Microhistories Of Technology

Author : Mikael Hård
Publisher : Springer Nature
Page : 300 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 2023-02-20
Category : History
ISBN : 9783031228131

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Microhistories of Technology by Mikael Hård Pdf

In this open access book, Mikael Hård tells a story of how people around the world challenged the production techniques and products brought by globalization. Retaining their autonomy and freedom, creative individuals selectively adopted or rejected modern gadgets, tools, and machines. In standard historical narratives, globalization is portrayed as an unstoppable force that flattens all obstacles in its path. Modern technology is also seen as inexorable: in the nineteenth century, steamships, telegraph lines, and Gatling guns are said to have paved the way for colonialism and other forms of dominating people and societies. Later, shipping containers and computer networks purportedly pulled the planet deeper into a maelstrom of capitalism. Hård discusses instances that push back against these narratives. For example, in Soviet times, inhabitants of Samarkand, Uzbekistan, preferred to remain in—and expand—their own mud-brick houses rather than move into prefabricated, concrete residential buildings. Similarly, nineteenth-century Sumatran carpenters ignored the saws brought to them by missionaries—and chose to chop down trees with their arch-bladed adzes. And people in colonial India successfully competed with capitalist-run Caribbean sugar plantations, continuing to produce their own muscovado and sell it to local consumers. This book invites readers to view the history of technology and material culture through the lens of diversity. Based on research funded by the European Research Council and conducted in the Global South, Microhistories of Technology: Making the World shows that the spread of modern technologies did not erase artisanal production methods and traditional tools.

Author : Bruce Mccomiskey
Publisher : University Press of Colorado
Page : 336 pages
File Size : 53,6 Mb
Release : 2016-04-01
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9781607324058

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Microhistories of Composition by Bruce Mccomiskey Pdf

Writing studies has been dominated throughout its history by grand narratives of the discipline, but in this volume Bruce McComiskey begins to explore microhistory as a way to understand, enrich, and complicate how the field relates to its past. Microhistory investigates the dialectical interaction of social history and cultural history, enabling historians to examine uncommon sites, objects, and agents of historical significance overlooked by social history and restricted to local effects by cultural history. This approach to historical scholarship is ideally suited for exploring the complexities of a discipline like composition. Through an introduction and eleven chapters, McComiskey and his contributors—including major figures in the historical research of writing studies, such as Louise Wetherbee Phelps, Kelly Ritter, and Neal Lerner—develop focused narratives of particular significant moments or themes in disciplinary history. They introduce microhistorical methodologies and illustrate their application and value for composition historians, contributing to the complexity and adding momentum to the emerging trend within writing studies toward a richer reading of the field’s past and future. Scholars and historians of both composition and rhetoric will appreciate the fresh perspectives on institutional and disciplinary histories and larger issues of rhetorical agency and engagement enacted in writing classrooms that are found in Microhistories of Composition. Other contributors include Cheryl E. Ball, Suzanne Bordelon, Jacob Craig, Matt Davis, Douglas Eyman, Brian Gogan, David Gold, Christine Martorana, Bruce McComiskey, Josh Mehler, Annie S. Mendenhall, Kendra Mitchell, Antony N. Ricks, David Stock, Kathleen Blake Yancey, Bret Zawilski, and James T. Zebroski.

Author : IntroBooks
Publisher : IntroBooks
Page : 40 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2018-02-20
Category : Technology & Engineering
ISBN : 8210379456XXX

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History of Technology by IntroBooks Pdf

History of technology, it is the history of how humans developed various tools and techniques. It is strongly related with history of humanity since humans are invented almost every invention let it be a tool, technology or foundation of some natural resources. Before continuing to history of technology, it is important to understand what technology actually is. Technology refers to set of multiple methods in order t perform a particular task. It can be as simple as a language or stone tool and also as complex as genetic engineering and information technology emerging since late 80s. Technology enables to acquire new knowledge that is applied to emerge and create new things. In one way or other, it also helps in many scientific endeavors helped mankind to reach / travel to places that were considered impossible to reach once. It also involves the study of nature with superb details which could be never possible without the use of multiple scientific instruments.

