This study of science and technology looks at knowledge systems. Topics covered include: mapping encounters and (en)countering maps - a critical examination of cartographic resistance; the intricacies of technology transfer - travel as mode and method; and science, local knowledge and community.

This volume presents discussions of material culture and society. It offers a perspective that recognizes technology as material culture, that is, as manufactured things spawned by a community amd as characteristic of it as its language, behaviour and oral and written knowledge. The chapter "Progress in Separate Spheres" addresses the relationship between the theme of progress and material culture through advertising. Another chapter analyzes the computer and points out that the physical attributes of the machine make it an enigma which cannot be revealed by disassembling its working parts, but must be discovered through the mental comprehension of its processes. Two papers discuss the introduction of technologies to communities from different perspectives. The volume ends with a paper on human automata, an example of an object in which technology and humanity confront each other.

Is there such a thing as a "feminist technology"? If so, what makes a technology feminist? Is it in the design process, in the thing itself, in the way it is marketed, or in the way it is used by women (or by men)? In this collection, feminist scholars trained in diverse fields consider these questions by examining a range of products, tools, and technologies that were specifically designed for and marketed to women. Evaluating the claims that such products are liberating for women, the contributors focus on case studies of menstrual-suppressing birth control pills, home pregnancy tests, tampons, breast pumps, Norplant, anti-fertility vaccines, and microbicides. In examining these various products, this volume explores ways of actively intervening to develop better tools for designing, promoting, and evaluating feminist technologies. Recognizing the different needs and desires of women and acknowledging the multiplicity of feminist approaches, "Feminist Technology" offers a sustained debate on existing and emergent technologies that share the goal of improving women's lives. Contributors are Jennifer Aengst, Maia Boswell-Penc, Kate Boyer, Frances Bronet, Shirley Gorenstein, Anita Hardon, Deborah G. Johnson, Linda L. Layne, Deana McDonagh, and Sharra L. Vostral.