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Lewis Mumford (1895–1990)

Autor von Die Stadt. Geschichte und Ausblick.

77+ Werke 5,370 Mitglieder 26 Rezensionen Lieblingsautor von 9 Lesern

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Lewis Mumford has been referred to as one of the twentieth century's most influential "public intellectuals." A thinker and writer who denied the narrowness of academic speciality, Mumford embraced a cultural analysis that integrated technology, the natural environment, the urban environment, the mehr anzeigen individual, and the community. Although he lacked a formal university degree, Mumford wrote more than 30 books and 1,000 essays and reviews, which established his "organic" analysis of modern culture. His work defined the interdisciplinary studies movement, especially American studies; urban studies and city planning; architectural history; history of technology; and, most important in the present context, the interaction of science, technology, and society. Mumford was the editor of Dial, the most distinguished literary magazine of its era, and in 1920 he served as editor of Sociological Review in London and was strongly influenced by Sir Patrick Geddes, the Scottish botanist, sociologist, and town planner. In 1923, Mumford became a charter member of the Regional Planning Association of America, an experimental group that studied city problems from a regional as well as an ecological point of view. Mumford's well-known principle of "organicism" (the exploration of a cultural complex, where values, technology, individual personality, and the objective environment complement each other and together could build a world of fulfillment and beauty) was discussed in all of his work, spanning a career of nearly 70 years. Mumford's first book, The Story of Utopias (1922), introduces reliance on history to understand the present as well as to plan for the future. His books on architectural history and his works in urban studies established Mumford's reputation as the leading American critic of architecture and city planning. Each book views and analyzes the city, or built environment, in the context of form, function, and purpose within the larger culture. Mumford's books are focused on technology's role in civilization, especially "the machine" and "megatechnics." As a result, they have provided formative direction and structure to science, technology, and society studies and have established Mumford's stature as one of the foremost social critics of the twentieth century. Mumford's most profound and important analysis of technology (and the work that most directly influenced interdisciplinary technology-society studies) is the two-volume The Myth of the Machine:Volume 1, Technics and Human Development (1967), and Volume 2, The Pentagon of Power (1970). It was written following World War II (during which Mumford lost his son) after the deployment of atomic weapons by Russia and the United States, and during the arms race. This major work reflects a noticeable reinterpretation of the role of technology and a deep pessimism regarding "megatechnics," a metaphor Mumford uses for intrusive, all-encompassing systems of control and oppressive order. He views the military-industrial complex (the most horrendous "megamachine") as destroyer of the emotive and organic aspects of life. Mumford argues against the loss of personal autonomy and the organic world by electricity-based computer systems. Mumford died on January 26, 1990. (Bowker Author Biography) weniger anzeigen

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Werke von Lewis Mumford

Die Stadt. Geschichte und Ausblick. (1961) 1,403 Exemplare
Technics and Civilization (1934) 607 Exemplare
The Culture of Cities (1938) 257 Exemplare
Ralph Waldo Emerson: Essays and Journals (1968) — Herausgeber — 214 Exemplare
The Story of Utopias (1922) 154 Exemplare
Art and Technics (1952) 130 Exemplare
The Lewis Mumford Reader (1986) 112 Exemplare
The condition of man (1944) 104 Exemplare
Herman Melville (1929) 95 Exemplare
The conduct of life (1951) 93 Exemplare
The Urban Prospect (1968) 86 Exemplare
The Highway and the City (1963) 83 Exemplare
America and Alfred Stieglitz: A Collective Portrait (1934) — Herausgeber — 71 Exemplare
The human way out (1958) 33 Exemplare
In the name of sanity (1954) 30 Exemplare
The human prospect (1955) 29 Exemplare
Faith for living (1940) 23 Exemplare
The Future Of Technics And Civilization. (1986) — Autor — 18 Exemplare
Man as interpreter 11 Exemplare
Men must act (1939) 10 Exemplare
The Arts in Renewal (1951) 7 Exemplare
1: ‰Dal santuario alla Polis (1997) 5 Exemplare
Lewis Mumford textos escogidos (2009) 3 Exemplare
American taste (1929) 3 Exemplare
Programme for Survival (1946) 3 Exemplare
La megamáquina 2 Exemplare
Modern architects (1980) 2 Exemplare
The city (1939) 2 Exemplare
Thorstein Veblen 1 Exemplar

Zugehörige Werke

Writing New York: A Literary Anthology (1998) — Mitwirkender — 281 Exemplare
The 40s: The Story of a Decade (2014) — Mitwirkender — 277 Exemplare
Erewhon and Erewhon Revisited (1872) — Einführung, einige Ausgaben229 Exemplare
Garden Cities of To-Morrow (1902) — Einführung, einige Ausgaben155 Exemplare
Man Alone: Alienation in Modern Society (1962) — Mitwirkender — 141 Exemplare
The Ancient World to the Reformation (1973) — Mitwirkender — 84 Exemplare
Europe: A Journey With Pictures (1954) — Vorwort, einige Ausgaben59 Exemplare
Whither Mankind (1928) — Mitwirkender — 45 Exemplare
A Quarto of Modern Literature (1935) — Mitwirkender — 40 Exemplare
In Search of the Simple Life: American Voices, Past and Present (1986) — Mitwirkender — 34 Exemplare
Lapham's Quarterly - The Future: Volume IV, Number 4, Fall 2011 (2011) — Mitwirkender — 23 Exemplare
Daedalus, Spring 1965: Utopia (1965) — Mitwirkender — 7 Exemplare
Patrick Geddes in India — Einführung — 1 Exemplar

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I was looking for a city-planning book, but he spends most of his time on architectural aesthetics, like complaining about the "contrast of gray concrete and yellow London brick...spoiled by the housewives' passion for pink and blue curtains".

He had some interesting ideas about designing spaces that are protected from motor vehicle traffic (pointing to Rotterdam as a good example), and "mixed neighborhoods, able to sustain more than one urban function and demanding far less vehicular transportation". He also had some ideas I didn't like, such as building small "New Towns" outside large cities to draw people away and avoid the need to build tall apartments in the big cities.

With a title like "The Highway and The City" I expected there to be more about transit, zoning, governance, and the like.
… (mehr)
 
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AdioRadley | Jan 21, 2024 |
Thoughtful, reflective early.account of role of technologies in cultural development. Included speculations on how societies evolve, which have fared less well in scholarly evaluations.
 
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sfj2 | 1 weitere Rezension | Nov 30, 2023 |
Stieglitz as receiver and medium of new cultural ideas in the USA regarding photography and modern art. An odd character, but influential in artistic circles of his generation.
 
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sfj2 | Nov 25, 2023 |
The hour is late for saving the human race from the possibility of wanton extermination or biological degradation; we must plan with a human purpose springing from divine inspiration.
 
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PendleHillLibrary | 2 weitere Rezensionen | Apr 20, 2022 |

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