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The interplay between the developers of technology and the society
that uses that technology is the subject of Robert Pool's book, Beyond
Engineering: How Society Shapes Technology (Oxford University Press,
1997), from which Chapter 2 in the 9th edition of Technology and the Future
is taken. It is neither technology determinism nor social constructivism,
as Pool explains more lucidly than most writers on this subject. It is
a combination of the two.
Pool is a freelance science writer. His other books include Fat: Fighting the Obesity Epidemic (2001) and Eve's Rib: The Biological Roots of Sex Differences (1994). Before becoming a freelancer, Pool was a writer for Science and for a time, news editor at Nature. Among the other publications for which he has written are Discover and New Scientist. Born in 1955, he currently lives in Tallahassee, Florida. |
Links:Order Robert Pool's Beyond Engineering from Amazon.com (paperback, $17.95).
Transcript of Robert Pool Dialogue with David Gergen on The Jim Lehrer Newshour (PBS television), February 13, 1998.
The Program on Public Understanding of Science and Technology of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation supported Robert Pool's writing of Beyond Engineering.
Discussion of Pool's ideas on the National Academy of Engineering, What is Tech Lit? "A technologically literate person recognizes that technology influences changes in society and has done so throughout history." "The technologically literate person also recognizes that society shapes technology as much as technology shapes society."
"Fast Forward: Science, Technology and the Communications Revolution," a national community viewing and discussion initiative on the impact of communications technologies on society, included Pool's Beyond Engineering.
Robert Pool, "Electricity Goes to Market," Technology Review (January/February 2002). A summary is available free on line. Full article available free to subscribers, $4.50 to others.
Pool has worked for the National Academy of Sciences as a writer on a number of important reports including: Bioinformatics: Converting Data to Knowledge (Commission on Life Sciences, 2000) and Exploring Horizons for Domestic Animal Genomics (Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources, 2002). The full texts of these reports are available on line.
Robert Pool, Fat: Fighting the Obesity Epidemic (Oxford University Press, 2001). "... the engaging story of the scientific quest to understand and control body weight."
Review by Jean Braithwaite in The Missouri Review (2001).
Review by Rhoda Rabkin in Policy Review (April 2001), published by the Hoover Institution.Quote from Robert Pool regarding nature vs. nurture in explaining differences in human behavior from The Columbia World of Quotations (1996), on Bartleby.com.
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Updated December 24, 2002