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Books > Professional & Technical > Technology: general issues > History of engineering & technology

Sage on the Screen - Education, Media, and How We Learn (Hardcover): Bill Ferster Sage on the Screen - Education, Media, and How We Learn (Hardcover)
Bill Ferster
R876 Discovery Miles 8 760 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Since the days of Thomas Edison, technology has held the promise of lowering the cost of education. The fantasy of leveraging a fixed production cost to reach an unlimited number of consumers is an enticing economic proposition, one that has been repeatedly attempted with each new media format, from radio and television to MOOCs, where star academics make online video lectures available to millions of students at little cost. In Sage on the Screen, Bill Ferster explores the historical, theoretical, and practical perspectives of using broadcast media to teach by examining a century of efforts to use it at home and in the classroom. Along the way, he shares stories from teachers, administrators, entrepreneurs, and innovators who promoted the use of cutting-edge technology-while critically evaluating their motives for doing so. Taking a close look at the origins of various media forms, their interrelatedness, and their impact on education thus far, Ferster asks why broadcast media has been so much more successful at entertaining people than it has been at educating them. Accessibly written and full of explanatory art, Sage on the Screen offers fresh insight into the current and future uses of instructional technology, from K-12 through non-institutionally-based learning.

Meat Planet - Artificial Flesh and the Future of Food (Paperback): Benjamin Aldes Wurgaft Meat Planet - Artificial Flesh and the Future of Food (Paperback)
Benjamin Aldes Wurgaft
R554 Discovery Miles 5 540 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

In 2013, a Dutch scientist unveiled the world's first laboratory-created hamburger. Since then, the idea of producing meat, not from live animals but from carefully cultured tissues, has spread like wildfire through the media. Meanwhile, cultured meat researchers race against population growth and climate change in an effort to make sustainable protein. Meat Planet explores the quest to generate meat in the lab-a substance sometimes called "cultured meat"-and asks what it means to imagine that this is the future of food. Neither an advocate nor a critic of cultured meat, Benjamin Aldes Wurgaft spent five years researching the phenomenon. In Meat Planet, he reveals how debates about lab-grown meat reach beyond debates about food, examining the links between appetite, growth, and capitalism. Could satiating the growing appetite for meat actually lead to our undoing? Are we simply using one technology to undo the damage caused by another? Like all problems in our food system, the meat problem is not merely a problem of production. It is intrinsically social and political, and it demands that we examine questions of justice and desirable modes of living in a shared and finite world. Benjamin Wurgaft tells a story that could utterly transform the way we think of animals, the way we relate to farmland, the way we use water, and the way we think about population and our fragile ecosystem's capacity to sustain life. He argues that even if cultured meat does not "succeed," it functions-much like science fiction-as a crucial mirror that we can hold up to our contemporary fleshy dysfunctions.

Classic Railroad Scenes: Railroads at Work Hard Cover (Hardcover): Art Peterson Classic Railroad Scenes: Railroads at Work Hard Cover (Hardcover)
Art Peterson
R1,165 R960 Discovery Miles 9 600 Save R205 (18%) Ships in 10 - 15 working days
The Civil Engineers - The Story of the Institution of Civil Engineers and the People Who Made It (Hardcover, New): Hugh Ferguson The Civil Engineers - The Story of the Institution of Civil Engineers and the People Who Made It (Hardcover, New)
Hugh Ferguson
R1,784 Discovery Miles 17 840 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

The first history of the Institution of Civil Engineers to be illustrated in colour looks at the development of the profession over nearly 200 years and includes biographies of some of the greatest engineers who made these changes possible, charting the successes of construction from the great engineering advances of Victorian times to the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. A fascinating and informative read for all those interested in the history of ICE and how it has grown as well as the civil engineering industry and its impact on the world in which we live.

Data Borders - How Silicon Valley Is Building an Industry around Immigrants (Paperback): Melissa Villa-Nicholas Data Borders - How Silicon Valley Is Building an Industry around Immigrants (Paperback)
Melissa Villa-Nicholas
R651 Discovery Miles 6 510 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Data Borders investigates entrenched and emerging borderland technology that ensnares all people in an intimate web of surveillance where data resides and defines citizenship. Detailing the new trend of biologically mapping undocumented people through biotechnologies, Melissa Villa-Nicholas shows how surreptitious monitoring of Latinx immigrants is the focus of and driving force behind Silicon Valley's growing industry within defense technology manufacturing. Villa-Nicholas reveals a murky network that gathers data on marginalized communities for purposes of exploitation and control that implicates law enforcement, border patrol, and ICE, but that also pulls in public workers and the general public, often without their knowledge or consent. Enriched by interviews of Latinx immigrants living in the borderlands who describe their daily use of technology and their caution around surveillance, this book argues that in order to move beyond a heavily surveilled state that dehumanizes both immigrants and citizens, we must first understand how our data is being collected, aggregated, correlated, and weaponized with artificial intelligence and then push for immigrant and citizen information privacy rights along the border and throughout the United States.

