傑剋•查洛納曾在位於倫敦的帝國理工學院學習物理，並在泰晤士河畔金斯頓接受教師培訓。後進入倫敦科學博物館教育部門工作，工作內容主要是嚮遊客講解各種科學知識。截至目前，傑剋已經編著瞭近30部著作，題材涉及各個時代的科學和技術知識，同時還擔任許多其他著作的科學編輯顧問。他還在許多正式或非正式的教育場閤進行科學秀錶演。

We take thousands of inventions for granted, using them daily and enjoying their benefits. But how much do we really know about their origins and development? This absorbing new book tells the stories behind the inventions that have changed the world, with details abouta LI Convenience items, such as safety pins, toothbrushes, and bifocals LI Weapons of war, including explosives, gunpowder, and shrapnel shells LI Industrial advances, such as the steam engine and the power loom for weaving LI Transportation advances, including the airplane, the diesel engine, the automobile, and the air-inflated rubber tire LI Electronic marvels, including color television, the microprocessor, the personal computer, the compact disc, and the cell phone LI Medical advances, from antiseptic surgery to the electron microscope. . . and much more. Inventors and pioneers of science and technology, including Eli Whitney, James Watt, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Bessemer, Thomas Edison, J.B. Dunlop, the Wright Brothers, Werner von Braun, Jonas Salk, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and many others are also discussed. Fascinating photos and illustrations complement authoritative summaries of each invention, and remarkable quotations from many of the inventors add to this chronicle of human ingenuity that began some 6,000 years ago with the invention of the wheel. Approximately 700 photos and illustrations in color and black and white.