---

Book description
"These are stunning essays. MacKenzie's history of supercomputers and inertial navigation systems shatters the economists' belief that technology developed along 'natural trajectories' in the past; his analysis of the importance of tacit knowledge in the development of complex technology, however, also challenges the political scientists' belief that nuclear weapons, once constructed, can never be 'uninvented' in the future." -- Scott D. Sagan, Stanford University Ranging from broad inquiries into the roles of economics and sociology in the explanation of technological change to an argument for the possibility of "uninventing" nuclear weapons, this selection of Donald MacKenzie's essays provides a solid introduction to the style and the sub... Rest of this review on the detail page
I want to add my review for this book!
Reviews (2) and details of Knowing Machines: Essays on Technical Change (Inside Technology)

---

Review:
This book is promoted as a guide for technical workers, to protect and advance their own careers. There are 138 mini-essays, readable and short. (Most are less than a full page, and they are printed in large type.) The whole book can be read in an hour or two, and it is generally easy and entertaining. Whether or not it is helpful is open to question. Little of the material is particularly applicable to the technical arena, and what is, tends to lean towards technical writing. The bulk of the material is general management advice--and would most appropriately be aimed at management. Of the remainder, much is very true. It is also obvious and surprisingly unhelpful. Several chapters talk about the inevitability of change--but no... Rest of this review on the detail page
(Review by Rob Slade)
I want to add my review for this book!
Reviews (1) and details of The Technical Career Navigator: An Engineer's Programmer'S, and Technical Manager's Career Survival Guide Featuring 138 Keys to Finding a Job, and Adv

---

Book description
How the convergence of mobile communications and computing is driving the next social revolution-transforming the ways in which people meet, mate, work, buy, sell, govern, and create. When Howard Rheingold sneaks off down an untrodden trail, everyone else follows. He is always onto something marvelous no one has seen before. An ever-considerate guide, he navigates this new world with ease, compassion, and grace, and gives you the inside story, with no punches pulled. Tech talk? Howard could get your mother to understand. From Tokyo to Helsinki, Manhattan to Manila, Howard Rheingold takes us on a journey around the world for a preview of the next techno-cultural shift-a shift he predicts will be as dramatic as the widespread adoption of th... Rest of this review on the detail page
I want to add the first review for this book!
Reviews (1) and details of Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution

---

Review:
Part one is an introduction. It is ironic, both in terms of the title of the chapter; "Technological Disasters: an Overview"; and particularly the title of the book, that although the authors list four categories of disaster causes, the examples given overwhelmingly indicate human error, if not outright malfeasance. The classifications provided are also confusing: what difference is there between human, organizational, and socio-cultural factors? The comparison of natural and man-made disasters, and the supporting tables, in chapter two raise more questions than they answer: why are both types increasing at almost identical rates (in glaring contrast to the stated conclusion)? Part two looks at the prevalence of technological disasters... Rest of this review on the detail page
(Review by Rob Slade)
I want to add my review for this book!
Reviews (1) and details of Minding the Machines: Preventing Technological Disasters

---

Book description
Here is a gripping narrative of scientific detection that chronicles an unprecedented journey of discovery by Dr. George Carlo into the impact of cell phones on human health. This book is a clarion call sounding the message that consumers need not allow themselves to become guinea pigs for new technologies whose long-term health effects are unknown. It is essential reading for the 90,000,000 Americans currently using wireless phones, and the millions who may begin using them in the future. In 1993, as news reports appeared of people using cell phones who'd also developed brain tumors, Carlo was hired by the cell-phone industry to affirm the safety of its product. He soon learned there was little research into whether these phones could impa... Rest of this review on the detail page
I want to add the first review for this book!
Reviews (1) and details of Cell Phones: Invisible Hazards in the Wireless Age: An Insider's Alarming Discoveries about Cancer and Genetic Damage