Leonardo to the Internet: Technology and Culture from the Renaissance to the Present / Edition 2

by Thomas J. Misa

Overview

Arising from curiosity about whether da Vinci was truly the "prophet of automation," this scholarly study goes beyond the specific technologies that drove the Industrial Revolution to trace the complex economic, social, and cultural dynamics that stimulated technological advances. Taking a middle ground in the debate over new technologies' benefits and their sociopolitical consequences, Misa also examines the interface between modern technology and aesthetics. Illustrations range from Renaissance architecture to a Dutch Internet cafe. Annotation © 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781421401539
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	07/15/2011
Series:	Johns Hopkins Studies in the History of Technology
Edition description:	second edition
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Thomas J. Misa (LOPEZ ISLAND, WA) is the author or coauthor of many books, including A Nation of Steel: The Making of Modern America, 1865–1925 and FastLane: Managing Science in the Internet World.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables vii

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xix

Chapter 1 Technologies of the Court, 1450-1600 1

Chapter 2 Techniques of Commerce, 1588-1740 31

Chapter 3 Geographies of Industry, 1740-1851 57

Chapter 4 Instruments of Empire, 1840-1914 92

Chapter 5 Science and Systems, 1870-1930 122

Chapter 6 Materials of Modernism, 1900-1950 150

Chapter 7 The Means of Destruction, 1933-1990 180

Chapter 8 Promises of Global Culture, 1970-2001 213

Chapter 9 Paths to Insecurity, 2001-2010 247

Chapter 10 Dominance of the Digital, 1990-2016 281

Chapter 11 The Question of Technology 319

Notes 343

Essay on Sources 399

Index 407

What People are Saying About This

Merritt Roe Smith

[Leonardo to the Internet] is well written, accessible, and perceptive. It also has a comparative dimension that sets it apart from others of its genre. In my opinion, it is the first really good book on the theme of technology in western civilization since Kranzberg and Pursell published their pioneering two-volume work in 1967.

— Merritt Roe Smith, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harper's Ferry Armory and the New Technology

Editorial Reviews

A fascinating, informative, and well-illustrated book.

Choice

Closely reasoned, reflective, and written with insight, grace, and wit, Misa's book takes us on a personal tour of technology and history, seeking to define and analyze paradigmatic techno-cultural eras.

Technology and Culture

A powerful pick for any library interested in a scholarly yet lively survey of connections between science and culture.

Midwest Book Review

His case studies, such as that of Italian futurism or the localizations of the global McDonalds, provide good starting points for thought and discussion.

Journal of Interdisciplinary History

A powerful pick for any library interested in a scholarly yet lively survey of connections between science and culture.
—Midwest Book Review

An engaging and worthy study of the interaction of technology and culture over the last 560 years . . . Misa's excellent study can contribute much to such critical circumspection regarding technology, human reason and choices, and the purposes and possibilities of human thriving and communal life.
—Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies

Closely reasoned, reflective, and written with insight, grace, and wit, Misa's book takes us on a personal tour of technology and history, seeking to define and analyze paradigmatic techno-cultural eras.
—Technology and Culture

This review cannot do justice to the precision and grace with which Misa analyzes technologies in their social contexts. He convincingly demonstrates the usefulness of his conceptual model.
—History and Technology

Follows [Thomas] Hughes's model of combining an engaging historical narrative with deeper lessons about technology.
—American Scholar

His case studies, such as that of Italian futurism or the localizations of the global McDonald's, provide good starting points for thought and discussion.
—Journal of Interdisciplinary History

A fascinating, informative, and well-illustrated book.
—Choice

From the Publisher

An engaging and worthy study of the interaction of technology and culture over the last 560 years . . . Misa's excellent study can contribute much to such critical circumspection regarding technology, human reason and choices, and the purposes and possibilities of human thriving and communal life.

Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies - Bruce N. Lundberg

This review cannot do justice to the precision and grace with which Misa analyzes technologies in their social contexts. He convincingly demonstrates the usefulness of his conceptual model.

History and Technology

Follows [Thomas] Hughes's model of combining an engaging historical narrative with deeper lessons about technology.

American Scholar

An engaging and worthy study of the interaction of technology and culture over the last 560 years . . . Misa's excellent study can contribute much to such critical circumspection regarding technology, human reason and choices, and the purposes and possibilities of human thriving and communal life.

Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies

His case studies, such as that of Italian futurism or the localizations of the global McDonalds, provide good starting points for thought and discussion.

Journal of Interdisciplinary History - Pamela O. Long

This is a short, well-researched, well-written study that makes understandable to a wide audience the close ties that have existed between industry and culture from the Renaissance to the present.

Industrial Archaeology - Elizabeth Norris

Follows [Thomas] Hughes's model of combining an engaging historical narrative with deeper lessons about technology.

American Scholar - Alex Soojung-Kim Pang

This is a short, well-researched, well-written study that makes understandable to a wide audience the close ties that have existed between industry and culture from the Renaissance to the present.

— Elizabeth Norris

Industrial Archaeology