A Brief History of Motion

Book summary

Tom Standage is a writer and journalist based in the UK. After graduating from Oxford University, he worked as a business editor and science and technology writer for Wired, The New York Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian and The Economist. His books and articles explore the social impact of technological developments.

There have been many uses for the wheel since ancient times. Chariots helped turn kings into god-like heroes in the days, and Romans used carts for practical purposes. Then, our societies decided to adopt automobiles to relieve themselves of horse pollution and noise. A boom in the car industry created more emissions and noise as cars became more affordable and alluring as symbols of elegance. We live in a society that has grown increasingly car-centric in recent years. In most cities and towns worldwide, cars have taken precedence over people in urban design. Despite that, new policies are starting to put people first after the COVID-19 pandemic and global warming. Smartphone-based technology may also better serve people than owning a car, given the continuing development of automated vehicles and alternative fuels.

"An oft-heard complaint, as companies spread their tentacles around the world and compete on a global playing field, is that globalization is merely a new form of imperialism."

"Coffee houses provided a lively intellectual and social environment in which people could meet and ideas could collide in unexpected ways, producing a stream of innovations that shaped the modern world."

"Many of the ways in which we share, consume, and manipulate information, even in the Internet era, build upon habits and conventions that date back centuries."

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