A Companion to American Technology

A Companion to American Technology is a groundbreaking collection of original essays that analyze the hard–to–define phenomenon of “technology” in America. Taking a broadly historiographical approach, twenty–one leading scholars explore important features of American technology, including developments in automobiles, television, and computing. They also examine the ways in which technologies are organized in, for instance, the engineering profession, government, medicine and agriculture, and analyze how technologies interact with race, gender, class, and other comparable categories in American society. Scholars of American technology, as well as students, journalists, and general readers will find this a compelling, fascinating look at America’s machinery, industry, and technophilic culture.

Notes on Contributors vii Introduction 1 Carroll Pursell PART I BEGINNINGS 1 Technology in Colonial North America 9 Robert B. Gordon 2 The American Industrial Revolution 31 James C. Williams PART II SITES OF PRODUCTION 3 The Technology of Production 55 Carroll Pursell 4 Technology and Agriculture in Twentieth–Century America 69 Deborah Fitzgerald 5 House and Home 83 Gail Cooper 6 The City and Technology 97 Joel A. Tarr 7 Technology and the Environment 113 Betsy Mendelsohn 8 Government and Technology 132 Carroll Pursell 9 Medicine and Technology 156 James M. Edmonson PART III SITES OF CONTEST 10 The North American “Body–Machine” Complex 179 Chris Hables Gray 11 Gender and Technology 199 Rebecca Herzig 12 Labor and Technology 212 Arwen P. Mohun PART IV TECHNOLOGICAL SYSTEMS 13 The Automotive Transportation System: Cars and Highways in Twentieth–Century America 233 Bruce E. Seely 14 Airplanes 255 Roger E. Bilstein 15 Technology in Space 275 Roger D. Launius 16 Nuclear Technology 298 M. Joshua Silverman 17 Television 321 Douglas Gomery 18 Computers and the Internet: Braiding Irony, Paradox, and Possibility 340 Jeffrey R. Yost PART V PRODUCING AND READING TECHNOLOGICAL CULTURE 19 The Profession of Engineering in America 363 Bruce Sinclair 20 Popular Culture and Technology in the Twentieth Century 385 Molly W. Berger 21 Art and Technology 406 Henry Adams 22 Critics of Technology 429 David E. Nye Index 453

Carroll Pursell is Adeline Barry Davee Distinguished Professor of History Emeritus at Case Western Reserve University, and Adjunct professor of Modern History at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. He is the author of White Heat: People and Technology (1994) and The Machine in America: A Social History of Technology (2nd edition, 2007), and the editor of Technology in America: A History of Individuals and Ideas (2nd edition, 1990) and American Technology (Blackwell, 2000).

"These essays serve the purpose of establishing a base of information for the reader to better understand the process of technology, how it is defined, and how it can be traced throughout the history of the nation ... An excellent collection." Journal of Southern History <!––end––> "The very breadth of the subject matter and analytical techniques in these contributions is extremely impressive. A stimulating collection." History "Highly recommended." Choice