Over the last fifty years, humanity has developed an extraordinary shared utility: the Global Positioning System.
A fascinating and original story of the scientific urge toward precision, Pinpoint offers startling insight into how humans understand their place in the world..
Milner examines the different ways humans have understood physical space, delves into the neuroscience of cognitive maps, and questions GPS\'s double-edged effect on our culture.
Pinpoint tells the sweeping story of GPS from its conceptual origins as a bomb guidance system to its presence in almost everything we do.
GPS may be altering the nature of human cognition--possibly even rearranging the gray matter in our heads.
The use, and potential misuse, of GPS data by government and corporations raise disturbing questions about ethics and privacy.
A single GPS timing flaw, whether accidental or malicious, could bring down the electrical grid, hijack drones, or halt the world financial system.
We have let it saturate the world\'s systems so completely and so quickly that we are just beginning to confront the possible consequences.
While GPS has brought us breathtakingly accurate information about our planetary environment and physical space, it has also created new forms of human behavior.
In Pinpoint , Greg Milner takes us on a fascinating tour of a hidden system that touches almost every aspect of our modern life.
It is as ubiquitous and essential as another Cold War technology, the Internet.
Even as it guides us across town, GPS helps land planes, route mobile calls, anticipate earthquakes, predict weather, locate oil deposits, measure neutrinos, grow our food, and regulate global finance.
Over the last fifty years, humanity has developed an extraordinary shared utility: the Global Positioning System