Lotus Evora - Speed and Style (Hardcover): Johnny Tipler Lotus Evora - Speed and Style (Hardcover)
Johnny Tipler
R1,521 R1,178 Discovery Miles 11 780 Save R343 (23%) Ships in 9 - 15 working days

This history of the Lotus Evora traces the genesis, context, manufacture and evolution of the Type 122 Evora and its derivative models.The Evora's prowess as a grand touring sports car is demonstrated with the author's international road trips, and its essence is detailed through in-depth interviews with leading personalities at Lotus involved with the design, development, construction and marketing programmes. The book concludes with the launch of the Evora's successor, the Type 131 Emira in 2021. Johnny Tipler has a long association with the Lotus marque, having run the John Player Team Lotus Motorsport Press Office during the halcyon JPS era, as recounted in his 2019 book 'Black and Gold'. He has authored many automotive books, notably on the Lotus Elise, and also wrote for the Club Lotus International publication between 2005 and 2011. He is a good friend of Classic Team Lotus boss Clive Chapman (son of the Lotus founder Colin Chapman) and regularly attends historic races such as the Goodwood Revival where CTL's F1 Lotuses are in action.

A Radical History of the World (Hardcover): Neil Faulkner A Radical History of the World (Hardcover)
Neil Faulkner
R1,796 Discovery Miles 17 960 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

History is a weapon. The powerful have their version of events, the people have another. And if we understand how the past was forged, we arm ourselves to change the future. This is a history of struggle, revolution and social change: of hominids, hunters and herders; of emperors and slaves; of patriarchs and women; of rich and poor; of dictators and revolutionaries. From the ancient empires of Persia and Rome to the Russian Revolution, the Vietnam War, and the 2008 Crash, this is a history of greed and violence, but also of solidarity and resistance. Many times in the past, a different society became an absolute necessity. Humans have always struggled to create a better life. This history proves that we, the many, have the power to change the world.

Pullman - The Man, the Company, the Historical Park (Paperback): Kenneth J. Schoon Pullman - The Man, the Company, the Historical Park (Paperback)
Kenneth J. Schoon
R610 R512 Discovery Miles 5 120 Save R98 (16%) Ships in 10 - 15 working days
A Brief History of High-Speed Rail (Hardcover, 1st ed. 2023): Qizhou Hu, Siyuan Qu A Brief History of High-Speed Rail (Hardcover, 1st ed. 2023)
Qizhou Hu, Siyuan Qu
R1,154 Discovery Miles 11 540 Ships in 9 - 15 working days

This book introduces the basic knowledge, concepts, terms and development process of high-speed rail (HSR) and summarizes its main achievements at this stage. It mainly expounds the connotation of high-speed rail to readers from two different aspects of theory and technology. The book explains the development process of high-speed rail in terms of time: yesterday's wheel rail high-speed rail, today's maglev high-speed rail and tomorrow's super high-speed rail; and also spatially, making a comparative analysis of the development around the world. This book can be used as a reading material for scientific researchers, engineering technicians, management workers, teachers and students of colleges and universities as well as high-speed railfans.

Women and Gender in Science and Technology (Hardcover): Londa Schiebinger Women and Gender in Science and Technology (Hardcover)
Londa Schiebinger
R29,481 Discovery Miles 294 810 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

The question of gender in science and technology is pursued by scholars from different disciplines and perspectives: historians study the lives of women scientists within the context of institutions that for centuries held women at arm's length; sociologists uncover women's access to the means of scientific production; biologists scrutinize how science has studied female and male bodies; cultural critics explore normative understandings of femininity and masculinity; philosophers and historians of science analyse how gender has influenced the content and methods of science and technology. Now, this new four-volume collection from Routledge enables users to make sense of the interlocking pieces of the gender, science, and technology puzzle: the history of women's participation in science and engineering; the structure of research institutions; and the gendering of human knowledge. The volumes bring together important representative publications treating these issues from antiquity to the present, and across cultures.

