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The Department of Mad Scientists
Michael Belfiore
How DARPA Is Remaking Our World, from the Internet to Artificial Limbs
Smithsonian
November 2009
On Sale: October 20, 2009
320 pages
ISBN: 0061577936
EAN: 9780061577932
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
The first-ever inside look at DARPA—the Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency—the maverick and controversial
group whose futuristic work has had amazing civilian and
military applications, from the Internet to GPS to
driverless cars America's greatest idea factory isn't Bell Labs, Silicon
Valley, or MIT's Media Lab. It's the secretive, Pentagon-
led agency known as DARPA. Founded by Eisenhower in
response to Sputnik and the Soviet space program, DARPA
mixes military officers with sneaker-wearing scientists,
seeking paradigm-shifting ideas in varied fields—from
energy, robotics, and rockets to peopleless operating
rooms, driverless cars, and planes that can fly halfway
around the world in just hours. DARPA gave birth to the
Internet, GPS, and mind-controlled robotic arms. Its
geniuses define future technology for the military and the
rest of us. Michael Belfiore was given unprecedented access to write
this first-ever popular account of DARPA. Visiting research
sites across the country, he watched scientists in action
and talked to the creative, fearlessly ambitious
visionaries working for and with DARPA. Much of DARPA's
work is classified, and this book is full of material that
has barely been reported in the general media. In fact,
DARPA estimates that only 2 percent of Americans know much
of anything about the agency. This fascinating read
demonstrates that DARPA isn't so much frightening as it is
inspiring—it is our future.
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