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History of Technology

A look back at key moments in the history of cyberspace, electronics, and the space age
History of TechnologyTopicMagazineOctober 2023ArticleType

The Marimba Virtuoso’s Desktop Planetarium

The inventor of this space-age orrery had a soft spot for Halley’s Comet

7 min read
A color photo of an electronic device with knobs across the bottom and a round display depicting the solar system.
Who Really Invented the Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery?
History of TechnologyTopicAugust 2023MagazineTypeFeatureConsumer Electronics

Who Really Invented the Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery?

Many dropped the baton before Sony finally took it across the finish line

10 min read
Black and white photo of smoke rising from buildings, some of which are collapsed.
History of TechnologyTopicMagazineSeptember 2023ArticleType

Taking the Measure of the Earthquake That Destroyed Tokyo

A century on, we’re good at detecting earthquakes, not so good at protecting against them

6 min read
Teledyne logo
TelecommunicationsTopicWebinarTypeComputingConsumer Electronics

Data Acquisition On-Demand Webinars

Get instant online access to Teledyne's on-demand webinars on high-performance digitizers, pulse detection, peer-to-peer streaming, high-level synthesis, and more

Black and white illustration of a man with a moustache
History of TechnologyTopicTypeTransportationProfile

Granville T. Woods: Smartest Guy in the Room

Self-taught “Black Edison” is a hidden figure everyone should know about

4 min read
A dark haired man in glasses looks off into the distance. He sits on an outdoor bench with lush green trees behind him. A white cane rests vertically against his chest.
History of TechnologyTopicMagazineOctober 2023TypeInterview

Assistive Tech at the End of Sight

The Country of the Blind advances techniques and technologies for the visually impaired

9 min read

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A multiple-exposure black and white photo showing a man flexing a prosthetic arm.
History of TechnologyTopicAugust 2023MagazineBiomedicalArticleType

The Cold War Arms Race Over Prosthetic Arms

The Russian Hand came first, but the Boston Arm was better

7 min read
A purple gloved hand holds a rectangle of old paper currency on top of lab equipment.
History of TechnologyTopicTypeNews

Franklin’s Franklins Were Freakishly Un-Fakeable

The printer and patriot’s protective tricks promoted Colonial-era paper money

3 min read

Journal Watch

The latest engineering and computer science advances in context from IEEE Spectrum and the Xplore Digital Library
TransportationTopicTypeNewsClimate Tech

This Universal Charger Could Simplify the EV Landscape

2 min read
hand plugging in a gray device into a car
EnergyTopicTypeNewsClimate Tech

Solar-Powered Electric Motors for EVs That Never Plug In

2 min read
A photo-illustration of a car with solar panels on top moving in a symbol of the sun.
Climate TechTopicEnergyTypeComputingNews

Tape Storage Might Be Computing’s Climate Savior

4 min read
Textured rectangles bathed in blue light
Climate TechTopicEnergyTypeNews

Where There’s Smoke, There’s Wiggly Solar Output

3 min read
birds eye view of trees, houses and cars driving on a highway

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Glowing purple optical fiber curled on a black worktable with a grid of holes in it.
TelecommunicationsTopicTypeHistory of TechnologyNews

The Invention That Let Fiber Optics Span the Globe

In 1985, Robert Mears’s EDFA was just gearing up to interconnect the world

5 min read
drawing of a hand holding out a bar to two squares attached to a pole
The InstituteTopicArticleTypeHistory of Technology

The Pioneer Behind Electromagnetism

Ampère’s theory was fundamental to electronic inventions such as motors and generators

3 min read
original macintosh computer with keyboard and mouse, screen display says "happy birthday"
History of TechnologyTopicTypeFeatureComputingConsumer Electronics

Designing the First Apple Macintosh: The Engineers’ Story

How a small team of little-known designers changed computing forever

28 min read

Black History Month

Acknowledging and honoring the contributions of Black inventors and engineers
See the full collection →
Woman in a red jacket over a black dress standing in a hallway.
CareersTopicMagazineTypeSpectrum CollectionsProfileFebruary 2023

Overcoming Systemic Racism Through System Engineering

Photograph of James West holding the smart stethoscope.
BiomedicalTopicTypeSpectrum CollectionsNews

From the Segregated South to Bell Labs to the AI Frontier

Mrs. Katherine G. Johnson at Work at NASA Langley
The InstituteTopic2019ArticleTypeSpectrum CollectionsSpecial Reports

Katherine Johnson, the Hidden Figures Mathematician Who Got Astronaut John Glenn Into Space

The Woods Building following the Tulsa Massacre in 1921.
CareersTopicTypeSpectrum CollectionsNews

