1 comments about Hawaii: A Pictorial Celebration.

1. We have this book on our coffee table and everyone always comments on how beautiful it is. The photos are amazing- bright and clear, and take you back to vacation days in Hawaii...aaaah. And I've learned a lot about Hawaii from the history and commentary alongside the photos- Hawaiian history is really fascinating.

1 comments about Southern Rocky Mountain Wildflowers: Including Rocky Mountain National Park.

1. This is a great guide-the color photos are sharp and clear, the writing is to-the-point and very descriptive and helpful. There is also a section that defines terminology, which is useful to those of us who don't already know everything there is to know about wildflowers but are simply interested in knowing what kind of flower we saw! This book makes identification of a flower easy and certain, instead of wondering which of two (or more) it might be, as I've often found with other guides.

2 comments about Marco Polo: A Photographer's Journey.

1. Good photos and details. Purchased as a gift for my wife and she is totally pleased



2. Very facinating. I've always been interested in Marco Polo, as has the author. He really leads you through the journey and makes you wonder at the courage Marco Polo had for his travels.

4 comments about Evidence of My Existence.

1. Evidence of my Existence is a remarkable surprise--Lo Scalzo's writing is clear, sharp and perceptive; his story funny, on point and spirited; his life a charming mix of low frustration, high adventure and goofy, self-induced f*ck ups. To disagree with another reviewer, Lo Scalzo doesn't demonstrate arrogance in his life or his book so much as he reveals things about himself, his work and his motivations that most authors would conceal--to their own benefit of course, and their readers' detriment.
   
   "Evidence" isn't just a photography book--it's a travel book, a book about restlessness and adventure, and most of all about the kind of coming of age that happens only to those who spend most of their life refusing to grow up.
   
   As a writer who worked with Lo Scalzo once or twice, you could expect me to be biased--and I am. I never thought the miserable little b*stard could write like this! That he can is frustrating beyond belief--I sure can't make photos like he can--but the results are good enough, entertaining enough and true enough that I'll forgive him the trespass, and recommend his book the best and truest way I know how: with jealousy. I'm pretty sure I'm relieved I didn't live Jim's life, but I sure wish I'd written his book.



2. As someone who has the advantage of knowing both Author and many of the other folks mentioned in his book, I have to say that he has done a real service to the world of photojournalism. We all know we live wacky lives in a wacky world, and spend much of our time trying to make relatively smooth interactions with family, friends and loved ones who are of the 'normal world.' It is never easy, as the attraction to the work is very nearly a primal force, and it often seems to take precedence in our lives in ways which actual normal people might find either weird, or like Mr. Ford says in his review, insensative. Yet those people who pursue the world of photography and journalism do it not strictly for the ego blast involved, though one's ego is at stake every time you press the shutter: there is a feeling which we all share about the documenting of history which remains the driving force. Mr. LoScalzo absolutely hits it on the head, in his descriptions of his own personal discovery of the power of that photographic image, as well as the inherent pitfalls which photojournalists face in trying maintain a sense of normalcy in their lives. (This is no less true for women photographers than for men, and perhaps even greater because of societal expectations.) Yet the pure enjoyment of the chase for the images, and the battles to get them used in print is wonderfully captured, as is his knack of sharing the sense of quirky individualism in the colleagues in his stories. As someone who for years felt many of the same emotions he wonderfully describes in his book, I salute him for sharing with the rest of the world a little bit of what our world is really like. Highly recommended, even if you don't know a single photographer!



3. Lo Scalzo starts by admitting his arrogance and then spends the rest of the book providing supporting evidence. Don't get me wrong; I liked the book. His recollections of spending time among Mennonites in Missouri and the Navajo in Arizona are amazing and instructive. He's got a bottomless well of fascinating stories about being an adventurous, wanderlusting photojournalist. But every book needs a central theme to hold it together. Here, it's how much he neglects his wife (who is at best a peripheral character). Case in point: after ruining a family vacation by lugging his work along, he goes on to leave his wife for Iraq the day after her second miscarriage. In the end, he repents and goes home to his wife. They have a child and everyone is happy. But here's the kicker: what drives him to repent and go home is not a sudden awareness of how much of a jerk he's been. It's the realization that while he may be a good photojournalist, he'll never be a legendary photojournalist. I'd probably feel a lot different about this book if the author could have just found it within himself to say, "I wish I hadn't treated my wife so poorly."



