Dumas (political economy, U. of Texas-Dallas) offers a level-headed evaluation of a host of potentially disruptive, dangerous, and in some cases lethal, technologies whose functioning depends on management by fallible, vulnerable human beings.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Kirkus Reviews
Dumas (Political Economy/Univ. of Texas) sorts and classifies hundreds of past human errors and machine glitches that have led to death and disaster, then considers, much more briefly, what can be done to prevent them in the future. The chilling answer is not much. All but the final slim chapter of this compendium of case histories proclaims the inevitable fallibility of men and machines and the near-certain occurrence of rare events, given enough time. Dumas recounts the well-reported mistakes at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island; the terrorism of Aum Shinrikyo, Timothy McVeigh, and the World Trade Center bombers, and the cult suicides of Heavenly Gate and Jim Jones followers. But the sheer weight of other less well-known destructive events is compelling: so many terrible hits, so many near catastrophes. Dumas's forte is in analyzing how and why mistakes are made, whether accidental or deliberate, and to what extent technologies like hazardous chemicals and nuclear power are inherently dangerous. Where will the next hot spot arise? Dumas points to the boredom, repetition, and isolation of jobs monitoring dangerous equipment or safeguarding missile sites. He talks of bureaucratic mindsets that deny or avoid dealing with new information or changes in routine. And perhaps most tellingly, he describes the arrogant groupthink that promotes a dangerous belief in the groups infallibility. Dismissing technological fixes to problems of human error, he notes the fallibility of computers whose programs are still written by humans. What to do? Dumas recommends that we abolish and destroy existing nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, enforce inspection, employ economic sanctions, seek alternative forms of energy, encourage international interdependenceall admirable goals unlikely to happen. When youre done with your copy, send it to some member of Congress, the military, or other organization concerned with national defense, so that they can all learn just how easy it is to make fatal mistakes. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Review
An encyclopedic catalog of truly frightening stories, statistics, and analysis, presented in a surprisingly accessible form... -- Bombs Away
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining but Scholarship-lite,
By voracious reader "One Reader's Opinion" (Oakland, CA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Lethal Arrogance: Human Fallibility and Dangerous Technologies (Hardcover)
Dumas has set about to doa little scaremongering and he has been successful. The book was written for mass-market appeal and, as such, he takes on a variety of complex technical systems. In so doing he has ignored the academic work of High Reliability Organizations scholars, who argue that at least some complex organizations do not fail, even under conditions of great uncertainty and stress. This seems to be a dumbed down version of Perrow's classic Normal Accidents, a book that touched off an entire debate about whether large socio-technical organizations are doomed to failure. Dumas is excellent in terms of getting your feet wet in this literature, but he shouldn't be taken as the end of the story. His work on nuclear weapons (broken arrows) is quite good (and scary) but the sections on cults and terrorist groups and mentally unstable technical workers is scholarship lite. The question of risky technology usage is an important one and, for that, the book is a good attempt at consciousness raising, but the Silent Spring of accident literature? I don't think so. It reads like a long magazine article for Maxim or Men's Health -- easy to follow and entertaining, but the academic substance seems to be missing. You might think he wrote the thing in a couple of months. Still, pick it up if you want an introduction to this field and something you can read on the beach at the same time. I'd give it two and a half stars if i could.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awakens us to our extraordinary capability,
By T.D.Nelson (Richardson, Texas) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Lethal Arrogance: Human Fallibility and Dangerous Technologies (Hardcover)
Lethal Arrogance is the "Silent Spring" of the technological realm, particularly with regard to those technologies that can threaten great numbers of humans or property. Where Rachel Carson brought to our attention the potential harm we faced as a result of our polluting ways, Professor Lloyd Dumas cautions us that we also risk great harm due to the way we create and handle dangerous technologies. This book should help awaken us to our extraordinary capability to destroy ourselves, if we're not careful. Lethal Arrogance should not only be on the reading list of every American who is concerned about his or her well-being or that of future generations, but should also be read by every technological expert, politician, and particularly world leader. I think this is one of the most important books pertaining to our security and well-being on this planet since Silent Spring.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Cut rate scaremongering,
By
This review is from: Lethal Arrogance: Human Fallibility and Dangerous Technologies (Hardcover)
Someone has a used copy for sale here for 91 cents. Too expensive for this nonsense.
**Humans aren't smart enough to handle the technology it invents. Watch out for the boogy man!** There, I just saved you 91 cents. Skip it.
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