Provides a timely and valuable examination of technology and its relation to science
Offers sensitive and detailed accounts, ranging from the prehistoric to contemporary, to examine the many and subtle aspects in which technology emerges from and drives our culture
Explores and resolves the common confusion between technology and science
William Gosling, a British engineer, has spent half his working life as an academic, holding professorial appointments at Swansea and then Bath, where mobile communication was his passion. The other half was in industry, where he ended as a Director and chief technical officer of an electronics company with a ten-figure annual turnover. He is also a Past-president of the Institution of Engineering and Technology.
`With sensitivity and detailed illustrations, ranging from the prehistoric to the current, William Gosling explores, in a unified way, the many and subtle aspects in which technology emerges from and drives our culture.´
—Sir Michael Berry, University of Bristol, UK
Culture´s Engine offers an insightful and penetrating analysis of the enduring relationship between technology and society. William Gosling explores in absorbing historical detail how humans have experienced change through a sequence of technological revolutions, each giving rise to new social organisation, which in turn influences the shape and timing of the next such revolution. Gosling argues that it is through this dialogue that successful technology sets the direction and pace of all cultural evolution. The state of technology at any time is the major influence on the world, and not just the material world. This book then is not a history of technology, still less of science. It fundamentally questions how technology and social forces interact, leading to these successive revolutions and their outcomes.
1 Introduction
2 The Odd Couple
3 Why Are Humans Different?
4 Three Flavours of Technology
5 Subtle Subversives
6 The Active Elements Appear
7 Drivers of Technology
8 Technology´s Other Half
9 Talk the Talk
10 Patterns of Innovation
11 Invention Push and Market Pull
12 Deep Design
13 A Hazardous Business
14 Will Anyone Want It?
15 Failure Foreseen
16 Can Machines Think?
17 Lady Lovelace´s Revenge
18 The Dark Side
19 Be Careful What You Wish For
20 Past, Present, Future
21 Technology and Dreaming
`With sensitivity and detailed illustrations, ranging from the prehistoric to the current, William Gosling explores, in a unified way, the many and subtle aspects in which technology emerges from and drives our culture.´
—Sir Michael Berry, University of Bristol, UK
Culture´s Engine offers an insightful and penetrating analysis of the enduring relationship between technology and society. William Gosling explores in absorbing historical detail how humans have experienced change through a sequence of technological revolutions, each giving rise to new social organisation, which in turn influences the shape and timing of the next such revolution. Gosling argues that it is through this dialogue that successful technology sets the direction and pace of all cultural evolution. The state of technology at any time is the major influence on the world, and not just the material world. This book then is not a history of technology, still less of science. It fundamentally questions how technology and social forces interact, leading to these successive revolutions and their outcomes.
William Gosling is a British electrical engineer, Emeritus Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Bath, and pioneer of system design in electrical engineering.
Culture's Engine offers an insightful and penetrating analysis of the enduring relationship between technology and society. William Gosling explores in absorbing historical detail how humans have experienced change through a sequence of technological revolutions, each giving rise to new social organisation, which in turn influences the shape and timing of the next such revolution. Gosling argues that it is through this dialogue that successful technology sets the direction and pace of all cultural evolution. The state of technology at any time is the major influence on the world, and not just the material world. This book then is not a history of technology, still less of science. It fundamentally questions how technology and social forces interact, leading to these successive revolutions and their outcomes.
1. Introduction.- 2. The odd couple.- 3. Why are humans different.- 4. Three flavours of technology.- 5. Subtle subversives.- 6. The active elements appear.- 7. Drivers of technology.- 8. Technology's other half.- 9. Talk the talk.- 10. Patterns of innovation.- 11. Invention push and market pull.- 12. Deep design.- 13. A hazardous business.- 14. Will anyone want it?.- 15. Failure foreseen.- 16. Can machines think?.- 17. Lady Lovelace's revenge.- 18. The dark side.- 19. Be careful what you wish for.- 20. Past, present, future.- 21. Technology and dreaming
William Gosling, a British engineer, has spent half his working life as an academic, holding professorial appointments at Swansea and then Bath, where mobile communication was his passion. The other half was in industry, where he ended as a Director and chief technical officer of an electronics company with a ten-figure annual turnover. He is also a Past-president of the Institution of Engineering and Technology.
Über den Autor
William Gosling, a British engineer, has spent half his working life as an academic, holding professorial appointments at Swansea and then Bath, where mobile communication was his passion. The other half was in industry, where he ended as a Director and chief technical officer of an electronics company with a ten-figure annual turnover. He is also a Past-president of the Institution of Engineering and Technology.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
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1 Introduction
2 The Odd Couple
3 Why Are Humans Different?
4 Three Flavours of Technology
5 Subtle Subversives
6 The Active Elements Appear
7 Drivers of Technology
8 Technology's Other Half
9 Talk the Talk
10 Patterns of Innovation
11 Invention Push and Market Pull
12 Deep Design
13 A Hazardous Business
14 Will Anyone Want It?
15 Failure Foreseen
16 Can Machines Think?
17 Lady Lovelace's Revenge
18 The Dark Side
19 Be Careful What You Wish For
20 Past, Present, Future
21 Technology and Dreaming
Klappentext
Culture¿s Engine offers an insightful and penetrating analysis of the enduring relationship between technology and society. William Gosling explores in absorbing historical detail how humans have experienced change through a sequence of technological revolutions, each giving rise to new social organisation, which in turn influences the shape and timing of the next such revolution. Gosling argues that it is through this dialogue that successful technology sets the direction and pace of all cultural evolution. The state of technology at any time is the major influence on the world, and not just the material world. This book then is not a history of technology, still less of science. It fundamentally questions how technology and social forces interact, leading to these successive revolutions and their outcomes.
Provides a timely and valuable examination of technology and its relation to science
Offers sensitive and detailed accounts, ranging from the prehistoric to contemporary, to examine the many and subtle aspects in which technology emerges from and drives our culture
Explores and resolves the common confusion between technology and science
