Taming the Tiger: The Struggle to Control Technology

by Witold Rybczynski

THE PROBLEM OF CONTROLLING TECHNOLOGY HAS PREOCCUPIED US SINCE THE TIME OF THE FIRST FOREST FIRE CAUSED BY MAN, BUT TODAY, IN THE AGE OF TECHNOLOGY, THE INTRODUCTION AND EVOLUTION OF MACHINES ARE OF INCREASING CONCERN. UNINTENDED SIDE EFFECTS HAVE ALWAYS ACCOMPANIED TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION, AND AS ADVANCES THAT MAY HAVE FAR REACHING CONSEQUENCES OCCUR IN PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL ENGINEERING, WE FEEL AGAIN THE NEED TO DEFINE OUR UNEASY RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR INVENTIONS. WITOLD RYBCZYNSKI PROVOCATIVE BOOK HELPS US TO DO SO BY EXAMINING THE ATTEMPTS OF OUR PREDECESSORS TO COME TO TERMS WITH THE SHOCK OF THE MACHINE.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Technology

272 pages, Paperback

First published August 29, 1983

About the author

Witold Rybczynski was born in Edinburgh, of Polish parentage, raised in London, and attended Jesuit schools in England and Canada. He studied architecture at McGill University in Montreal, where he also taught for twenty years. He is currently the Martin and Margy Meyerson Professor of Urbanism at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also co-edits the Wharton Real Estate Review. Rybczynski has designed and built houses as a registered architect, as well as doing practical experiments in low-cost housing, which took him to Mexico, Nigeria, India, the Philippines, and China.

(From www.witoldrybczynski.com)

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

35 years on, this is still an interesting and entertaining read. Useful for its survey of older theories of technology, and its copious historical examples of pressure points between societies and technology, it remains relevant to any effort to make sense of technology today.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is obviously pretty old. It’s funny and entertaining to hear old technology talked about in a new way. Still, I liked the take on technology. Good book.