Applied Minds – How Engineers Think - Hardcover

Madhavan, Guru

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 039323987X ISBN 13: 9780393239874

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2015

Synopsis

Engineering comes in many forms. Dubai s Burj Khalifa the world s tallest building looks nothing like Microsoft s Office Suite, and digital surround sound doesn t work like a city-wide telecommunication grid. Yet these engineering feats have much in common. Applied Minds explores the unique visions and mental tools of engineers and reveals the enormous and often understated influence they wield in transforming problems into opportunities. Guru Madhavan shows how the concepts of prototyping, reliability, standards, optimization, and feedback are put to use in fields as diverse as transportation, retail, healthcare, and entertainment. The resulting account pairs the innovators of modern history Thomas Edison, the Wright brothers, Steve Jobs with everything from ATMs and the ZIP code system to the disposable diaper. Equal parts personal, practical, and profound, Applied Minds peeks into the inner workings of complex systems and celebrates the men and women who shape our world.."

About this title

Review:

Engineers are titans of real-world problem-solving, yet are strangely invisible, notes biomedical engineer Guru Madhavan. In this riveting study of how they think, he puts behind-the-scenes geniuses such as Margaret Hutchinson, who designed the first penicillin-production plant, centre stage.

In this smart, insightful, and fascinating book, Madhavan shows how engineers turn problems into opportunities. The engineering mind-set is something we should all study and embrace. It applies to every aspect of life.--Walter Isaacson, author of The Innovators and Steve Jobs

A real pleasure to read, and lots to learn.--Tim Harford, The Financial Times's Undercover Economist and presenter of BBC Radio 4's More or Less

Engaging...[and] insightful.--Sybil Derrible

The heroes of Guru Madhavan's compact book about the logical habits of engineers are not the usual suspects of the iPhone era. With barely a mention of Wozniak or Jobs, the author takes us back to an earlier time so that we can witness the solving of problems that have long since gone away.--Jon Gertner

About the Author:

Guru Madhavan is a biomedical engineer and senior policy adviser. He conducts research at the National Academy of Sciences and has been named a distinguished young scientist by the World Economic Forum. He lives in Washington, DC.

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 039323987X
• ISBN 13: 9780393239874
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288