Review: Engines of Our Ingenuity

Having tragically misplaced the crank on his hot-rodded Underwood, the singular Jon Katz had to revert to his backup activity, devouring words from other writers. Crank restored, here he reviews The Engines of Our Ingenuity, a book which sounds like excellent browsing material for anyone who enjoys reading Henry Petroski, Donald Norman, Stewart Brand or other techno-historical commentators.

The Engines Of Our Ingenuity author John Lienhard pages 262 publisher Oxford University Press rating 8/10 reviewer Jon Katz ISBN 0-19-513583-0 summary How technology and creativity have affected history.

In a timely and very entertaining new book, mechanical engineer and radio commentator John Lienhard recounts the history of human invention and the ways in which technology and ingenuity have affected human history, from the genetic mishap that created wheat, to the monks who built the first mechanical clocks, to the rise of modern computing.

For centuries engineers were a marginalized species, toiling away to design and build the modern world even though few people understood or appreciated what they did. But a few particularly literate engineers -- technologist/writers like Samuel Florman -- created a small but potent literary genre devoted to technology and its impact on society. John Lienhard's "Engines of Our Ingenuity" is a worthy example of this genre -- the author is a mechanical engineer and professional writer -- recounting the history of the world's tinkerers and technologists, from Archmides and his screw pump to the monks who came up with mechanical clocks (an artifact of medieval monasteries) to modern engineers.

Lienhard (who hosts an NPR radio program on technology and creativity believes that technology is a mirror of humanity, and his book is a highly readable affirmation of that theory. He writes about technology with humor, insight and a reservoir of historical perspective. He also warns about the dangers of unthinking technology, and of the technological hubris epidemic in America.

But Lienhard also chronicles one of the world's earliest genetic mishaps -- the accidental creation of modern what by starving farmers. This and other anecdotes provide a bit of pause in the age of the Human Genome Project, when it seems as if the tools to bend evolution's rules are close at hand.

Fittingly, he also refers to the Code of Hammurabi, one of the first codified systems of law, dating back to the days of Babylonian dominance. That code dictated that if a mason constructed a building which collapsed and killed the owner, the mason would be summarily executed. Imagine the bloodbath if modern engineers and inventors were held accountable that way.

"Getting things right is a far bigger worry in today's dense technology than it was thousands of years ago," Linehard writes. "Yet while we do not threaten to amputate surgeon's hands or kill engineer's children, our resulting technologies are still surprisingly safe. Only one person in ten million dies each year from the structural failure of a building. And tens of millions of Americans safely make commercial flights between the rare fatalities that do occur."

Lienhard also traces in Enginesthe strange ways in which technologies evolve -- like the fact that telephone companies took decades to figure out that people's interest in phones was primarily social, not commercial.

He offers an inventive take on the rise of the computer which, he suggests, basically invented itself. "We instinctively build machines that resonate with us," he says. "The technologies of writing and printing each altered the way in which we see the world. Each opened our eyes to the expanded possibilities they presented to us. Each profoundly changed our civilization."

This is not only an entertaining but an informative and useful book in a world in which technology has become a central social, cultural and economic force. Few people really want to talk much about it, or understand its history. Lienhard trains his sights on the intersection of technology and culture, and there could hardly be a more timely, entertaining or relevant book on the subject, especially for people who care about technology and it's impact on society.

Purchase this book at ThinkGeek.

Comments

When I was in engineering school

[georgeha]

Fittingly, he also refers to the Code of Hammurabi, one of the first codified systems of law dating back to the days of Babylonian dominance. That code dictated that if a mason constructed a building which collapsed and killed the owner, the mason would be summarily executed. Imagine the bloodbath if modern engineers and inventors were held accountable that way.

This idea was stressed and reinforced when I was taking engineering classes. We realized we had responsibilities akin to a doctor, except a doctor has a hard time killing hundreds of people at one time.

Now, I may be an old fart, but this was only 15 years ago, I can't imagine it has changed much (BS Aerospace, 1988).

So, Mr. Katz, I'm having trouble imagining the bloodbath, can you name a few? The double decker highways collapsing in Oakland or Japan? I'm sure a foolish company put in an earthquake resistant bid for those, and I'm sure they weren't the low bidder. Some government official decided those highways didn't need to be earthquake resistant, maybe we should execute them.

You might want to execute the builders too, if you use shitty materials, the best design in the world won't help.

Oh yeah, Salon has a review on a similar book, Collapse, when buildings fall
down.

Also, could we extend your analogy to journalists? Can we execute a journalist if a suicidal teen reads their work?

Of course, engineers and inventors aren't held accountable that way, but then, the only people that are held accountable with a penatly of death are poor, retarded minorities (unless you live in an enlightened country).

George