Author : Magdalena Saryusz-Wolska
Publisher : Berghahn Books
Page : 276 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2023-11-10
Category : History
ISBN : 9781805391807

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Microhistories of Memory by Magdalena Saryusz-Wolska Pdf

The West German novel, radio play, and television series, Through the Night (Am grünen Strand der Spree, 1955-1960), which depicts the mass shootings of Jews in the occupied Soviet Union during World War II, has been gradually regaining popularity in recent years. Originally circulated in post-war West Germany, the cultural memories of the holocaust embedded within this multi-medium construction present different forms of historical conceptualization. Using numerous archival sources, Microhistories of Memory brings forward three comprehensive case studies on the impact, actors, and materiality of accounts surrounding questions of circulation of cultural memory, audience reception, production, and popularity of Through the Night in its different mediums since its first appearance.

Author : Charles Joseph Singer
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 128 pages
File Size : 40,9 Mb
Release : 1965
Category : Civilization
ISBN : OCLC:15993843

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A History of Technology by Charles Joseph Singer Pdf

Author : David A Fryxell
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 326 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 2019-07-19
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 1081188057

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MicroHistory by David A Fryxell Pdf

"Microhistory" is defined as "a study or account of the history of a very specific subject." Books classified as "microhistory" have explored the origins and effects of everything from cod to the pencil, bananas to zero. This book similarly samples the stories behind the ideas and inventions that made the modern world. Rather than focus an entire book on one topic, however, MicroHistory ranges widely from the secret history of bacon to the invention of plastic, from soap to sunglasses, time zones to refrigerators. These are the stories of how the things we take for granted came to be.Many of the inventors and creators in these pages will be familiar names-Galileo, Fahrenheit, Nobel, Fulton, Otis-although you may not know the twists and turns behind their discoveries. None of these famous people worked in a vacuum, moreover, and you will see how many lesser-known steps preceded their leaps forward. Such breakthroughs also have less-celebrated ripple effects, and the book explores how innovations large and small affected our culture and daily lives.Other "microhistories" told in these pages focus on names you may never have heard of-innovators ignored by "macrohistory," or lost to the sweep of time: the French traitor who gave us neon signs, the ancient librarian who popularized punctuation, the former office boy who linked America and Europe by cable, the son of slaves who developed the traffic light, the inventor of the "devil's rope" that tamed the West. Still other stories have no single hero or heroine, but rather reflect the slow and often jittery march of progress that led to modern weddings, swimming pools, underwear, fire extinguishers and so much else we see or use every day.Mistakes were made along the way. Predictions about the future often proved humorously awry. Early prisons sought penance at the expense of rehabilitation. Explosives and rifles continue to take a human toll. Soft drinks and cigarettes, variously promoted as boons to health, turned out to be banes. And despite the countless claims that apocalypse was just around the corner, we're still here.Exploring these histories up close, however, gives us the chance to learn from the pitfalls of progress. Seeing the breakthroughs that genuinely moved humanity forward, whether by famous inventors or unknown ancients, can shed light on how to better create our own futures. The result might be putting a human on Mars or just better bacon, new vaccines or simply toilets that don't run.Ultimately, the "micro" of history is in the eye of the beholder. If you want to build a skyscraper, an elevator turns out to be pretty important. If you just want to catch a fish, however, a better rod and reel seems mighty important, too. Even this book would not exist without some of the inventions chronicled here-from the QWERTY keyboard on which it was typed to the modern successor to mail-order catalogs on which you ordered it.Thinking small, it turns out, can sometimes lead to big things. Read on to see how.

Author : Mark S. Morrisson
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 192 pages
File Size : 48,7 Mb
Release : 2016-11-17
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9781474233439

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Modernism, Science, and Technology by Mark S. Morrisson Pdf

From quantum physics and genetics to psychology and the social sciences, from the development of atomic weapons to the growing mass media of film and radio, the early 20th century was a period of intense scientific and technological change. Modernism, Science, and Technology surveys the scientific contexts of writers from H.G. Wells and Gertrude Stein to James Joyce and Virginia Woolf and the ways in modernist writers responded to these paradigm shifts. Introducing key concepts from science studies and their implications for the study of modernist literature, the book includes chapters covering the physical sciences, mathematics, life sciences, social sciences and 'pseudosciences'. Including a timeline of key developments and guides to further reading, this is an essential guide to students and researchers studying the topic at all levels.

