The Impact of Technology from 1700 to 1990 (original) (raw)

This is a review of a 300-page book that attempts to describe the story of modern technology as an academic subject of history. My purpose here is to show that, contrary to the author's motivation of showing how much of these devices owe their existence to science, rather that it is the retiring attempts of clever, but usually modest inventors and engineers, who have incrementally impacted the world, often for mundane reasons. It is science itself that benefited more from the invention of new devices than vice-versa. Unfortunately, the author is too heavily biased towards British contributions and overemphasizes the links to one science: physics. One massive area, chemical engineering only merits 7 pages, when it has played a major role in generating the modern world-especially in its military applications (explosives). It is worth noting that only in modern western civilization has there been systematic and unfettered exploitation of technological innovation on a vast scale: since we have sown the wind, we are now reaping the whirlwind. This review/essay is part of my current series on warning about the political misuses of technology as it tries to hide behind the social prestige of science in the modern world. A further motivation, as an ex-scientist, is to remind readers that it is technology, not science, that has produced civilization; it is the engineers who have built this world, while the talkers dreamed their fantastic imaginations and wrote the books to praise themselves. Theoretical scientists are too often talkers, not doers, like engineers. Unfortunately, technological innovation now speeds ahead powered by individualistic hopes for profit with little thought of the consequences, so now: with digital technology, vast numbers of people are being put out of work and will not be able to make a positive economic contribution to their community. They and their families will starve as rich people are not motivated to help their fellow citizens. This is a dangerous political situation that has induced violent revolutions in earlier times. The next political explosion will occur on a global scale, as billions of the impoverished try to immigrate to the few shrinking islands of survivability. We can expect terrible times in the near future as we have placed Talkers in positions of Authority and these types of people have no demonstrable tradition of credible action; their dreams will bring nightmares to millions.