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Technology and Society: Building Our Sociotechnical Future TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY Building Our Sociotechnical Future edited by Deborah G. Johnson and Jameson M. Wetmore The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England ( 2009 Massachusetts Institute of Technology All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and re- trieval) without permission in writing from the publisher. For information about special quantity discounts, please email [email protected] .edu This book was set in Stone Serif and Stone Sans by Asco Typesetters, Hong Kong. Printed and bound in the United States of America. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Technology and society : building our sociotechnical future / [compiled and edited by] Deborah G. Johnson and Jameson M. Wetmore. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-262-10124-0 (hardcover : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-0-262-60073-6 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Technology—Social aspects. 2. Technological innovations. 3. Technology and civilization. I. Johnson, Deborah G., 1945–. II. Wetmore, Jameson M. T14.5.T44169 2008 303.48 03—dc22 2008002813 10987654321 Index Abbey, Edward, 580 Anti-misting kerosene (AMK), 408 Abortion, 58–59, 195–196, 243 AOL, 190 Acade´mie des Sciences, 169 Apgar test, 245 Acheson-Lilienthal report, 82 Aquaculture, 239 Actor network theory, 151, 433 Archimedes, 155 Advanced cell technology, 39 Arc lights, 260 Aeolipile, 99 Argonne National Laboratories, 148 Ageism, 43–44, 46 Aristotle, 84 AIDS, 524 Armstrong, Louis, 277 Air bags, 94–95 Arthur, IL, 311 Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), 268 Artificial insemination, 241–242 Akrich, Madeleine, 157, 434 Artificial photosynthesis systems, 67 Alexander, George, 580 Asimov, Isaac, 74 All India People’s Science Network, 504 Aspen Institute, 89 Al Qaeda, 522, 524, 533 Aspin, Les, 269 Alternating current, 144 Assemblers, 78–80 Alvarez, Luis, 84 ATLAS particle detector, 357–359 Alzheimer’s disease, 44–45 Atom bomb, 81–82, 220 American Academy of Arts & Sciences, 89 Attali, Jacques, 87–88 American College of Obstetricians, 246 AT&T phone crash (1990), 528 American Physical Society, 327 Autarky, 147 Amish Authoritarianism, 217–218 buggies, 306–307 Automat, 236 and electricity, 306, 310, 312, 314 Automated Robotic Crew Helper (ARCH), entrepreneurs, 312 229–230 kitchens, 313 Automation, 530–531, 534 milk regulations, 309–311 Automobile crashes, 524–525 Ordnung, 301–304, 308, 310–311, 313– Automobiles, as system of production and 314 use, 149 rumspringa, 309 Autonomy of technology, 93 telephones, 313 Ayatollah Khomeini, 531 Amniocentesis, 196, 243 Ayres, Russell W., 223 Anomie, 102 Anthrax attacks, 534 Babbage, Charles, 100 Anthropocentrism, 580–581 Backlighting, 261 Anthropometrics, 266 Badische Anilin und Soda Fabrik (BASF), Anthropomorphism, 159–160, 163 146–147 Antibiotics, 81 Bakelite, 109 Antiglobalization movement, 446, 453, Baran, Paul, 11 455 Bardeen, John, 327 614 Index Barton, Amy, 215 Bosch, Carl, 146 Baruch, Bernard, 82 Boulton, Matthew, 100 Baruch Plan, 82 Boyle, James, 183 Basel Convention on the Control of Brand, Stewart, 446 Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Brattain, Walter, 327 Wastes, 586 Bread, 239 Basic research, 280–281, 287, 289 Brookhaven National Laboratories, 148, 522 Bayh, Birch, 335 Brundtland Commission on Environment & Bayh, Evan, 335 Development, 569 Bayh-Dole Act (1980), 338 Bubble boy disease, 601 Bel Geddes, Norman, 342 Buchanan, Jack, 380 Berkeley Unix, 75 Buckyballs, 333, 339 Berliner key, 172, 174 Bulger, Jamie (murder), 538–540, 544 Bethe, Hans, 87 Bulkhandlung, 586 Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samithi (BGVS), 504, Bullard, Bob, 582, 584, 587–589 508–510 Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists,83 Bhopal chemical spill (India), 586 Bureaucracies, 102, 232 Bicycle Bush, George W., 238, 338 facile, 128 Bush, Vannevar, 331 high-wheeler, 126–127 Butler, Samuel, 170 Lawson’s bicyclette, 114, 121, 127 ‘‘Penny farthing,’’ 114 Caesarean section, 246 Rudge Ordinary, 126 California NanoSystems Institute, 323 safety, 121, 125 California Rural Legal Assistance, 215 tricycles, 118 California Waste Management Board, 587 Bijker, Wiebe, 111, 142 Callicott, J. Baird, 580–581 Bill of Rights (US), 185 Callon, Michel, 110, 143 bin Laden, Osama, 524 Cancer Alley, Louisiana, 584–585 Binnig, Gerd, 327 Canton, James, 68 Biocentrism, 580–581 Caro, Robert A., 212 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) Carpal tunnel syndrome, 397 (1972), 86 Carson, Rachel, 575 Biometrics, 542–544, 549–550 Castells, Manuel, 460–461 Biotechnology, 490 Castro, Fidel, 43 Black box, 108 Catastrophic failures, 527 Blok, Vlaams, 42 Celluloid, 109 Blow-by (of O-rings), 381–382, 384–385, Center for Biological & Environmental 387–388 Nanotechnology, 341 Body screening technologies, 551 Center for Third World Organizing, 587 Boeing, 148, 268 Central Electricity Generating Board Boerner, Christopher, 590 (CEGB), 407–409, 414–415, 420 Boisjoly, Roger, 370, 378, 381–382, 384, 386 Centre d’Histoire des Sciences et des Bond, Christopher, 336 Techniques, 155, 162 Bo¨nig, Ju¨rgen, 111 Cerell Associates, 587 Boorstin, Daniel, 210 CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Borg (from Star Trek), 72–73, 80, 446, 606 Research), 356, 361, 364–365 Born, Georgina, 432, 434 CFCs, xii Index 615 Chandler, Alfred D., 220–221 Dabur Research Foundation, 476 Chaos theory, 76 Dalai Lama, 87–88 Chavis, Ben, 587 Dallas Housing Authority, 584 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) Darwin, Charles, 142 (1993), 86 Data mining, 534 Chicken factories, 240 Davis, Gray, 337 Childbirth, 244–245 Death, 247–248 Chlorinated hydrocarbons, 585 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Chorionic villus sampling (CVS), 243 (DARPA), 603 Churchill, Winston, 85 Defense Advisory Committee on Women in Citicorp, 549 the Service (DACOWITS), 271 Civil disobedience, 579 De Lee, Joseph, 244–245 Clarke, Arthur C., 84 Delphic, 427 Class breaks, 530–532, 534 Dennet, Daniel, 53, 76 Clinton, William J., 323, 335, 588 Design work, 366 Clonaid, 242 DeSilva, Ashanti, 601 Cloning, 51, 86 Deskilling, 157 Closed-circuit television (CCTV), 538–541, Determinism 543, 547, 551 social, 143–210 Closure, 127, 129 soft, 102 Cobalt bomb, 525 technological, 93–94, 97–98, 102–105, Collins, Harry, 111 107, 141–142, 144, 145, 148, 211, 275, Colvin, Vicki L., 341 340, 441, 461, 545, 608 