Carroll W. Pursell

I read Bruce Sinclair's essay, “The Profession of Engineering in America." Describing engineers‘ desire for respectability, Sinclair writes, “On any number of occasions, engineers rehearsed the old joke about doctors who buried their mistakes, and lawyers who argued cases they did not believe in, in order to claim for their profession that it was the only one true to itself. What this piece of humor reveals is that they felt themselves underappreciated, that they were in denial about the status differences conveyed by postgraduate education, and that while they might wish for the character of scientists, they worked in the culture of business.” (pg. 368) Furthermore, “Despite whatever concerns early engineers may have had about professional ideals, and the relation of their work to them, there was never any doubt in the public mind about the grandeur of these enterprises. Or about their implications for the nation.” (pg. 368)… (mehr)

The ten articles selected for this book covered an interesting range of times and topics. Most of them were historical essays that discussed historical evidence and provided interpretation and analysis; two or three were more speculative in nature, suggesting approaches for future study.

One of the best things about this book was that it did not limit itself to today's "high tech" but encompassed earlier or "lower tech" technologies such as eighteenth-century farm implements. Also, rather than assuming a kind of technological determinism, the selections contextualize the roles of technology, including discussions of resistance to technology, the domestication of technologies, gender and race, and ecological issues.

The book is edited such that each scholarly article is followed by one or more other sources. This gives a little extra depth to each article, and also allows each section to be seen as a kind of mini-sourcebook for those who might create a class assignment from it.

Recommended for pleasure reading, although I can picture it doing well as a second text in a course about technology and society or related topics.… (mehr)