Knowing Machines: Essays on Technical Change
- ISBN-10
- 0613911490
- ISBN-13
- 9780613911498
- Language
- English
- Published
- 1998-07
- Publisher
- Turtleback
- Author
- Donald MacKenzie
Description
Ranging from broad inquiries into the roles of economics and sociology in the explanation of technological change to an argument for the possibility of "uninventing" nuclear weapons, this selection of Donald MacKenzie's essays provides a solid introduction to the style and the substance of the sociology of technology. Two conceptual essays are followed by seven empirical essays focusing on the laser gyroscopes that are central to modern aircraft navigation technology, supercomputers, the application of mathematical proof in the design of computer systems, computer-related accidental deaths, and the nature of the knowledge needed to design a nuclear bomb.
