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Men, Machines, and Modern Times (The MIT Press)

Elting E. Morison,

Rosalind Williams,

Leo Marx

3.96 · Rating details · 74 ratings · 5 reviews

An engaging look at how we have learned to live with innovation and new technologies through history.

People have had trouble adapting to new technology ever since (perhaps) the inventor of the wheel had to explain that a wheelbarrow could carry more than a person. This little book by a celebrated MIT professor—the fiftieth anniversary edition of a classic—describes how

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Kindle Edition, 260 pages

Published August 19th 2016 by The MIT Press (first published December 1st 1966)

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Nov 16, 2017 George Siehl rated it it was amazing

Shelves: business, essays, history-american, naval, owned, steampunk, technology

What a wonderful book! It is easy to see why it played such a central role in Brandy Schillace's "Clockwork Futures," an examination of the science behind steampunk. Author Morison was a historian at MIT where he followed issues relating to technology and society. This book was first published in 1966, followed by a 50th anniversary edition paperback from MIT in 2016. The latter does have a foreword and some introductory remarks that are informative, but the small format of the book is too cramp What a wonderful book! It is easy to see why it played such a central role in Brandy Schillace's "Clockwork Futures," an examination of the science behind steampunk. Author Morison was a historian at MIT where he followed issues relating to technology and society. This book was first published in 1966, followed by a 50th anniversary edition paperback from MIT in 2016. The latter does have a foreword and some introductory remarks that are informative, but the small format of the book is too cramped for the large subject matter.

Morison is a story teller hiding behind an essay writer. He is informative, entertaining, and a master exemplar of the writing craft. His areas of interest included the military, and two of the essays here are based on 19th Century naval technology examples of how change is often viewed as a threat to the societies where that change is introduced. The first essay, Gunfire at Sea, tells of Navy Lieutenant William S. Sims and his learning from a British officer a technique for improved
aiming of ships' guns. He adapted this technique to his own ship and greatly increased the accuracy during target practice. He brought this to the attention of his superiors in Washington, DC. He was ignored. He responded in more forceful language and shared his information with fellow fleet officers. Washington finally responded saying US equipment was a good as Britain's, and tests (conducted on dry land, not at sea) proved that what Sims was claiming was impossible.
Sims, a zealot when aroused, jumped the chain of command and took his case to President Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt brought Sims back to Washington and installed him as Inspector of
Target Practice. From this position over the next 6 years he implemented his proposed changes and became known in the Navy as, "The man who taught us how to shoot."

The other naval example concerns the steam powered Navy ship Wampanoag and her creator, engineer Benjamin Franklin Isherwood. He was granted a Navy commission in 1844 then went to sea on the several steam ships in the US fleet for several years. These ships had masts and sails, with the steam engines providing auxiliary power. By working with these engines he gained practical knowledge and ventured into some of the theory battles of the day. Appointed Engineer in Chief of the Navy he was responsible for the "design and construction of the power plants for the six hundred steamers added to the fleet" during the Civil War. In 1863 the Navy moved to build four high speed (15 knot) ships that could be used to destroy enemy commerce. Two of the vessels were to be built in Navy yards and the other two by private contractors. They were completed in 1867 and 1868. One of the contractor ships proved worthless while the other did not reach the expected speed. Isherwood's Wampanoag exceeded the desired speed by three knots, handled well at sea, and was much admired by many observers.

In 1869 a naval review board examining all the steam vessels in the fleet took strong exception to the U.S.S. Wampanoag. Criticisms included that crews would not become combat ready by "lounging through the watches of a steamer," that the vessel would lack longitudinal rigidity because of her shape, would present too large a target, and several other suppositions concerning her handling abilities. Morison notes that against all of the speculated faults the board raised, "The ship's trials had revealed that the ship handled well in heavy weather, that she turned and maneuvered rapidly, " and observers has found her "remarkable 'steady,' 'efficient,' and 'easy.'

Morison thought that the board of Admirals simply paralleled the attitude of the Admirals who would later ignore Sims. Upon reflection, however, he wondered if the skeptics were not right in their opposition. He notes, "For a good many years after her sea trials. far beyond her life expectancy, no navy did produce a vessel that equaled her in speed, and also, for a good many years there would have been nothing for her to do. The world remained, as the officers predicted it would, at peace."

Morison credits the officers for their societal perception. He writes, "What these officer were saying was that the Wampanoag was a destructive force in their society. Setting the extraordinary force of her engines against the weight of their way of life, they had a sudden insight into the nature of machinery." He states that they saw that any machine "tends to establish its own conditions, to create its own environment and draw men into it." This insight of Morison's is applied not only to his other essays in this book, but to the entire project of later running MIT's
new program on Science, Technology, and Society.

Several of his other essays here relate to computers and their impact on society (comparatively slight, but fraught with potential, good and bad, at the time of their writing in the mid-1960's).

The longest essay is a detailed examination of the development of the steel industry in the mid to late 19th Century. Here he treats with the men involved, their background, character, and relative importance at the different stages of the industry. The transition from iron to steel was not easy,
posing the same uncertainty of change in society that the Admirals faced in their own society.

He concludes with a brief philosophical consideration of looking to the future, from 1966, in Some Proposals.

A well deserved five-star rating to Morison's "Men, Machines, and Modern Times"for subject matter, style, and significance.
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Jun 25, 2017 Alex rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Ngt långrandig men med givande och intressanta infallsvinklar och poänger

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Oct 13, 2020 Paul moved to LibraryThing rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I have learned something. Not how to make steel but how technological innovation happens on a social level.

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May 26, 2012 Willis Whitlock rated it really liked it · review of another edition

The author uses examples from the 1800s to examine our reaction to technology. Published in 1968 but the principles used apply to current technology.

Reading this book changed the way I look at the world, especially technology.

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Apr 08, 2013 Joe rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Great book! I loved all the essays except "Almost the Greatest Invention". Morison does an excellent job capturing man's resistance to change, as well as the disruption caused by new technologies. ...more

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About Elting E. Morison

Elting E. Morison

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Elting Elmore Morison was an author of non-fiction books, an essayist, a United States historian of technology, a military biographer, an MIT professor emeritus, the conceiver and founder of MIT's program in Science, Technology and Society (STS).

Morison earned his BA (1932) and MA (1937) at Harvard University, where he served for two years as assistant dean. In 1946 he took a position at the Massa ...more