Author : Barry Reay
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 322 pages
File Size : 43,7 Mb
Release : 2002-11-07
Category : History
ISBN : 0521892228

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Microhistories by Barry Reay Pdf

This 1996 book uses a local study to explore some of the more significant societal changes of the modern western world.

Author : Morgan G. Ames
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 323 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2019-11-19
Category : Technology & Engineering
ISBN : 9780262537445

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The Charisma Machine by Morgan G. Ames Pdf

A fascinating examination of technological utopianism and its complicated consequences. In The Charisma Machine, Morgan Ames chronicles the life and legacy of the One Laptop per Child project and explains why—despite its failures—the same utopian visions that inspired OLPC still motivate other projects trying to use technology to “disrupt” education and development. Announced in 2005 by MIT Media Lab cofounder Nicholas Negroponte, One Laptop per Child promised to transform the lives of children across the Global South with a small, sturdy, and cheap laptop computer, powered by a hand crank. In reality, the project fell short in many ways—starting with the hand crank, which never materialized. Yet the project remained charismatic to many who were captivated by its claims of access to educational opportunities previously out of reach. Behind its promises, OLPC, like many technology projects that make similarly grand claims, had a fundamentally flawed vision of who the computer was made for and what role technology should play in learning. Drawing on fifty years of history and a seven-month study of a model OLPC project in Paraguay, Ames reveals that the laptops were not only frustrating to use, easy to break, and hard to repair, they were designed for “technically precocious boys”—idealized younger versions of the developers themselves—rather than the children who were actually using them. The Charisma Machine offers a cautionary tale about the allure of technology hype and the problems that result when utopian dreams drive technology development.

Author : Arnold Pacey,Francesca Bray
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 357 pages
File Size : 40,9 Mb
Release : 2021-08-03
Category : Technology & Engineering
ISBN : 9780262366281

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Technology in World Civilization, revised and expanded edition by Arnold Pacey,Francesca Bray Pdf

The new edition of a milestone work on the global history of technology. This milestone history of technology, first published in 1990 and now revised and expanded in light of recent research, broke new ground by taking a global view, avoiding the conventional Eurocentric perspective and placing the development of technology squarely in the context of a "world civilization." Case studies include "technological dialogues" between China and West Asia in the eleventh century, medieval African states and the Islamic world, and the United States and Japan post-1950. It examines railway empires through the examples of Russia and Japan and explores current synergies of innovation in energy supply and smartphone technology through African cases. The book uses the term "technological dialogue" to challenges the top-down concept of "technology transfer," showing instead that technologies are typically modified to fit local needs and conditions, often triggering further innovation. The authors trace these encounters and exchanges over a thousand years, examining changes in such technologies as agriculture, firearms, printing, electricity, and railroads. A new chapter brings the narrative into the twenty-first century, discussing technological developments including petrochemicals, aerospace, and digitalization from often unexpected global viewpoints and asking what new kind of industrial revolution is needed to meet the challenges of the Anthropocene.

Author : S. Scott Graham
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 253 pages
File Size : 54,6 Mb
Release : 2015-11-17
Category : Medical
ISBN : 9780226264196

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The Politics of Pain Medicine by S. Scott Graham Pdf

Chronic pain is a medical mystery, debilitating to patients and a source of frustration for practitioners. It often eludes both cause and cure and serves as a reminder of how much further we have to go in unlocking the secrets of the body. A new field of pain medicine has evolved from this landscape, one that intersects with dozens of disciplines and subspecialties ranging from psychology and physiology to anesthesia and chiropractic medicine. Over the past three decades, researchers, policy makers, and practitioners have struggled to define this complex and often contentious field as they work to establish standards while navigating some of the most challenging philosophical issues of Western science. In The Politics of Pain Medicine: A Rhetorical-Ontological Inquiry, S. Scott Graham offers a rich and detailed exploration of the medical rhetoric surrounding pain medicine. Graham chronicles the work of interdisciplinary pain management specialists to found a new science of pain and a new approach to pain medicine grounded in a more comprehensive biospychosocial model. His insightful analysis demonstrates how these materials ultimately shape the healthcare community’s understanding of what pain medicine is, how the medicine should be practiced and regulated, and how practitioner-patient relationships are best managed. It is a fascinating, novel examination of one of the most vexing issues in contemporary medicine.