4. An amazing story of his true experiences, very interesting. There were laugh out loud moments, sad moments, moments of disbelief. A very well written story.

5 comments about Snow Crystals (Dover Photography Collections).

1. Snow Crystals by Bentley represents the exhilarating beauty and complexity of snowflakes in photographs taken with painstaking effort and enterprise. The book has a very useful introduction, though most of it is devoted to the diverse patterns exhibited by snowflakes. The quest to understand why snowflakes have their delightful shape and symmetry has intrigued the scientists, poets and philosophers for centuries. For example, in sixteenth century, Kepler's essay (On six-cornered snowflake) presents a very illuminating (and perhaps first scientific) account of his thought process on the physics of why snowflake is formed. He discussed several key ideas relevant to packing problems, and on their shapes, and the book by Bentley surely dazzles in being able to present a diverse range of possibilities realized by nature. Highly recommended to science enthusiasts, artists, photographers and atmospheric physicists.



2. In case you are trying to decide between "Snowflakes in Photographs" and "Snow Crystals", both by Bentley and published by Dover, this book is the better deal. Ironically, you get twice as many snowflake photos in "Snow Crystals" than in "Snowflakes in Photographs". Both beautiful books feature stunning black and white photographs of snowflakes but this book definitely has better 'text' support. I bought the two books at the same time thinking that this one focused more on Bentley and the other one focused more on the pictures, but it was a mistake. This is a case of "you get what you pay for" and the only reason to buy "Snowflakes in Photographs" over this one is that it is a bit cheaper. Buy "Snow Crystals", it is a blizzard of beauty with gorgeous photographs of snowflakes, nature's fragile crystalline miracles.



3. This book is a collection of some of W. A. Bentley's finest snowflake photographs. At the beginning of the book is a 20-page introduction to the photography and science of snowflakes (as of 1930). The photographic advice is more of value today as historical documentation about how the pictures were taken- -we no longer use photographic plates or develop and fix our own negatives. The scientific section consists mostly of descriptive and classificatory commentary, with relatively little in the way of explanation as to why the snowflakes take on the shapes that they do. Some of the commentary cites specific plates as examples. The real value of the book is in the plates themselves- -two hundred pages of high-quality black and white photographs, depicting over two thousand differently shaped snowflakes. A reader could spend many hours poring over the magical snowflakes. In looking through the plates, it becomes clear quite quickly that Bentley was a man of genius and dedication.



4. I love this book because it gives me a unique feeling of spiritual unity each time I open it. It may be that you will appreciate it for different reasons, but for me, it is a graphic reminder that there is a creative and benign intelligence moving the Universe. Originally published in 1931 this unique book contains 202 black and white plates of snow flakes mounted and photographed with painstaking effort under difficult circumstances by W.A. Bentley aka Snowflake Bentley. Maybe you won't want to sit down and look at each and every one because, of course, they are nearly all the same even though each one is unique, but that's another reason I like the book. It demonstrates so simply and eloquently the unity in diversity.
   The photographs are very beautiful and they will be interesting to anyone who is fascinated with weather or with graphics in art, perhaps for textile patterns or silk-screen ideas. The images are copyright free and you can use up to ten of them without fees, permission, or acknowledgement.
   There is a very small amount of text at the beginning of this book that tells about the different kinds of snow crystals and a little bit about how the work to capture them on film was done. There is one nice photograph of Bentley at his camera which is charming, but for the most part, this book is dedicated to the snow crystals themselves. Anyone who has stood outside on a cold, crisp snowy day and caught snow crsytals on an upturned mitten and marveled at their exquisite beauty will enjoy this book. The crystals speak volumes and we have Mr. Bentley to thank for cummunicating their message to us.



