|
|
|
Book Review
| The Technological Fix: How People Use Technology to Create and Solve Problems. Edited by Lisa Rosner. New York: Routledge, 2004. 265 pp. Illustrations, notes, list of contributors, index. Paper $24.95.
|
| Technology, or the ability to make increasingly sophisticated tools to aid in everyday life, is what sets humans apart from other animals. It has enabled humans to improve their capacity to procure food and shelter, to communicate, and to live longer, healthier lives. Technology, for all its power to enhance the human condition, does not come without a price. One of these costs is humans' growing dependence on technological solutions that may or may not really fix the problems at hand—solutions known derogatorily as "technological fixes." This reliance on technology, the belief in its power to solve problems quickly, and the additional problems caused by "quick fixes" are the subjects of The Technological Fix. |
1
|
|
The collection, edited and with an introduction by Lisa Rosner, includes eleven essays arranged into four sections covering medicine, food, the environment, and business. Rosner's introduction provides a brief history of the term, "technological fix," and outlines how the contributors—participants in a conference at the Hagley Museum and Library—address the issues created by these sometimes dubious solutions. The section on medicine includes an essay on the development of the artificial heart, one on the "I-ON-A-CO," an early twentieth-century "electric fix," and another on issues relating to technology and disability. "Fixing Food," the second section, includes discussions of the debate over enriching flour and bread, the "technopolitics" of long-haul trucking and industrial agriculture, and the history and psychology behind the "meal pill" fix to food scarcity. "Fixing the Environment" focuses on technological developments in mining, in smoke control, and in warfare. The final section includes essays on the Internet and the office as a space where technological innovation occurs. Most essays focus on technology in American history, though several, including those by Ackerman, Uekoetter, Fleming, and the essay on office innovation, cross cultural and political boundaries. |
2
|
|
As with any collection, not all contributions will be equally useful to those this volume will likely attract. Students of the history of technology, environmental historians, and business professionals in technology-based fields will profit most. Environmental historians should examine the essays in section three, "Fixing the Environment," as possible teaching tools for their upper-division undergraduate and graduate students. Each of these essays provides a clearly defined, thought-provoking case study that should generate excellent class discussion. In particular, Fleming's essay on military and civilian efforts at climate engineering provides insight into a poorly studied aspect of environmental history. In addition, environmental historians will find Belasco's contribution an engaging and compelling discussion of the future of food that will be easily accessible to students of all levels. The essays on the artificial heart by McKellar, the flour enrichment debate by Ackerman, and long-haul trucking by Hamilton might also be of interest, though students would need to be guided through them to fully understand their implications for environmental history. |
3
|
|
Overall, this volume is a good introduction to the history of "technological fixes," even for those not steeped in the history of technology. The writing in most contributions is clear and the subject is certainly timely as humans continue to increase their dependence on quick fixes provided by technology. |
4
|
|
Lisa M. Brady is assistant professor of history at Boise State University. Her work focuses on war and environment with particular attention to military engineering during the American Civil War. |
Content in the History Cooperative database is intended for personal, noncommercial use only. You may not reproduce, publish, distribute, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale of, modify, create derivative works from, display, or in any way exploit the History Cooperative database in whole or in part without the written permission of the copyright holder.
|