A Social History of American Technology
by Ruth Schwartz Cowan, Matthew H. Hersch
2nd Edition
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Book Details
| Print ISBN | 9780195387261 |
| eText ISBN | 9780190643157 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
| Publishing Year | 2017 |
| Edition | 2nd Edition |
| Language | English |
| Pages | 400 |
A Social History of American Technology, 2nd Edition, is a textbook that examines how technological change and American social and economic development have shaped each other. The text demonstrates that technical systems cannot be understood apart from the broader social contexts in which they emerge and function.
The volume addresses early American development from colonial settlement and artisanal work through industrialization and national transportation networks. It also investigates twentieth-century developments such as automobility, aerospace, telecommunications, computing, and modern biotechnology.
Published in 2017 as a revision of the 1996 edition, this volume concludes each chapter with notes and suggestions for further reading to support ongoing student inquiry.
Table of Contents
Chapter 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 of Technological Change
Chapter 2: Agricultural and Craft Work in the Colonies
- • Colonial Farming
- • The Myth of Self-Sufficiency
- • Artisanal Work in the Colonies
- • The Apprenticeship System and Labor Scarcity
- • Printers and Print Shops
- • Iron Foundries and Iron Workers
- • Historical Significance of the Colonial Crafts
- • Conclusion: Reasons for the Slow Pace of Technological Change
Chapter 3: From Farm to Factory
- • Oliver Evans (1755-1819)
- • Eli Whitney (1765-1825)
- • Samuel Slater (1768-1835)
- • Conclusion: The Unique Character of American Industrialization
Chapter 4: 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
Chapter 5: Technological Systems and Industrial Society
- • Industrialization, Dependency, and Technological Systems
- • The Telegraph System
- • The Railroad System
- • The Petroleum System
- • The Telephone System
- • The Electric System
- • The Character of Industrialized Society
- • Conclusion: Industrialization and Technological Systems
Chapter 6: Everyday Labor in the Mechanical Age
- • Farmers and Unexpected Outcomes
- • Skilled and Deskilled Workers
- • Unskilled Workers
- • Housewives and House Servants
- • Conclusion: Was Industrialization Good or Bad for Workers?
Chapter 7: Inventors, Entrepreneurs, and Engineers
- • The Patent System: The Public History of Invention
- • Inventors: Changes between 1820 and 1920
- • Entrepreneurs: Innovation and Diffusion
- • Engineers: Changes between 1820 and 1920
Chapter 8: 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, 1945-1970
- • The Unexpected Consequences of Automobility
- • Conclusion: The Paradox of Automobility
Chapter 9: Taxpayers, Generals, and Aerospace
- • The Early Days of Aircraft and the Aircraft Industry
- • World War II: A Turning Point
- • The Military-Industrial-Academic Complex
- • Civilian Spin-offs of the Aviation Revolution
- • From Air Flight to Spaceflight
- • Precision-Guided Weapons and Modern War
- • Conclusion: Costs and Benefits of Military Sponsorship
Chapter 10: Electronic Communication and Social Control
- • Wireless Telegraphy
- • Wireless Telephony
- • Government Regulation of Wireless Communication
- • Wireless Broadcasting: Radio
- • Television
- • Conclusion: Centralization and Electronic Communication
Chapter 11: Electronic Brains and Global Villages
- • The Origins of the Computer
- • The Digital Electronic Computer
- • Real-Time Computing and SAGE
- • Electronic Components: The Transistor and the Integrated Circuit
- • IBM and the Maturation of the Computer Industry
- • Rise of the Personal Computer
- • From ARPANET to Internet
- • Reinventing the Telephone: The Smartphone and Social Networking
- • Conclusion: The Ultimate Failure of Efforts to Control Electronic Communication
Chapter 12: Foods, Drugs, and Unintended Consequences
- • Science, Technology, and TechnoScience
- • Hybrid Corn
- • Penicillin
- • The Birth Control Pill
- • Conclusion
Chapter 13: TechnoScience and the Biotech Industry
- • Recombinant DNA
- • The Biotech Industry Begins
- • The First Controversy: Public Rights, Private Interests, and Safety
- • The Flavr Saver Tomato
- • Monsanto and the Continuing GMO Controversy
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