Principles of simple technologies

I recently reviewed Philippe Bihouix’s book The Age of Low Tech, which makes the case for reducing our dependence on technological solutions to climate change. Instead, he argues that we should prioritise low tech solutions. A chapter of the book outlines the kind of thing he means, describing ‘the principles of simple technologies’.

This reminded me of E F Schumacher’s work on ‘appropriate technology’, which focuses on ‘intermediate’ level machines – a step up from manual labour, but still ...