Greg Milner is the author of Pinpoint and the National Book Critics Circle finalist Perfecting Sound Forever, about the history of recorded sound. A former senior contributing writer and columnist for Spin magazine, he lives in Brooklyn, New York.
"GPS guides our world. Here at last is the amazing and well-told
story of where it came from, how it works, and where it—and we—are
going."
*Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Making of the
Atomic Bomb*
"In Pinpoint, Greg Milner gives us a much-needed account of GPS,
its history, philosophy, and the overwhelming consequences of its
success. Funny, scary, and tremendously readable, Pinpoint will be
an eye-opening thrill for anyone who has watched their blue dot
dance around an online map."
*Andrew Blum, author of Tubes*
"Whenever people theorize about the collision of technology and
culture, the Internet tends to consume all the oxygen in the room.
But there is another global system that's taking over our lives in
an even more insidious fashion, with stranger implications for the
future of humanity. Pinpoint dissects the modern age of mapping and
shows the hidden dangers of a world where nothing is hidden at
all."
*Chuck Klosterman*
"Seldom have I learned so much so effortlessly. . . . Every page
was a treasure-house of fascinations: my temptation after finishing
was to begin the book all over again, there being so much to
absorb, all of it crucially important to understanding our world's
dependence on one of modern civilization's new-made
fundamentals."
*Simon Winchester*
"Informative... Pinpoint excels when it makes clear that GPS is an
engineering marvel, a global utility and a source of new threat all
at once."
*Clay Shirky - New York Times Book Review*
"Remarkably engaging… [T]he best business book about technology
this year."
*James Surowiecki - Strategy+Business*
"Milner is a brisk and funny guide."
*Konstantin Kakaes - Wall Street Journal*
"No technology has transformed the human landscape so completely,
yet been taken for granted so quickly, as GPS. The reason that
brains are so good at storing maps is because the brain is a map,
and our collective internal map is now migrating somewhere else.
Greg Milner’s Pinpoint is a fascinating chronicle of how this
happened and why—captured before the details had a chance to
escape."
*George Dyson*
"An informative yarn."
*James Anthony - Evening Standard*
"[A] joy to read… It will be a strong contender for my science book
of 2016."
*Clive Cookson - Financial Times*
"One of the most mesmerizing and exhilarating, yet alarming modern
technology books… By any standards, it is an extraordinary
tale."
*Gillian Tett - Financial Times*
"[A]ssured technological history."
*Nature*
"A deeply researched book with fascinating interludes... [Milner]
explains the technological principles lucidly."
*Stephen Poole - New Statesman*
"[A] suitably precise and fascinating account of the modern
evolution of [GPS]... Milner expertly deconstructs the implications
of this monumental shift in human life."
*Tim Adams - Observer*
"[A] compelling exploration of how GPS became so ubiquitous—and
what we lose when it's all we know of navigation."
*Matthew Daddona - Outside*
"Through a multitude of examples—from Polynesian navigation to
precision agriculture to the U.S. military—the world according to
GPS emerges, and with it a new way to understand our own sense of
place and time... Milner's detailed examples will leave you
questioning the ways in which GPS has infiltrated our lives."
*Renee M. Blackburn - Science*
"In this startling and persuasive book, American journalist Greg
Milner shows how [GPS] saturates our existence... [Milner] suggests
that GPS is as potent and pervasive a force as the Internet – if
much less well understood."
*James McConachie - Sunday Times*
"[A] welcome guide to where [GPS] came from, what it does and where
it might be taking us."
*Damian Whitworth - The Times*
"Dramatically illustrating just what the GPS might be taking from
the human race, Milner recounts the feats of early Polynesian
seafarers who traversed wide Pacific expanses guided by nothing but
their dauntless minds. . . . [A] fascinating probe into an
increasingly ubiquitous technology."
*Bryce Christensen - Booklist (starred review)*
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