|
Showing 1 - 4 of
4 matches in All Departments
Precursors of the modern chemical industry began to emerge in
Northern Europe in the middle of the eighteenth century. The
Industrial Revolution boosted activities such as soap-making,
glassmaking and textiles production, which required increasing
quantities of chemical products. The Lead Chamber process for the
manufacture of sulphuric acid, required for the production of dye,
was developed in the 1740s by John Roebuck then based in
Birmingham. Production of this key commodity rose steadily. By the
1820s, British annual production had reached 10 000 tons of 100%
acid. By 1900, Britain was producing one quarter of the world's
output with an annual production approaching one million tons.
Demand for alkalis for glassmaking and soap-making, for textile
dyes and for bleach was also growing rapidly in the second half of
the eighteenth century, and it became clear that existing sources
of these materials would not be sufficient. In response to a prize
established by the Academie des Sciences, Nicholas Leblanc had
devised by 1791 a method for converting common salt into soda ash,
which was to become the central operation of the world alkali
industry for about one hundred years.
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.
From GMOs to WMD, science is controversial and unavoidable. This
book charts its progress since prehistory and reveals its role in
shaping our future. Drawing on intellectual history, philosophy,
and social studies, Johnston offers a unique appraisal of both the
history of science and the nature of the evolving discipline.
Science has become a driving force of the modern world. Based on
its changeable past, where might it take us in the twenty-first
century?
2003 Paul Bunge Prize of the Hans R. Jenemann Foundation for the
History of Scientific Instruments
Judging the brightness and color of light has long been
contentious. Alternately described as impossible and routine, it
was beset by problems both technical and social. How trustworthy
could such measurements be? Was the best standard of intensity a
gas lamp, an incandescent bulb, or a glowing pool of molten metal?
And how much did the answers depend on the background of the
specialist?
A History of Light and Colour Measurement: Science in the Shadows
is a history of the hidden workings of physical science-a technical
endeavor embedded in a social context. It argues that this
"undisciplined" subject, straddling academia, commerce, and
regulation, may be typical not only of 20th century science, but of
its future.
Attracting scientists, engineers, industrialists, and artists, the
developing subject produced a new breed of practitioners having
mixed provenance. The new measurers of light had to decide the
shape not only of their specialism but of their careers: were they
to be a part of physics, engineering, or psychology? The physical
scientists who dominated the subject into the early 20th century
made their central aim the replacement of the problematic human eye
with physical detectors of light. For psychologists between the
wars, though, describing the complexity of color was more important
than quantifying a handful of its dimensions. And after WWII,
military designers shaped the subject of radiometry and subsumed
photometry and colorimetry within it. Never attaining a
professional cachet, these various specialists moved fluidly
between science and technology; through government, industry, and
administration.
|
You may like...
Gloria
Sam Smith
CD
R407
Discovery Miles 4 070
|