chapter 2: historical perspectives

Question 1

Why Study the History of Technology?

Answer 1

Technology is key mechanism of social change, moving society forward into social, cultural, political, and economic environments

• tech makes it possible for megacities (areas with pop of more than 10 mill ppl) to arise

occurred along with evolution of advanced forms of construction, chain mass distribution of goods and new forms of social and political organization

Question 2

What is the Evolutionary Model of Technological Development?

Answer 2

Advancement of technology in society is incremental
- builds upon existing knowledge

Question 3

what was the basis of Basallas argument?

Answer 3

novel tools arise only from earlier ones and “that new kinds of made things are never pure creations of theory, creativity, or fancy

compares the process of innovation to the way biological evolution occurs - based on the diversity of tools that exists in the world of manufactured objects
- similar to the diversity of life forms that exist in nature

Question 4

Two key issues make the understanding of technology in society difficult

Answer 4

1. gap in time that exists between when an inventor first develops new technology and when this technology is revealed and examined
   - diff to imagine living in other eras
2. reliance on artifacts as evidence ( basic components of material culture)

Question 5

“interrelation that exists between an artifact and the social relations, cultural attitudes, and norms that are present in the society that uses the artifact”

Answer 5

material culture

Question 6

What is the Amazon case study?

Answer 6

Demonstrates how the socio-historical context of the 1990s with the mainstreaming of the Internet, allowed Jeff Bezos to radically transform the mass distribution of goods

Amazon represents a transformative and disruptive enterprise it changes the basics of how goods are distributed and disrupts many industries and reshapes urban spaces

Question 7

What are the seven historical periods and key technological evolutions?

Answer 7

1. The Stone Age
2. Ancient Technology
3. The Renaissance
4. Enlightenment and Revolution
5. The Industrial Revolution
6. Electronic Times
7. The Information Society

Question 8

What is the Stone Age historical period?

Answer 8

• use of primative tools eg wodden spoon
• More advanced stone tools start to emerge
• Beginning of hunter-gatherer societies
• Sees the transition from hunter-gatherer societies to horticultural and pastoral societies

Question 9

What are hunter-gatherer societies?

Answer 9

Societies with a strong dependence on the environment and based on kinship and tribal affiliations

moving to new areas to find sustenance and following their main source of food
- meat obtained by hunting prey and produce obtained by gathering berries and other edible plants

Question 10

2 reasons why this period is significant?

Answer 10

1. humans reached an awareness of themselves as separate from the world around them allowing for the development and use of external objects to accomplish tasks
2. linked to human social and cultural evolution in terms of setting the foundation for a wide range of task oriented behaviours (scratching, and manipulating)

Question 11

What is the Neolithic period?

Answer 11

domestication of plants and animals, considered a technological invention
- reliance on tools for agriculture

Question 12

what happened in the agricultural revolution?

Answer 12

• originated in, and spread from, several regions at different times
• began with the transition from hunter-gatherer societies to horticultural and pastoral societies

Horticultural societies = hand tools used to plant and tend crops
- require some degree of planning and organization - leads to green revolution
- rely on simple tools to produce food

Question 13

What is the green revolution within this historical period?

Answer 13

increase in innovation and transfer of technology in the realm of agricultural production

Norman Borlaug is considered the “father of the green revolution,” which radically transformed the means of food production

Question 14

what are the critiques of the green revolution?

Answer 14

(1). Safety of Genetically Modified Foods (GMF)

(2) Large-scale farming has substituted traditional subsistence farming in the Global South, leading to technological dependencies and huge profits for American businesses

(3) Reduction of biodiversity from overreliance on a limited number of wheat varieties

Question 15

What are pastoral and agrarian societies within this historical period?

Answer 15

pastoral societies = animals are domesticated and bred for food
- In those areas where crops are readily grown, agrarian societies often come to replace horticultural societies

agrarian societies = plows harnessed to animals are used in farming, which affords more efficient, larger-scale agriculture

Question 16

Why is the Stone Age historical period important?

Answer 16

Neolithic Revolution witnessed unprecedented social change
(marked the emergence of social roles, class, and work relations)

main turning point - settlements allow for the study of place as a social phenomenon and lead to the introduction of sociological concepts such as identity, sense of belonging, community, and social structure

Question 17

What is Ancient Technology as a historical period?

Answer 17

• Development of the scientific method
• distinguish between basic research and applied research
• Ideas and thought processes that represent the early beginnings of technological innovations and not the tools
• social significance - new forms of social organization to emerge, such as the gathering of townspeople in social spaces

Question 18

what are perspective effects?

Answer 18

array of techniques designed to provide the impression of depth and symmetry, had an impact on building constructions

Question 19

What is the Renaissance as a historical time period?