5. W.A. Bentley spent fifty years painstakingly recording snowflakes, frost, rime, sleet and ice in all its forms. Even before "Snow Crystals" was published in 1931, his work was well known, and so popular that eventually a donor provided the (apparently large) amount of money needed to assemble this beautiful collection.

   There is a small amount of text at the front of the book, which is moderately interesting. It contains a description of how to take these pictures for yourself, if you'd like to; and a classification of the kinds of snowflake and other ice forms depicted here. The bulk of the book, however, is made up of well over two thousand black and white photographs, the vast majority of them of single snowflakes. You can get an idea of what they look like by clicking on Amazon's image of the cover picture, above; in the book, the images are white on black. You may also want to visit snowflakebentley.com, which contains more examples, and more information about Bentley himself (there is almost none in this book). In most or all cases, Bentley went to the trouble of making a duplicate negative of each snowflake and then cutting out, by hand, the finely detailed image, so that the background to the picture would be pure black.

   The results are spectacular. The snowflakes are ethereally beautiful, and the variety is just stunning. However, in case it's not clear from what I've said so far, this is a contemplative book. It's not a book to read: it's a book to browse through, put away, and get out again another snowy day. Children will like it, but just to glance at, not to go through steadily.

   Recommended.

5 comments about Rocky Stories: Tales of Love, Hope, and Happiness at America's Most Famous Steps.

1. Each story in the book is inspiring. Excellent writing and wonderful photography. Very enjoyable reading.



2. Love this clever book. If you love the Rocky film and the inspirational "pull yourself up by the book strings" ideals of the films then you're not alone - and this book proves it. Being a Philly native and a fellow alumni of LaSalle University this book and the stories it shares have a special place within me. Highly recommend it.



3. my family and i had recently gone to philly for a family wedding. one of the main things that my elderly father wanted to see, before any of the more traditional things like the liberty bell, was the "rocky statue"! therefore, i bought this book for him for christmas to remind him of the day. of course i read some of it before gifting it, and found the stories to be very inspirational.. also, i was unable to find the book here in california, so was very thankful for the ease of ordering it through amazon.



4. I have always loved the Rocky Movies even though some people think they insult our intelligence. It is more than just a movie it is an inspiration and after reading this book it makes me proud to be a Philadelphian even though Philly gets a bad rap. I have ran up those steps many times and I think that Rocky has put Philly on the map in a good way. Something we need badly here. The photos are wonderful, so inspirational and the stories are so heartful. Read this book! You won't regret it.



5. You want to run up the Rocky steps, you know you do. In fact, if you've have ever had the chance, you probably already have. Nobody comes to Philadelphia without jogging to the top of the Art Museum steps, twirling around, and triumphantly pumping their fists in the air. If you've seen the movie, and ever been in Philly, you've climbed the steps. I'd bet a cheesesteak on it. If you haven't been fortunate enough to star in your own reenactment of this classic cinematic scene, this book is the next best thing. It's full of great stories and photographs of people fulfilling their dream of following in Rocky Balboa's footsteps, which, for each and every one of them, commemorates some unique goal, achievement, or special moment. It's a terrific book about humanity. Buy one for yourself and one for someone else - it's a great gift. Enjoy.

5 comments about Above London.

1. This may be suitable only for total London geeks like myself, who pore over maps and photos of the best city in the world. It is very satisfying to identify places one has visited, as seen from the air. It goes a little farther afield than I have personally wandered, of course, and reveals warts and all, but for the price this is a very nice addition to any London book collection.



2. 'Above London' by aerial photographer, Robert Cameron and perennial Brit commentator, Alistair Cooke is one of four Cameron photo books of cities I have seen, and I have been to each of these four cities, and I firmly believe that between London, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angles, this is by far the most delightful.
   
