Technics and Civilization [Paperback]

Lewis Mumford (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 015688254X | ISBN-13: 978-0156882545 | Publication Date: November 15, 1963

This is a history of the machine and a critical study of its effects on civilization. Mumford has drawn on every aspect of life to explain the machine and to trace its social results. "An extraordinarily wide-ranging, sensitive, and provocative book about a subject upon which philosophers have so far shed but little light" (Journal of Philosophy). Index; illustrations.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A brilliant historical and critical account of the effect of the artificial environment on man and of man on the environment, a necessary account, one for which we have waited too long in English.”—The New York Times

(The New York Times )

“The questions posed in the first paragraph of Technics and Civilization still deserve our attention, nearly three quarters of a century after they were written.”—Journal of Technology and Culture

(Journal of Technology and Culture ) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Lewis Mumford (1895-1979) was the author of numerous important books on American culture, technology, architecture, and urban life, including Technics and Civilization (1934); The Culture of Cities (1938); The City in History (1961); Myth of the Machine I: Technics and Human Development (1967); and Myth of the Machine II: Pentagon of Power (1970).

Product Details

• Paperback: 495 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (November 15, 1963)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 015688254X
• ISBN-13: 978-0156882545
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #458,837 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The First Critique of the Myth of Technology, November 23, 2000

By 

Edward Garea "Edward Garea" (Branchville, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Technics and Civilization (Paperback)

Lewis Mumford is widely regarded as a critic of architecture, but his true importance in intellectual history is as a critic of technology and the myth of progress that accompanies technology, making it seem as if every technological advance is a step forward in civilization. That the events from 1945 onward dispute this claim would seem evident, but themselves are brushed over in favor of the prevailing paradigm.

Mumford was the first to take a critical look at technology and its accompanying mythos, and even though this book was later surpassed by his masterpiece, The Myth of the Machine, it is still worth reading for its approach to the tenor of its time (written during the Depression).

You can safely ignore the last chapters when Mumford attempts to offer an alternative to the technological society. Like most critics, he is mercifully short on alternatives. (Considering what alternatives were given humanity over the centuries, you can understand why I said that.) Until we truly understand technology and the role it has taken in our lives, we will be no closer to a solution than Mumford was in the Thirties.

For anyone who wishes to study the intellectual history of the West, this is an indispensible volume.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Technics and Civilization, a vital 20th Century work, September 26, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Technics and Civilization (Paperback)

Mumford is widely considered the first modern person to write critically about the intricate relationship between human technology and human civilization. This book is arguably the cornerstone of the rapidly growing field of the history of technology. It is valuable because of its extensive attention to the past and its demonstration of complex links between technology, economics, society and culture. Mumford's musings about the future at the end of the book are its least important part.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Review of the 2010 University of Chicago Press Edition, November 8, 2010

By 

C. McDonald - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Technics and Civilization (Paperback)

Readers should be aware that the 2010 University of Chicago Press edition of Technics and Civilization omits Mumford's 15 pages of photographs. As an excuse they say that such a reproduction is neither "practical" nor "necessary," instead they provide a set of search terms that may or may not allow one to find each image on the Internet.

I am, to say the least, disappointed by this decision. 1) Given that most of these images are out of copyright and are readily available (if nothing else, one could simply scan them from an earlier edition of the book) what are the practical obstacles to reproduction? 2) The ability to interrupt one's reading to search for and possibly find a particular image on the Internet is hardly a viable substitute for having images embedded in the text.

I suggest that readers find an earlier, complete edition of this work, if possible.