The Deportation Express - A History of America through Forced Removal (Hardcover): Ethan Blue The Deportation Express - A History of America through Forced Removal (Hardcover)
Ethan Blue
R691 Discovery Miles 6 910 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

A history of the United States' systematic expulsion of "undesirables" and immigrants, told through the lives of the passengers who travelled from around the world, only to be locked up and forced out aboard America's first deportation trains. The United States, celebrated as a nation of immigrants and the land of the free, has developed the most extensive system of imprisonment and deportation that the world has ever known. The Deportation Express is the first history of American deportation trains: a network of prison railroad cars repurposed by the Immigration Bureau to link jails, hospitals, asylums, and workhouses across the country and allow forced removal with terrifying efficiency. With this book, historian Ethan Blue uncovers the origins of the deportation train and finds the roots of the current moment, as immigrant restriction and mass deportation once again play critical and troubling roles in contemporary politics and legislation. A century ago, deportation trains made constant circuits around the nation, gathering so-called "undesirable aliens"-migrants disdained for their poverty, political radicalism, criminal conviction, or mental illness-and conveyed them to ports for exile overseas. Previous deportation procedures had been violent, expensive, and relatively ad hoc, but the railroad industrialized the expulsion of the undesirable. Trains provided a powerful technology to divide "citizens" from "aliens" and displace people in unprecedented numbers. Drawing on the lives of migrants and the agents who expelled them, The Deportation Express is history told from aboard a deportation train. By following the lives of selected individuals caught within the deportation regime, this book dramatically reveals how the forces of state exclusion accompanied epic immigration in early twentieth-century America. These are the stories of people who traveled from around the globe, only to be locked up and cast out, deported through systems that bound the United States together, and in turn, pulled the world apart. Their journey would be followed by millions more in the years to come.

Making Machines of Animals - The International Livestock Exposition (Hardcover): Neal A. Knapp Making Machines of Animals - The International Livestock Exposition (Hardcover)
Neal A. Knapp
R1,381 Discovery Miles 13 810 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

How the Chicago International Livestock Exposition leveraged the eugenics movement to transform animals into machines and industrialize American agriculture. In 1900, the Chicago International Livestock Exposition became the epicenter of agricultural reform that focused on reinventing animals' bodies to fit a modern, industrial design. Chicago meatpackers partnered with land-grant university professors to create the International--a spectacle on the scale of a world's fair--with the intention of setting the standard for animal quality and, in doing so, transformed American agriculture. In Making Machines of Animals, Neal A. Knapp explains the motivations of both the meatpackers and the professors, describing how they deployed the International to redefine animality itself. Both professors and packers hoped to replace so-called scrub livestock with "improved" animals and created a new taxonomy of animal quality based on the burgeoning eugenics movement. The International created novel definitions of animal superiority and codified new norms, resulting in a dramatic shift in animal weight, body size, and market age. These changes transformed the animals from multipurpose to single-purpose products. These standardized animals and their dependence on off-the-farm inputs and exchanges limited farmers' choices regarding husbandry and marketing, ultimately undermining any goals for balanced farming or the maintenance and regeneration of soil fertility. Drawing on land-grant university research and publications, meatpacker records and propaganda, and newspaper and agricultural journal articles, Knapp critiques the supposed market-oriented, efficiency-driven industrial reforms proffered by the International, which were underpinned by irrational, racist ideologies. The livestock reform movement not only resulted in cruel and violent outcomes for animals but also led to twentieth-century crops and animal husbandry that were rife with inefficiencies and agricultural vulnerabilities.

Communicating Europe - Technologies, Information, Events (Hardcover, 1st ed. 2019): Andreas Fickers, Pascal Griset Communicating Europe - Technologies, Information, Events (Hardcover, 1st ed. 2019)
Andreas Fickers, Pascal Griset
R2,731 Discovery Miles 27 310 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Since the early years of telegraphy, modernity at large generated and has depended upon technologies of electrical/electronic communication and information circulation: from telephone, radio, and television to the internet. This volume reveals these connecting technologies' geopolitical importance and their crucial relationships with culture, commerce, and communities. Also the authors critically examine their spatial dimensions and transnational implications - as material objects with particular qualities, as elements in institutional complexes, and as 'vehicles' carrying complex symbolic meanings. Through in-depth assessments of critical, as well as mundane, events in the history of communications and information, these analyses will significantly alter conventional perspectives both on communications and on modern European history.

