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Horse poop propelled us into automobiles. In the early 20th century there were health concerns over all the manure taking up urban streets. That said, we shifted from an actual horse\\u2019s power to shifting into Fords and all sorts of other mechanical personal vehicles. By doing that, we reshaped cities and, further, human society.

In\\xa0A Brief History of Motion, journalist Tom Standage gave a brisk, entertaining look at how we got from point A to point B throughout history. From the origins of the wheel (likely first made in the Carpathian Mountains during the Copper Age), Standage moved through the eras of horses, trains, bicycles, and the mighty automobile. In each step, he illuminated how we\\u2019ve been shaped by these inventions and asks important questions like, \\u201cWhy does red mean stop and green mean go?\\u201d \\u201cWhy do some countries drive on the left, and some on the right?\\u201d and \\u201cWhat might travel in a post-car world look like?\\u201d Our relationship with personal transportation has evolved and is ever-evolving (we\\u2019re moving into an era of rideshares and electric cars\\u2014 when are we going to finally get personal jet packs?) and Standage asserted that understanding how the modern world came to be is key in moving forward.

Tom Standage\\xa0is deputy editor of the\\xa0Economist\\xa0and the author of six previous history books.\\xa0His writing has also appeared in the\\xa0New York Times, the\\xa0Guardian,\\xa0Wired, and other publications. Standage holds a degree in engineering and computer science from Oxford University.

Mark Harris\\xa0is an investigative technology reporter based in Seattle, writing regularly for\\xa0The Guardian,\\xa0Wired,\\xa0MIT Technology Review,\\xa0and\\xa0TechCrunch.\\xa0 He has a special interest in transportation, breaking stories on giant airships, military drones, GPS attacks, and automated vehicles.\\xa0

Buy the Book: A Brief History of Motion: From the Wheel, to the Car, to What Comes Next (Hardcover)\\xa0from Third Place Books

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