The Golem at Large: What you should know about Technology (2002)

The Golem at Large: What you should know about Technology
Written by: Harry Collins & Trevor Pinch

Collins and Pinch reprise the case study format of their previous coauthored book (The Golem: What You Should Know About Science) and, once again, it works. Recapitulating the space shuttle Challenger explosion and six other major technological tragedies and disputes of our era, they illuminate what they aptly call "the boundaries of expertise." Among the other subjects the authors use to illustrate how the best-laid plans can go wrong are the Patriot anti-missile system, the Chernobyl disaster and early medical treatments for AIDS. Their book is worthy of note not only for its clear analysis of how science can come up short when applied outside the laboratory but for its honest appraisal of the fallibility of technology's gatekeepers. But Collins and Pinch offer much more: a reasonable, surprisingly entertaining rebuttal of both Panglossian technophiles and Luddite technophobes. In so doing, they present themselves as advocates for and, more impressively, exemplars of a sane and realistic view of technology and its role in society. Four line diagrams. (Dec.) FYI: The Golem at Large will be published simultaneously with Cambridge's second edition, in paperback, of The Golem, containing an afterword responding to the book's critics.

Review
From the hardback: 'What The Golem did for science, The Golem at Large does for technology ... My experiences in using the book for teaching, however, have been wholly positive, perhaps because it does not seek to give all the answers. In such a short book, there is no space for detailed post mortems; general comments come in a short concluding chapter. I found it useful, too, as a way of linking together historical studies of science and technology with issues of current concern. That is, the Golem at Large gave me another way of encouraging students to re-examine past science and technology in context and in culture by showing them one way of teasing apart the complex politics of contemporary technology.' B. Marsden, Annals of Science 'Of the many impressive texts that use case studies to convey 'what you should know about technology', The Golem at Large is the clearest and simplest. The authors rework existing materials with great care to produce a valuable introduction to their topic that is accessible to anyone.' Barry Barnes, Nature 'Harry Collins and Trevor Pinch have followed up their book about so-so science, The Golem, with The Golem at Large: What You Should Know About Technology. What you should know is that nothing is simple once humans are involved, especially humans with points to score or reputations to lose. During the Gulf war, how useful was the Patriot missile? What did President Bush mean when he said 41 out of 42 Iraqi Scud missiles were 'intercepted'? Who do you blame for the disaster of the Challenger shuttle mission in 1986? How do you work out where oil really comes from? Why would anyone believe one economist, let alone a group of seven?' Tim Radford, The Guardian '... riveting.' Robert Gaitskell, The Times Higher Educational Supplement

176 pages
Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 1st edition (May 15, 2002)
Language: English