May 24, 2021
Journalist Standage (Writing on the Wall) delivers a brisk and entertaining history of personal transportation. Asserting that advances in transportation technology have helped shape society, Standage details how the shift from horse-drawn carriages to motor vehicles in the early 20th century was driven in part by health concerns over the “huge piles of manure” that built up near urban stables, and explains how the enthusiasm for cars reshaped U.S. cities and gave rise to the suburbs after WWII. But America’s car culture is changing as a result of climate change anxieties, urban growth, and the rise of electric vehicles and ride-hailing apps, according to Standage, who notes that “the number of miles driven per vehicle, and per person of driving age,” has been in decline since 2004. He sketches the environmental and geopolitical concerns associated with mining lithium and cobalt to make electric car batteries, and the technical problems faced by engineers trying to build a fully autonomous car. More immediately promising, in Standage’s view, are “mobility as a service” networks that allow people to access multiple modes of transport (bike rentals, buses, taxis) through a single app. Full of easy-to-understand history lessons and technical explanations, this is a well-informed look at how innovation, when properly guided, can pave the way to a brighter future.
July 15, 2021
A 5,000-year-long road trip. Economist deputy editor Standage's previous books have a wry quirkiness about them, and his latest fits nicely alongside A History of the World in 6 Glasses and An Edible History of Humanity. The author's methodology involves statistics and facts in moderation, leavened with humorous trivia in the service of entertaining and informing readers. Here, the author offers a witty, expansive, evolutionary look at transportation history. "It all starts with the wheel," he writes. The wheel's origin has been debated for centuries but was likely first made in the Carpathian Mountains during the Copper Age, and it found wide use with the invention of the horse-drawn chariot. "The adoption of the wheel," however, hit a "bump in the historical road" with the rise of cavalries. Carts and wagons were already in use, and the horse was the way to go, but in the 16th century, the four-wheeled coach became popular. They could create barriers and carry small cannons. As road conditions improved, stagecoaches and the larger omnibus gained favor. The steam engine led to the first powered vehicle and the locomotive, and "railways transformed urban life." A human-powered running bicycle appeared in 1817, followed by the pedal-driven bicycle, which could "stay upright as if by magic." The internal combustion machine begat the motorcycle and then, in 1886, the three-wheeled Motorwagen, which helped reduce the number of unhealthy manure-strewn streets. Although expensive, their popularity grew. In 1908, Ford launched its $850 Model T, and by 1923, the revolutionary, mass-produced car's price had fallen to $298. As their numbers increased, so did fatalities, the rise of traffic lights, paved roads, highways, and suburbia. The author drives on through gas stations, car culture, drive-in restaurants, pollution, and electric and autonomous cars to the finish line. Standage nimbly touches all the bases in this sprightly historical race.
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July 30, 2021
Traffic jams. Accidents. Pollution. Safety concerns. This was the situation faced by cities at the end of the nineteenth century with a glut of horse-drawn vehicles clogging streets and dirtying roads. The car was supposed to solve all that. Instead, automobiles came with their own problems: congestion, deadlier accidents, climate impacts, and the worsening of economic and cultural divides. Standage believes a look back at the history of wheeled vehicles and their impacts is useful to guide us toward the future. Cars fundamentally altered the landscape of the modern world, driving the redesign of urban areas and fueling the rise of suburbia. The popularity of cars had ramifications even beyond urban planning and traffic: factory mechanization, planned obsolescence, and the creation of teenage culture were all affected. He offers a balanced overview of new options being explored: autonomous vehicles, ride share apps, vehicle sharing, and integrated transit systems. All offer potential benefits, and all come with risks. Any new technology will have consequences we don't foresee. This is a well-researched exploration of an urgent subject.
COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.