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Paths / Path 15

How Things Work

The inventions that run your day, from the electricity in the wall to the AI in your phone.

For: anyone who uses technology and would like it to feel less like magic.

17readings
5.8 hoursof reading
2stages
1 quick read · 4 reads · 12 deep dives
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Stage 1

Start

4 readings · 22 min
  1. 01Quick readInteractiveQuiz4 min

    How Electricity Actually Reaches Your Wall

    How electricity reaches your wall.
  2. 02ReadInteractiveQuiz6 min

    Nikola Tesla: Electrifying the World

    Tesla and the electrified world.
  3. 03ReadInteractiveQuiz7 min

    Alan Turing: The Machine That Defined Computing

    Turing and the machine that defined computing.
  4. 04ReadInteractiveQuiz5 min

    Cryptography: The Math That Keeps Your Secrets

    Cryptography: the maths that keeps your secrets.
Stage 2

Go deep (deep dives: 15–30 minutes each)

13 readings · 5.4 hours
  1. 05Deep diveInteractiveQuiz29 min

    Processors: How a CPU Thinks

    Processors: how a CPU thinks.
  2. 06Deep diveQuiz26 min

    GPUs: From Video Games to the Engine of AI

    GPUs: from video games to the engine of AI.
  3. 07Deep diveInteractiveQuiz26 min

    How Screens Work

    How screens work.
  4. 08Deep diveQuiz27 min

    The Internet: From ARPANET to the Network in Your Pocket

    The internet.
  5. 09Deep diveQuiz28 min

    Artificial Intelligence: Where It Came From and Where It Stands

    Artificial intelligence: where it came from, where it stands.
  6. 10Deep diveInteractiveQuiz21 min

    How Large Language Models Actually Work

    How large language models actually work.
  7. 11Deep diveInteractiveQuiz25 min

    Blockchain, Explained: Bitcoin, Ethereum, and What a Shared Ledger Is Actually Good For

    Blockchain, explained.
  8. 12Deep diveInteractiveQuiz25 min

    Batteries

    Batteries.
  9. 13Deep diveQuiz27 min

    Cars: From the Benz Patent-Motorwagen to Electric and Self-Driving

    Cars.
  10. 14Deep diveInteractiveQuiz29 min

    Flying Machines

    Flying machines.
  11. 15Deep diveQuiz27 min

    Rockets and Spaceflight: From Fireworks to Reusable Boosters

    Rockets and spaceflight.
  12. 16ReadInteractiveQuiz7 min

    How a Nuclear Reactor Works

    How a nuclear reactor works.
  13. 17Deep diveQuiz29 min

    Nuclear Energy: The Promise, the Accidents, and the Comeback

    Nuclear energy: the promise, the accidents, the comeback.
When you finish

Careers (engineer, software engineer, data scientist); The Way Things Work Now (Macaulay).

Next path →

Seeing, Hearing, Telling: The Arts

How to look at a painting, listen to a song and watch a film like someone who makes them.