From Roman roads to the H-bomb, technology has driven the rise and fall of
military and economic empires. Or has it? Michael Talalay and colleagues assert
in Technology, Culture and Competitiveness that “it is more realistic to see
technology as being shaped by social forces . . .” But what emerges most
strongly from these essays is that nobody has yet worked out how to address the
question of what shapes technology. Published by Routledge, £14.99, ISBN 0
415 14255 5.
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