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Beyond Engineering: How Society Shapes Technology
We have long recognized technology as a driving force behind much historical and cultural change. The invention of the printing press initiated the Reformation. The development of the compass ushered in the Age of Exploration and the discovery of the New World. The cotton gin created the conditions that led to the Civil War. Now, in Beyond Engineering , science writer Robert Pool turns the question around to examine how society shapes technology. Drawing on such disparate fields as history, economics, risk analysis, management science, sociology, and psychology, Pool illuminates the complex, often fascinating interplay between machines and society, in a book that will revolutionize how we think about technology.
We tend to think that reason guides technological development, that engineering expertise alone determines the final form an invention takes. But if you look closely enough at the history of any invention, says Pool, you will find that factors unrelated to engineering seem to have an almost equal impact. In his wide-ranging volume, he traces developments in nuclear energy, automobiles, light bulbs, commercial electricity, and personal computers, to reveal that the ultimate shape of a technology often has as much to do with outside and unforeseen forces. For instance, Pool explores the reasons why steam-powered cars lost out to internal combustion engines. He shows that the Stanley Steamer was in many ways superior to the Model T--it set a land speed record in 1906 of more than 127 miles per hour, it had no transmission (and no transmission headaches), and it was simpler (one Stanley engine had only twenty-two moving parts) and quieter than a gas engine--but the steamers were killed
off by factors that had little or nothing to do with their engineering merits, including the Stanley twins' lack of business acumen and an outbreak of hoof-and-mouth disease. Pool illuminates other aspects of technology as well. He traces how seemingly minor decisions made early along the path of development can have profound consequences further down the road, and perhaps most important, he argues that with the increasing complexity of our technological advances--from nuclear reactors to genetic engineering--the number of things that can go wrong multiplies, making it increasingly difficult to engineer risk out of the equation. Citing such catastrophes as Bhopal, Three Mile Island, the Exxon Valdez, the Challenger, and Chernobyl, he argues that is it time to rethink our approach to technology. The days are gone when machines were solely a product of larger-than-life inventors and hard-working engineers. Increasingly, technology will be a joint effort, with its design shaped not only
by engineers and executives but also psychologists, political scientists, management theorists, risk specialists, regulators and courts, and the general public.
Whether discussing bovine growth hormone, molten-salt reactors, or baboon-to-human transplants, Beyond Engineering is an engaging look at modern technology and an illuminating account of how technology and the modern world shape each other.
We tend to think that reason guides technological development, that engineering expertise alone determines the final form an invention takes. But if you look closely enough at the history of any invention, says Pool, you will find that factors unrelated to engineering seem to have an almost equal impact. In his wide-ranging volume, he traces developments in nuclear energy, automobiles, light bulbs, commercial electricity, and personal computers, to reveal that the ultimate shape of a technology often has as much to do with outside and unforeseen forces. For instance, Pool explores the reasons why steam-powered cars lost out to internal combustion engines. He shows that the Stanley Steamer was in many ways superior to the Model T--it set a land speed record in 1906 of more than 127 miles per hour, it had no transmission (and no transmission headaches), and it was simpler (one Stanley engine had only twenty-two moving parts) and quieter than a gas engine--but the steamers were killed
off by factors that had little or nothing to do with their engineering merits, including the Stanley twins' lack of business acumen and an outbreak of hoof-and-mouth disease. Pool illuminates other aspects of technology as well. He traces how seemingly minor decisions made early along the path of development can have profound consequences further down the road, and perhaps most important, he argues that with the increasing complexity of our technological advances--from nuclear reactors to genetic engineering--the number of things that can go wrong multiplies, making it increasingly difficult to engineer risk out of the equation. Citing such catastrophes as Bhopal, Three Mile Island, the Exxon Valdez, the Challenger, and Chernobyl, he argues that is it time to rethink our approach to technology. The days are gone when machines were solely a product of larger-than-life inventors and hard-working engineers. Increasingly, technology will be a joint effort, with its design shaped not only
by engineers and executives but also psychologists, political scientists, management theorists, risk specialists, regulators and courts, and the general public.
