NATS 1780 – Technology and Civilization
Course Description
This course will consider the interaction between technology and civilization from
ancient times to the present day, with approximately half the course focusing on the 20th
century. We will look at the political, economic, military and social implications of
technological developments, starting with international examples, and moving towards
North American cases as we approach the 20th century. There will be major components
on medieval technology, the industrial revolution, 19th century technology, and
technology and war. Nuclear technology will be a major component of our 20th century
discussion. Two themes will shape our analysis of technology throughout the course, the
question of technological determinism, and the relationship between technology and the
state.
Course Instructor:
Email:
Lectures:
Office Hours:
Ian Slater
slater@yorku.ca
Mon, 7-10pm, Centre for Fine Arts 312
By Appointment, 304 Bethune College
Lecture Format
The class meets from 7-10pm. There will be two 50 minute lectures, from 7-7:50, and
from 8-8:50. From 9-9:50 there will be an open discussion period, where students can ask
questions about the lectures or readings, and I will ask questions as well.
Mark Distribution
1st Assignment:
2nd Assignment:
Mid-Term:
3rd Assignment
Final Exam:
10%
15%
30%
15%
30%
Oct 20
January 12
Dec 1
March 8
Assignment 1 – Technology in Early Civilization – Due Oct 20
Compare the relationship between economics and technology in the hydraulic
civilizations and in the Middle East in the 5th century. Be sure to state in which case the
relationship between the two was the strongest, and why.
2 pages, 10%
Assignment 2 - Medieval Technology – Due Jan 12th
Compare the impact of any two of the following Medieval developments we discussed:
- The impact of clocks on labor
- The impact of the printing press on knowledge
- The impact of gunpowder on conflict
Make sure to state which of the two had a greater overall impact, and why.
2-3 pages, 15%
Assignment 3 – Technology and Modern Warfare – Due March 8
Warfare has existed since the beginning of civilization, and technology has always been a
part of it. Some historians have claimed that modern technology has fundamentally
altered the nature of warfare in the 20th century. Argue for or against this claim, using
examples from the course.
3 pages, 15%
Assignments, Late Penalties and Extensions
I will look at assignments and give feedback up to a week before they are due, no later
Late penalty is 2% of mark per day, e.g. Assignment 1, if 5 days late, would lose 10%
Extensions must be requested early.
Course Texts
1. Gary Cross and Rick Szostak, Technology and American Society, Prentice-Hall, 1995
2. Course Reader, NATS 1780
Lecture Schedule
Sept 8 – Introductory Lecture
Sept 15 – Technology in Ancient Civilizations I
- Reader, McClellan and Dorn, Science and Technology in World History, Chapter
3: Pharaohs and Engineers 23
- Reader, Smith and Marx, Does Technology Drive History, Chapter 10,
“Determinism and Pre-Industrial Technology” 16
Sept 22 – Medieval Technology and Society I
- Reader, Rudi Volti, Society and Technological Change, Chapter 8, “Work in
Non-industrial Societies” 13
- Reader, Elizabeth Eisenstein, The Printing Press as an Agent of Change, Chapter
1, “The Unacknowledged Revolution” 8
Sept 29 – Medieval Technology and Society II
- Reader, Bert Hall, Weapons and Warfare in Renaissance Europe, Chapter 4,
“Firearms and Warfare (I): The Fifteenth Century” 28
Oct 20 – Technology in the Scientific Revolution - 1st Assignment Due
