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Overview"Ranging from broad inquiries into the roles of economics and sociology in the explanation of technolgical change to an argument for the possibility of ""uninventing"" nuclear weapons, this selection of Donald MacKenzie's essays provides an introduction to the style and the substance of the sociology of technology. The essays are tied together by their exploration of connections (primarily among technology, society and knowledge) and by their general focus on modern ""high"" technology. They also share an emphasis on the complexity of technological formation and fixation and on the role of belief (especially self-validating belief) in technological change. Two of the articles won major prizes on their original journal publication, and all but one date from 1991 or later. A substantial new introduction outlines the common themes underlying this body of work and places it in the context of recent debates in technology studies. Two conceptual essays are followed by seven empirical essays focusing on the laser gyroscopes that are central to modern aricraft navigation technology, supercomputers (with a particular emphasis on their use in the design of nuclear weapons), the application of mathematical proof in the design of computer systems, computer-related accidental deaths, and the nature of the knowledge that is needed to design a nuclear bomb." Full Product DetailsAuthor: Donald Mackenzie (University of Edinburgh)Publisher: MIT Press Ltd Imprint: MIT Press Edition: New edition Dimensions: Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.00cm , Length: 22.90cm Weight: 0.454kg ISBN: 9780262631884ISBN 10: 0262631881 Pages: 350 Publication Date: 01 September 1998 Recommended Age: From 18 Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate , Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly Format: Paperback Publisher's Status: No Longer Our Product Availability: Awaiting stock  The supplier is currently out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you and placed on backorder. Once it does come back in stock, we will ship it out for you. Table of ContentsReviewsThe essays collected in Knowing Machines are enormously impressive: for the quality of the scholarship, for their wide range and for what they indicate about Donald MacKenzie's grasp of the demanding technical issues under discussion. --Steven Yearley, Times Literary Supplement Author InformationDonald MacKenzie is Professor of Sociology (Personal Chair) at the University of Edinburgh. His books include Inventing Accuracy (1990), Knowing Machines (1996), and Mechanizing Proof (2001), all published by the MIT Press. Portions of An Engine, not a Camera won the Viviana A. Zelizer Prize in economic sociology from the American Sociological Association. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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