Spycraft - The Secret History of the CIA's Spytechs, from Communism to Al-Qaeda (Paperback): Robert Wallace, H. Keith... Spycraft - The Secret History of the CIA's Spytechs, from Communism to Al-Qaeda (Paperback)
Robert Wallace, H. Keith Melton, Henry R. Schlesinger; Foreword by George J. Tenet
R632 R536 Discovery Miles 5 360 Save R96 (15%) Ships in 10 - 15 working days

An unprecedented history of the CIA's secret and amazing gadgetry behind the art of espionage In this look at the CIA's most secretive operations and the devices that made them possible, Spycraft tells gripping life-and-death stories about a group of spytechs-much of it never previously revealed and with images never before seen by the public. The CIA's Office of Technical Service is the ultrasecret department that grappled with challenges such as: What does it take to build a quiet helicopter? How does one embed a listening device in a cat? What is an invisible photo used for? These amazingly inventive devices were created and employed against a backdrop of geopolitical tensions-including the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and continuing terrorist threats. Written by Robert Wallace, the former director of the Office of Technical Service, and internationally renowned intelligence historian Keith Melton, Spycraft is both a fantastic encyclopedia of gadgetry and a revealing primer on the fundamentals of high-tech espionage. "The first comprehensive look at the technical achievements of American espionage from the 1940s to the present."-Wired "Reveals more concrete information about CIA tradecraft than any book."-The Washington Times "This is a story I thought could never be told."-JAMES M. OLSON, former chief of CIA counterintelligence

Tiger Check - Automating the US Air Force Fighter Pilot in Air-to-Air Combat, 1950-1980 (Hardcover): Steven A Fino Tiger Check - Automating the US Air Force Fighter Pilot in Air-to-Air Combat, 1950-1980 (Hardcover)
Steven A Fino
R1,863 Discovery Miles 18 630 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Spurred by their commanders during the Korean War to be "tigers," aggressive and tenacious American fighter pilots charged headlong into packs of fireball-spewing enemy MiGs, relying on their keen eyesight, piloting finesse, and steady trigger fingers to achieve victory. But by the 1980s, American fighter pilots vanquished their foes by focusing on a four-inch-square cockpit display, manipulating electromagnetic waves, and launching rocket-propelled guided missiles from miles away. In this new era of automated, long-range air combat, can fighter pilots still be considered tigers? Aimed at scholars of technology and airpower aficionados alike, Steven A. Fino's Tiger Check offers a detailed study of air-to-air combat focusing on three of the US Air Force's most famed aircraft: the F-86E Sabre, the F-4C Phantom II, and the F-15A Eagle. Fino argues that increasing fire control automation altered what fighter pilots actually did during air-to-air combat. Drawing on an array of sources, as well as his own decade of experience as an F-15C fighter pilot, Fino unpacks not just the technological black box of fighter fire control equipment, but also fighter pilots' attitudes toward their profession and their evolving aircraft. He describes how pilots grappled with the new technologies, acutely aware that the very systems that promised to simplify their jobs while increasing their lethality in the air also threatened to rob them of the quintessential-albeit mythic-fighter pilot experience. Finally, Fino explains that these new systems often required new, unique skills that took time for the pilots to identify and then develop. Eschewing the typical "great machine" or "great pilot" perspectives that dominate aviation historiography, Tiger Check provides a richer perspective on humans and machines working and evolving together in the air. The book illuminates the complex interactions between human and machine that accompany advancing automation in the workplace.

Not Necessarily Rocket Science (Hardcover): Kellie Gerardi Not Necessarily Rocket Science (Hardcover)
Kellie Gerardi
R537 R446 Discovery Miles 4 460 Save R91 (17%) Ships in 10 - 15 working days

