Wondrous Contrivances: Technology at the Threshold

The telegraph, typewriter, phonograph, radio, train, plane, fax, and Internet were all at one time or another the latest technological wonder. All of them changed people's lives, but whether that was perceived as a blessing or a burden is a very human story, one that Merritt Ierley tells to marvelous effect in Wondrous Contrivances.

A sharp-eyed researcher, Ierley looks beyond obvious sources like news reports of emerging technologies. He asks, for instance, when was a new invention adopted as a toy? And he uses that as a guide for when Americans became truly comfortable with a new invention. He draws intriguing parallels between the typewriter and the computer (each followed a similar path from marvel to necessity). Equally intriguing are excerpts from original instruction manuals (people did need to be taught how to use a telephone, of course). And 75 vintage photographs and illustrations make Wondrous Contrivances as much fun to look at as it is to read.