You Are Here
From the Compass to GPS, the History and Future of How We Find Ourselves
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You Are Here
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Narrated by:
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Jonathan Yen
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By:
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Hiawatha Bray
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.What listeners say about You Are Here
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Lance M. Andrewes
- 09-06-2024
So many know where I am. How did this happen?
One of the best books I've listened to. I've spent years learning GIS and am well-read technically, but still learned a lot from this book. It gives a good history of geolocation. If you believe that people have got smarter over the centuries, this should change your perspective. While the ancient history is fascinating, the modern history is comprehensive. It covers how the navigation equipment of aircraft, ships, and submarines came to be what it is today. The foundations of Inertial Navigation Systems are much older that I imagined. Then the author takes us through to how most of us know where we are with high accuracy, and how companies went from locating us by our wireless routers to the devices we carry with us. Highly recommended.
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