The Machine in America: A Social History of Technology / Edition 2

by Carroll Pursell

Overview

2008 Outstanding Academic Title, Choice Magazine

From the medieval farm implements used by the first colonists to the invisible links of the Internet, the history of technology in America is a history of society as well. Arguing that "the tools and processes we use are a part of our lives, not simply instruments of our purpose," historian Carroll Pursell analyzes technology's impact on the lives of women and men, on their work, politics, and social relationships—and how, in turn, people influence technological development.

Pursell shows how both the idea of progress and the mechanical means to harness the forces of nature developed and changed as they were brought from the Old World to the New. He describes the ways in which American industrial and agricultural technology began to take on a distinctive shape as it adapted and extended the technical base of the industrial revolution. He discusses the innovation of an American system of manufactures and the mechanization of agriculture; new systems of mining, lumbering, and farming, which helped conquer and define the West; and the technologies that shaped the rise of cities.

In the second edition of The Machine in America, Pursell brings this classic history up to date with a revised chapter on war technology and new discussions on information technology, globalization, and the environment.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801885792
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	03/15/2007
Edition description:	second edition
Pages:	416
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.86(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Carroll Pursell is an adjunct professor of history at The Australian National University and professor emeritus of history at Case Western Reserve University. He is a former president of the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) and the International Committee for the History of Technology (ICOHTEC). He is the author of From Playgrounds to PlayStation: The Interaction of Technology and Play, also published by Johns Hopkins.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction
I. The Transit of Technology
1. The Tools Brought Over
2. Importing the Industrial Revolution
3. Improving Transportation
II. The Domestication of the Industrial Revolution
4. The Expansion of American Manufactures
5. The Mechanization of Farming
III. The Imprint of American Technology
6. Creating an Urban Environment
7. Westward the Course of Industry
8. Export, Exploitation, and Empire
IV. Technology and Hegemony
9. The Coming of Science and Systems
10. The Decade of Prosperity and Consumption
11. Depression: Study and Subsidy
12. Wars and the "American Century"
13. Challenge and Change in a Postmodern World
V. Globalization
14. Our (Un)Wired World
15. America's Global Reach
Notes
Further Reading
Index

Editorial Reviews

It would be hard to find a better introduction to the history of American technology—or, for that matter, to American history itself.

American Heritage of Invention and Technology

What differentiates this book and makes it especially appealing is its coverage of agricultural and environmental topics. These subjects are often overlooked by historians of technology, and Pursell's inclusion of them represents an important step toward integrating these fields.

Agricultural History - Nicholas Buchanan

The Machine in America's modest preface fails to acknowledge the magnitude of the task undertaken by Carroll Pursell . . . This book succeeds in achieving Pursell's goals.

Isis - Robert Martello

A balanced and clearly written account of the development of American manufacturing and engineering from the colonial period to the present.

American Studies International

"Certainly one of the best introductions to the history of American technology... Highly recommended."

Choice

What differentiates this book and makes it especially appealing is its coverage of agricultural and environmental topics. These subjects are often overlooked by historians of technology, and Pursell's inclusion of them represents an important step toward integrating these fields.

— Nicholas Buchanan

Agricultural History

The Machine in America's modest preface fails to acknowledge the magnitude of the task undertaken by Carroll Pursell... This book succeeds in achieving Pursell's goals.

— Robert Martello

Isis

The Machine in America's modest preface fails to acknowledge the magnitude of the task undertaken by Carroll Pursell . . . This book succeeds in achieving Pursell's goals.
—Robert Martello, Isis

Certainly one of the best introductions to the history of American technology . . . Highly recommended.
—Choice

What differentiates this book and makes it especially appealing is its coverage of agricultural and environmental topics. These subjects are often overlooked by historians of technology, and Pursell's inclusion of them represents an important step toward integrating these fields.
—Nicholas Buchanan, Agricultural History

The Machine in America has been enduring for multiple reasons, including its solid prose, excellent illustrations and captions, use of current themes (gender, race, class), focus on how society constructs technology, and a critical view of technology as something that historically has been used in America, all too often, to reinforce the powerful rather than help the weak.
—Industrial Archaeology

It would be hard to find a better introduction to the history of American technology—or, for that matter, to American history itself.
—American Heritage of Invention and Technology

A balanced and clearly written account of the development of American manufacturing and engineering from the colonial period to the present.
—American Studies International

From the Publisher

The Machine in America has been enduring for multiple reasons, including its solid prose, excellent illustrations and captions, use of current themes (gender, race, class), focus on how society constructs technology, and a critical view of technology as something that historically has been used in America, all too often, to reinforce the powerful rather than help the weak.

Industrial Archaeology