Thinking through Science and Technology - by Glen Miller & Helena Mateus Jerónimo & Qin Zhu (Paperback)

About the Book

This wide-ranging collection of original essays explores how individual and societal beliefs, values, and actions are transformed by science, technology, and engineering. Practical and theoretical insights from a global cohort of philosophers, policymakers, STS scholars, and engineers illuminate the perils and promise of technoscientific change.

Book Synopsis

This wide-ranging collection of original essays explores how individual and societal beliefs, values, and actions are transformed by science, technology, and engineering. Practical and theoretical insights from a global cohort of philosophers, policymakers, STS scholars, and engineers illuminate the perils and promise of technoscientific change.

Review Quotes

Carl Mitcham is a founding figure of the philosophy of engineering and technology. His long career has produced landmark works such as his 1994 exploration of the "path between engineering and philosophy," Thinking through Technology (CH, Mar#39;95, 32-3863). The editors of this work acknowledge their debt to Mitcham as an inspiration for the interdisciplinary essays included in their collection. Scholars from China, Holland, and Mexico join with others from Europe and the US in this volume to examine a staggering variety of topics, ranging from subsistence farming by Ghanaian women to the roots of modern technological power as found in the Hebrew Old Testament. The editors have maintained high standards of quality and language throughout, so that nearly every essay could be the subject of a fruitful graduate philosophy seminar. The six essays in the "Religion, Science, and Technology" section explore issues seldom examined in mainstream engineering ethics works. While none of the essays is a particularly easy read, they all reward close study by the interested reader. Taken together, they provide an encyclopedic view of the relatively new field of engineering philosophy broadly defined and should prove invaluable to anyone who is seriously studying this field at the graduate level. Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals. General readers.

In a perfectly undogmatic manner Thinking through Science and Technology offers a broad survey of problems and approaches in contemporary philosophy of technology. Coming from many countries, representing very different intellectual traditions, what the contributors share is a sense of passion, if not urgency. The path is short from foundational reflections and laboratory work to everyday questions of how to live in times of crisis. Embarked on this path, what we need is the kind of curiosity and openness to dialogue which this diverse group of contributors brings to the volume.

Thinking through Science and Technology is the ultimate handbook for understanding the human condition in terms of the past, present and future of technology. It is also a testimony to Carl Mitcham, whose work and example provide the intellectual platform for these essays, by authors from across the globe. Readers will learn something new from each of them, and somemdash;such as Jean-Pierre Dupuyrsquo;s and Adam Brigglersquo;smdash;are gems in their own right.

Thinking Through Science and Technology is a rich and urgently-needed contribution to our understanding of the built world and our vital human bonds with it. By moving across the boundaries of discipline, tradition and region, while joining newer voices with those of foundational leaders in science and technology studies, Miller, Jeroacute;nimo and Zhu open up fertile ground for exploration of the past, present and future of human-technology relations.

Three decades ago, Carl Mitcham created the core of philosophy of technology, and now Miller, Jeroacute;nimo and Zhursquo;s volume Thinking through Science and Technology proves the impressive richness and ongoing societal importance of work that builds on that core. A must-read and excellent guide to state-of-the-art thinking about technology.

About the Author

Glen Miller is instructional associate professor of philosophy at Texas A&M University. He has co-edited Reimagining Philosophy and Technology, Reinventing Ihde (with Ashley Shew).
Helena Mateus Jerónimo is assistant professor in the School of Economics and Management (ISEG), Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal. She has edited Portuguese Philosophy of Technology and is a member of the UNESCO World Commission on the Ethics of Science and Technology.
Qin Zhu is associate professor of engineering education at Virginia Tech. He is the lead author of the 5th edition of Ethics in Engineering.