South Seas Myths and Legends (Myths and Legends Series)

Politics & Social Sciences

MacKenzie, Donald A.

Social Sciences

Random House UK Ltd.

Winner of the 1993 Ludwik Fleck Prize presented by the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S). Among books on the arms race, Donald MacKenzie's stands out for its welcome demystification of the "black box" of nuclear weapons technology. MacKenzie follows one line of technology - strategic ballistic missile guidance - through a succession of weapons systems to reveal the ordinary workings of a world that is neither awesome nor unstoppable. He uncovers the parameters, the pressures, and the politics that make up the complex social construction of an equally complex technology. MacKenzie argues that it is wrong to assume that missile accuracy (or any other technological artifact) is a natural or inevitable consequence of technological change. By fostering an understanding of how the idea of accuracy was constructed and by uncovering the comprehensible and often mundane processes that have given rise to a frightening nuclear arsenal, he shows that there can be useful and informed intervention in the social processes of weapons construction. He also shows in what sense it is possible, contrary to the common wisdom, to "uninvent" technologies. Examining the technological politics of the transition from bomber to ballistic missile, MacKenzie describes the processes that transformed both air force and navy ballistic missiles from moderately accurate countercity weapons to highly accurate counterforce ones. He concludes that neither the United States nor the Soviet Union has ever accepted the idea of deterrence as the public understands it. Inventing Accuracy is based on 140 interviews with guidance and navigation technologists, navy and air force military officers, and defense officials Robert McNamara, James Schlesinger, McGeorge Bundy, and John Foster. It brings to light the confluence of forces, both physical and social, that gave rise to a selfcontained system of missile navigation, and it discusses the major U.S. groups involved in the early development of inertial guidance and navigation. Donald MacKenzie has published a number of influential articles on statistics, eugenics, and missile technologies. He is Reader in Sociology at the University of Edinburgh.

Inventing Accuracy: An Historical Sociology of Nuclear Missile Guidance (Inside Technology)

History

Military

Mit Pr

Ranging from broad inquiries into the roles of economics and sociology in the explanation of technological change to an argument for the possibility of "uninventing" nuclear weapons, this selection of Donald MacKenzie's essays provides a solid introduction to the style and the substance of the sociology of technology.  The essays are tied together by their explorations of connections (primarily among technology, society, and knowledge) and by their general focus on modern "high" technology. They also share an emphasis on the complexity of technological formation and fixation and on the role of belief (especially self-validating belief) in technological change.  Two of the articles won major prizes on their original journal publication, and all but one date from 1991 or later. A substantial new introduction outlines the common themes underlying this body of work and places it in the context of recent debates in technology studies. Two conceptual essays are followed by seven empirical essays focusing on the laser gyroscopes that are central to modern aircraft navigation technology, supercomputers (with a particular emphasis on their use in the design of nuclear weapons), the application of mathematical proof in the design of computer systems, computer-related accidental deaths, and the nature of the knowledge that is needed to design a nuclear bomb.

Knowing Machines: Essays on Technical Change (Inside Technology)

Mechanizing Proof: Computing, Risk, and Trust (Inside Technology)

Winner of the 2003 Robert K. Merton Book Award presented by the Science, Knowledge, and Technology section of the American Sociological Association.  Most aspects of our private and social lives—our safety, the integrity of the financial system, the functioning of utilities and other services, and national security—now depend on computing. But how can we know that this computing is trustworthy? In Mechanizing Proof, Donald MacKenzie addresses this key issue by investigating the interrelations of computing, risk, and mathematical proof over the last half century from the perspectives of history and sociology. His discussion draws on the technical literature of computer science and artificial intelligence and on extensive interviews with participants.  MacKenzie argues that our culture now contains two ideals of proof: proof as traditionally conducted by human mathematicians, and formal, mechanized proof. He describes the systems constructed by those committed to the latter ideal and the many questions those systems raise about the nature of proof. He looks at the primary social influence on the development of automated proof—the need to predict the behavior of the computer systems upon which human life and security depend—and explores the involvement of powerful organizations such as the National Security Agency. He concludes that in mechanizing proof, and in pursuing dependable computer systems, we do not obviate the need for trust in our collective human judgment.

