Download or read book James May's Magnificent Machines written by James May and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2012-03-01 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our world has been transformed beyond recognition, particularly in the twentieth century, and so were our lives and our aspirations. Throughout James May's Magnificent Machines, our Top Gear guide explores the iconic themes of the past hundred years: flight, space travel, television, mechanised war, medicine, computers, electronic music, skyscrapers, electronic espionage and much more. But he also reveals the hidden story behind why some inventions like the Zeppelin, the hovercraft or the Theremin struggled to make their mark. He examines the tipping points - when technologies such as the car or the internet became unstoppable - and gets up close by looking at the nuts and bolts of remarkable inventions. Packed with surprising statistics and intriguing facts, this is the ideal book for anyone who wants to know how stuff works and why some stuff didn't make it.