Society & Technological Change

This is a fully-revised and updated edition. It has a non-technical narrative text that describes and analyzes the causes and consequences of technological advance. The book uses timely, internationally-focused examples to illustrate the social, political, economic and cultural dimensions of technology. It focuses on three social phenomena in particular - work, communications and warfare - to help readers understand the forces that produce technological change and the consequences that result. The contemporary theme - nuclear threat (chapter 13), television violence (chapter 11), the environment (chapter 6), among others - are of particular interest to students of the 1990s. The intercultural perspective allows readers to understand that these technological changes and events are a worldwide phenomenon. See, for example, the development of indigenous steel production in Japan (chapter 5). The chapters end with questions for discussion and there is a selected bibliography for further readings and/or for essay topics. The author has also written "Technology, Politics, and Society in China".