How did the popularity of underwear in the twelfth century lead to the invention of the printing press? How did the waterwheel evolve into the computer? How did the arrival of the cannon lead eventually to the development of movies? In this highly acclaimed and bestselling book, James Burke brilliantly examines the ideas, inventions, and coincidences that have culminated in the major technological advances of today. With dazzling insight, he untangles the pattern of interconnecting events: the accidents of time, circumstance, and place that gave rise to the major inventions of the world.Says Burke, "My purpose is to acquaint the reader with some of the forces that have caused change in the past, looking in particular at eight innovations -- the computer, the production line, telecommunications, the airplane, the atomic bomb, plastics, the guided rocket, and television -- which may be most influential in structuring our own futures....Each one of these is part of a family of similar devices, and is the result of a sequence of closely connected events extending from the ancient world until the present day. Each has enormous potential for humankind's benefit -- or destruction."Based on a popular TV documentary series, "Connections" is a fascinating scientific detective story of the inventions that changed history -- and the surprising links that connect them.

詹姆斯·伯剋（James Burke），生於1936年，英國作傢、科學史研究者、BBC製片人。製作瞭多部科學史題材的紀錄片，包括《聯結》《明日世界》《宇宙改變的時刻》等。被《華盛頓郵報》譽為“當今西方世界最引人入勝的頭腦”。現居倫敦。

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譯者：陽曦，畢業於北京航空航天大學宇航學院，自由撰稿人，雜誌專欄作者。已齣版譯作《宇宙的尺度》《趕往火星》《元素的盛宴》等。