Al Teich's Technology and the Future Bookstore

Order any book below from Amazon.com by clicking on the title, cover picture or "Order Now" icon.  Order any other Amazon book or product using the search box at the bottom of the page.

Teich, Albert H. Technology and the Future, 10th edition Thompson/Wadsworth, 2005 $48.95 (paperback)

My own book is the featured selection in this store, naturally.  The contents, preface, and other information about it can be found elsewhere on this site.   Instructors wishing to consider the new edition for classroom use should contact the publisher immediately for an examination copy.  You may also contact me for further information.

Beniger, James The Control Revolution: Technological and Economic Origins of the Information Society Harvard University Press, 1989 $25.90 (paperback)

Beniger's book is a major contribution to scholarship in technology and society.  It traces the roots of the information society to the economic and business crises created by the industrial revolution. The rise in the speed, volume and complexity of industrial processes and technological systems required the development of new means of control.  Information processing and communication technologies--from bureaucracy to the telegraph to paper money to computers--helped provide that control.  Beniger suggests how the concept of control brings order to contemporary theories of social transformation.  Not easy reading, but well worth the effort.

Coates, Joseph F., John B. Mahaffie and Andy Hines 2025: Scenarios of US and Global Society Reshaped by Science and Technology Oakhill Press, 1997 $27.95 (paperback)

In this book, a team of researchers from the consulting firm of Coates & Jarratt, Inc. looked at social and demographic trends as well as forecasts of scientific and technological developments and built a set of scenarios about the world of the next generation.  The scenarios are organized under topical areas, such as information, energy, environment, housing, transportation, and health. The book is intended to serve business persons and others concerned about the future in thinking about how current trends will affect their areas of interest.

Cowan, Ruth Schwartz More Work for Mother: The Ironies of Household Technology from the Open Hearth to the Microwave Basic Books, 1985 $18.00 (paperback)

Although she is surrounded by a multitude of appliances, gadgets, and mechanical aids, today's woman typically devotes as much time to housework as did her colonial sister.  The author, a professor of history at the State University of New York at Stony Brook explores the reasons for this in a study of the social context and meaning of changing household technology in the United States.  This highly readable book won the 1984 Dexter Prize from the Society for the History of Technology.

Cutcliffe, Stephen H. Ideas, Machines, and Values:  An Introduction to Science, Technology, and Society Studies Rowman & Littlefield, 2000 $22.95 (paperback)

"An introductory overview of the emergence of STS as a field of study, as well as a portrait of its current interests and concerns.  The book examines the growth of STS from its birth in the mid-1960s through its development as an interdisciplinary field to its present state." (from the back cover)  Includes a very useful bibliographic essay covering about 250 of the key English-language STS books.  Cutcliffe is the director of the STS program at Lehigh University and editor of the STS Curriculum Newsletter.

Florman, Samuel The Existential Pleasures of Engineering St. Martin's Press, 2nd edition 1996 $9.56 (paperback)

Samuel Florman is of one our most thoughtful contemporary writers on engineering and society.  "In this book," says the Amazon.com review, "[he] expertly and perceptively explores how engineers think and feel about their profession, dispelling the myth that engineering is cold and passionless, and celebrating it as something vital and alive."  Florman rejects simplistic "protechnology" and "antitechnology" arguments and in their place develops an affirmation of the value of technology in human life, tempered by a recognition of its limits in sustaining human happiness.  This book is a classic must-read for anyone interested in technology and society.

Forester, Tom and Perry Morrison Computer Ethics: Cautionary Tales and Ethical Dilemmas in Computing MIT Press, 2nd edition 1994 $20.00 (paperback)

The pervasiveness of computer technology and its susceptibility to misuse and malfunction raise a great many ethical, social, and legal issues.  How can the intellectual property rights of software developers be protected when copying software is easy and widely practiced? Are computer professional legally and ethically responsible for the consequences of flaws in the systems they have created, such as the Y2K bug?  This book examines such issues as computer crime, software theft, hacking, viruses, and invasion of privacy.

Hughes, Thomas P. Rescuing Prometheus Pantheon Books, 1998 $28.50 (hardcover)

Billed as a "revisionist history of technology in our time," this book examines 4 giant technological projects--the SAGE air defense system, ARPANET (forerunner of the Internet), the Atlas ICBM, and Boston's Central Artery and Tunnel--and describes how they created new management styles, new forms of organization, and a new understanding of technology.  Although Hughes is a distinguished academic historian of science, this accessible book is addressed to a general audience.

