Histories Of Human Engineering

The dream of control over human behaviour is an old dream, shared by many cultures. This fascinating account of the histories of human engineering describes how technologies of managing individuals and groups were developed from the nineteenth century to the present day, ranging from brainwashing and mind control to Dale Carnegie's art of dealing with people. Derksen reveals that common to all of them is the perpetual tension between the desire to control people's behaviour and the resistance this provokes. Thus to influence other people successfully, technology had to be combined with tact: with a personal touch, with a subtle hint, or with outright deception, manipulations are made palatable or invisible. Combining psychological history and theory with insights from science and technology studies and rhetorical scholarship, Derksen offers a fresh perspective on human engineering that will appeal to those interested in the history of psychology and the history of technology.

This fascinating account of the histories of human engineering reveals the importance of combining technology with tact.

Human factors/ergonomics (HFE) as a discipline has grown by accretions rather than having been developed systematically and deliberately. Therefore, this book's goal creates a formal conceptual structure for HFE. It is intended as a contribution to cultural history because (a) ours is a technological civilization, and (b) one cannot understand technology outside of the various disciplines that make up that technology. A disciplinary history is highly specialized, but the author maintains that HFE is distinctive in being the only discipline that relates humans to technology. Other behavioral disciplines like anthropology have little connection with technology, and this is what makes HFE important in the present historical era.

This book is designed to offer a comprehensive high-level introduction to transhumanism, an international political and cultural movement that aims to produce a “paradigm shift” in our ethical and political understanding of human evolution. Transhumanist thinkers want the human species to take the course of evolution into its own hands, using advanced technologies currently under development – such as robotics, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, cognitive neurosciences, and nanotechnology – to overcome our present physical and mental limitations, improve our intelligence beyond the current maximum achievable level, acquire skills that are currently the preserve of other species, abolish involuntary aging and death, and ultimately achieve a post-human level of existence. The book covers transhumanism from a historical, philosophical, and scientific viewpoint, tracing its cultural roots, discussing the main philosophical, epistemological, and ethical issues, and reviewing the state of the art in scientific research on the topics of most interest to transhumanists. The writing style is clear and accessible for the general reader, but the book will also appeal to graduate and undergraduate students.

Excerpt from Human Engineering: A Study of the Management of Human Forces in Industry The present unrest in the world of labor is due partly to temporary causes. Among them appear an increase in the cost of living which results mainly from inflation of currency; the desire of certain groups of laborers to share in the extortionate prices which their employers have been allowed to charge; the demoralization result ing from the excitement and changes caused by the war; and the dissemination of radical propaganda. But the present unrest is not due chiefly to circumstances of the moment; it is due more to deep-rooted aspirations which mark a stage in the actual evolution of society. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This book treats several subjects from the History of Mechanism and Machine Science, and also contains an illustrative presentation of the Museum of Engines and Mechanisms of the University of Palermo, Italy, which houses a collection of various pieces of machinery from the last 150 years. The various sections deal with some eminent scientists of the past, with the history of industrial installations, machinery and transport, with the human inventiveness for mechanical and scientific devices, and with robots and human-driven automata. All chapters have been written by experts in their fields. The volume shows a wide-ranging panorama on the historical progress of scientific and technical knowledge in the past centuries. It will stimulate new research and ideas for those involved in the history of Science and Technology.

This book explores the history of mechanical engineering since the Bronze Age. Focusing on machinery inventions and the development of mechanical technology, it also discusses the machinery industry and modern mechanical education. The evolution of machinery is divided into three stages: Ancient (before the European Renaissance), Modern (mainly including the two Industrial Revolutions) and Contemporary (since the Revolution in Physics, especially post Second World War). The book not only clarifies the development of mechanical engineering, but also reveals the driving forces behind it – e.g. the economy, national defense and human scientific research activities – to highlight the links between technology and society; mechanical engineering and the natural sciences; and mechanical engineering and related technological areas. Though mainly intended as a textbook or supplemental reading for graduate students, the book also offers a unique resource for researchers and engineers in mechanical engineering who wish to broaden their horizons.

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