Inventing the 21st Century

From the iPod to the Nintendo Wii, the first decade of the twenty-first century has already brought us incredible inventions we could not have imagined before, yet that have already changed how we live our lives and spend our free time. Although the twenty-first century is only beginning, the number of new patents that have been filed bears witness to the ongoing ingenuity of inventors around the world and the fact that technology is changing more rapidly than ever before.

Following on the success of Stephen van Dulken's previous surveys of invention, Inventing the 21st Century examines the leading inventions of this century, including the Blackberry, the teen-repelling Mosquito Tone, the Segway, mixed-source DNA analysis, and E-book readers. Van Dulken is careful to describe both the technical aspects of the inventions as well as the human interest stories behind them; to this end, he includes personal interviews with the inventors themselves, providing an engaging insight into how and why they came up with their unique ideas.

Illustrated throughout with the original patents for the inventions, this absorbing and readable account of the amazing technological leaps already taken this century--and the creative inventors behind them--will be of interest to anyone fascinated by the world of modern technology and gadgets that surrounds us.