Whether discussing bovine growth hormone, molten-salt reactors, or baboon-to-human transplants, Beyond Engineering is an engaging look at modern technology and an illuminating account of how technology and the modern world shape each other.
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 13, 2021
This is an amazing book. It is the history of the nuclear technology and the nuclear power industry for the nontechnical reader. The author draws on the history of various complex technologies outside of nuclear power as well and demonstrates how such technologies are riddled with ambiguities (and therefore risks). He shows that many of the choices made about any technology, particularly new and complex ones, are based on political, social, or economic factors, and not necessarily technical ones. In other words, what wins is not the best technical solution. He also discusses organizational structure and culture with respect to managing risks in complex technology industries. There is a lot more in this book. I highly recommend it because it is interesting AND there is a lot of new research taking place on the next generation of nuclear power plants.
June 11, 2016
Robert Pool, author of the controversial look at the biological basis of gender, Eve’s Rib, and longtime contributor to several distinguished science and technical journals, did not realize what a complex topic he had chosen when he began this book. Originally, he intended to write “a straight-forward treatment of the commercial nuclear industry—its history, its problems, and its potential for the future.� Instead, he discovered a Byzantine maze of inter-connected choices, society shaping technology, rather than the opposite.
Beyond Engineering
completes the circle, reflecting what he discovered back to the general, non-technical, public in very accessible terms.
History and Momentum begins this journey into complexity with a look at how society has shaped the choices made in providing electricity to the user. Edison, Westinghouse, and Tesla; Szilard, Einstein and Rickover—choices made by these men before 1950 determined the economy of future decisions in the power industry. Pool then looks at The Power of Ideas, giving us a background on the concept of paradigm shift in molding scientific inquiry, before exploring how the “endless power source� paradigm shifted irretrievably to an “evil destructive nuclear polluter� view of nuclear power.
These shifts in choice, decision, and viewpoint are reflected in the book itself, Pool tells us in his Introduction:
A chapter on Business looks at the rise of giants like GE, IBM, Apple and Xerox, in the background of the growing industrial demand for power; one on Complexity examines the history of steam power, the growth of the US automobile and airline industries and airplane manufacturers like McDonnell, before presenting information about nuclear generation of electric power. By doing this, Pool gives his reader a stronger base to judge the value of the information he presents.
Choices and Risk then take us into the heart of Pool’s contention that society shapes technology. In delineating the choices available in nuclear power, Pool first introduces the concept by discussing previous choices: internal combustion vs. steam; QWERTY vs. the Dvorak keyboard; VHS vs. Betamax. To illustrate how risk assessments should and do guide such choices, he uses a discussion of recombinant bovine growth hormone, rBGH, and the controversy its use stirred up:
Finally, Pool looks at control and reliability in a section titled Managing the Faustian Bargain. The chapter on control investigates the legal system that has grown up around the power industry, by telling the story of how a former church secretary named Juanita Ellis fought the giant Texas Utilities to a standstill—for nearly a decade—over the building of the Comanche Peak nuclear power plant. In looking at reliability, Pool examines once-reliable entities such as NASA, and what happens when that reputation is allowed to substitute for acting in reliable ways. The description of an exemplary “highly-reliable organization� (a Nimitz-class carrier, written by a naval carrier officer) is notable:
In this increasingly technological age, the complexity of technology has grown to the point where no one person can know everything about even a very restricted discipline, at the same time that more and more of societal attention is focused on how these complex systems interact. Pool’s book is a good first step on the road to the re-engineering of engineering itself, and an excellent argument that such a sweeping change is essential.
