This scintillating survey of the major electronic discoveries of the past century — including static electricity, vacuum tubes, transistors, and television — focuses on the past forty years of technological innovation. Learn what's "under the hood" of computers, integrated circuits, the Internet, cell phones, GPS, optical fibers, space probes, and other modern wonders. Engaging and mildly technical, this authoritative treatment can be understood by anyone with a high school education and an interest in technology.A brief history of electronics is succeeded by explorations of developments in electrical safety, radar, and deep-space probes. Additional topics include the operation of computers, data storage, and optical fiber communications as well as the electronics behind automobiles and consumer devices. The first four chapters provide background, and the following self-contained chapters may be read in any order. Author Barry M. Lunt, a Professor of Information Technology at Brigham Young University, also provides forecasts for upcoming directions in electronics.