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Engineering the Future, Understanding the Past : A Social History of Technology /

Technology today is often presented as our best hope of solving the world's social and sustainability problems. And that's nothing new: engineers have always sought to meet the big challenges of their times-even as those challenges have shaped their technology. This book offers a historica...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Vleuten, Erik van der (Autor), Davids, Mila (Autor), Oldenziel, Ruth, 1958- (Autor)
Otros Autores: Lintsen, Harry, 1949- (Contribuidor)
Formato: Electrónico eBook
Idioma:Inglés
Publicado: Amsterdam : Amsterdam University Press, 2017.
Colección:Book collections on Project MUSE.
Temas:
Acceso en línea:Texto completo
Tabla de Contenidos:
  • Cover; Contents; Preface; Introduction: Engineering for a Changing World; Lessons from engineering history: Society, Enterprise, Users; Technology: Dream and nightmare; Engineering for a changing world; The structure of this book; 1. The Age of Promise, 1815-1914; 1.1 Introduction; 1.2 Society; Promises to Society: Peace and progress for all; The national promise: The infrastructure state and civil engineers; The urban promise: The Urban Machine; The global promise: International machinery and the civilizing mission; 1.3 Enterprise; Technology's promise to enterprise.
  • The inventor-entrepreneurTechnology and the opportunity-seeking entrepreneur; Strategies for business organization; 1.4 Users; Technology's promises to users: "Power to you"; Innovative user-consumers: The telephone and the railway; The bicycle and the car; User-activists; User-tinkerers; 1.5 Engineers; Technology's promise to engineering; Engineering education; Engineers and social engagement; 2. The Age of Crisis, 1914-1945; 2.1 Introduction; 2.2 Society; Peace and war; Prosperity and decline; Liberty and enslavement; Civilization and barbarism; 2.3 Enterprise; Business and bankruptcy.
  • Patent warsWorker nightmares; 2.4 Users; Access and accidents; Users and misusers; 2.5 Engineers; Hero and villain; Engineers in totalitarian regimes; A new hope; 3. The Age of Technocracy, 1945-1970; 3.1 Introduction; 3.2 Society; Making technology non-political: The linear model of innovation; Making politics technical: A systems approach to societal challenges; 3.3 Enterprise; The heyday of R The linear model in practice: organizational challenges; Systems approaches in business planning; 3.4 Users; Consumer appliances in the age of "projected users."
  • Projected users in the built environmentUsers and the systems approach: the car-centered city; 3.5 Engineers; Growth in influence and numbers; Theory and science; Professional independence and ethical codes; The tide turns; 4. The Age of Participation, 1970-2015; 4.1 Introduction; 4.2 Society; Opening up the system; Participation by protest; Participation by mediation; Participation by delegation; 4.3 Enterprise; Flipping the linear model of innovation; Commercializing research and open innovation; User-centered innovation; Corporations under social pressure; 4.4 Users.
  • Energetic user-tinkerersMobility and "biketivists"; Hacktivists and other users; 4.5 Engineers; Opening up institutions; Opening up engineering curricula; Participation: Science shops and the valorization of knowledge; Epilogue: Engineering the Future; Different societal challenges; Challenges to enterprise and users; Beyond technocracy and participation; Notes; References; Illustration credits; Index; List of figures; Internet Freedom and Cyber Security; Cheering for the Railway; The Railway: A "Civilizing" Technology?; Founding a Fortune-in Chemicals; Scientific Management at Work.