A Social History of American Technology
Published on 30. January 1997
Book
Paperback/Softback
352 pages
978-0-19-504605-2 (ISBN)
Description
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.
Reviews / Votes
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 HistoryMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
halftones, line drawings
Dimensions
Height: 233 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
503 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-504605-2 (9780195046052)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Content
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
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