Learn from Kellie Gerardi What It's Like to Be a Female Astronaut "Kellie is probably one of the best ambassadors for spaceflight in the 21st century that the industry could have." Lucy Hawking, author of George's Secret Key to the Universe and host of Audible's Lucy in the Sky. #1 Bestseller in Astronomy & Space Science, Universe Follow aerospace science professional Kellie Gerardi's non-traditional path in the space industry as she guides and encourages anyone who has ever dreamed about stars, the solar system, and the galaxies in space. Ever wondered what it's like to work in outer space? In this candid science memoir and career guide, Kellie Gerardi offers an inside look into the industry beginning to eclipse Silicon Valley. Whether you have a space science degree or are looking to learn about stars, Kellie Gerardi's, Not Necessarily Rocket Science proves there's room for anyone who is passionate about exploration. What it's like to be a woman in space. With a space background and a mission to democratize access to space, this female astronaut candidate offers a front row seat to the final frontier. From her adventures training for Mars to testing spacesuits in microgravity, this unique handbook provides inspiration and guidance for aspiring female astronauts everywhere. Look inside for answers to questions like: Will there be beer on Mars? Why do I need to do one-handed pushups in microgravity? How can I possibly lose a fortune in outer space? If you're looking for women in science gifts, astronomy books for adults, or NASA stories or enjoyed, the Galaxy Girls book, Letters from an Astrophysicist by Neil deGrasse Tyson, or How to Astronaut then you'll love Not Necessarily Rocket Science.

The Know-It-Alls - The Rise of Silicon Valley as a Political Powerhouse and Social Wrecking Ball (Paperback): Noam Cohen The Know-It-Alls - The Rise of Silicon Valley as a Political Powerhouse and Social Wrecking Ball (Paperback)
Noam Cohen
R343 R281 Discovery Miles 2 810 Save R62 (18%) Ships in 12 - 17 working days

The world’s tech giants are at the centre of controversies over fake news, free speech and hate speech on platforms where influence is bought and sold. Yet, at the outset, almost everyone thought the internet would be a positive, democratic force, a space where knowledge could be freely shared to enable everyone to make better-informed decisions. How did it all go so wrong?

Noam Cohen reports on the tech libertarians of Silicon Valley, from the self-proclaimed geniuses Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel, Reid Hoffman and Mark Zuckerberg to the early pioneers at Stanford University, who have not only made the internet what it is today but reshaped society in the process. It is the story of how the greed, bias and prejudice of one neighbourhood is fracturing the Western world.

Csx Transportation Railroad Heritage (Paperback): Kenneth C Springirth Csx Transportation Railroad Heritage (Paperback)
Kenneth C Springirth
R569 Discovery Miles 5 690 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

CSX Transportation Railroad Heritage is a photographic essay of this major railroad that was formed in 1980 by a merger of the Seaboard Coast Line with the Chessie System, providing a history that goes back to its beginning with the opening in 1830 of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, which was the first common carrier railroad in the United States. An early predecessor railroad was the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway which introduced the figure of a sleeping kitten Chessie in 1933 that became a well-recognized advertisement for passenger service and later for freight service. Each of the railroads that were merged contributed to CSX reaching important population, energy, and manufacturing markets. The CSX Pride in Service program resulted in three special painted locomotives (shown in this book) honoring the nation's veterans, active military personnel, and first responders.

No Boundaries (Hardcover): National Geographic Kids No Boundaries (Hardcover)
National Geographic Kids
R337 Discovery Miles 3 370 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

In these inspirational, exhilarating, and poignant accounts of exploration, 25 female National Geographic explorers reveal their greatest successes, most epic failures, and astonishing adventures. Track a volcanologist as she braves the elements atop an active volcano. Travel alongside a mountaineer as she battles stereotypes and frostbite to conquer the famed Seven Summits. Join a conservationist on her passionate fight to save lions. Dig with a paleontologist to uncover massive dinosaur fossils, bit by breathtaking bit. These heartfelt stories give readers an insider's look at the amazing work female explorers at National Geographic and beyond are doing in the field to solve some of the world's toughest problems. this anthology celebrates lesser-known changemakers and outstanding women of diverse backgrounds, nationalities, and fields of study who are just beginning to make a name for themselves. Each profile is based on first-person interviews and comes paired with useful tips and relatable advice for budding explorers and scientists. Stunning photography and fascinating general interest information about the animals, places, and practices add drama and context. No Boundaries sends a positive message to every girl who has ever dreamed or dared to go a little further. And although these explorers' endeavours are quite adventurous, the lessons they share can inspire all girls, as well as boys, whatever their goals, skills, and interests.

What Engineers Know and How They Know It - Analytical Studies from Aeronautical History (Paperback, New Ed): Walter G. Vincenti What Engineers Know and How They Know It - Analytical Studies from Aeronautical History (Paperback, New Ed)
Walter G. Vincenti
R780 Discovery Miles 7 800 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

To solve their design problems engineers draw in a vast body of knowledge about how things work. This problem-solving knowledge may appear mundane or derivative from science, but in What Engineers Know and How They Know It Walter G. Vincenti shows how sophisticated and "internal" to engineering it really is-and how seemingly simple design requirements can have complex intellectual implications. Examining previously unstudied historical cases, Vincenti shows how engineering knowledge is obtained and, in the book's concluding chapters, presents a model to help explain the growth of such knowledge.

