PDF-[READ]-The Machine in America: A Social History of Technology

From the medieval farm implements used by the first colonists to the invisible links of the Internet the history of technology in America is a history of society as well Arguing that the tools and processes we use are a part of our lives not simply instruments of our purpose historian Carroll Pursell analyzes technologys impact on the lives of women and men on their work politics and social relationshipsand how in turn people influence technological developmentPursell shows how both the idea of progress and the mechanical means to harness the forces of nature developed and changed as they were brought from the Old World to the New He describes the ways in which American industrial and agricultural technology began to take on a distinctive shape as it adapted and extended the technical base of the industrial revolution He discusses the innovation of an American system of manufactures and the mechanization of agriculture new systems of mining lumbering and farming which helped conquer and define the West and the technologies that shaped the rise of citiesIn the second edition of The Machine in America Pursell brings this classic history up to date with a revised chapter on war technology and new discussions on information technology globalization and the environment. R U Ready?. Morley . Winograd. I 2 CSG Workshop . . January 10, . 2012. Generational Differences are Just as Great as National Cultural Differences but Are Rarely Perceived . Defining A Generation. U.S. Problems leading to people to choose socialism. Americans faced large amounts of unsafe working conditions, as well as unfair pay. . Immigrants also face discrimination as well as having limited rights, and completely unhealthy living conditions. . Introduction . Media history and technology . Topics . About history . Historians and their motives . Social histories and critiques of media . About media technology . Four revolutions in mass media . Curriculum Vitae Personal Data Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California Marital Status: Married, one child Office Address: Pitzer College, 1050 N. Mills, Claremont, CA 91711 Telephone: (909) 626 - A Social History of American Technology, Second Edition, tells the story of American technology from the tools used by its earliest inhabitants to the technological systems--cars and computers, aircraft and antibiotics--that we are familiar with today. Ruth Schwartz Cowan and Matthew H. Hersch demonstrate how technological change has always been closely related to social and economic development, and examine the important mutual relationships between social history and technological change. They explain how the unique characteristics of American cultures and American geography have affected the technologies that have been invented, manufactured, and used throughout the years--and also the reverse: how those technologies have affected the daily lives, the unique cultures, and the environments of all Americans. From the medieval farm implements used by the first colonists to the invisible links of the Internet, the history of technology in America is a history of society as well. Arguing that the tools and processes we use are a part of our lives, not simply instruments of our purpose, historian Carroll Pursell analyzes technology\'s impact on the lives of women and men, on their work, politics, and social relationships—and how, in turn, people influence technological development.Pursell shows how both the idea of progress and the mechanical means to harness the forces of nature developed and changed as they were brought from the Old World to the New. He describes the ways in which American industrial and agricultural technology began to take on a distinctive shape as it adapted and extended the technical base of the industrial revolution. He discusses the innovation of an American system of manufactures and the mechanization of agriculture new systems of mining, lumbering, and farming, which helped conquer and define the West and the technologies that shaped the rise of cities.In the second edition of The Machine in America, Pursell brings this classic history up to date with a revised chapter on war technology and new discussions on information technology, globalization, and the environment. Faxed is the first history of the facsimile machine--the most famous recent example of a tool made obsolete by relentless technological innovation. Jonathan Coopersmith recounts the multigenerational, multinational history of that device from its origins to its workplace glory days, in the process revealing how it helped create the accelerated communications, information flow, and vibrant visual culture that characterize our contemporary world.Most people assume that the fax machine originated in the computer and electronics revolution of the late twentieth century, but it was actually invented in 1843. Almost 150 years passed between the fax\'s invention in England and its widespread adoption in tech-savvy Japan, where it still enjoys a surprising popularity. Over and over again, faxing\'s promise to deliver messages instantaneously paled before easier, less expensive modes of communication: first telegraphy, then radio and television, and finally digitalization in the form of email, the World Wide Web, and cell phones. By 2010, faxing had largely disappeared, having fallen victim to the same technological and economic processes that had created it.Based on archival research and interviews spanning two centuries and three continents, Coopersmith\'s book recovers the lost history of a once-ubiquitous technology. Written in accessible language that should appeal to engineers and policymakers as well as historians, Faxed explores themes of technology push and market pull, user-based innovation, and blackboxing (the packaging of complex skills and technologies into packages designed for novices) while revealing the inventions inspired by the fax, how the demand for fax machines eventually caught up with their availability, and why subsequent shifts in user preferences rendered them mostly passe. In this stunning account of the human impact of a single machine, John Ellis argues that the history of technology and military history are part and parcel of social history in general. The Social History of the Machine Gun, now with a new foreword by Edward C. Ezell, provides an original and fascinating interpretation of weaponry, warfare, and society in nineteenth-and twentieth-century Europe and America.From its beginning, the machine gun threatened established assumptions about the nature of war. In spite of its highly effective use in the European colonization of Africa, the machine gun was resisted by military elites, who clung to the old certanties of the battlefield--the glorious change and opportunities for individual heroism. These values were carried into the trenches of World War I and swept away along with a generation of soldiers.After the war, machine guns became commercially availble in America and in many ways became a symbol of the times. Advertisements touted the Thompson submachine gun as the ideal weapon for protecting factory and farm, while tommy guns entered the culture\'s imagination with Machine Gun Kelly and Boonie and Clyde. More significantly, Ellis suggests, the machine gun was the catalyst for the modern arms race. It necessitated a technological response: first the armored tank, then the jet fighter, and, perhaps ultimately, the hydrogen bomb. This brief history of technology in America begins with the colonial period but emphasizes the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The authors break new ground by concentrating on the impact of American society and culture on technology, instead of taking the traditional approach (considering the impact of technology on culture). The organization of the text reflects this perspective by following conventional American history periodization rather than a more limited industry-oriented outline (pre-industrial, industrial, and postindustrial). Part Two employs systems and systemization as a theme. The final section of the text (post-1950) has been completely rewritten to reflect recent scholarship and technological advances. A Social History of American Technology, Second Edition, tells the story of American technology from the tools used by its earliest inhabitants to the technological systems--cars and computers, aircraft and antibiotics--that we are familiar with today. Ruth Schwartz Cowan and Matthew H. Hersch demonstrate how technological change has always been closely related to social and economic development, and examine the important mutual relationships between social history and technological change. They explain how the unique characteristics of American cultures and American geography have affected the technologies that have been invented, manufactured, and used throughout the years--and also the reverse: how those technologies have affected the daily lives, the unique cultures, and the environments of all Americans. In this stunning account of the human impact of a single machine, John Ellis argues that the history of technology and military history are part and parcel of social history in general. The Social History of the Machine Gun, now with a new foreword by Edward C. Ezell, provides an original and fascinating interpretation of weaponry, warfare, and society in nineteenth-and twentieth-century Europe and America.From its beginning, the machine gun threatened established assumptions about the nature of war. In spite of its highly effective use in the European colonization of Africa, the machine gun was resisted by military elites, who clung to the old certanties of the battlefield--the glorious change and opportunities for individual heroism. These values were carried into the trenches of World War I and swept away along with a generation of soldiers.After the war, machine guns became commercially availble in America and in many ways became a symbol of the times. Advertisements touted the Thompson submachine gun as the ideal weapon for protecting factory and farm, while tommy guns entered the culture\'s imagination with Machine Gun Kelly and Boonie and Clyde. More significantly, Ellis suggests, the machine gun was the catalyst for the modern arms race. It necessitated a technological response: first the armored tank, then the jet fighter, and, perhaps ultimately, the hydrogen bomb. This brief history of technology in America begins with the colonial period but emphasizes the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The authors break new ground by concentrating on the impact of American society and culture on technology, instead of taking the traditional approach (considering the impact of technology on culture). The organization of the text reflects this perspective by following conventional American history periodization rather than a more limited industry-oriented outline (pre-industrial, industrial, and postindustrial). Part Two employs systems and systemization as a theme. The final section of the text (post-1950) has been completely rewritten to reflect recent scholarship and technological advances. . The Rise and Reform of Industrial Cities . 1880-1917. 2. New inventions made rapid urban growth possible. Elisha . O. tis, inventor of the first passenger elevator. Mass transportation moves underground with the first subways first built in Boston MA in 1897. . HOW TO READ. MODERN LATIN AMERICA. … and learn to love it!. CASE STUDIES. Mexico: The Taming of a Revolution. Cuba: Key Colony, Socialist State. The Andes: Soldiers, Oligarchs, and Indians. Colombia: Civility and Violence.