1st ed.: Making of the modern world: milestones of science and technology / edited by Neil Cossons with Andrew Nahum and Peter Turvey -- London: John Murray, 1992.

A thought-provoking analysis of how the acquisition and utilization of information has determined the course of history over the past five centuries and shaped the world as we know it todaydiv /DIV

Technology has become part of our everyday lives, with computers, smartphones, and ever more complex technical marvels bringing the world to our fingertips. This title offers an overview of one of the most exciting times in technology. Beginning in 1900, the text guides the reader through innovations such as important advancements in farming, the exploration of space, military technology, and modern advancements in engineering and food production. Readers can anticipate a thorough overview of the myriad ways technology has evolved and continues to change our lives.

Publisher description

Over the past two million years that human species have inhabited the Planet Earth they have distinguished themselves by their ability to make and do things creatively to ensure their survival. From the beginning, therefore, they have been defined by their technology, and the history of technology is the history of the species. For most of this period, the development of human technical skills has been extremely slow and repetitive, limited to basic tools and weapons and the ability to control fire. The utilization of animal power and the invention of the means of harnessing the power of wind and falling water added gradually to their technical skills, but it was the discovery of ways of using power from heat engines a mere three hundred years ago that accelerated this process into a prodigious expansion of technical power that fundamentally transformed human societies . It is this development which deserves to be to be called 'The Engineering Revolution' and provides the primary focus of this book.

From the invention of the wheel to the mapping of the genome, technology has always been deeply intertwined with the course of human history. Now, this fascinating set explores the role technology has played in eighteen separate cultures in world history, and reveals the many ways people use technology to control their environment, express religious values, deploy political power, confer social status, and afford themselves varying degrees of pleasure, comfort, and security. Whether focusing on Egyptian pyramids or medieval cathedrals, the Mayan astronomical calendar or the internet, Technology in World History illuminates the amazing array of technologies that humans have developed to shape and give meaning to their lives.

In 1909 Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, on his way back to South Africa from London, wrote his now celebrated tract Hind Swaraj, laying out his vision for the future of India and famously rejecting the technological innovations of Western civilization. Despite his protestations, Western technology endured and helped to make India one of the leading economies in our globalized world. Few would question the dominant role that technology plays in modern life, but to fully understand how India first advanced into technological modernity, argues David Arnold, we must consider the technology of the everyday. Everyday Technology is a pioneering account of how small machines and consumer goods that originated in Europe and North America became objects of everyday use in India in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Rather than investigate “big” technologies such as railways and irrigation projects, Arnold examines the assimilation and appropriation of bicycles, rice mills, sewing machines, and typewriters in India, and follows their impact on the ways in which people worked and traveled, the clothes they wore, and the kind of food they ate. But the effects of these machines were not limited to the daily rituals of Indian society, and Arnold demonstrates how such small-scale technologies became integral to new ways of thinking about class, race, and gender, as well as about the politics of colonial rule and Indian nationhood. Arnold’s fascinating book offers new perspectives on the globalization of modern technologies and shows us that to truly understand what modernity became, we need to look at the everyday experiences of people in all walks of life, taking stock of how they repurposed small technologies to reinvent their world and themselves.

Technology has opened a wide window of novel communication methods and techniques and has become ubiquitous in modern society. With advancements occurring rapidly and transforming practices and efficiencies within all fields including business, education, medicine, engineering, and so on, it is important to remain up to date on the latest research findings. Human-Computer Interaction and Technology Integration in Modern Society is a critical reference source that examines the integration of technological innovations into every aspect of modern society including education and business. Highlighting important topics that include digitization, human development, knowledge management, and open innovation, this book is ideal for IT specialists, policymakers, professionals, academicians, researchers, practitioners, and students.

While never losing sight of the rational, cultured mind, Jung speaks for the natural mind, source of the evolutionary experience and accumulated wisdom of our species. Through his own example, Jung shows how healing our own living connection with Nature contributes to the whole.

Technology has always shaped human life and our understanding of what it means to be human. But does it actually encourage human flourishing? By exploring the doctrine of the incarnation and what it means for our embodiment, Craig Gay raises concerns about the theological implications of modern technologies and movements such as transhumanism, offering an alternative vision to the path of modern technology.