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You Are Here

From the Compass to GPS, the History and Future of How We Find Ourselves

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You Are Here

By: Hiawatha Bray
Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
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About this listen

The story of the rise of modern navigation technology, from radio location to GPS—and the consequent decline of privacy.

What does it mean to never get lost? You Are Here examines the rise of our technologically aided era of navigational omniscience—or how we came to know exactly where we are at all times. In a sweeping history of the development of location technology in the past century, Bray shows how radio signals created to carry telegraph messages were transformed into invisible beacons to guide ships and how a set of rapidly-spinning wheels steered submarines beneath the polar icecap. But while most of these technologies were developed for and by the military, they are now ubiquitous in our everyday lives. Our phones are now smart enough to pinpoint our presence to within a few feet—and nosy enough to share that information with governments and corporations. Filled with tales of scientists and astronauts, inventors and entrepreneurs, You Are Here tells the story of how humankind ingeniously solved one of its oldest and toughest problems—only to herald a new era in which it’s impossible to hide.

©2014 Hiawatha Bray (P)2014 Audible, Inc.
Expeditions & Discoveries History History & Culture History & Philosophy Science World Technology Military US Air Force Imperial Japan Air Force
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Just a great book to listen to. History of technology. Enough to appreciate the challenges and achievements of people involved. Yet not overloaded with technical details. The narrator did a good job too.

Both educational and entertaining

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