How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World (Young Readers Edition)

Steven Johnson traces the long histories behind familiar parts of modern life, including refrigeration, clocks, and eyeglass lenses. The illustrated history follows ideas developed by hobbyists, amateurs, and entrepreneurs, as well as their unforeseen effects. It also recounts inventions shaped by mistakes and unlikely contributors, such as an early phonograph that lacked playback and technology connected to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.