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OverviewA humanistic account of the changing role of technology in society, by a historian and a former Dean of Students and Undergraduate Education at MIT.When Warren Kendall Lewis left Spring Garden Farm in Delaware in 1901 to enter MIT, he had no idea that he was becoming part of a profession that would bring untold good to his country but would also contribute to the death of his family's farm. In this book written a century later, Professor Lewis's granddaughter, a cultural historian who has served in the administration of MIT, uses her grandfather's and her own experience to make sense of the rapidly changing role of technology in contemporary life. Rosalind Williams served as Dean of Students and Undergraduate Education at MIT from 1995 through 2000. From this vantage point, she watched a wave of changes, some planned and some unexpected, transform many aspects of social and working life-from how students are taught to how research and accounting are done-at this major site of technological innovation. In Retooling, she uses this local knowledge to draw more general insights into contemporary society's obsession with technology. Today technology-driven change defines human desires, anxieties, memories, imagination, and experiences of time and space in unprecedented ways. But technology, and specifically information technology, does not simply influence culture and society; it is itself inherently cultural and social. If there is to be any reconciliation between technological change and community, Williams argues, it will come from connecting technological and social innovation-a connection demonstrated in the history that unfolds in this absorbing book. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Rosalind Williams (Bern Dibner Professor of the History of Science & Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)Publisher: MIT Press Ltd Imprint: MIT Press Dimensions: Width: 13.70cm , Height: 1.70cm , Length: 20.30cm Weight: 0.286kg ISBN: 9780262731638ISBN 10: 0262731630 Pages: 270 Publication Date: 11 August 2003 Recommended Age: From 18 Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate , Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly Format: Paperback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: Manufactured on demand We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier. Table of ContentsReviewsWe have Williams to thank for a thoughtful, cogent, and historically well-informed analysis of the engineering profession. -- <b>Karl Stephan</b> * <i>IEEE</i> * Rosalind Williams... has written a very personal, autobiographical book. -- <b>Paul E. Ceruzzi</b> * <i>Isis</i> * Easy to read and understand, William's work provides interesting insights on modern culture and our obsession with technology. * <i>Library Journal</i> * An epic account of the struggle to humanize engineering education. * <i>Kirkus Reviews</i> * ...a fascinating account of the new relationships between technology and culture...a literary jewel. -- <b>Manuel Castells</b> * <i>Project Muse</i> * ...a fascinating account of the new relationships between technology and culture...a literary jewel. -- <b>Manuel Castells</b> * <i>Project Muse</i> * An epic account of the struggle to humanize engineering education. * <i>Kirkus Reviews</i> * Easy to read and understand, William's work provides interesting insights on modern culture and our obsession with technology. * <i>Library Journal</i> * Rosalind Williams... has written a very personal, autobiographical book. -- <b>Paul E. Ceruzzi</b> * <i>Isis</i> * We have Williams to thank for a thoughtful, cogent, and historically well-informed analysis of the engineering profession. -- <b>Karl Stephan</b> * <i>IEEE</i> * We have Williams to thank for a thoughtful, cogent, and historically well-informed analysis of the engineering profession. -- Karl Stephan, IEEE Author InformationRosalind Williams is Bern Dibner Professor of the History of Science and Technology. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |