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THE MAKING OF THE MODERN WORLD: 1 9 4 5 TO T H E PR E S EN T

Since the end of World War II, the world has transformed in profound, far-reaching ways. The dismantling of European empires after the war led to decolonization, and the realignment of WWII allies led to conflict between superpowers. As the Cold War heated up, two ideologies— capitalism and communism—shaped daily life and international affairs. And as it wound down, a tidal wave of globalization wrought new avenues for growth but new sources of conflict—between the wealthy and the poor, between the Global South and the Global North. THE MAKING OF THE MODERN WORLD: 1945 TO THE PRESENT OFFERS STUDENTS AN ACCESSIBLE GUIDE TO THESE TRANSFORMATIONS. IN A COMPELLING NARRATIVE STYLE, THE HUMAN STORY OF OUR PLANET’S MOST RECENT HISTORY COMES TO LIFE.

- AN EASY INTERFACE In theearlydaysofpersonal computing,people typed inMS-DOS commandsonablankscreen to operate theircomputersandaccess informationon them.ButBillGates andPaulAllenhadsomething different inmind. In 1985,Gates andAllen’scompany,Microsoft, cameoutwith itsfirstversionof MicrosoftWindows,which rendered MS-DOSnearlyobsolete. Windows,however,wasnot the firstoperating system to intro- duce thegraphicaluser interface, orGUI.Apple introduced its now-iconicMacintosh computer in 1984.Andwhile thefirstMacs didn’t takeoffasquicklyas the early IBM–basedPCsdid, they were thefirst togivepeople aneasyway to interactwitha computer. Actual Text Size gineering. One of the most remarkable accomplish was the ability to create new drugs using genetic mat The first to do it were William Rutter and Valenzuela of the University of California, who in produced a bioengineered vaccine against hepati Until then, conventional hepatitis vaccines were from the blood of those infected with the virus. That nique, however, presented scientists with problems. could contain an undetected virus. Moreover, there - - - CHAPTER4 39 PCs Grow Up I n theworld of computing, private enterprise clearly held the reins: a number of companies in the United States— some small and new, some large and established—began producing personal computers.Once the domain of hob- byists, PCs began popping up in homes, businesses, and governmentoffices.Everyyearcompanies releasednewand bettermodels,making the computer industry a cutthroat business.Computers became smarter,morepowerful, and easier to use. People, universities, businesses, and govern- mentsbeganusing themonanunprecedented scale. In1981, IBM introduced aPC that turned the comput- ingworldon itshead.The computer camewith twofloppy drives,acolormonitor,andadotmatrixprinter.By the fol- lowing year, the computerhadbecome such an important partof life that Time magazinenamed it “Manof theYear,” beating outRonaldReagan and PrimeMinisterMargaret ThatcherofBritain. “Computers were once regarded as distant, ominous abstractions, like Big Brother,” the magazine wrote. “In 1982, they truly became personalized, brought down to scale,so thatpeoplecouldhold,prodandplaywith them.” Bioengineering A s the computer continued to leave itsmarkon theworld, scientistsweremaking incrediblebreakthroughs inbioen- gineering.One of themost remarkable accomplishments was theability to createnewdrugsusinggeneticmaterial. The first to do it were William Rutter and Pablo Valenzuela of the University of California, who in 1981 produced a bioengineered vaccine against hepatitis B. Until then, conventional hepatitis vaccines were made from thebloodof those infectedwith the virus.That tech- nique,however,presented scientistswithproblems.Blood could contain anundetected virus.Moreover, therewasn’t enough plasma tomeet thedemand for the vaccine. By genetically engineering vaccines, scientists avoided the use of human blood. Instead, researchers inserted a gene from thehepatitisB virus into yeast cells.Those cells AnearlyAppleMacintosh computer, fromaround 1984.

Tunnel Vision B y theendof thedecade,government funding forBigSciencebegan towaneasbusi- ness took amore active role in research, engineering, and technological innovation. Given the freedom that private enterpriseswere allowed inWestern countries, they had advantages over the state-controlled scientists in the Soviet Bloc.When engi- neers began tunneling under the English Channel, for instance, to connect Great Britainwith Francewith a high-speed rail line, private enterprise, not the govern- ment, footed thebill. Referred to as the “Chunnel,” a combination of “channel” and “tunnel,” the 31-mile (50-km) tunnel was a collaborative effort between French and British companies. InGreatBritain, themoney for the project came from two banks and five construction companies, while in France, three banks and five construction companieshelped pay the bills.Completed in 1994, theChunnel today isused by 20millionpeople a year.

AEurostar trainas itemerges from theChunnel on theFrench side inCoquelles,nearCalais.

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