How Violence and Segregation Destroyed African American Innovation

Photo of an electric hot combs from the 1920s.
History of TechnologyTopic2019TypeArticleSpectrum Collections

How the Electric Hot Comb Became an Entrepreneurial Tool

History of TechnologyTopicJuly 2023MagazineArticleTypeRobotics

This 1920 Chess Automaton Was Wired to Win

Inventor Leonardo Torres Quevedo aspired to build machines that think

7 min read
This 1920 Chess Automaton Was Wired to Win
a large group of older men standing for a group portrait, some sitting on chairs in front and others standing behind them
The InstituteTopicArticleTypeHistory of Technology

How the Computer Graphics Industry Got Started at the University of Utah

Adobe and Pixar founders created tech that shaped modern animation

4 min read
A person with long hair wearing white VR googles with a tube connected to the nose area against a white background
Consumer ElectronicsTopicTypeHistory of TechnologyNews

Smellovision Gets a Refresh

VR olfactory generators are just the latest scent across 150 years of aromatic tech history

6 min read
A photo of an antique contraption having glass disks, a wooden base, and supporting wires.
History of TechnologyTopicMagazineArticleTypeJune 2023

James Wimshurst’s Electrostatic Immortality

Little is known about the man, but his iconic generators live on

4 min read
Historical photo of seven smiling men, sitting on a lawn in front of a tree and a white school building with many windows.
History of TechnologyTopicArtificial IntelligenceTypeGuest Article

The Meeting of the Minds That Launched AI

There’s more to this group photo from a 1956 AI workshop than you’d think

6 min read

Explore topics

IEEE Spectrum reports on developments in each of these categories
  • Aerospace

    The latest developments in aviation, satellites, astrophysics, space flight, and space exploration

  • Artificial Intelligence

    The latest developments in machine learning, embedded intelligent systems, and medical AI

  • Biomedical

    The latest developments in biomedical devices, prosthetics, imaging, and diagnostics

  • Climate Tech

    The latest developments in renewables, carbon capture, emissions monitoring, geoengineering, and electrifying everything

  • Computing

    The latest developments in embedded systems, hardware, software, quantum computers, and IT

  • Consumer Electronics

    The latest developments in gadgets, gaming, smart phones, virtual reality, and audio/video

  • Energy

    The latest developments in power generation, batteries, renewables, smart grid, and nuclear energy

  • History of Technology

    A look back at key moments in the history of cyberspace, electronics, and the space age

  • Robotics

    The latest developments in consumer robots, humanoids, drones, and automation

  • Semiconductors

    The latest developments in processors, memory, nanotechnology, optoelectronics, and integrated circuit design and materials

  • Sensors

    The latest developments in computer vision, lidar, chemical sensors, and remote sensing

  • Telecommunications

    The latest developments in wireless networks, Internet standards, 5G, IoT, security, and information theory

  • Transportation

    The latest developments in electric vehicles, advanced aircraft, and self-driving cars

  • DIY

    Reviews, hands-on projects, and the latest on the maker movement from Spectrum's DIY editor Stephen Cass

  • Careers

    Profiles and interviews with engineers, tech industry news, and the latest trends on the job market

  • The Institute

    The latest news about IEEE, its members, tech history, and new offerings

man speaking to a group of people in front of a screen that says "SRI parc" and in smaller letters "A fusion of innovation icons"
History of TechnologyTopicTypeComputingNews

Xerox Donates Legendary PARC Research Center

The lab that pioneered personal computing will become part of SRI International

3 min read
A photo of a dented metal object encased in a tan outer coating.
History of TechnologyTopicAerospaceMagazineArticleTypeMay 2023

Skylab: The Space Station That Fell on Australia

Repaired during one of the riskiest missions ever, it orbited for 6 years

6 min read
Meet Mr. Internet: Vint Cerf
CareersTopicMagazineTypeFeatureTelecommunicationsHistory of TechnologyMay 2023

Meet Mr. Internet: Vint Cerf

Even after 50 years, he’s still extending and evangelizing the Internet

12 min read
A black and white photo of a young man sitting in front of a CRT screen that has lines and numbers on it.
History of TechnologyTopicTypeComputingGuest Article

The Tremendous VR and CG Systems—of the 1960s

And how computer graphics pioneer Ivan Sutherland helped instigate it all

9 min read
History of TechnologyTopicMagazineTypeFeatureComputingMay 2023

The Do-or-Die Moments That Determined the Fate of the Internet

A handful of demos shaped today’s networked world

10 min read
This photograph of the exhibition floor shows a large number of people moving about and visiting booths set up by IBM and Sony, among many other companies.