Technology in World Civilization: A Thousand Year History - Hardcover

Pacey, Arnold

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0262161176 ISBN 13: 9780262161176

Publisher: MIT Press, 1997

Synopsis

Most general histories of technology are Eurocentrist, focusing on a main line of western technology that stretches from the Greeks through the computer. In this very different book Arnold Pacey takes a global view, placing the development of technology squarely in a "world civilization." He portrays the process as a complex dialectic by which inventions borrowed from one culture are adopted to suit another. Pacey's argument is both original and compelling. He demonstrates that western technology is an amalgam of cross-fertilizations from the great civilizations of China, India, and Islam and from the apparently primitive cultures of peasant farmers in Africa or Inuit hunters in the Arctic. In a lively and readable style, Pacey explains exactly how technologies (which he broadly defines to include such critical practices as agriculture and health care) were diffused across Asia to Africa and Europe, and then back again. A failure to appreciate the importance of this type of dialogue, Pacey observes, has often led to misguided programs that have sought to impose technologies on less developed nations without allowing for responsive innovation. Covering the period from 700 to 1970, Pacey contrasts innovations based on critical survival needs with high technologies symbolizing the values of major civilizations. Examples include the Chinese gunpowder that provoked a more formida ble cannon in Europe, Indian textile techniques that spurred the Industrial Revolution in Britain, and transistors from the U.S. that stimulated new kinds of consumer products in Japan. In m any cases, Pacey notes, technology is less the result of a direct transfer than of the diffusion of stimuli. Even "a mererumor of an unfamiliar technique" could produce new ways to achieve similar results. Arnold Pacey is a physicist turned historian whose publications have contributed to the British appropriate technology movement. He has written widely on science, technology, and agriculture. His previous books include "The Maze of Ingenuity and "The Culture of Technology.

About this title

Product Description:

24 cm. xi, 238 p. : ill. Encuadernación en tapa blanda de editorial ilustrada. Idioma Inglés. Arnold Pacey. Includes bibliographical references (p. 218-225) and index. [Location : Library] [Shelf : 620. 9 PAC] .. Este libro es de segunda mano y tiene o puede tener marcas y señales de su anterior propietario. ISBN: 0262161176; 9780262161176

Review:

"A brilliant book... ÝPacey¨ presents numerous expertly told, but brief, historical examples - many involving non-Western history - that demonstrate the subtlety, richness, and ultimate technological importance of an authentic dialogue."-- James R. Hansen, Science Books & Films

-- James R. Hansen, Science Books & Films

" A brilliant book... [Pacey] presents numerous expertly told, but brief, historical examples - many involving non-Western history - that demonstrate the subtlety, richness, and ultimate technological importance of an authentic dialogue." -- James R. Hansen, Science Books & Films

& quot; A brilliant book... [Pacey] presents numerous expertly told, but brief, historical examples - many involving non-Western history - that demonstrate the subtlety, richness, and ultimate technological importance of an authentic dialogue.& quot; -- James R. Hansen, Science Books & Films

"A brilliant book... [Pacey] presents numerous expertly told, but brief, historical examples - many involving non-Western history - that demonstrate the subtlety, richness, and ultimate technological importance of an authentic dialogue."--James R. Hansen, Science Books & Films

A brilliant book...[Pacey] presents numerous expertly told, but brief, historical examples -- many involving non-Western history -- that demonstrate the subtlety, richness, and ultimate technological importance of an authentic dialogue.--James R. Hansen "Science Books & Films "

A brilliant book...[Pacey] presents numerous expertly told, but brief, historical examples -- many involving non-Western history -- that demonstrate the subtlety, richness, and ultimate technological importance of an authentic dialogue.

--James R. Hansen "Science Books & Films "

About this edition

• Publisher: MIT Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0262161176
• ISBN 13: 9780262161176
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 246