Connections

James Burke's book version of 'Connections' https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55024.Connections Also Douglas Coupland's 'Microserfs', described as "Here's a guy who seems to have spent a week with engineers and effortlessly absorbed everything that is important about engineering culture, everything that matters about working at a big company, and everything that matters about working at a startup." https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2748.Microserfs

1. The Imagineers of War by Sharon Weinberger 2. The Nature of Technology by Brian Arthur 3. (Not a book but documentary) Connections by James Burk 4. Books by James Burk [0] [0]: https://www.thriftbooks.com/a/james--burke/215445/

As a sort of counterpoint to the suggestions you're going to get, I really like the series Connections [1] by science historian James Burke. He takes a step back to show how interconnected and interdependent technological progress is. I think it's a valuable perspective that is easy to ignore when you're focused on the stories of individual companies or inventors. The first series is available on the Internet Archive [2], as well. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connections_%28TV_series%29 [2] https://archive.org/search.php?query=subject%3A%22connection... (https://archive.org/search.php?query=subject%3A%22connections%22%20creator%3A%22james%20burke%22)

From a recent HN comment, a list, some authors, and some guidelines, largely based on books which radically changed my thinking. Currently: Vaclav Smil, Energy in World History (1994), and Manfred Weissenbacher, Sources of Power (2009). Both detail the role and impact of energy through world history. The latter draws strongly on the first, both are exceedingly well documented. TL;DR: coal changed much, oil changed everything. http://www.worldcat.org/title/energy-in-world-history/oclc/3... (http://www.worldcat.org/title/energy-in-world-history/oclc/30398523&referer=brief_results) http://www.worldcat.org/title/before-oil-the-ages-of-foragin... (http://www.worldcat.org/title/before-oil-the-ages-of-foraging-agriculture-and-coal/oclc/837625798&referer=brief_results) http://www.worldcat.org/title/oil-age-and-beyond/oclc/837625... (http://www.worldcat.org/title/oil-age-and-beyond/oclc/837625970&referer=brief_results) James Burke's books Connections and The Day the Universe Changed, and their accompanying television series, were a profound introduction to the history of technology, science, ideas, and philosophy. Though 30+ years old, they remain highly current and relevant.…