Men, Machines and Modern Times by Morison

Men, Machines and Modern Times by Morison

An engaging look at how we have learned to live with innovation and new technologies through history.People have had trouble adapting to new technology ever since (perhaps) the inventor of the wheel had to explain that a wheelbarrow could carry more than a person. This little book by a celebrated MIT professor--the fiftieth anniversary edition of a classic--describes how we learn to live and work with innovation. Elting Morison considers, among other things, the three stages of users' resistance to change: ignoring it; rational rebuttal; and name-calling. He recounts the illustrative anecdote of the World War I artillerymen who stood still to hold the horses despite the fact that the guns were now hitched to trucks--reassuring those of us who have trouble with a new interface or a software upgrade that we are not the first to encounter such problems.Morison offers an entertaining series of historical accounts to highlight his major theme: the nature of technological change and society's reaction to that change. He begins with resistance to innovation in the U.S. Navy following an officer's discovery of a more accurate way to fire a gun at sea; continues with thoughts about bureaucracy, paperwork, and card files; touches on rumble seats, the ghost in Hamlet, and computers; tells the strange history of a new model steamship in the 1860s; and describes the development of the Bessemer steel process. Each instance teaches a lesson about the more profound and current problem of how to organize and manage systems of ideas, energies, and machinery so that it will conform to the human dimension.

Ian Morison began his love of astronomy when, at the age of 12, he made a telescope out of lenses given to him by his optician. He went on to study Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy at Oxford and in 1970 was appointed to the staff of the University of Manchester where he now teaches astronomy, computing and electronics.

He is a past president of the Society for Popular Astronomy, one of the UK's largest astronomical societies. He remains on the society's council and holds the post of instrument advisor helping members with their choice and use of Telescopes.

He lectures widely on astronomy, has co-authored for books for amateur astronomers and writes regularly for the two UK astronomy magazines. He also writes a monthly sky guide for the Jodrell Bank Observatory's web site and produces an audio version as part of the Jodrell Bank Podcast. He has contributed to many television programmes and is a regular astronomy commentator on local and national radio. Another activity he greatly enjoys is to take amateur astronomers on observing trips such as those to Lapland to see the Aurora Borealis and on expeditions to Turkey and China to observe total eclipses of the Sun.

In 2003 the Minor Planets Committee of the International Astronomical Union named asteroid 15,727 in his honour, citing his work with MERLIN, the world's largest linked array of radio telescopes, and that in searching for intelligent life beyond our Solar System in Project Phoenix. In 2007 he was appointed tot the post of Gresham Professor of Astronomy. Dating from 1597, this is the oldest astronomy professorship in the world and was once held by Christopher Wren.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780262130257
ISBN 10	0262130254
Title	Men, Machines and Modern Times
Author	Morison
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Mit Press
Year published	1966-12-01
Number of pages	235
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.