Confessions of a Technophile Book

Branscomb's principal theme is that the benefits of science do not flow freely out of the laboratory; rather, superior advances come into our lives because people - in industry, universities, and government - anticipate the future and cooperate to achieve desirable ends. "Technology," says Branscomb, "is an expression of the values of the society that creates and uses it." Branscomb takes us on a tour of emerging information technologies - computer software, electronic libraries, video disks, and the information "superhighway" - always exploring the way people are affected. He asks, "How can a democratic society bring the culture and values of science to the wise management of the technologies that shape our lives?" This is a searching odyssey by one of the nation's most astute navigators along the paths taken by science and technology since the Second World War. Share his vision of how we can use both science and politics to improve the prospects for humankind.

Booknews

Celebrates technological innovations from the frenzy after World War II to today's emerging information technologies, insisting that advances are due to people in industry, universities, and governments cooperating to predict the future and prepare for it; and that society gets the technology it creates. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)