Inventing Accuracy: A Historical Sociology of Nuclear Missile Guidance

by Donald MacKenzie

Overview

"Mackenzie has achieved a masterful synthesis of engrossing narrative, imaginative concepts, historical perspective, and social concern."

Donald MacKenzie follows one line of technology—strategic ballistic missile guidance through a succession of weapons systems to reveal the workings of a world that is neither awesome nor unstoppable. He uncovers the parameters, the pressures, and the politics that make up the complex social construction of an equally complex technology.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262631471
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	01/29/1993
Series:	Inside Technology
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	480
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Donald MacKenzie is Professor of Sociology (Personal Chair) at the University of Edinburgh. His books include Inventing Accuracy (1990), Knowing Machines (1996), and Mechanizing Proof (2001), all published by the MIT Press. Portions of An Engine, not a Camera won the Viviana A. Zelizer Prize in economic sociology from the American Sociological Association.

What People are Saying About This

Everett Mendelsohn

MacKenzie's study challenges conventional models of technical determinism of the race in sophisticated weaponry and replaces it with a carefully drawn model of the social formation of technical change. The detailed empirical examination and sociological framework set a new standard for the historical and social study of technology.

Endorsement

Meticulous research and acute analysis are here combined in an exceptionally readable text. Inventing Accuracy is going to be a paradigm for studies in the history and sociology of technology for years to come.

—Ruth Schwartz Cowan, Professor of History, State University of New York at Stony Brook

From the Publisher

MacKenzie's study challenges conventional models of technical determinism of the race in sophisticated weaponry and replaces it with a carefully drawn model of the social formation of technical change. The detailed empirical examination and sociological framework set a new standard for the historical and social study of technology.

—Everett Mendelsohn, Professor of the History of Science, Harvard University

Meticulous research and acute analysis are here combined in an exceptionally readable text. Inventing Accuracy is going to be a paradigm for studies in the history and sociology of technology for years to come.

—Ruth Schwartz Cowan, Professor of History, State University of New York at Stony Brook

Ruth Schwartz Cowan

Meticulous research and acute analysis are here combined in an exceptionally readable text. Inventing Accuracy is going to be a paradigm for studies in the history and sociology of technology for years to come.

Editorial Reviews

Inventing Accuracy is a brilliant achievement that will, if we are fortunate, change widespread misunderstandings about technological innovation. The strength of this book lies not only in its extremely clear and nuanced theoretical statements, but also in its rich historical narrative. This book should be of great interest to a diverse audience. It also provides a creative, if extremely demanding, model for future scholarship on technology and national security.—Lynn Eden, Survival—

This is a great piece of sociology and a great book.... gripping, superbly researched, fair, sympathetic, and ultimately, hopeful.

—Steven Shapin, American Journal of Sociology—

From the Publisher

This is a great piece of sociology and a great book.... gripping, superbly researched, fair, sympathetic, and ultimately, hopeful.

—Steven Shapin, American Journal of Sociology

Reviews

This is a great piece of sociology and a great book.... gripping, superbly researched, fair, sympathetic, and ultimately, hopeful.

American Journal of Sociology - Steven Shapin

Inventing Accuracy is a brilliant achievement that will, if we are fortunate, change widespread misunderstandings about technological innovation. The strength of this book lies not only in its extremely clear and nuanced theoretical statements, but also in its rich historical narrative. This book should be of great interest to a diverse audience. It also provides a creative, if extremely demanding, model for future scholarship on technology and national security.

Survival - Lynn Eden

Among books on the arms race, MacKenzie's (sociology, U. of Edinburgh) stands out for its welcome demystification fo the nuclear waeapons technology. MacKenzie follows one line of technology--strategic ballistic missile guidance--through a succession of weapons system to reveal the ordinary workings of a world that is neither awesome nor unstoppable. He uncovers the parameters, the pressures, and the politics that make up the complex social construction of an equally complex technology. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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