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Books > Professional & Technical > Technology: general issues > History of engineering & technology
Since 2003 the International Association for the History of
Traffic, Transport and Mobility (T2M) has served as a trade-free
zone, fostering a new interdisciplinary vitality in the
now-flourishing study of the History of Mobility. In its Yearbook,
"Mobility in History," T2M surveys these developments in the form
of a comprehensive state-of-the-art review of research in the
field, presenting synopses of recent research, international
reviews of research across many countries, thematic reviews, and
retrospective assessments of classic works in the area. "Mobility
in History" provides an essential and comprehensive overview of the
current situation of Mobility studies.
The technical problems confronting different societies in different
periods and the measures taken to solve them form the concern of
this annual collection of essays. Dealing with the history of
technical discovery and change, the volumes in this series explore
the relationship of technology to other aspects of life--social,
cultural and economic--and show how technological development has
shaped, and been shaped by, the society in which it has occurred.
The Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, dazzled with its
new rainbow-colored electric lights. It showcased an array of
wonders, like daredevils attempting to go over Niagara Falls in a
barrel, or the "Animal King" putting the smallest woman in the
world and also terrifying animals on display. But the
thrill-seeking spectators little suspected that an assassin walked
the fairgrounds, waiting for President William McKinley to arrive.
In Margaret Creighton's hands, the result is "a persuasive case
that the fair was a microcosm of some momentous facets of the
United States, good and bad, at the onset of the American Century"
(Howard Schneider, Wall Street Journal).
This book traces the pedagogical evolution of technical
communication in America as it grew out of Engineering English
requirements from roughly the turn of the century to 1950. This
study examines specific curricular patterns, texts, and writers on
the subject of technical communication, while also tracing
engineering educational patterns as they emerge from the
proceedings of the society for the promotion of engineering
education. Unique to the second edition of the book is a new
preface by the recent past ATTW series editor, Jimmie
Killingsworth, a new introduction by Elizabeth Tebeaux, and an
epilogue by Katherine Staples. Writing in a Milieu of Utility
concludes that technical writing, as we teach it today, likely
found its roots in engineering composition pedagogy, when, at
approximately the turn of the century, engineering educators
recognized that writing about science and technology not only made
sense in an academic milieu that emphasized utility, but that such
writing could also contribute to the professional success of
engineering students. Existing somewhat tenuously as engineering
itself sought academic status, technical communication emerged
ultimately as a re-conceptualized composition course, after early
to mid twentieth century calls for English and engineering
cooperation made traditional composition offerings less relevant.
Academic writing on environmental communication proliferated in the
1990's. A few of us had been calling for such work and making
initial investigations throughout the 1980's, but the momentum in
the field built slowly. Spurred by coverage in the mass media,
academic publishers finally caught the wave of interest. In this
exciting new volume, the editors demonstrate more fully than ever
before how environmental rhetoric and technical communication go
hand in hand. The key link that they and their distinguished group
of contributors have discovered is the ancient concern of
communication scholars with public deliberation. Environmental
issues present technical communicators with some of their greatest
challenges, above all, how to make the highly specialized and
inscrutably difficult technical information generated by
environmental scientists and engineers usable in public decision
making. The editors encourage us to accept the challenge of
contributing to environmentally conscious decision making by
integrating technical knowledge and human values. For technical
communicators who accept the challenge of working toward solutions
by opening access to crucial information and by engaging in
critical thinking on ecological issues, the research and theory
offered in this volume provide a strong foundation for future
practice.
The technical problems confronting different societies and periods,
and the measures taken to solve them form the concern of this
annual collection of essays. Volumes contain technical articles
ranging widely in subject, time and region, as well as general
papers on the history of technology. In addition to dealing with
the history of technical discovery and change, History of
Technology also explores the relations of technology to other
aspects of life -- social, cultural and economic -- and shows how
technological development has shaped, and been shaped by, the
society in which it occurred.
An enlightening history of 19th-century technology, focusing on the
connections between invention and cultural values. Victorian
Technology: Invention, Innovation, and the Rise of the Machine
captures the extraordinary surge of energy and invention that
catapulted 19th-century England into the position of the world's
first industrialized nation. It was an astonishing transformation,
one that shaped—and was shaped by—the values of the Victorian
era, and that laid the groundwork for the consumer-based society in
which we currently live. Filled with vivid details and fascinating
insights into the impact of the Industrial Revolution on peoples'
lives, Victorian Technology locates the forerunners of the defining
technologies of the our time in 19th-century England: the computer,
the Internet, mass transit, and mass communication. Readers will
encounter the innovative thinkers and entrepreneurs behind
history-making breakthroughs in communications (the transatlantic
cable, wireless communication), mass production (the integrated
factory), transportation (railroads, gliders, automobiles), and
more.
Why write a book about science, technology, and medicine in Lisbon?
No one questions the value of similar studies of European capital
cities such as Paris or London, but they are not reflective of the
norm. Alongside its unique characteristics, Lisbon more closely
represents the rule and deserves attention as such. This book
offers the first urban history of science, technology and medicine
in Lisbon, 1840-1940. It addresses the hybrid character of a
European port city, scientific capital and imperial metropolis. It
discusses the role of science, technology, and medicine in the
making of Lisbon, framed by the analysis of invisibilities, urban
connections, and techno-scientific imaginaries. The book is
accompanied by a virtual interactive map.
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