Author : Norman Alfred Fisher Smith
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 153 pages
File Size : 42,5 Mb
Release : 1984
Category : Technology
ISBN : 072011683X

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History of Technology by Norman Alfred Fisher Smith Pdf

Author : Claire Zalc,Tal Bruttmann
Publisher : Berghahn Books
Page : 336 pages
File Size : 54,6 Mb
Release : 2016-12-01
Category : History
ISBN : 9781785333675

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Microhistories of the Holocaust by Claire Zalc,Tal Bruttmann Pdf

How does scale affect our understanding of the Holocaust? In the vastness of its implementation and the sheer amount of death and suffering it produced, the genocide of Europe’s Jews presents special challenges for historians, who have responded with work ranging in scope from the world-historical to the intimate. In particular, recent scholarship has demonstrated a willingness to study the Holocaust at scales as focused as a single neighborhood, family, or perpetrator. This volume brings together an international cast of scholars to reflect on the ongoing microhistorical turn in Holocaust studies, assessing its historiographical pitfalls as well as the distinctive opportunities it affords researchers.

Author : Silvia Casini
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 321 pages
File Size : 55,9 Mb
Release : 2021-08-03
Category : Technology & Engineering
ISBN : 9780262362207

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Giving Bodies Back to Data by Silvia Casini Pdf

An examination of the bodily, situated aspects of data-visualization work, looking at visualization practices around the development of MRI technology. Our bodies are scanned, probed, imaged, sampled, and transformed into data by clinicians and technologists. In this book, Silvia Casini reveals the affective relations and materiality that turn data into image--and in so doing, gives bodies back to data. Opening the black box of MRI technology, Casini examines the bodily, situated aspects of visualization practices around the development of this technology. Reframing existing narratives of biomedical innovation, she emphasizes the important but often overlooked roles played by aesthetics, affectivity, and craft practice in medical visualization. Combining history, theory, laboratory ethnography, archival research, and collaborative art-science, Casini retrieves the multiple presences and agencies of bodies in data visualization, mapping the traces of scientists' body work and embodied imagination. She presents an in-depth ethnographic study of MRI development at the University of Aberdeen's biomedical physics laboratory, from the construction of the first whole-body scanner for clinical purposes through the evolution of the FFC-MRI. Going beyond her original focus on MRI, she analyzes a selection of neuroscience- or biomedicine-inspired interventions by artists in media ranging from sculpture to virtual reality. Finally, she presents a methodology for designing and carrying out small-scale art-science projects, describing a collaboration that she herself arranged, highlighting the relational and aesthetic-laden character of data that are the product of craftsmanship and affective labor at the laboratory bench.

Author : Natalie Pang,Kai Khiun Liew,Brenda Chang
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 113 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2017-10-02
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9781317487258

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Participatory archives in a world of ubiquitous media by Natalie Pang,Kai Khiun Liew,Brenda Chang Pdf

The media environment of today is characterised by two critical factors: the development and adoption of ubiquitous mobile devices, and the strengthening of connectivity enabled by advances in ICT infrastructure and social media platforms. These developments have changed interactions and relationships between citizens and cultural custodians, as well as the ways archives are developed, kept, and used. Archives are now characterised by greater socialisations and networks that actively contribute to the signification of cultural heritage value. A range of new stakeholders, many of whom include the public, have sought to define what needs to be collectively remembered and forgotten. The world in which one or a few professional archivists worked on the sole mission of shaping how a society remembers is being displaced by a more democratised culture and the new generation of digitally networked archivists that are its natives. Using a range of case studies and perspectives, this book provides insights to the many ways that ubiquitous media have influenced archival practices and research, as well as the social and civic consequences of present-day archives. This book was published as a special issue of Archives and Manuscripts.