Facts on File Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Society: Vol 2 E-N

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This three-volume reference presents science and technology in the context of historical and social dimensions. It deals not only with theories, discoveries, artifacts, and systems that have stood the test of time, but also with those that have failed. The boo features approximately 900 entries.

Excerpt provided by Syndetics

Would a man have walked on the moon if the British had not escaped at Dunkirk during WWII? How did an elaborate meal for Charles II lead to the invention of the steam engine? The Facts On File Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Society provides the answers to these and many more fascinating questions, revealing how economics, society, and culture produce scientific and technological advances. This three-volume set explores specific sciences and technologies and focuses on the historical and social dimensions behind each. More than 900 entries depict the interaction between experimentation, change, and community. From canned food to compact discs, paper clips to penicillin, this resource reveals how scientific and technological advances depend more on societal needs and priorities than on the internal forces of the scientist, creator, or discoverer. Each of the more than 900 extensively detailed entries connect a scientific or technological subject with its social causes and consequences. Coverage identifies how scientific and technological changes have modified our lives and emphasizes how outcomes have been both positive and negative, and sometimes even unexpected. Enhanced by 150 photographs and illustrations, diagrams, and a bibliography, coverage also details contemporary issues and controversies and what roles these have had in scientific growth. Among the areas covered are agriculture, biology, communications, construction, electricity, electronics, energy, food, governance, instruments, materials, mechanics, medicine, military, photography, production and commerce, public works, radio and television, scientific principles, space exploration, and transportation. Specific topics covered include air conditioning, amniocentesis, anabolic steroids, area code, atomic bomb, ballooning, ballpoint pen, barbed wire, battery, cable television, clocks and watches, cloning, compact disc, contact lens, cotton gin, cyclotron, deforestation, electron microscope, elevator, flush toilet, freeze drying, frozen food, fusion energy, gene splicing, microwave oven, nylon, paper, paper clip, periodic table, radar, robotics, roller skates, safety bicycle, smart bomb, soap, space shuttle, spray paint, standard time, stirrup, subway, supercollider, supersonic transport, teflon, telephone, typewriter, ultrasound, vaccination, velcro, vending machine, wheelbarrow, widescreen movies, wind tunnel, word processing, X-rays, zipper. Excerpted from The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Science, Technology and Society by Rudi Volti All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Focusing on the societal context and impact of advances in science and technology, this is the first encyclopedia of broad scope to merge technical detail with "historical, cultural, economic and sociological aspects" of each topic. Numerous guides/handbooks for STS provide more research guidance but do not give comprehensive coverage (e.g., Handbook of Science and Technology Studies, ed. by Sheila Jasanoff et al., CH, Apr'95). Volti's encyclopedia will provide a useful initial reference for general readers and will sensitize students to the broader effects and the philosophical and political underpinnings of science and technology. About 900 entries, ranging in length from 500 words to two or three double-column entries, are written by the editor, others by contributors including many major STS scholars. The paucity of bibliographies for further study seriously limits the encyclopedia's value; most entries have none, others are limited to a single source. Such references as exist are collected in the bibliography in volume 3, but that idiosyncratic list ignores many major STS interdisciplinary studies. Besides inventions, products, processes, etc., concepts such as "normal accidents" and "spinoffs" are well covered, as is the dark side of science and technology, reflected in accidents and disasters (oil spills, the Challenger accident, and nuclear power accidents). Some major events that have shaped public views of science and technology are strangely absent (Love Canal; sustaining life by technical means--the Karen Ann Quinlan case). Popular culture seems overlooked. There is no entry related to science fiction or to amusement venues as promoters or implementers of new technologies--amusement parks or EPCOT--and while roller skates are included, roller coasters are not. Cheese appears but not hot dogs, frozen food but not fast food. Reprinting the entire index in each volume is very useful, especially for cross-references. The encyclopedia offers limited factual information and sets a basic interdisciplinary context for science and technology issues, but it is better suited for public libraries and secondary education than for colleges. It does not substitute for issue- or discipline-specific encyclopedias that cover such STS topics as the environment, business, and medical ethics. J. A. Adams-Volpe; SUNY at Buffalo

Booklist Review

In 900 alphabetically arranged entries, this title aims to be "a presentation of the social settings in which science and technology have emerged, been developed, and put to use." It is not a technical encyclopedia, per se, but the entries can contain some technical information. It includes articles on a wide range of topics, such as the origin and chemistry of cheese, the historical development of software, and the rise and fall of drive-in movies. The entry on gunpowder "explodes" the myth of its Chinese origins. The focus is on science and technology successes, but there are notable failures as well. For example, polywater was a new form of water "discovered" by a Soviet scientist in 1961; after much international scrutiny, its properties were shown to be caused by contaminants. Examples of other entries include airbags, arches and vaults, Bhopal, bubonic plague, cholesterol, eyeglasses, nylon, quark, resource depletion, space probe, and wheel. Entries were written by more than 90 contributors, almost all of whom have academic affiliations. Most entries are at least a page; a number (e.g., cloning, DNA) are more than three pages. Both U.S. customary and metric units are used for measurements. See also references and, in some cases, suggestions for further reading are listed at each entry's end. Occasionally, these citations are older. For example, the suggested reading at the end of the AIDS article is from 1989. There is a 13-page bibliography in volume 3. The index that concludes each volume is cumulative but refers only to page numbers, not volumes. In the crowded field of science encyclopedias, this title is less technical than McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology [RBB S 15 97] or Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia [RBB My 1 95], but its focus on society and science will give it a niche in public libraries or with freshmen or sophomore undergraduates, particularly nonscience majors.