Little Blue Dot: How GPS Shaped the Modern World

Little Blue Dot: How GPS Shaped the Modern World - Hardcover

$29.99
$29.99
Skip to product information
Little Blue Dot: How GPS Shaped the Modern World
  • Little Blue Dot: How GPS Shaped the Modern World
Little Blue Dot: How GPS Shaped the Modern World - Hardcover

Little Blue Dot: How GPS Shaped the Modern World - Hardcover

by Katherine Dunn
$29.99
$29.99

Book Overview

The unexplored history of GPS, a military technology turned daily necessity that impacts all aspects of our lives.

Gone are the days when we pulled off to the side of the road, twisted a map this way and that, and squinted in exasperation before saying, "We're lost." Now, a network of satellites that circles the earth points us in the right direction. The Global Positioning System is embedded not only in our phones but in our cultural history and our future. GPS, intangible but ubiquitous, has instigated a radical shift in our relationship to our own intuition and place in the world, making us critically dependent on technology we forget is even there.

Little Blue Dot uncovers GPS's origins as a product of the Cold War, from the Space Race to the bombing campaigns in Vietnam, following along as its military and civilian uses expanded and shifted to become part of the fabric of modern life. With pulsating detail and witty expertise, investigative reporter Katherine Dunn takes us on a fascinating journey from the origins of the technology to its modern-day iteration, considering its role in international politics and conflict-and its rising vulnerabilities to manipulation. Initially a cog in the wheel of globalization, GPS has now taken on a new life and may even serve as a parable for the proliferation of AI and newer technologies on the horizon. Sharp and evocative, Little Blue Dot considers the future of GPS, its impact on our understanding of space and time, and the role of technology in our lives.
ISBN9781639734313
Author Katherine Dunn
PublisherBloomsbury Publishing
GenreHistory, Education, and Technology
FormatHardcover
PublishedJune 2026
LanguageENG- English
Pages384
Weight1.0 lb
Target AudienceAdults
Print SizeStandard Print

Related Subjects

Computers History Nonfiction Social Science

1% fer Each of the Seven Seas

Every purchase sends 7% of our profits to The Ocean Cleanup. No fine print, no opt-in — just how we sail.

Whoever Ye Be, Welcome Aboard

Queer lit, music, art, philosophy, fiction — stories for every kind of soul. Come as ye are, matey.

More by Katherine Dunn

Little Blue Dot: How GPS Shaped the Modern World

Little Blue Dot: How GPS Shaped the Modern World - Hardcover

Little Blue Dot: How GPS Shaped the Modern World - Hardcover

By Katherine Dunn

About Katherine Dunn

Katherine Dunn (1945-2016) is the author of Geek Love, which was a finalist for the National Book Award and the Bram Stoker Award, as well as the novels Toad, Attic, and Truck. She was an award-winning boxing journalist whose work appeared in Esquire, KO Magazine, The New York Times Magazine, Playboy, The Ring, Sports Illustrated, and Vogue. Her writing on boxing is collected in One Ring Circus. In 2004, Dunn and the photographer Jim Lommasson won the Dorothea Lange-Paul Taylor Prize for their work on the book Shadow Boxers.

You may also like