The Social Construction of Technological Systems: New Directions in the Sociology and History of Technology (The MIT Press) - Softcover

Bijker, We

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0262521377 ISBN 13: 9780262521376

Publisher: MIT Press, 1989

Synopsis

The 13 essays in this book draw on a wide array of case studies from cooking stoves to missile systems, from 15thA century Portugal to today's AI labs - to outline an original research program based on a synthesis of ideas from the social studies of science and the history of technology.The impact of technology on society is clear and unmistakable. The influence of society on technology is more subtle. The 13 essays in this book draw on a wide array of case studies from cooking stoves to missile systems, from 15thA century Portugal to today's AI labs - to outline an original research program based on a synthesis of ideas from the social studies of science and the history of technology. Together they affirm the need for a study of technology that gives equal weight to technical, social, economic, and political questions.

About this title

Review:

"... required reading for STS teachers and researchers - and, indeed, for anyone convinced that it is essential, in the modern world, to understand the social nature of technical innovation." David Edge, Director, Science Studies Unit, University of Edinburgh

About the Author:

Wiebe E. Bijker is Professor at Maastricht University and the author of Of Bicycles, Bakelites, and Bulbs: Toward a Theory of Sociotechnical Change (MIT Press) and other books. Thomas P. Hughes is Professor of the History and Sociology of Science at the University of Pennsylvania. Trevor Pinch is Goldwin Smith Professor of Science and Technology Studies at Cornell University and coeditor of The Social Construction of Technological Systems: New Directions in the Sociology and History of Technology (anniversary edition, MIT Press). Trevor Pinch is Goldwin Smith Professor of Science and Technology Studies at Cornell University and coeditor of The Social Construction of Technological Systems: New Directions in the Sociology and History of Technology (anniversary edition, MIT Press). Wiebe E. Bijker is Professor at Maastricht University and the author of Of Bicycles, Bakelites, and Bulbs: Toward a Theory of Sociotechnical Change (MIT Press) and other books. Thomas P. Hughes is Professor of the History and Sociology of Science at the University of Pennsylvania. Michel Callon, developer (with Bruno Latour and others) of Actor Network Theory, is Professor at the Ecole des mines de Paris and a Researcher at the Centre de Sociologie de l'innovation there. John Law is Professor in Sociology at the University of Keele, Staffordshire, England. Arie Rip is Professor of Philosophy of Science and Technology in the School of Management and Governance of the University of Twente. Donald 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. Steve Woolgar is Chair of Marketing and Head of Science and Technology Studies at the University of Oxford. Harry Collins is Distinguished Research Professor of Sociology and Director of the Centre for the Study of Knowledge, Expertise, and Science at Cardiff University. A Fellow of the British Academy, he is the author of Gravity's Shadow; Gravity's Ghost; Gravity's Ghost and Big Dog; Gravity's Kiss: The Detection of Gravitational Waves (MIT Press); and many other books.

About this edition

• Publisher: MIT Press
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0262521377
• ISBN 13: 9780262521376
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 424