Stories of technological change
Each story follows a question through related technologies, with branches showing parallel developments.
From Controlled Fire to the Modern Energy System
Fire first became a controllable source of heat, then became part of fuel production, metallurgy, steam power, and electricity generation, eventually joining photovoltaics and power grids in the modern energy system.
From Symbolic Reasoning to Language Model Agents
Follow rule-based problem solving, learning from experience, deep networks, and language models to understand how computers acquired the ability to generate content and act, while tracing the parallel development of probabilistic reasoning, statistical learning, reinforcement learning, and diffusion-based generation.
From Vacuum Tubes to the Microprocessor
A story of computing technology evolving from electronic switches, stored programs, and solid-state devices through the planar process, integrated circuits, and MOS large-scale integration, ultimately fitting a CPU onto a single chip.