Reviews for Automobile in American History and Culture: A Reference Guide

The average rating for Automobile in American History and Culture: A Reference Guide based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2009-02-07 00:00:00 Sheena Terrell A good introductory volume on cyber-ethics edited by two Baylor professors. It covers all the main topics you'd expect in such a volume including an overview of various normative approaches to cyberethics and sections on key debates like privacy, freedom, property rights, citizenship and politcs, etc.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-07-14 00:00:00 Kenneth Stocks 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.