Reviews for America as Second Creation: Technology and Narratives of New Beginnings

The average rating for America as Second Creation: Technology and Narratives of New Beginnings based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-11-11 00:00:00 Curtis Golladay The stock description nails the thesis of this book. Essentially its about how certain technologies come to be emblematic of certain ideas. Nye examines this in an American context, how, for example, the ax is the symbol of the yeoman farmer, literally creating a new world out of the wilderness, and how mill towns and railroads are symbols of progress. Nye does a good job of incorporating this with social history using primary sources, as Nye usually does. Also, as he usually does, he does it with a great writing style. I found the "second creation" and religious aspects played down a bit, he didn't seem to focus on them as much as I would have thought, given the title. He is very concerned with the idea of the social shared narratives that technology creates, both pro-tech and anti-tech, since America has plenty of both throughout the years. This decision, to explore both sides, is a great one that really gives the book a lot of depth. This goes far beyond the normal realm of history of technology, this is great reading for all American historians in understanding cultural narratives and shared conceptions of American identity and how those play out in the physical world. Great stuff from a great historian.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-11-01 00:00:00 Julieann Lewis This book attempts to make an argument that America is a "second creation" but in the course of the book does not really define what he means by this. It is an interesting recount of American technological history and was fairly well done. The book is written by a scholar in Denmark and the European perspective was the most fascinating part. The book examines the role of environmental history in addition to technology. It argues that mills, grid patterns, dams and resources, as well as an esoteric idea of human entropy. This attempt at science is very weak and does not make a favorable impression. Ruth Cowan's book provides a better example of how technology developed although this is still a good start. It is worth a read but can be trying in its theoretical stance at times.