Technology in World Civilization: A Thousand-Year History
ISBN-13:
9780262161176
ISBN-10:
0262161176
Edition:
1
Author:
Arnold Pacey
Publication date:
1990
Publisher:
Mit Pr
Format:
Hardcover
238 pages
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Used - Very Good
Very Good/Good; Very good hardcover with good DJ, from a personal collection (NOT ex-library). Binding is tight, sturdy, and square; boards and text also very good. Interior appears free of markings. Moderate shelfwear/rubbing to unclipped dust jacket. Ships from Dinkytown in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Book details
ISBN-13:
9780262161176
ISBN-10:
0262161176
Edition:
1
Author:
Arnold Pacey
Publication date:
1990
Publisher:
Mit Pr
Format:
Hardcover
238 pages
Summary
Technology in World Civilization: A Thousand-Year History (ISBN-13: 9780262161176 and ISBN-10: 0262161176), written by authors
Arnold Pacey, was published by Mit Pr in 1990.
With an overall rating of 4.0 stars, it's a notable title among other
Industrial, Manufacturing & Operational Systems
(Engineering) books. You can easily purchase or rent Technology in World Civilization: A Thousand-Year History (Hardcover) from BooksRun,
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Description
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.
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