ISBN: 9780670086771    Publisher: Penguin Books India Year of publishing: 2015     Format:  Hardback No of Pages: 272        Language: English

'In this smart, insightful and fascinating book, Madhavan shows how engineers turn problems into opportunities'--Walter Isaacson
Engineering comes in many forms. Dubai's Burj Khalifa--the world's tallest building--looks nothing like Microsoft's Office Suite, and digital surround sound doesn't work like a city-wide telecommunication grid. Yet these engineering feats have much in common.
Applied Minds explores the unique visions and mental tools of engineers and reveals the enormous--and often understated--influence they wield in transforming problems into opportunities. Guru Madhavan's account pairs the innovators of modern history--Thomas Edison, the Wright brothers, Steve Jobs--with everything from ATMs and the ZIP code system to the disposable diaper. He peeks into the inner workings of complex systems and celebrates the men and women who shape our world.
Anecdotal, insightful and ultimately visionary, Applied Minds charts a path to a future where we might apply strategies borrowed from engineering to create useful and inspired solutions to the world's most pressing challenges.
'Demonstrates how engineers transform the impossible into the possible and what we can learn from them'--M.S. Swaminathan
'This delightful book explains how the designed world of machines and systems interacts with the social world in which we use the tools that engineers give us'--Alvin Roth
'Reminds us that behind today's global challenges are solutions and opportunities waiting to be realized'--Klaus Schwab

'A compelling explanation of the engineering perspective'--Vinton Cerf

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Guru Madhavan is a biomedical engineer and senior policy adviser. He conducts research at the National Academy of Sciences and has been named a distinguished young scientist by the World Economic Forum. He lives in Washington, DC.
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