History and Momentum begins this journey into complexity with a look at how society has shaped the choices made in providing electricity to the user. Edison, Westinghouse, and Tesla; Szilard, Einstein and Rickover—choices made by these men before 1950 determined the economy of future decisions in the power industry. Pool then looks at The Power of Ideas, giving us a background on the concept of paradigm shift in molding scientific inquiry, before exploring how the “endless power source� paradigm shifted irretrievably to an “evil destructive nuclear polluter� view of nuclear power.
These shifts in choice, decision, and viewpoint are reflected in the book itself, Pool tells us in his Introduction:
This is a very different book from the one I began writing four years ago� In 1991, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation provided grants to some two dozen writers to create a series of books on technology. Because [technology has shaped the modern world so profoundly], Sloan wanted to give the general, non-technical reader some place to go in order to learn about the invention of television or X-rays or the development of birth control pills. This would be it. Sloan asked that each book in the series� be accessible to readers with no background in science or engineering�
I took nuclear power�
A chapter on Business looks at the rise of giants like GE, IBM, Apple and Xerox, in the background of the growing industrial demand for power; one on Complexity examines the history of steam power, the growth of the US automobile and airline industries and airplane manufacturers like McDonnell, before presenting information about nuclear generation of electric power. By doing this, Pool gives his reader a stronger base to judge the value of the information he presents.
Choices and Risk then take us into the heart of Pool’s contention that society shapes technology. In delineating the choices available in nuclear power, Pool first introduces the concept by discussing previous choices: internal combustion vs. steam; QWERTY vs. the Dvorak keyboard; VHS vs. Betamax. To illustrate how risk assessments should and do guide such choices, he uses a discussion of recombinant bovine growth hormone, rBGH, and the controversy its use stirred up:
…The system of cows, humans and bacteria was simply too complex to analyze in any but the crudest detail. The calculation of risk could only be an approximation. In such cases, where there is no clear right or wrong answer, people tend to rely on their instincts, biases and gut feelings about how the world works�
Finally, Pool looks at control and reliability in a section titled Managing the Faustian Bargain. The chapter on control investigates the legal system that has grown up around the power industry, by telling the story of how a former church secretary named Juanita Ellis fought the giant Texas Utilities to a standstill—for nearly a decade—over the building of the Comanche Peak nuclear power plant. In looking at reliability, Pool examines once-reliable entities such as NASA, and what happens when that reputation is allowed to substitute for acting in reliable ways. The description of an exemplary “highly-reliable organization� (a Nimitz-class carrier, written by a naval carrier officer) is notable:
So you want to understand an aircraft carrier? Well, just imagine that it’s a busy day, and you shrink San Francisco Airport to only one short runway and one ramp and gate. Make planes take off and land at the same time, at half the present time interval, rock the runway from side to side, and require that everyone who leaves in the morning returns that same day. Then turn the radar off to avoid detection, impose strict controls on radio, fuel the aircraft in place with their engines running, put an enemy in the air, and scatter live bombs and rockets around. Now wet the whole thing down with salt water and oil, and man it with 20-year-olds, half of whom have never seen an airplane close up. Oh, and by the way, try not to kill anyone.
In this increasingly technological age, the complexity of technology has grown to the point where no one person can know everything about even a very restricted discipline, at the same time that more and more of societal attention is focused on how these complex systems interact. Pool’s book is a good first step on the road to the re-engineering of engineering itself, and an excellent argument that such a sweeping change is essential.
June 4, 2020
Explores how the evolution or even the realization of a technology is contingent on social factors that are often uncontrollable and unrelated to the technology itself. Uses the development of the nuclear power industry as a backdrop for all of this, while using other examples from other fields of technology to expand on or illustrate points. Pretty good book. The argument is interesting, but felt mostly like something I already knew. Perhaps when this was written it was much more novel, but the ideas in it seem to have seeped into enough other works that I'd already picked them up.
July 30, 2011
Didn't read all of this ( the Sloan technology series isn't great )
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