Computers & Technology

Computer Science

In An Engine, Not a Camera, Donald MacKenzie argues that the emergence of modern economic theories of finance affected financial markets in fundamental ways. These new, Nobel Prize-winning theories, based on elegant mathematical models of markets, were not simply external analyses but intrinsic parts of economic processes.
Paraphrasing Milton Friedman, MacKenzie says that economic models are an engine of inquiry rather than a camera to reproduce empirical facts. More than that, the emergence of an authoritative theory of financial markets altered those markets fundamentally. For example, in 1970, there was almost no trading in financial derivatives such as "futures." By June of 2004, derivatives contracts totaling $273 trillion were outstanding worldwide. MacKenzie suggests that this growth could never have happened without the development of theories that gave derivatives legitimacy and explained their complexities.
MacKenzie examines the role played by finance theory in the two most serious crises to hit the world's financial markets in recent years: the stock market crash of 1987 and the market turmoil that engulfed the hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management in 1998. He also looks at finance theory that is somewhat beyond the mainstream -- chaos theorist Benoit Mandelbrot's model of "wild" randomness. MacKenzie's pioneering work in the social studies of finance will interest anyone who wants to understand how America's financial markets have grown into their current form.

An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial Models Shape Markets (Inside Technology)

Business & Money

Economics

Ranging from broad inquiries into the roles of economics and sociology in the explanation of technological change to an argument for the possibility of "uninventing" nuclear weapons, this selection of Donald MacKenzie's essays provides a solid introduction to the style and the substance of the sociology of technology.
The essays are tied together by their explorations of connections (primarily among technology, society, and knowledge) and by their general focus on modern "high" technology. They also share an emphasis on the complexity of technological formation and fixation and on the role of belief (especially self-validating belief) in technological change.
Two of the articles won major prizes on their original journal publication, and all but one date from 1991 or later. A substantial new introduction outlines the common themes underlying this body of work and places it in the context of recent debates in technology studies. Two conceptual essays are followed by seven empirical essays focusing on the laser gyroscopes that are central to modern aircraft navigation technology, supercomputers (with a particular emphasis on their use in the design of nuclear weapons), the application of mathematical proof in the design of computer systems, computer-related accidental deaths, and the nature of the knowledge that is needed to design a nuclear bomb.

Retired Detective Inspector John Raven races against time to stop further bloodshed as he investigates a case involving high-stakes blackmail and political assassination

BY ANY ILLEGAL MEANS (Crime Club)

Literature & Fiction

United States

DOUBLEDAY

The Migration of Symbols and Their Relations to Beliefs and Customs

Religion & Spirituality

Ams Pr Inc

Expert discussions of such myths and mythological figures as the milk goddess and her pot symbol, the jewel-water and mugwort goddess, goddesses of love and food, Tlaloc and the dragon, love and mother deities, Quetzalcoatl, many more. Also, symbolism, burial customs, other topics. Over 70 illustrations. Map.

Myths of Pre-Columbian America

Americas

Dover Publications

Sixteen time-honored Scottish tales provide thrilling accounts of giants rumbling down mountainsides, of a magic wand that turns stone pillars into warriors, of Beira, the cruel old Queen of Winter, of Bride, the youthful goddess of spring and growth and more. Lively collection will captivate lovers of folklore and mythology.

Scottish Wonder Tales from Myth and Legend

Europe

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by MacKenzie, Donald A.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by MacKenzie, Donald A.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by MacKenzie, Donald A.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

South Seas Myths and Legends (Myths and Legends Series)

Inventing Accuracy: An Historical Sociology of Nuclear Missile Guidance (Inside Technology)

Knowing Machines: Essays on Technical Change (Inside Technology)

Mechanizing Proof: Computing, Risk, and Trust (Inside Technology)

An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial Models Shape Markets (Inside Technology)

Knowing Machines: Essays on Technical Change (Inside Technology)

BY ANY ILLEGAL MEANS (Crime Club)

The Migration of Symbols and Their Relations to Beliefs and Customs

Myths of Pre-Columbian America

Scottish Wonder Tales from Myth and Legend