A brief history of ship propulsion
By Kiron Kasbekar | 09 Jan 2024
The evolution of ship propulsion systems from oars to nuclear power Ships have played a crucial role in the development of human civilization, enabling exploration, trade, warfare, and the transportation of goods and people across the world's oceans, rivers, and seas and, sadly, warfare too.
The magic of aerogels
By Kiron Kasbekar | 05 Jan 2024
Aerogels, first developed during the 1930s, are some of the lightest known solid materials ever created. They were commercialized during the 1940s. That was a long time ago, but they are still not a widely known substance.
Aerogels – amazing new materials
By Kiron Kasbekar | 05 Jan 2024
One day I was trying to get background on one of the topics I cover for my articles and YouTube videos, and I went off at a tangent, as I sometimes do, and began looking at some entirely different subject. It was a subject I had never read or heard about. It’s a material called aerogel.
Samuel Slater – textile tycoon or traitor?
By Kiron Kasbekar | 26 Dec 2023
Samuel Slater is a name that holds significant importance in the annals of American industrial history. Often referred to as the ‘Father of the American Factory System’, Slater's contributions played a pivotal role in shaping the nation’s industrial landscape.
Underwood Typewriter Company – an icon of the past
By Kiron Kasbekar | 21 Dec 2023
You’ve probably never heard of Underwood typewriters. For the company folded up in 1963 – 60 years ago. You may not even have seen and handled a typewriter, unless someone in your family owned one.
Sad story of the woman after whom the Mercedes car was named
By Kiron Kasbekar | 21 Dec 2023
Mercédès Adrienne Ramona Manuela Jellinek was the daughter of the Austrian automobile visionary, Emil Jellinek, and his first wife, Rachel Goggmann Cenrobert.
The rise and fall of Chrysler
By Kiron Kasbekar | 16 Dec 2023
A century ago, the American automobile industry was more crowded than a vegetable market on a Sunday morning, with such a wide variety of stuff on sale that buyers were spoilt for choice. Buyers could pick and choose, bargain, pay up and drive out with the newly purchased vehicle.
Blockbuster Video: How not to run your business
By Aniket Gupta | 14 Dec 2023
If you were born after the year 2000, then maybe you wouldn’t even know about, or remember, this iconic business that used to stand tall, renting out movies to people and making their lives happier. The business I am talking about is Blockbuster Video.
TRW – the tide turned
By Kiron Kasbekar | 13 Dec 2023
There used to be an American company called Thompson Ramo Wooldridge Inc. This company, which was a global supplier of automotive systems, modules, and components to car and truck manufacturers, started small, as most companies do. Then, as the automotive industry grew bigger, so did TRW.
The rise and fall of Nokia
By Aniket Gupta | 07 Dec 2023
My interest is stories about dominant companies that failed all of a sudden. These companies were once etched into people’s minds but have since become a symbol of nostalgia. One such company, which was the biggest in its industry before it failed catastrophically, is Nokia.
Yahoo!: The first king of the internet
By Aniket Gupta | 01 Dec 2023
The year is 1994. You go to the internet to search for a particular website, but there is no Google that could be used to search your desired website. What do you do? The answer is that you use Yahoo.
The Bata vision
By Kiron Kasbekar | 22 Nov 2023
I find it strange that some big companies keep themselves shut off from public view. Not their products, of course, for the products are on sale worldwide. But their financial data.
Web Stories
TRW: The rise and fall of an automotive giant
01 Apr 2025
.webp){kind=small}
German silver – The alloy that fooled the world
24 Mar 2025
Books
view more
Quiz
