Technology in World Civilization, revised and expanded edition: A Thousand-Year History
The new edition of a milestone work on the global history of technology.

This milestone history of technology, first published in 1990 and now revised and expanded in light of recent research, broke new ground by taking a global view, avoiding the conventional Eurocentric perspective and placing the development of technology squarely in the context of a "world civilization." Case studies include "technological dialogues" between China and West Asia in the eleventh century, medieval African states and the Islamic world, and the United States and Japan post-1950. It examines railway empires through the examples of Russia and Japan and explores current synergies of innovation in energy supply and smartphone technology through African cases.

The book uses the term "technological dialogue" to challenges the top-down concept of "technology transfer," showing instead that technologies are typically modified to fit local needs and conditions, often triggering further innovation. The authors trace these encounters and exchanges over a thousand years, examining changes in such technologies as agriculture, firearms, printing, electricity, and railroads. A new chapter brings the narrative into the twenty-first century, discussing technological developments including petrochemicals, aerospace, and digitalization from often unexpected global viewpoints and asking what new kind of industrial revolution is needed to meet the challenges of the Anthropocene.
1138018974
Technology in World Civilization, revised and expanded edition: A Thousand-Year History
The new edition of a milestone work on the global history of technology.

This milestone history of technology, first published in 1990 and now revised and expanded in light of recent research, broke new ground by taking a global view, avoiding the conventional Eurocentric perspective and placing the development of technology squarely in the context of a "world civilization." Case studies include "technological dialogues" between China and West Asia in the eleventh century, medieval African states and the Islamic world, and the United States and Japan post-1950. It examines railway empires through the examples of Russia and Japan and explores current synergies of innovation in energy supply and smartphone technology through African cases.

The book uses the term "technological dialogue" to challenges the top-down concept of "technology transfer," showing instead that technologies are typically modified to fit local needs and conditions, often triggering further innovation. The authors trace these encounters and exchanges over a thousand years, examining changes in such technologies as agriculture, firearms, printing, electricity, and railroads. A new chapter brings the narrative into the twenty-first century, discussing technological developments including petrochemicals, aerospace, and digitalization from often unexpected global viewpoints and asking what new kind of industrial revolution is needed to meet the challenges of the Anthropocene.
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Technology in World Civilization, revised and expanded edition: A Thousand-Year History

Technology in World Civilization, revised and expanded edition: A Thousand-Year History

Technology in World Civilization, revised and expanded edition: A Thousand-Year History

Technology in World Civilization, revised and expanded edition: A Thousand-Year History

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Overview

The new edition of a milestone work on the global history of technology.

This milestone history of technology, first published in 1990 and now revised and expanded in light of recent research, broke new ground by taking a global view, avoiding the conventional Eurocentric perspective and placing the development of technology squarely in the context of a "world civilization." Case studies include "technological dialogues" between China and West Asia in the eleventh century, medieval African states and the Islamic world, and the United States and Japan post-1950. It examines railway empires through the examples of Russia and Japan and explores current synergies of innovation in energy supply and smartphone technology through African cases.

The book uses the term "technological dialogue" to challenges the top-down concept of "technology transfer," showing instead that technologies are typically modified to fit local needs and conditions, often triggering further innovation. The authors trace these encounters and exchanges over a thousand years, examining changes in such technologies as agriculture, firearms, printing, electricity, and railroads. A new chapter brings the narrative into the twenty-first century, discussing technological developments including petrochemicals, aerospace, and digitalization from often unexpected global viewpoints and asking what new kind of industrial revolution is needed to meet the challenges of the Anthropocene.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780262542463
Publisher: MIT Press
Publication date: 08/03/2021
Pages: 356
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.66(d)

About the Author

Arnold Pacey is the author of The Culture of Technology, Meaning in Technology, and The Maze of Ingenuity, all published by the MIT Press. He is a recipient of the Leonardo da Vinci Medal for the History of Technology. Francesca Bray's recent books include Technology, Gender and History in Imperial China and Rice: Global Networks and New Histories. She is coeditor of the forthcoming Cambridge History of Technology and a recipient of the Leonardo da Vinci Medal for the History of Technology.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Revised Edition ix

Coauthor's Note xv

Credits for Illustrations xvii

1 An Age of Asian Technology, AD 700-1100 1

2 Complexes and Contrasts in Basic Technology, AD 1100-1260 23

3 Movements West, 1150-1490 45

4 Agroecology in the Americas and Asian Trade 69

5 Gunpowder Empires, 1450-1650 87

6 Printing, Books, and Ideas about Technology, 1550-1750 109

7 Three Industrial Movements, 1700-1815 127

8 Guns and Rails: Asia, Britain, and America 151

9 Railway Empires, 1850-1940 173

10 Scientific Discoveries and Technical Dreams, 1860-1960 195

11 Technologies for Health, Food, and Basic Needs 217

12 Into the Twenty-First Century 241

Notes 263

Bibliography 285

Index 313

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“A marvelous, sweeping chronological history of the world as a technological conversation among its cultural centers, which the authors ground in the careful analysis of technical details and everyday activities. Indispensable.”
Barbara Hahn, author of Technology in the Industrial Revolution
 
“This remarkably inclusive history defies easy classification and offers as much to entrepreneurs and ethicists as it does to devotees of history.”
Kathryn A. Neeley, Department of Engineering and Society, University of Virginia

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