Thompson, later known as Count Rumford, was likely the first real scientist to pursue science for its utility. By the middle of the 19th century, James Clerk Maxwell had published his theory of electromagnetism which demonstrated the interrelatedness of all known electromagnetic phenomena. This powerful theory also showed that light is an electromagnetic wave and predicted the existence of other, previously suspected, electromagnetic waves. In 1888, Heinrich Hertz verified the existence of such waves and by 1910, William Marconi had invented the wireless telegraph, an invention which would not have been possible without the understanding of the science of electromagnetism. Modern technologies almost always develop from some scientific theory or discovery.
Personal computers are possible because of the invention of the chip.
The chip is possible ultimately because of the work of scientists at Bell Laboratories who studied the electrical properties of crystals and, in the process, invented the transistor. The past century s rapid technological development has seen the time from scientific theory to invention to production compress, often to as short as a few weeks. Since modern technologies and the problems they create are in fact modern, very few writings about technology have existed long enough to stand the test of time, which is often taken as one of the measures of a classic work. Those responsible for this series believe that most, if not all, of the works represented will still be read fifty years hence. This volume is organized in four sections.