Every time your heart beats, an electrical current has been sent from certain cells to the rest of the heart muscle tissue, triggering your heart to contract and push blood through your body. When these signals go awry, major health issues such as heart attacks can occur. Enter the pacemaker, a small implanted device that keeps your heart beating. Did you know, implantable pacemakers were invented by accident? This volume explores the history, struggles, and the accidental invention of the pacemaker, a device that beats hundreds of thousands of times each year to save people's lives.

Boom! Dynamite can blast away mountainsides and bring down buildings. This powerful explosive was discovered over 150 years ago, but it wasn't always safe to use. That's because dynamite contains nitroglycerin, a very dangerous explosive. In the late 1860s, Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel accidentally invented dynamite while he was working on a way to make nitroglycerin safer to handle. This book takes an in-depth look at the science behind dynamite, as well as its role in the past, present, and future of demolition. Readers will have a blast learning about this explosive discovery.

How many items can you think of that are made of plastic? It's seemingly everywhere. It might be difficult to imagine a world without plastic, but until about 100 years ago, plastic as we know it today didn't exist. The word "plastic" wasn't even used until the 1920s. Readers will learn how many types of plastic were invented accidentally by scientists who were trying to make something else. Accessible, fun content describes how these discoveries were made and how they would go on to change the world in ways both big and small.

In 1945, invisible waves such as radio waves and microwaves had already changed the world. As World War II raged on, microwaves were an important tool for the Allied war effort as they were used to spot incoming enemy airplanes and ships. Today microwaves are now part of daily life on a much smaller scale. Instead of watching movement, the energy of microwaves is used to heat up your favorite meals and leftovers, quickly, at any time, with the push of a few buttons. Readers will learn it's an amazing technological advancement that was discovered completely by accident.

HOW SOUTHERN IS THAT? brings southern ways of cool evenings, hot days. Fast-paced stories, poetry, snappy quotes make you want to kick off your shoes, sit back, and enjoy. Reading about scandal, sensational leaders, words forming pictures make readers feel they are part of each story, rather than merely reading them. Want to go to tea? You're here. Want to go to the movies about the south? Pick one, and feel that you are on a vacation for sure. Y'all ready? Hold steady. Enjoy what the South has--and all that jazz.

The overwhelming majority of a software system’s lifespan is spent in use, not in design or implementation. So, why does conventional wisdom insist that software engineers focus primarily on the design and development of large-scale computing systems? In this collection of essays and articles, key members of Google’s Site Reliability Team explain how and why their commitment to the entire lifecycle has enabled the company to successfully build, deploy, monitor, and maintain some of the largest software systems in the world. You’ll learn the principles and practices that enable Google engineers to make systems more scalable, reliable, and efficient—lessons directly applicable to your organization. This book is divided into four sections: Introduction—Learn what site reliability engineering is and why it differs from conventional IT industry practices Principles—Examine the patterns, behaviors, and areas of concern that influence the work of a site reliability engineer (SRE) Practices—Understand the theory and practice of an SRE’s day-to-day work: building and operating large distributed computing systems Management—Explore Google's best practices for training, communication, and meetings that your organization can use