   Most of this is probably due to the fact that London is so much more photogenic than those Yank cities, but it is probably also due to the addition of Cooke's commentary.
   
   The star, by far, of this series is Cameron's superb skill with not only the camera, but in the selection of subject and angle of his shots. The clarity of detail is so great that you can literally count the panes of glass in the windows of the Greenwich Observatory from a distance of at least 1000 feet or more.
   
   The aerial point of view of course also adds much to the quality of the book. For example, the infamous memorial to Prince Albert, across from the Royal Albert Hall seems hokey from the ground, but is a marvel of geometric design seen from the air. There are also some things which simply cannot be fully appreciated except by air, such as an overview of the Belgravia district around Belgrave Square.
   
   One who has seen London first hand may get more from this book than those who have not been there, but at least it will be an incentive to go see the city for yourself.



3. I am such a huge fan of Robert Cameron, but eventhough I think this book is amazing it in not his best, the photographs just are not as vivid for some reason and though some are spectacular some are not, which is so unusual for a Cameron book. Having said that I still highly recommend this book, even an average Cameron is better than the best of anyone else, he is that good. Though the book is a bit dated it still is worth having in your collection I assure you, it still has photos of things I have never seen photoed elsewhere.



4. Robert Cameron and Alistair Cooke teamed up to produce a wonderful visual account of London in the late 20th century, a stunning piece that will serve as a guide for generations of what London was like during this period. I know archaeologists who would sell their souls for such a record of previous historical periods. But, the historic value of such a record is probably not the reason to have it.

   Cameron had produced similar books over San Francisco, Los Angeles, Hawaii, Washington D.C., and Yosemite (perhaps more by now). Alistair Cooke (yes, the Masterpiece Theatre host) convinced him to

   '...collaborate on a more challenging project: a new view of a capital city that has neither picturesque mountains nor the dependable climate of Cameron's previous subjects, but one that offers as much variety and as many visible relics of centuries of history as any city on earth.'

   The first plates show maps from the Middle Ages, and the same aerial view today, side by side: one can see some of the same streets and patterns, a bridge in the same location, but also (naturally) great differences. The pattern of Chelsea remains as a framework from the days of the Duke of Beaufort in some ways (including Cheyne Walk), and very different in others. A French drawing of St. James' Park looks very familiar, with the difference being the absence of Admiralty Arch which helped transform the Mall into one of the great processional routes.

   Included is a drawing from the Victorian era that shows the then-new Palace of Westminster; four Frechmen proved the ability to use ballooning to scale new heights (alas, only one survived the ascent to 28,000 feet); in 1886 Wyllie and Brewer went up west of Westminster Abbey to make a drawing, including the smog in which London 'luxuriated' -- as a sign of the energy and prosperity of the world's first port and the capital of Empire.

   Juxtaposing an aerial view of St. Paul's surrounded by bomb damage with the current view, the resilience of London can be seen. London has suffered destruction various times, and always bounced back.

   After the historical tour, the book takes a tour of London by the river Thames, then branches out into the Central City, the South and West, the North and West, and then follows the river out of the city into Windsor and countryside environments.

   One fun section include a collection of aerial views of festivals and 'fun' spots: the Oval, Wembley, Lords cricket ground, the Henley Regatta, Ascot, and, of course, Wimbeldon.

   Each series of photographs is accompanied by Cooke's particularly witty and sometimes elegantly-scathing commentary (one can tell when he thinks that progress was not for the better), such as his commentary on the Wimbledon photographs:

   'There was a time when the All-England Lawn Tennis Club's Wimbledon courts were surrounded by open meadows and a small enclosure for the nobs who owned automobiles. Today the area of car parks is greater than that of 'the action', and during the fortnight of the championship the cars desecrate the golf course in the adjoining Wimbledon Park.'

   A fun and interesting book, one that is deserving of closer inspection. If you've ever been to London, this book will bring back memories and give a perspective that one rarely gets of the city. If you've never been to London, this will inspire you to plan your trip!




