Mastering Magic — Index

Abhishek Pratapa
2 min readJan 16, 2020

I’ve always been curious about how many computer scientists lack an understanding of underlying technology. It’s frankly not taught in most curricula, and most brilliant engineers are missing out on their true potential.

I remember the first time I learned how a computer worked, and magic became a series of steps. A formula that naturally led to the fantastic wonders of technology we have today. In a way, it was sad; a computer wasn’t a black box had fairies pulling levers. In other ways, though, it opened my mind to the fundamentals that this world runs on. That truth is one of the most potent feelings one can get.

I believe that understanding the basic principles of technology allows us to create better systems. If you’re trying to build on a flawed foundation, it’s weaknesses will limit you.

Let me take you through a journey that’ll demystify the evolution of technology and allow you to appreciate the number of events that had to happen to create the world we live in today.

We’ll start with the first fundamental component: Electricity

Electricity

  • Cats and Trees? — (TODO)
  • Easing Eels — (TODO)
  • Bagdad Battery — (TODO)
  • En[light]enment — (TODO)
  • The Builder — (TODO)
  • Islands and Conductors — (TODO)
  • Musschenbroek’s Jars — (TODO)
  • The Rebel — (TODO)
  • Henry’s Torpedos — (TODO)
  • Frogs — (TODO)
  • Flow— (TODO)
  • Davy’s Craziness — (TODO)
  • The First Electrical Engineer — (TODO)
  • Ohm my — (TODO)
  • Attraction of the best kind — (TODO)
  • Motion — (TODO)
  • In, out, In out, Wheeee — (TODO)
  • Beep, Beeeeeep, Beep, STOP — (TODO)

Come back to this article for updates!

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