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Foreword Langdon Winner ix
Introduction to the 1963 Edition xv
Captions to Images from the 1934 Edition xxi
Objectives 3
Chapter I Cultural Preparation 9
1 Machines, Utilities, and "The Machine" 9
2 The Monastery and the Clock 12
3 Space, Distance, Movement 18
4 The Influence of Capitalism 23
5 From Fable to Fact 28
6 The Obstacle of Animism 31
7 The Road Through Magic 36
8 Social Regimentation 41
9 The Mechanical Universe 45
10 The Duty to Invent 52
11 Practical Anticipations 55
Chapter II Agents of Mechanization 60
1 The Profile of Technics 60
2 De Re Metallica 65
3 Mining and Modern Capitalism 74
4 The Primitive Engineer 77
5 From Game-Hunt to Man-Hunt 81
6 Warfare and Invention 85
7 Military Mass-Production 89
8 Drill and Deterioration 94
9 Mars and Venus 96
10 Consumptive Pull and Productive Drive 102
Chapter III The Eotechnic Phase 107
1 Technical Syncretism 107
2 The Technological Complex 109
3 New Sources of Power 112
4 Trunk, Plank, and Spar 119
5 Through a Glass, Brightly 124
6 Glass and the Ego 128
7 The Primary Inventions 131
8 Weakness and Strength 142
Chapter IV The Paleotechnic Phase 151
1 England's Belated Leadership 151
2 The New Barbarism 153
3 Carboniferous Capitalism 156
4 The Steam Engine 158
5 Blood and Iron 163
6 The Destruction of Environment 167
7 The Degradation of the Worker 172
8 The Starvation of Life 178
9 The Doctrine of Progress 182
10 The Struggle for Existence 185
11 Class and Nation 187
12 The Empire of Muddle 191
13 Power and Time 196
14 The Esthetic Compensation 199
15 Mechanical Triumphs 205
16 The Paleotechnic Passage 210
Chapter V The Neotechnic Phase 212
1 The Beginnings of Neotechnics 212
2 The Importance of Science 215
3 New Sources of Energy 221
4 The Displacement of the Proletariat 224
5 Neotechnic Materials 229
6 Power and Mobility 235
7 The Paradox of Communication 239
8 The New Permanent Record 242
9 Light and Life 245
10 The Influence of Biology 250
11 From Destruction to Conservation 255
12 The Planning of Population 260
13 The Present Pseudomorph 263
Chapter VI Compensations and Reversions 268
1 Summary of Social Reactions 268
2 The Mechanical Routine 269
3 Purposeless Materialism: Superfluous Power 273
4 Co-operation versus Slavery 278
5 Direct Attack on the Machine 284
6 Romantic and Utilitarian 285
7 The Cult of the Past 288
8 The Return to Nature 295
9 Organic and Mechanical Polarities 299
10 Sport and the "Bitch-goddess" 303
11 The Cult of Death 307
12 The Minor Shock-Absorbers 311
13 Resistance and Adjustment 316
Chapter VII Assimilation of the Machine 321
1 New Cultural Values 321
2 The Neutrality of Order 326
3 The Esthetic Experience of the Machine 333
4 Photography as Means and Symbol 337
5 The Growth of Functionalism 344
6 The Simplification of the Environment 357
7 The Objective Personality 359
Chapter VIII Orientation 364
1 The Dissolution of "The Machine" 364
2 Toward an Organic Ideology 368
3 The Elements of Social Energetics 373
4 Increase Conversion! 380
5 Economize Production! 383
6 Normalize Consumption! 390
7 Basic Communism 400
8 Socialize Creation! 406
9 Work for Automaton and Amateur 410
10 Political Control 417
11 The Diminution of the Machine 423
12 Toward a Dynamic Equilibrium 429
13 Summary and Prospect 433
Prefatory Note v
Inventions 437
Bibliography 447
Acknowledgments 475
Index 477
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Mitchell Larson
reviewed Technics and Civilization on May 16, 2011 Technics and Civilization
Writing in the early 1930's Lewis Mumford offers a sweeping viewing of technological development over the past thousand years of human history. But Mumford is far from a simple chronicler of technological achievement and failure. As Langdon Winner observes in his introduction to the book, Mumford is among the first thinkers to advance a clear philosophy of technology. Indeed, Mumford's insights into, criticisms of, and prescriptions for technological development are fascinating. While Mumford is most frequently recognized for his distinctions between various periods of technological development (i.e. eotechnic, paleotechnic, and neotechnic), I think Mumford's greatest contributions are in his insights into the fundamental ambivalence of machines for good and evil purposes. As such, Mumford is not a simple romantic (anti-technology), nor is he a thoughtless technological enthusiast. Instead, Mumford calls for a critical evaluation of technological systems and devices relative to the nature, abilities, and goals of human beings that possess a rich thought life that resists an overly simplistic regimentation. Apart from the various insights Mumford offers, he is also pleasure to read. In short, Mumford writes with a tremendous amount of candor, wit, and intelligence, which I find refreshing. Although the book was written in 1934, its insights are still relevant, and I would highly recommend this book to others looking for a thoughtful, wise, and engaging treatment of technological development.
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Add Technics and Civilization, Technics and Civilization first presented its compelling history of the machine and critical study of its effects on civilization in 1934-before television, the personal computer, or the Internet even appeared on our periphery. Drawing upon art, scienc, Technics and Civilization to the inventory that you are selling on WonderClubX
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Add Technics and Civilization, Technics and Civilization first presented its compelling history of the machine and critical study of its effects on civilization in 1934-before television, the personal computer, or the Internet even appeared on our periphery. Drawing upon art, scienc, Technics and Civilization to your collection on WonderClub |