- Reader, Arnold Pacey, The Maze of Ingenuity, Chapter 3, “Mathematics and the
Arts: 1450-1600” 23
- Reader, Lisa Jardine, Ingenious Pursuits, Building the Scientific Revolution,
Chapter 4, “Running Like Clockwork” 43
Oct 27 – The Industrial Revolution, Part I
- Cross and Szostak, Chapter 1, “Working the Land in Pre-Industrial Europe and
America” 16
- Cross and Szostak, Chapter 2, “Artisans in the Shop: European Traditions and
American Changes in the Eighteenth Century”18
Nov 3 – The Industrial Revolution, Part II
- Cross and Szostak, Chapter 3, “Women and Work Before the Factory” 14
- Cross and Szostak, Chapter 4, “Origins of Industrialization” 14
Nov 10 – The Industrial Revolution, Part III - Cross and Szostak, Chapter 5, “The Birth of the Factory” 14
- Reader, Freeman and Soete, The Economics of Industrial Innovation, Chapter 2,
“The Industrial Revolution” 19
Nov 17 – The Industrial Revolution, Part IV - 2nd Assignment Due
- Cross and Szostak, Chapter 6, “Iron, Steam, Rails” 21
Nov 24 – 19th Century Technological Innovations
- Cross and Szostak, Chapter 7, “Machines and their Mass Production” 15
- Cross and Szostak, Chapter 8, “Machines on the Farm and in the Forest, 18001920”14
Dec 1 - Midterm
Jan 5 – 19th Century Technological Innovations II
- Copp and Zanella, Chapter 2, “Telegraphy, the Beginnings” 22
- Cross and Szostak, Chapter 9, “”Americans Confront a Mechanical World, 18001900” 13
Jan 12 – Millennial Developments – 2nd Assignment Due
- Cross and Szostak, Chapter 10, “The Second Industrial Revolution” 13
- Cross and Szostak, Chapter 11, “Technology and the Modern Corporation” 14
Jan 19 – Millennial Developments II
- Reader, David Kirsch, The Electric Vehicle and the Burden of History, Chapter 6,
“The Burden of History” 13
- Reader, David Noble, America By Design, “The Wedding of Science to the
Useful Arts, Part 1”, Chapter 1, 17
Jan 26 – Experimental Achievements in Physics
- Shamos, Great Experiments in Physics, “Natural Radioactivity”, by Henri
Becquerel, Chapter 15
- Reader, Shamos, Great Experiments in Physics, “Induced Transmutation”, by
Ernest Rutherford, Chapter 19
Feb 2 - WWI
- Cross and Szostak, Chapter 12, “Technology and the First Arms Race, 18001918” 16
-
Cross and Szostak, Chapter 13, “The Impact of Technology on Women’s Work”
15
Feb 9 – Technology Across the Wars
- Cross and Szostak, Chapter 14, “The New Factory” 13
- Cross and Szostak, Chapter 15, “Innovation, The Great Depression, and the
Automobile, 1918-1940” 15
Feb 23 – Technology Across the Wars II
- Cross and Szostak, Chapter 16, “Mechanizing Sight and Sound” 13
- Cross and Szostak, Chapter 17, “Technology and the Origins of Mass Culture”17
March 1– WWII
- Cross and Szostak, Chapter 18, “Airplanes and Atoms in Peace and War” 16
- Reader, Spencer Weart, Nuclear Fear, Chapter 5, “Where Heaven and Earth
Meet” 35
March 8 – Post-War Technological Developments 3rd Assignment Due
- Richard Wolfson, Nuclear Choices: A Citizen’s Guide to Nuclear Technology,
Chapter 9, “Reactor Safety” 30
- Reader, John Mitchell, The New Geopolitics of Energy, Chapter 7, “The Rise of
Climate Change”25
March 15– Aspects of Modern Technology
- Cross and Szostak, Chapter 19, “The Postwar Advance of Technology” 17
- Cross and Szostak, Chapter 20, “Modern Americans in A Technological World”
15
March 22 – Theoretical Issues in Technology
- Reader, Robert Pool, Beyond Engineering, How Society Shapes Technology,
Chapter 9, “Technical Fixes, Technological Solutions” 26
- Cross and Szostak, Afterword, “Into the Future? Government Policy and
Technological Innovation: Lessons from the Past” 5
March 29 – Final Lecture, exam review