Author Description

The Pulitzer Prizewinning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb provides a unique perspective on the twentieth century through a lively collection of writings about the unexpected and paradoxical ways in which technology has changed our lives - and will affect our future. Guided by the eminent Richard Rhodes, the reader will find highlighted the views of such prominent technological figures as Henry Ford, H.G. Wells, Rachel Carson, Margaret Sanger, Aldous Huxley, John Glenn and Gordon E. Moore. Visions of Technology also features thought-provoking images - from the first X ray to R. Crumb's comic apocalypse - which inform this original, much-needed roundtable. Among the gems of opinion and history of technology gathered in this volume are Henry Ford on the horseless carriage, Thorstein Veblen on the discipline of the machine, David McCullough on the Panama Canal, Billy Mitchell on air warfare, Margaret Sanger on birth control, Robert Caro on Robert Moses, Charles Lindbergh on flying, James Agee on overalls, Lieutenant General Leslie R. Groves on the Manhattan Project, J. Robert Oppenheimer on science and war, Isaac Asimov on robotics, Alva Myrdal on "Blue Jeans and Coca-Cola," Joan Didion on the Hoover Dam and Julian L. Simon on the pitfalls of making predictions (of which there are many in the 214 selections that make up this book).