Customer Reviews

Science and Technology in World History: An Introduction

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is an ambitious study of human history through its scientific and technological development. It begins with prehistoric times and ends with the many accomplishments of the late twentieth century. No area of the world is neglected, with much attention paid to the great civilizations of Asia in particular. There are also many mini-biographies of such worthies as Copernicus, Newton, Galileo, Edison, etc. which place them in the context of their time and the overall theme of technological development. The book is scholarly but not dry. Attempts have been made to appeal to the laymen through notes on "Cool Websites" and the like, and this is successful. Its a good overview of world history from a less than usual angle.

I agree with the previous reviewers on their accessment of the book--with the exception of the very last part of it. In fact, the chapter on modern physics has so many mistakes that it is almost rendered unusable, which is odd because the quality of the rest of the book is so high.

I wouldn't expect that two authors would be able to pull off what they have tried to do here (with such a breadth of material), but I believe that if they invite a guest author (or editor) to help with the chapter on the history of modern physics they will be fully successful in a subsequent edition.

The World History Association has awarded its annual book prize to this work, because it clearly addressed science and technology from a global perspective. Not only Western science is covered, but also in the ancient and medieval periods, northeast Africa, southwest Asia, other parts of Asia and the precolumbian Americas. It thus provides a point of departure for comparative analysis of the markers that many archaeologists and historians use to measure change over time in the human past.

The World History Association is pleased to award this book its 1999 prize, because it is a quality work of history from a global perspective. Not only the West is covered, but also, especially in the ancient and medieval periods, science in northeast Africa, southwest Asia, other parts of Asia, and the precolombian Americas. It provides a point of departure, then, for comparative analysis of a measure of change used by many historians and archeologists.

McClellan and Dorn have written a basic but very complete book on the, until recently, parallel histories of technology and science. Very clear concepts, very well documented and extremely interesting. It should be mandatory reading for engineering and science undergraduates, journalists and, why not, politicians. I read it in 3 days, and enjoyed it as much as a good novel.

The main thesis of this book is to show how technology and science developed largely independently of each other throughout almost all of history. Science and Technology in World Literally is quite literally an undergraduate course book. In view of the complexity of the subject matter, I found this to be a boon rather then hindrance. The authors do an amazing job summarizing complex material.

SciTechinWorHis (my abbreviation for the lengthy title) begins with a survey of the "pristine" civiliastions of earth: the middle east, india, china, south america, central america.. and... uh that's it. These are alll the original civilisations who started raising crops. The authors point out at that all of these civilisations were empires that built large hydraulic projects to help raise more food. Most of them also built large monuments (the pyramids in egypt). In these "prisitine" civilisations, the central government used "scientists" for calendar purposes. "Technology" was made these civilisation's possible in the first place- farming improvements and the maniuplation of water to supply large urban populations. In these pristine civilisations science was sponosored by the emperor to achieve practical ends. Technology enabled these civilisations in the first place. And so, technology precedes science. Indeed, technology is one of the things that makes us "human" whereas "science" only comes into play AFTER civilisation and "history" begin.

In that way, the authors make the point- right at the beginning- that technology is quite central to being human, whereas science requires some form of organization.

After running through Egypt, Mesopatamia, India, China, The Aztecs and the Inca, he moves into the "greek miracle" and we are off to the races. After the multi cultural preamble, the book gets locked on europe and chapter by chapter we move through greece, to rome, to the middle ages, to the scientific revolution. Two hundred pages and nine chapters in, this book settles into chapters consisting of mini bios: Copernicus, Galileo, Newton. Then with the advent of the industrial revolution, they march through the "modern" period. Throughout the writing is crisp, and as a non-science type, I found this book quite useful as a survey and introduction to the subject.

i was very pleased both with the writing style as well as the informative content. i have added this book as required reading to my university course on history of ideas. this book can be read both as textbook or pleasure reading.

I love this kind of book that gives a portrait of human ingenuity. All too often the perpetrators of violence get glorified (ie Alexander the Great) while people who made real contributions to improve our lives are neglected. More such books are needed. One such book I can recommend is The Pneumatics of Hero of Alexandria.

Book came in on time. Arrived in great condition for a used book. It is practically new. Awesome price, perfect for my college class.

This is quite possibly the most important book I have ever read. I came to this book from a history background, not a scientific one, and I can say that I learned a great deal about history that my professors in college neglected to mention. Everything from the fact that China under the Song Dynasty was far more advanced than Europe or the Islamic World in the Middle Ages, to the fact that most of the branches of science at today's universities weren't in existence in the Scientific Revolution, to the fact that Einstein's theories replaced Newton's were all eye-opening discoveries to me. The author does a good job of explaining why psychology and the social sciences are so less reputable compared to the fast-advancing branches of physics, chemistry, biology, and so on.

I wish this book had a more extensive anthology to read after finishing this introductory book, but since it does not, I will take up the author's recommendation and continue on to the Cambridge History of Science (although at $200 a volume, I don't know how successful I'll be at this!)

I would definitely recommend this book for an overview of science and technology in world history. I honestly read this book more for the technology aspect, which seemed neglected at certain points of the book but overall it gives a nice, brief summary of technology in history. Most of the technology discussions in the book started in the Industrial Revolution, since most technology we use today was invented since the 1740s, and particularly in the last century. Very well done!