Providing a global perspective on the development of American technology, Technology and American Society offers a historical narrative detailing major technological transformations over the last three centuries. With coverage devoted to both dramatic breakthroughs and incremental innovations, authors Gary Cross and Rick Szostak analyze the cause-and-effect relationship of technological change and its role in the constant drive for improvement and modernization. This fully-updated 3rd edition extends coverage of industry, home, office, agriculture, transport, constructions, and services into the twenty-first century, concluding with a new chapter on recent electronic and technological advances. Technology and American Society remains the ideal introduction to the myriad interactions of technological advancement with social, economic, cultural, and military change throughout the course of American history.
CHAPTER 1 WORKING THE LAND IN PREINDUSTRIAL EUROPE AND AMERICA
CHAPTER 2 MEN AND WOMEN WORKING IN SHOPS AND HOMES BEFORE INDUSTRIALIZATION
CHAPTER 3 ORIGINS OF INDUSTRIALIZATION
CHAPTER 4 THE BIRTH OF THE FACTORY
CHAPTER 5 IRON, STEAM AND RAILS
CHAPTER 6 MACHINES AND THEIR MASS PRODUCTION
CHAPTER 7 MACHINES ON THE FARM AND IN THE FOREST, 1800-1940
CHAPTER 8 AMERICANS CONFRONT A MECHANICAL WORLD, 1780-1900
CHAPTER 9 THE SECOND INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
CHAPTER 10 TECHNOLOGY AND THE MODERN CORPORATION
CHAPTER 11 TECHNOLOGY AND WAR, 1770-1918
CHAPTER 12 THE IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY ON WOMEN’S WORK
CHAPTER 13 THE NEW FACTORY
CHAPTER 14 INNOVATION AND THE GREAT DEPRESSION, 1918-40
CHAPTER 15 THE AUTOMOBILE AND ITS CULTURE
CHAPTER 16 MECHANIZING SIGHT AND SOUND
CHAPTER 17 WIRELESS ELECTRONIC MEDIA IN THE HOME
CHAPTER 18 AIRPLANES AND ATOMS IN PEACE AND WAR
CHAPTER 19 THE POSTWAR ADVANCE OF TECHNOLOGY
CHAPTER 20 THE DIGITAL AGE
CHAPTER 21 MODERN AMERICANS IN A TECHNOLOGICAL WORLD
Biography
Gary Cross is Distinguished Professor of Modern History at Pennsylvania State University, USA
Rick Szostak is Professor and Chair of Economics at the University of Alberta, USA