Jenkins, Timothy L. and Khafra K Om-Ra-Seti Black Futurists in the Information Age KMT Publications, 1997 $19.95 (paperback)

The new technologies of the information age offer great promise to black Americans, according to Jenkins and Om-Ra-Seti.   But there are also many reasons to believe that these technologies could bring new woes to already disadvantaged minorities.  “Left to their own devices,” say the authors, “minorities are most likely to be the major road kill of the Information Superhighway.”  This book calls for a scientific and technological revolution in the black world, advising African American leaders to focus their attention on economic progress through technology.

Kass Leon R. and James Q. Wilson The Ethics of Human Cloning AEI Press, 1998 $16.95 (hardcover)

This short and readable book presents a dialogue on the ethics of human cloning between a noted physician and medical ethicist and a distinguished scholar of public policy.  Kass contends that assisted reproduction technologies have eroded respect for the mystery of sexuality and human renewal.  Wilson argues that whether a human life is created naturally or artificially is immaterial as long as the child is raised in a loving two-parent family.  The book discusses the science behind human cloning in non-technical terms and the implications of various courses of public policy.

Mazur, Allan A Hazardous Inquiry:  The Rashomon Effect at Love Canal Harvard University Press, 1998 $21.60 (hardcover)

Technological controversies often center on environmental impacts.  Love Canal is one of the best known and least understood.  Mazur, a long-time student of technological controversies, borrows the multi-viewpoint technique of the classic Japanese film RASHOMON, in this book.  His analysis  reveals that there are many often conflicting versions of what occurred at Love Canal. His collection of gripping personal tales in this well-written book tells how politics, journalism, and science clash when confronting a potential community disaster.

Negroponte, Nicholas Being Digital Vintage Books, 1996 $10.40 (paperback)

Negroponte, director of MIT's Media Lab,  believes that bits, which he calls "the DNA of information," are rapidly replacing atoms as the basic commodity of human interaction.  Here he explores the implications of this “digitization”:  merging of computers and television, changing the meaning of mass communication, making copyright law obsolete, undermining the economics of telecommunications, and creating opportunities for new products and services barely imagined today.

Norman, Donald A. The Invisible Computer:  Why Good Products Can Fail, the Personal Computer is so Complex, and Information Appliances are the Solution MIT Press, 1998 $10.04 (paperback)

Norman is a technological critic and designer concerned with human-machine interaction.  He sees a “horrible mismatch” between our nature and that of the machines we have built for ourselves. The digital signals that computers use are abstractions of real signals encoded for the convenience of the machines.  Humans are analog devices that are imprecise, tolerate ambiguity, and respond to continuous variations in signals.  Recognizing these differences is the key to creating technologies that serve us rather than those that to force us to adapt to their ways.

Norman, Donald A. Things That Make Us Smart:  Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine Perseus Press, 1994 $14.40 (paperback)

According to the author, "The theme of the book is that technology can indeed enhance human intelligence, but only if it is properly built to fit human abilities and needs.  Alas, all too often it isn't. All too often it is people who must conform to the technology. The proper way is, of course, for technology to conform to people." Norman's comments on everything from television to science museums to voice mail are original, provocative, and entertaining.

Pool, Robert Beyond Engineering: How Society Shapes Technology Oxford University Press, 1999 $13.56 (paperback)

Pool started out to write a book about the commercial nuclear industry--its history, problems, and potential for the future.  Along the way he discovered a "convoluted tale of how the technology had been shaped by a host of nontechnical factors in addition to the expected technical ones."  In this book he shows how seemingly minor decisions made early in the process of technological development can have profound consequences and argues that we can no longer afford to think of technology exclusively in engineering terms but must take account of societal influences as well.

Postman, Neil Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology Vintage Books, 1993 $9.60 (paperback)

The purpose of this book is, in Postman's words, "to describe when, how, and why technology became a particularly dangerous enemy."  Postman, a well-known humanist who teaches communication arts at New York University, recognizes the benefits of technology, acknowledging that "it makes life easier, cleaner, and longer."  But he suggests that these benefits are seductive, because they lead us to overlook the negative side of technology--the fact that it "creates a culture without a moral foundation" and undermines the very things that make life worth living.

