cameras to computers, this 384-page volume is a remarkable overview of the machines and inventions that shape our lives, amusingly presented with a large dose of Macaulay's wit and personality. "A book to be treasured as both a browsing item and as a gold mine of reference information." -- School Library Journal, starred review ALA Best Book for Young Adults ALA Notable Book ... (more)

The Art of Electronics

by Thomas C. Hayes, Winfield Hill, Paul Horowitz

This is the thoroughly revised and updated Second Edition of the hugely successful The Art of Electronics. Widely accepted as the single, authoritative text and reference on electronic circuit design, both analog and digital, this book has sold over 120,000 copies, and has been translated into eight languages. This book revolutionized the teaching of electronics by emphasizing the methods actually used by... (more)

The Path Between the Seas

The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914

by David G. McCullough

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Truman, here is the national bestselling epic chronicle of the creation of the Panama Canal. In The Path Between the Seas, acclaimed historian David McCullough delivers a first-rate drama of the sweeping human undertaking that led to the creation of this grand enterprise. The Path Between the Seas tells the story of the men and women who fought against all odds to... (more)

Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things

Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things

by Donald A. Norman

Did you ever wonder why cheap wine tastes better in fancy glasses? Why sales of Macintosh computers soared when Apple introduced the colorful iMac? New research on emotion and cognition has shown that attractive things really do work better, as Donald Norman amply demonstrates in this fascinating book, which has garnered acclaim everywhere from Scientific American to The New Yorker . Emotional Design ... (more)

Revolution in the Valley

by Andy Hertzfeld

There was a time, not too long ago, when the typewriter and notebook ruled , and the computer as an everyday tool was simply a vision. Revolution in the Valley traces this vision back to its earliest roots: the hallways and backrooms of Apple, where the groundbreaking Macintosh computer was born. The book traces the development of the Macintosh, from its inception as an underground skunkworks project in 1979 to... (more)

To Engineer Is Human : The Role of Failure in Successful Design

To Engineer Is Human : The Role of Failure in Successful Design

by Henry Petroski

The moral of this book is that behind every great engineering success is a trail of often ignored (but frequently spectacular) engineering failures. Petroski covers many of the best known examples of well-intentioned but ultimately failed design in action -- the galloping Tacoma Narrows Bridge (which you've probably seen tossing cars willy-nilly in the famous black-and-white footage), the collapse of the... (more)

Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology

Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology

by K. Eric Drexler

This brilliant work heralds the new age of nanotechnology, which will give us thorough and inexpensive control of the structure of matter. Drexler examines the enormous implications of these developments for medicine, the economy, and the environment, and makes astounding yet well-founded projections for the future.

The Ancient Engineers

by L. Sprague De Camp

The Pyramids of Giza, the Parthenon of Greece, the Great Wall of China, the Colosseum of Rome . . . Today, we stand in awe before these wonders of the ancient world. They hold our history and the deepest secrets of our past in their hidden recesses. In THE ANCIENT ENGINEERS, L. Sprague de Camp delves into the heart of the mystery. He introduces us to the master builders who had the vision, the power, and the... (more)

The Soul Of A New Machine

by Tracy Kidder

Computers have changed since 1981, when Tracy Kidder memorably recorded the drama, comedy, and excitement of one companys efforts to bring a new microcomputer to market. What has not changed is the feverish pace of the high-tech industry, the go-for-broke approach to business that has caused so many computer companies to win big (or go belly up), and the cult of pursuing mind-bending technological innovations. The... (more)

The Works: Anatomy of a City

by Kate Ascher

How much do you really know about the systems that keep a city alive? The Works: Anatomy of a City contains everything you ever wanted to know about what makes New York City run. When you flick on your light switch the light goes on--how? When you put out your garbage, where does it go? When you flush your toilet, what happens to the waste? How does water get from a reservoir in the mountains to your city... (more)

The Evolution of Useful Things: How Everyday Artifacts-From Forks and Pins to Paper Clips and Zippers-Came to be as They are

The Evolution of Useful Things: How Everyday Artifacts-From Forks and Pins to Paper Clips and Zippers-Came to be as They are

by Henry Petroski

Petroski tells fascinating stories about the arduous processes that resulted in paper clips, Post-its, Phillips-head screwdrivers, Scotch tape, and fast-food "clamshell" containers. "Petroski . . . an examines the simplest . . . tools in our lives with an appraising eye."--Washington Post Book World. 45 illus.

Engineering in the Ancient World

by J. G. Landels, J.G. Landels, J.G. Landels

In his classic book, J. G. Landels describes the technological advances of the Greeks and Romans with erudition and enthusiasm. He provides an important introduction to engineering, writing about power and energy sources, water engineering, cranes, and transportation devises. From aqueducts to catapults, he attempts to envision machines as they may have worked in the ancient world. He then traces the path of... (more)

Why Buildings Fall Down: How Structures Fail

Why Buildings Fall Down: How Structures Fail

by Matthys Levy, Mario Salvadori, Kevin Woest, Mario George Salvadori

Although modern technologies and new materials have greatly decreased the number of structural failures in today's world, buildings still fall down. Two world-renowned structural engineers take us on an enlightening guided tour through the history of architectural and structural disasters, from ancient times to the present. B/W line drawings.

Castle

by David MacAulay

The word itself conjures up mystery, romance, intrigue, and grandeur. What could be more perfect for an author/illustrator who has continually stripped away the mystique of architectural structures that have long fascinated modern man? With typical zest and wry sense of humor punctuating his drawings, David Macaulay traces the step-by-step planning and construction of both castle and town.

Head First Java, 2nd Edition

by Kathy Sierra

Learning a complex new language is no easy task especially when it s an object-oriented computer programming language like Java. You might think the problem is your brain. It seems to have a mind of its own, a mind that doesn't always want to take in the dry, technical stuff you're forced to study. The fact is your brain craves novelty. It's constantly searching, scanning, waiting for something unusual to... (more)

Growing up with Lucy: How to Build an Android in Twenty Easy Steps

Growing up with Lucy: How to Build an Android in Twenty Easy Steps

by Steve Grand

In this follow–up to Creation: Life and How to Make It, Steve Grand talks about creating one of world’s most intelligent robots.

Digital Signal Processing: A Computer Based Approach (Mcgraw Hill Series in Electrical and Computer Engineering)

Digital Signal Processing: A Computer Based Approach (Mcgraw Hill Series in Electrical and Computer Engineering)

by Sanjit K. Mitra

Digital Signal Processing: A Computer-Based Approach is intended for a two-semester course on digital signal processing for seniors or first-year graduate students. Based on user feedback, a number of new topics have been added to the third edition, while some excess topics from the second edition have been removed. The author has taken great care to organize the chapters more logically by reordering the sections... (more)

Shelfari Book Activity

Tags: engineering

by Donald A. Norman, Donald A. Norman, Donald A. Norman

How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It

by Gina Smith, Steve Wozniak

by Ross King

by David MacAulay, T. Lodewijk

by Thomas C. Hayes, Winfield Hill, Paul Horowitz

The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914

by David G. McCullough

by Donald A. Norman

by Andy Hertzfeld

by Henry Petroski

by K. Eric Drexler

by L. Sprague De Camp

by Tracy Kidder

by Kate Ascher

by Henry Petroski

by J. G. Landels, J.G. Landels, J.G. Landels

by Matthys Levy, Mario Salvadori, Kevin Woest, Mario George Salvadori

by David MacAulay

by Kathy Sierra

by Steve Grand

by Sanjit K. Mitra