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Ask HN: How to increase your exposure to technologies?

4 points by justarandomq ↗ HN
Looking for a Tour De Force covering tools, mechanisms, processes, etc. that have either greatly impacted us OR that simply are great examples of clever ingenuity.

The more to-the-point, the better. Preferably focusing less on the historical developments and more on the "one time someone figured out they could do X with Y and it is clever because Z"

Some large common examples: the loom, the printing press, internal combustion engine, the transistor, clocks anchor escapement, materials, ...

Encyclopedias, podcasts, videos, ... even museums could be good pointers. I realize the question may be too broad but the point is to increase exposure to technologies.

3 comments

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pmiller2
There are a couple of TV series I know of that do this sort of thing. Check out Connections with James Burke, Modern Marvels, and Genius of the Ancient World, for starters. There's another TV series on Netflix that talks about stuff like the development of the bicycle, and the like, but the name escapes me. :(

If you're in the Bay Area, the Exploratorium and the Computer History Museum might be something you'd enjoy along these lines.

giantg2
I'd add How It's Made to the list. Pretty interesting stuff. Doesn't go into the history very much, but sometimes touches on it to explain why something is done a certain way.
justarandomq
Thank you for the reminder about Connections! Great show.