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From: kilian@pbsvax.DEC
Newsgroups: net.books
Subject: Re: Technology, Literature, Scientists, and Engineers
Message-ID: <2307@decwrl.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 23-May-85 13:57:18 EDT
Article-I.D.: decwrl.2307
Posted: Thu May 23 13:57:18 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 25-May-85 05:44:57 EDT
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In response to the message on what books to use for teaching the impact
of technology on society I would recommend looking not at so much science
fiction (which I believe trivializes the impact of technology by too often
taking it away from the realm of our every day life) but novels which deal
with it as it occurs now. Some choices I would think about are:

        Thomas Pynchon: Gravity's Rainbow
                        -- Is man in love with the missile that the hero
                           so desperately seeks. What exactly is the 
                           relationship of man to his technology, especially
                           in connection with a war.

                        The Crying of Lot 49
                        -- A shorter and more readable book by Pynchon.
                           An indictment of the culture which has created
                           giant shopping malls. It also explores technology
                           as almost a cult affair.

        Kurt Vonnegut:  Cats Cradle
                        -- Perhaps too many people have already read this
                           book. Another Vonnegut book to look at would
                           be Player Piano.

        James Fenimore Cooper: The Pioneers
                        -- Pioneers exploit the wilderness. It is the beginning
                           of the fading of our frontiers. It also shows
                           that man very rarely learns from mistakes.

There are many more. I think what these books emphasize is not so much the
effects of technology on society but the relationships, ideas and culture
which makes up the good and bad of technology in our society. 

                                                -- Mike Kilian