Colwell, Rita, 335–336 Deutsch, John, 272 Combined Insurance, 233 Devall, Bill, 573 Commission for Racial Justice (CRJ) of the Diagnostic related groups (DRG), 231 United Church of Christ, 590 Dickson, David, 575–576 Commons, 185 Diesel engines, 312 Complex systems, 526–527 Disruptive technology, 488 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, 86 Dobelle, William, 603 Computer calls, 234 Dolly the sheep, 39, 51, 242, 601 Constant, Edward W., 129 Doomsday Clock, 83 Constitutionalism, 181, 183–185 Door closer, 155–158 Continental Card Services, 549 Dorn, Edwin, 271 Convivia, 449–450 Dosi, Giovanni, 109–110 Core set, 112 Drexler, K. Eric, 78, 84, 328–329, 332–333, Cotton spinning mills, 217 335–336, 340–342 Counter culture, 575 Dreyfuss, Henry, 342 Counterfeiting, 531 Dunlop, John Boyd, 129 Credit card fraud, 526, 534 Dworkin, Ronald, 58 Crick, Francis, 327 Dynamite, 525 Crossbow, 525 Dyson, Freeman, 82–83 Cryptography, 531 Dyson, George, 76 Customer service, 234, 463 Cybernetics, 183 Earth First!, 579 Cyberspace, 182–184, 190 Easterbrook, Gregg, 77 Cyberterrorism, 532 Eberstadt, Nicholas, 40–41 616 Index E-commerce, 67 of management, 465–467 Ectogenes, 53, 58 of service work, 463 Ectogenesis, 51, 53, 59 Feschner’s law, 170 Eigler, Donald, 328, 335 Fetus, rights of, 58–59 Einstein, Albert, 572, 609 Feynman, Richard, 78, 327, 330, 333, 335, Electric Bond & Share Company (EBASCO), 340, 370, 387 143–145 Film stock, 260 Electronic benefit transfer (EBT) systems, Finagle’s law, 71 548–549, 553 Ford, Henry, 147, 233 Electronic money, 531 Fordism, 144 Electron microscopy, 327, 333 Foreman, Dave, 579–580 Elliott, Carl, 602–603 Foresight Institute, 79, 328 Ellul, Jacques, 142 Foucault, Michel, 156, 390, 396, 548 E-mail, 428, 531 Fourastie´, Jean, 40 Embryos, 59, 195 Fox, Robert, 153, 155 Emory University, 600 Franco, Francisco, 43 Empirical Programme of Relativism (EPOR), Frankenstein, 171 111–112, 121, 123, 127, 130 Freedom Party, 42 Encryption, 67 Free software movement, 454, 456 Energy crops, 9–10 Freling, Bob, 7 Engels, Friedrich, 217–219, 224, 608 Friedland, William, 215 Engineering science, 146 Friedman, Emanuel, 245 Enigma machine, 531 Friedman, Thomas, 41, 534 Environment, 572–573 Friends of the Earth, 577 Environmental injustice (EJ), 580, 584, 588, 591–593 Gaia hypothesis, 571 Environmental movement, 573, 576–577, Galison, Peter, 365 581–582, 605 Gammalin, 20, 586 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Gelernter, David, 71 588 Gell-Mann, Murray, 76 Episiotomy, 245 Gendarme couche´, 166 Ergonomics, 265 Gender, 196–198, 200–203, 242, 403 ETC Group, 491 Gene therapy, 601 Eugenics movement, 608 General Accounting Office (GAO), 589 European Economic Community (EEC), General Electric, 143, 148 390 General Motors, 148 Euthanasia, 248 Genetically modified foods, 77–78, 522 Eyeglasses, 607 Genetically modified organisms, 490 Genetic defects, 243 Factor, Max, 261 Genetic engineering, 10, 70, 73, 77–78, 84– Faraday, Michael, 412 85, 341, 521 Fast food restaurants, 228–230, 235–236 Genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), 415 (GNR), 73, 80, 85–87 Female labor in the developing world, 470 Georgia Tech, 600 Feminization Geron Corporation, 39 and technology, 199 Gerontology,
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