Name: A Social History of American Technology By Ruth Schwartz Cowan
SKU: 9780195046052
Price: 6.39 USD
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A Social History of American Technology Summary

A Social History of American Technology by Ruth Schwartz Cowan

A Social History of American Technology is a textbook survey of American technology from the early seventeenth century to the present. The concept of technological systems is used as a unifying theme to demonstrate the notion that technological change is neither sudden nor discontinuous, but is always closely related to social developments which determine both the kinds of tools developed and the ways in which they are utilized. Cowan demonstrates that the way in which Americans have viewed technology has been as important as the scientific developments themselves, and in a fascinating final chapter she examines the vast social implications of recent technological developments such as atomic energy, birth control, genetic engineering and personal computers, and the ways in which they are causing changes in America's political, social and economic structure.

A Social History of American Technology Reviews

In brief, American historians of technology have focused on the social and economic contexts and implications of technology and this book is a very useful summary of their endeavours./david J. Jeremy Manchester Metropolitan University/Labour History Review vol 64/31 1999. Cowan offers a reliable and thoughtfully selected review of the dynamics of invention and innovation which generated an increasing pace of technical change and the constitution of vast technological systems in the United States ... Professor Cowan has met the challenge of synthesis with a sure hand, fashioning a text that will have lasting value for students and scholars alike. Philip Scranton, Business History

I. IN THE BEGINNING A Social History of American Technology 1.: The Land, the Natives, and the Settlers The Land and the Native Inhabitants The European Settlers The Colonial Economy Colonial Economic Policy and Technological Change Conclusion: Quickening the Pace for Technological Change 2.: Husbandry and Huswifery in the Colonies Types of Farms in the Colonial Period The Technological System of Colonial Agriculture Conclusion: The Myth of Self-Sufficiency 3.: Colonial Artisans The Apprenticeship System and Labor Scarcity Printshops and Printers Mills, Millwrights, and Millers Iron Foundries and Iron Workers Conclusion: Reasons for the Slow Pace of Technological Change II INDUSTRIALIZATION 4.: Early Decades of Industrialization Oliver Evans, Steam Engines, and Machine Shops Eli Whitney and the Cotton Gin The Armament Industry and the American System of Manufacture Samuel Slater and the Factory System Conclusion: The Unique Character of American Industrialization 5.: Transportation Revolutions Transportation Difficulties Toll Roads and Entrepreneurs Canal Building and State Financing Steamboats: Steam Power and State Power Railroads: Completing a National Transportation System 6.: Inventors, Entrepreneurs and Engineers The Patent System: The Public History of Invention Inventors: Changes between 1820 and 1920 7.: Industrial Society and Technological Systems Industrialization, Dependency, and Technological Systems The Telegraph System The Railroad System The Telephone System The Electric System The Character of Industrialized Society Conclusion: Industrialization and Technological Systems 8.: Daily Life and Mundane Work Farmers and Unexpected Outcomes Skilled and Deskilled Workers Unskilled Workers Housewives and House Servants Conclusion: Was Industrialization Good or Bad for Workers? 9.: American Ideas about Technology Technology and Associated Ideas Precursors to Industrialization Technology and Romanticism Acceptance of Romanticism by Advocates of Industrialization Technology and Art Conclusion: The Cultural Meanings of Technology TWENTIETH-CENTURY TECHNOLOGIES Blessing or Curse? 10.: Automobiles and Automobility Who Invented the Automobile? Henry Ford and the Mass-Produced Automobile Alfred P. Sloan and the Mass-Marketed American Automobile Automobility and the Road System before 1945 Automobility and the Road System after 1945 The Unexpected Consequences of Automobility 11.: Taxpayers, Generals and Aviation The Early Days of Aircraft and the Aircraft Industry World War II: A Turning Point The Military-Industrial-Academic Complex Civilian Spin-offs and the Race into Space Conclusion: Costs and Benefits of Military Sponsorship 12.: Communications Technologies and Social Control Wireless Telegraphy Wireless Telephony Government Regulation of Wireless Communication Wireless Broadcasting: Radio Television Electronic Components: The Vacuum Tube and the Transistor Computers COnclusion: The Ultimate Failure of Efforts to Control Electronic Communication 13.: Biotechnology Science, Technology, and Technoscience Hybrid Corn Pencillin The Birth Control Pill Conclusion Index

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Sku

CIN0195046056G

ISBN 13

9780195046052

ISBN 10

0195046056

Title

A Social History of American Technology by Ruth Schwartz Cowan

Author

Ruth Schwartz Cowan

Condition

Used - Good

Binding type

Paperback

Publisher

Oxford University Press Inc

Year published

19970130

Number of pages

352

Prizes

N/A

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Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.

Note

This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

A Social History of American Technology Ruth Schwartz Cowan

A Social History of American Technology by Ruth Schwartz Cowan

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A Social History of American Technology Summary

A Social History of American Technology by Ruth Schwartz Cowan

A Social History of American Technology Reviews

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