Society And Technological Change

Society and Technological Change Eighth Edition Rudi Volti Pitzer College Vice President, Editorial, Social Sciences: Charles Linsmeier Senior Associate Editor: Sarah Berger Development Editor: Thomas Finn Editorial Assistants: Kimberly Morgan-Smith, Un Kim Executive Marketing Manager: Katherine Nurre Marketing Assistant: Morgan Ratner Director, Content Management Enhancement: Tracey Kuehn Managing Editor, Sciences and Social Sciences: Lisa Kinne Project Manager: Jouve Senior Production Supervisor: Stacey B. Alexander Photo Editor: Richard Fox Director of Design, Content Management: Diana Blume Senior Design Manager: Blake Logan Art Manager: Matthew McAdams Composition: Jouve Printing and Binding: LSC Communications Cover: Maximilien Brice, CERN/Science Source Library of Congress Control Number: 2016955866 ISBN 978-1-319-12972-9 © 2017, 2014, 2009, 2001 by Worth Publishers All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America First Printing Worth Publishers One New York Plaza Suite 4500 New York, NY 10004-1562 www.macmillanlearning.com CONTENTS About the Author Preface xiii xi PART ONE Defining Technology Chapter 1 The Nature of Technology 1 3 Defining Technology 4 Technological Advance and the Image of Progress 8 Technology as a Metaphor 11 Technology and Rationality 13 Technological Determinism 16 Living in a Technological Society 18 Questions for Discussion 19 Chapter 2 Winners and Losers: The Differential Effects of Technological Change 21 Technology as a Subversive Force 22 The Luddites 26 Neo-Luddism 27 Whose Technology? 28 What Technology Can Do—And What It Cannot Do 29 Questions for Discussion 36 PART TWO The Process of Technological Change 39 Chapter 3 The Sources of Technological Change 41 Technological Change as a Social Process 41 The Great Breakthrough 42 The “D” in R&D 44 Putting It All Together 45 Clearing Bottlenecks through Technology Transfer 47 Supply and Demand: The “Push” and the “Pull” 48 Belated Demand: The Question of Market Timing 51 How Market Economies Drive Technological Innovation 52 Obstacles to Innovation in Centrally Planned Economies 53 Noneconomic Sources of Technological Advance 54 Questions for Discussion 58 Chapter 4 Scientific Knowledge and Technological Advance 61 The Historical Separation of Science and Technology 61 Studies of Contemporary Science–Technology Relationships 63 How Technology Differs from Science 64 How Technology Facilitates Scientific Discovery 67 Legitimating Science through Technology 70 The Translation of Science into Technology 72 The Commonalities of Science and Technology 74 Questions for Discussion 77 Chapter 5 The Diffusion of Technology 81 Technology on the Move 81 Clever Copyists 86 Adaptation and Adoption 87 Learning to Make Steel in Old Japan 88 Appropriate Technology 89 Organizations and Technological Diffusion 92 A Risky Business 93 The NIH Syndrome 94 Efforts to Restrict the Diffusion of Technology 95 Patents and the Diffusion of Technology 96 Questions for Discussion 98 PART THREE How Technology Affects the Health of Earth and Its Inhabitants 103 Chapter 6 Technology, Energy, and the Environment 105 Fossil Fuels, Air Pollution, and Climate Change 106 A Planet under Stress 109 Is Technology the Problem