WK 5 Readings

Thomas Hughes’ “Human-Built World: How to Think about Technology and Culture” examines how the evolution of technology has impacted and adapted the world around us as we know it. It is almost like a historical reminder of how far technology has advanced in the past hundred years, how society has welcomed these changes and just how far we have come as a whole.

Machine technology was being introduced in the nineteenth century to aid in the transformation of “industrial cities into handsome financial, commercial, and cultural metropolises.” Transportation within these cities grew as subways and underground networks emerged as well as tall city buildings. It was thanks to electricity that this adaptation of a new city was possible.

As cities grew and the population increased, housing became an issue. “Martin Wagner… used new technology… to help relieve the city’s dire housing problem… he designed and presided over the construction of housing settlements that brought workers out of dingy housing blocks into light, airy, and sunny apartments.”

Mumford feared that “the embedding of machine values in a culture threatened to eliminate an organic characteristic needed to sustain a healthy culture that nourishes the human spirit.” It’s interesting as even in this current century we now worry not necessarily about machinery taking over but technology. We push for greener and cleaner energy sources, to preserve nature and landscapes as well as be economically friendly to the environment. It seems to be a never ending cycle present with the development to machinery and technology.