Rhodes, Richard Visions of Technology Simon & Schuster $24.00 (hardcover)

Richard Rhodes, winner of the Pulizter Prize for The Making of the Atomic Bomb, has assembled a collection of writings on technology spanning the 20th Century and vividly illustrating the both the range of thinking on the subject and its evolution over the past 100 years.  Contained in this volume are quotes, some just a few lines, others several pages long, reflecting views on technology of personalities from Henry Ford and Orville Wright to Graham Nash and Spiro Agnew.  See Teich's Tech Tidbit of the Week for Sept. 20, 1999 for more details.

Rochlin, Gene I. Trapped in the Net: The Unanticipated Consequences of Computerization Princeton University Press, 1999 $15.96 (paperback)

Rochlin examines how computers are reshaping our world and our lives through the long-term and indirect effects they exert on social and organizational forms and how, as a result, we are gradually losing control over hardware, software, business practices, and even personal interactions.  "In the rush to computerize, to automate, and to network, relatively little attention seems to have been paid to evaluating the consequences of submitting that particular realm of human activity to rapid and ofttimes radical technical change."

Sclove, Richard E. Democracy and Technology Guilford Press, 1995 $15.96 (paperback)

"This book," writes Richard Sclove, "promotes the reconstruction of technology along more democratic lines."  It argues that citizens ought to be able to take part in shaping their society and that since technologies have such a profound effect on society, the design and practice of technology should be made more democratic.  Sclove presents a plausible case for how this might be accomplished.  His critique of mainstream technology is clearly written and supported with a wealth of examples.

Smith, Merritt Roe and Leo Marx, eds. Does Technology Drive History? The Dilemma of Technological Determinism MIT Press, 1995 $21.95 (paperback)

Most scholars have long rejected as overly simplistic the notion that technology is an autonomous force that determines the course of society.  Nevertheless, authors of the 13 essays in this book, all distinguished scholars, debate the question of whether it may be possible in certain contexts, for technologies to acquire a momentum that puts them beyond the realm of human control.  A provocative set of scholarly papers.

Tenner, Edward Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences Vintage Books, 1997 $11.20 (paperback)

In this extensively researched and documented book, Edward Tenner examines the ironic unintended consequences of technological ingenuity--"revenge effects" as he  calls them--in the computerized office, in sports, in medicine, and in environmental control.  Tenner doesn't reject technology altogether.  Instead he argues for (to quote the Amazon.com review) "modest and skeptical acceptance of it."

Toffler, Alvin Powershift : Knowledge, Wealth, and Violence at the Edge of the 21st Century Bantam Books, 1991 $7.19 (paperback)

For the past 30 years, Alvin Toffler's writings have brought the study of the future into the mass market.  Toffler argues that while headlines focus on shifts of power at the global level, equally significant shifts are taking place in our everyday world --supermarkets, hospitals, banks, television, and politics.  As old antagonisms fade, Toffler identifies where the next, far more important  world division will arise . . . between the "fast" and the "slow."  Toffler's writing is wide-ranging, readable, and thought-provoking

Winner, Langdon The Whale and the Reactor: A Search for Limits in an Age of High Technology University of Chicago Press, 1988 $13.00 (paperback)

Using the Diablo Canyon nuclear reactor and its beautiful natural surroundings as a metaphor, Langdon Winner examines the results of material progress in the United States and asks whether we have not lost sight of our most important values in our headlong pursuit of innovation.  Technologies are not neutral, they have political attributes and our technological choices have important implications for the shape of future society.  Winner, who teaches at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is one of the most thoughtful and articulate contemporary critics of technology.

Zuboff, Shoshana In the Age of the Smart Machine: The Future of Work and Power Basic Books, 1988 $22.00

Shoshana Zuboff believes that the computerized workplace is qualitatively different from its predecessors.  Traditional approaches to organizing and managing work will not work in the new "informated" environment.  An alternative vision is needed.  Based on extensive field work in industrial settings and rich in historical background, this influential book argues that we must seize the opportunity offered by the new information technology to develop the economic and human potential of our work organizations in more flexible, democratic ways.

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Updated December 10, 2006