Science and Technology in World History: An Introduction / Edition 3

by James E. McClellan III, Harold Dorn

Overview

Arguably the best general history of science and technology ever published.

Tracing the relationship between science and technology from the dawn of civilization to the early twenty-first century, James E. McClellan III and Harold Dorn’s bestselling book argues that technology as “applied science” emerged relatively recently, as industry and governments began funding scientific research that would lead directly to new or improved technologies.

McClellan and Dorn identify two great scientific traditions: the useful sciences, which societies patronized from time immemorial, and the exploration of questions about nature itself, which the ancient Greeks originated. The authors examine scientific traditions that took root in China, India, and Central and South America, as well as in a series of Near Eastern empires in late antiquity and the Middle Ages. From this comparative perspective, McClellan and Dorn survey the rise of the West, the Scientific Revolution of the seventeenth century, the Industrial Revolution, and the modern marriage of science and technology. They trace the development of world science and technology today while raising provocative questions about the sustainability of industrial civilization.

This new edition of Science and Technology in World History offers an enlarged thematic introduction and significantly extends its treatment of industrial civilization and the technological supersystem built on the modern electrical grid. The Internet and social media receive increased attention. Facts and figures have been thoroughly updated and the work includes a comprehensive Guide to Resources, incorporating the major published literature along with a vetted list of websites and Internet resources for students and lay readers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781421417752
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	12/15/2015
Edition description:	third edition
Pages:	552
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.90(h) x 1.40(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

James E. McClellan III is a professor of the history of science at Stevens Institute of Technology.

Harold Dorn is professor emeritus of the history of science and technology at the Stevens Institute of Technology.

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Introduction The Guiding Themes 1

Part I Origins to the End of Antiquity 17

Chapter 1 Humankind Emerges: Tools and Toolmakers 19

Chapter 2 The Reign of the Farmer 32

Chapter 3 Pharaohs and Engineers 46

Chapter 4 Greeks Bearing Gifts 71

Chapter 5 Alexandria and After 95

Part II Thinking and Doing among the World's Peoples 115

Chapter 6 The Enduring East 117

Chapter 7 The Middle Kingdom 135

Chapter 8 Indus, Ganges, and Beyond 160

Chapter 9 The New "World 174

Part III Europe and the Solar System 195

Chapter 10 Plows, Stirrups, Guns, and Plagues 197

Chapter 11 Copernicus Incites a Revolution 223

Chapter 12 The Crime and Punishment of Galileo Galilei 243

Chapter 13 "God said, 'Let Newton be!'" 268

Part IV Science, Technology, and Industrial Civilization 297

Chapter 14 Textiles, Timber, Coal, and Steam 301

Chapter 15 Legacies of Revolution: From Newton to Einstein 320

Chapter 16 Life Itself 349

Chapter 17 Toolmakers Take Command 365

Chapter 18 The New Aristotelians 401

Chapter 19 The Bomb, the Internet, and the Genome 427

Chapter 20 Under Today's Pharaohs 454

Afterword: The Medium of History 481

Guide to Resources 485

Illustration Credits 513

Index 515

Editorial Reviews

This historical account achieves its basic aim of demonstrating that, with the exception of quite recent history, technology has always influenced science, not the other way round.

Nature Lib

The book provides an excellent overview of world science and technology for readers at any level. . .highly recommended.

Choice

. . . the third edition of Science and Technology in World History is a mellow read, designed for general readers and undergraduate students.

Isis

"This historical account achieves its basic aim of demonstrating that, with the exception of quite recent history, technology has always influenced science, not the other way round."

Nature

The book provides an excellent overview of world science and technology for readers at any level. . .highly recommended.
—Choice

. . . the third edition of Science and Technology in World History is a mellow read, designed for general readers and undergraduate students.
—Isis

If I could attach bells and whistles and flashing lights to this review I would do so because McClellan and Dorn's book deserves to be brought to the attention of all professional historians—and indeed the general reading public—by any means necessary.
—Canadian Journal of History/Annales canadiennes d'histoire

This historical account achieves its basic aim of demonstrating that, with the exception of quite recent history, technology has always influenced science, not the other way round.
—Nature

From the Publisher

If I could attach bells and whistles and flashing lights to this review I would do so because McClellan and Dorn's book deserves to be brought to the attention of all professional historians—and indeed the general reading public—by any means necessary.

Canadian Journal of History/Annales canadiennes d'histoire