Technology is the most prevalent and powerful force in the modern world. Different aspects of technology play immense roles in our lives, from determining how doctors treat diseases to the kinds of energy we use to fuel our vehicles, from providing us with means of exploring the universe to communication systems like cell phones and the Internet. But technology is more than the sum of the tools we use -- it's also a way of thinking about the world. Technology follows the development of tools and their use, from the dawn of civilization through to modern times and even into the near future. It traces the development of technology from a tool in the service of science and humanity to a force more powerful than religion and politics -- an entity that now appears to be controlling its own destiny as well as ours.