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The Shock Of The Old (Ebook)

Technology and Global History since 1900

David Edgerton

'And then the new is onetime, and the onetime is new! Marvellous stuff and absolutely spot-on.' - Simon Jenkins

'It's rare for a book to make you see the world differently, just this ... does exactly that on almost every page' Guardian

Standard histories of engineering science give tired accounts of the usual inventions, inventors, and dates, framing technology as the inevitable march of progress. They divide history into ages - electrification, motorisation, and computerisation - and rarely ask whether anyone bothered to use these inventions at the time. Stupor of the Sometime is non one of those histories.

I Messages exist alongside emails and outlasted telegrams; we withal brand physical books and magazines despite the rise of the Internet - a belated rise considering that the technologies that made information technology possible was invented in 1965, and bookshops thrive despite Amazon. More horses were used in the 2d Earth War than any other war in history and propeller planes continue to take off from the same runways as jets.

Shock of the Onetime forces us to reassess the significance of sometime inventions such as corrugated fe and sewing machines and rethink the relative importance nosotros place on the invention of something new, its application, and its widespread adoption. It challenges the idea that we live in an era of ever increasing change and, interweaving political, economic and cultural history, teaches us to think critically about technology.

The Daze Of The One-time (Paperback)

Engineering and Global History since 1900

David Edgerton

'So the new is onetime, and the one-time is new! Marvellous stuff and absolutely spot-on.' - Simon Jenkins

'Information technology'due south rare for a book to make you run into the world differently, only this ... does exactly that on nearly every page' Guardian

Standard histories of technology give tired accounts of the usual inventions, inventors, and dates, framing technology as the inevitable march of progress. They split history into ages - electrification, motorisation, and computerisation - and rarely enquire whether anyone bothered to use these inventions at the time. Shock of the Old is non one of those histories.

I Letters exist alongside emails and outlasted telegrams; nosotros even so make physical books and magazines despite the rise of the Internet - a belated ascension considering that the technologies that made it possible was invented in 1965, and bookshops thrive despite Amazon. More horses were used in the Second World War than any other war in history and propeller planes continue to take off from the aforementioned runways equally jets.

Shock of the Erstwhile forces us to reassess the significance of sometime inventions such as corrugated iron and sewing machines and rethink the relative importance nosotros identify on the invention of something new, its application, and its widespread adoption. Information technology challenges the thought that we alive in an era of e'er increasing modify and, interweaving political, economical and cultural history, teaches us to think critically about engineering.

Reviews for The Shock Of The Old

'he eviscerates our obsession with novelty...'

The Sunday Times

'newfangled things are sexy, merely how meaning are they?...Edgerton provides a corrective by emphasising some of the overlooked technologies that affect the lives of many.'

Newsweek

'David Edgerton's The Shock of the Old is a volume I can utilize. I can take information technology in 2 hands and bash information technology over the heads of every techno-nerd, computer geek and neophiliac futurologist I come across.'

Simon JenkinsGuardian

'...iconoclastic and thought-provoking volume...he makes a strong example that accords with what Virgil identified effectually 25BC every bit a definitive human characteristic. Our lives consist of semper cedentia retro: always going forwards backwards.'

The Times

'It's rare for a book to make you see the world differently, but this alternative history does exactly that on almost every page.'

Guardian

David Edgerton

David Edgerton

Born in Montevideo in 1959, David Edgerton is one of United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland'due south leading historians, and has challenged conventional analyses of applied science for twenty years. Currently the Hans Rausing Professor at Royal College London, he writes for the broadsheet press and is a regular on television and radio. He lives in London.