Junkyard Nights - Haunting Norcal's Automotive Graveyards (Paperback): Troy Paiva Junkyard Nights - Haunting Norcal's Automotive Graveyards (Paperback)
Troy Paiva
R667 R552 Discovery Miles 5 520 Save R115 (17%) Ships in 10 - 15 working days
Bombers, Hijackers, Body Scanners, and Jihadists (Hardcover): Billie H. Vincent Bombers, Hijackers, Body Scanners, and Jihadists (Hardcover)
Billie H. Vincent
R1,164 Discovery Miles 11 640 Ships in 10 - 15 working days
The Slain Wood - Papermaking and Its Environmental Consequences in the American South (Hardcover): William Boyd The Slain Wood - Papermaking and Its Environmental Consequences in the American South (Hardcover)
William Boyd
R1,329 Discovery Miles 13 290 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

When the paper industry moved into the South in the 1930s, it confronted a region in the midst of an economic and environmental crisis. Entrenched poverty, stunted labor markets, vast stretches of cutover lands, and severe soil erosion prevailed across the southern states. By the middle of the twentieth century, however, pine trees had become the region's number one cash crop, and the South dominated national and international production of pulp and paper based on the intensive cultivation of timber. In The Slain Wood, William Boyd chronicles the dramatic growth of the pulp and paper industry in the American South during the twentieth century and the social and environmental changes that accompanied it. Drawing on extensive interviews and historical research, he tells the fascinating story of one of the region's most important but understudied industries. The Slain Wood reveals how a thoroughly industrialized forest was created out of a degraded landscape, uncovers the ways in which firms tapped into informal labor markets and existing inequalities of race and class to fashion a system for delivering wood to the mills, investigates the challenges of managing large paper making complexes, and details the ways in which mill managers and unions discriminated against black workers. It also shows how the industry's massive pollution loads significantly disrupted local environments and communities, leading to a long struggle to regulate and control that pollution.

A Transnational History of the Internet in Central America, 1985-2000 - Networks, Integration, and Development (Hardcover, 1st... A Transnational History of the Internet in Central America, 1985-2000 - Networks, Integration, and Development (Hardcover, 1st ed. 2020)
Ignacio Siles
R1,741 Discovery Miles 17 410 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

This Palgrave Pivot analyzes how six countries in Central America-Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama-connected to and through computer networks such as UUCP, BITNET and the Internet from the 80s to the year 2000. It argues that this story can only be told from a transnational perspective. To connect to computer networks, Central America built a regional integration project with great implications for its development. By revealing the beginnings of the Internet in this part of the world, this study broadens our understanding of the development of computer networks in the global south. It also demonstrates that transnational flows of knowledge, data, and technologies are a constitutive feature of the historical development of the Internet.

Techno-Fixers - Origins and Implications of Technological Faith (Hardcover): Sean F. Johnston Techno-Fixers - Origins and Implications of Technological Faith (Hardcover)
Sean F. Johnston
R700 Discovery Miles 7 000 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

This is the story of a seductive idea. Over the past century, the potential of new technology to solve social dilemmas has captivated modern culture. From apps that encourage physical activity to airport scanners meant to prevent terrorism, the concept that clever innovation can improve society is irresistible, but faith in such technological fixes is seldom questioned. Where did this idea come from, what makes it so appealing, and how does it endanger our future? Techno-Fixers traces the source of modern confidence in technology to engineering hubris, radical utopian movements, science fiction fanzines, policy-makers' soundbites, corporate marketing, and optimistic consumer culture from the turn of the twentieth century until today. Sean Johnston demonstrates that, through the promotion of prominent government scientists, technocrats, entrepreneurs, and popular media, modern invention became the favourite tool for addressing human problems and society's ills. Nonetheless, when it comes to assessing the success of cigarette filters as the solution to safe smoking, or DDT as the answer for agricultural productivity, the evidence is sobering. Cautioning that the rhetoric of technological fixes seldom matches reality, Johnston examines how employing innovation to bypass traditional methods can foster as many problems as it solves. A critical examination of modern faith in technology, Techno-Fixers evaluates past mistakes, present implications, and future opportunities for innovating societies.

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