The Golem at Large: What You Should Know About Technology (Canto Classics) - Softcover

Collins, Harry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1107688280 ISBN 13: 9781107688285

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2014

Synopsis

In the very successful and widely discussed first volume in the Golem series, The Golem: What You Should Know about Science, Harry Collins and Trevor Pinch likened science to the Golem, a creature from Jewish mythology, a powerful creature which, while not evil, can be dangerous because it is clumsy. In this second volume, the authors now consider the Golem of technology. In a series of case studies they demonstrate that the imperfections in technology are related to the uncertainties in science described in the first volume. The case studies cover the role of the Patriot anti-missile missile in the Gulf War, the Challenger space shuttle explosion, tests of nuclear fuel flasks and of anti-misting kerosene as a fuel for airplanes, economic modeling, the question of the origins of oil, analysis of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, and the contribution of lay expertise to the analysis of treatments for AIDS.

About this title

Review

'Of the many impressive texts that use case studies to convey 'what you should know about technology', The Golem at Large is the clearest and simplest.' Barry Barnes, Nature

'... riveting.' Robert Gaitskell, Times Higher Educational Supplement

Book Description

In this follow up to their earlier book, The Golem: What You Should Know about Science, the authors now consider the Golem of technology. Using the same successful format, in a series of case studies they demonstrate that the imperfections in technology are related to the uncertainties in science.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1107688280
• ISBN 13: 9781107688285
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 226