5. Anyone who's ever spent time in London (or any historic and picturesque region) will see the city in a different way with this book of aerial views. Other reviewers have commented on the need for an update (particularly since the Millenium building boom), but essentially, the sweep of London history remains as it was: the Tower of London, the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Whitehall, Hyde Park, Hampstead, the Thames, etc. And there's the undeniable thrill of saying "I was there," since virtually every area is covered. This book also adds a dimension to travel that we don't often consider: how buildings and streets really are situated in the places we visit, and our relation to them. After traveling on foot over most of central London, I never realized how much I covered until I bought this book.

3 comments about Portland Then and Now (Then & Now).

1. This book provides some great pictures of historic Portland and compares them with current Portland images. While it's not the most expansive piece regarding Portland landmarks, it captures important aspects of Portland's history.



2. What an interesting idea it was to take current pictures from the same angle as old photos of Portland. The book is well done and anyone who has lived in Portland and enjoys history will love this book



3. This book is excellent! It has a lot of great pictures of our city and the "now" photos tried to keep the same angles and perspectives. I love this book!

1 comments about Print Magic!: Creating Crafts Using Digital Photos and Art.

1. The details on doing the projects are good and most measurements are stated in imperial and metric which is useful. Both the computer steps and hands on steps are understandable. I really like the humor with the teddy bear shirt and the Andy Warhol style shirt is going to be given alot this Christmas.

5 comments about Technics & Civilization.

1. Mumford reaches back over a thousand years in search of an explanation of how Western Civilization developed culturally and materially. He refutes the contention that mechanical progress began in Britain during the Industrial Revolution and argues that man had used machine instruments for at least the previous seven centuries.
   
   In Europe machines became a part of the whole fabric of cultural life. Mumford distinguishes the machine, a mechanism to modify the environment for human benefit, and " `The machine,' ...a shorthand reference to the entire technological complex."(12) Furthermore a tool and machine are distinguished by the skill and dexterity of the operator and, whereas "utensils, apparatus, and utilities" refer to chemical transformations (brewing, for example), machines "transform the environment by changing the shape and location of objects."(11)
   
   Mumford identifies three overlapping and interdependent periods where machines and society interacted to define modern industrial culture. The eotechnic phase began in about the tenth century and was characterized by water and wood; the Paleotechnic phase emerged in the eighteenth century and was characterized by coal and iron; and third, or present Neotechnic phase, is characterized by electricity and alloys. Leading up to each of these periods, society experienced a period of cultural preparation and adaptation.
   
   Following the fall of the Roman Empire, the monastery was a refuge of order. Within the sanctity of its walls, the clock regulated routine and discipline. Thus, according to Mumford, "the clock, not the steam engine, is the key machine of the modern industrial age."(14) Time and the adaptation of space in the middle ages changed people's perspectives toward mechanical improvement which was further stimulated by the potential of profits from emerging capitalism. Eotechnic life refined the senses after the religious asceticism of the preceding era.
   
   Mechanization between the tenth and seventeenth centuries is illuminating. Mumford illustrates this in the context of a civilization emerging within a mountain-and-river valley section. At the tops of mountain, outcroppings of ore led to quarrying and mining. The pick and the hammer were the earliest tools, augmented by machines in later stages. The forest stretching from the mountain top to the valley floor harbored "the hunter who stalks his game: his is possibly the oldest deliberate technical operation of mankind for in their origin the weapon [missile/hammerhead, knife, ax] and the tool are interchangeable."(61) Heading down the valley the river stream served as a transportation route leading to the development of hollowed out wooden canoes. Upstream, pastures fostered spinning and weaving by herders. Downstream, the domain of the peasants, farmers cultivated the lowlands. Here man's tools remained mostly unchanged, but his "utensils and utilities are many: the irrigation ditch, the cellar...[etc.]."(63) Finally, when the stream empties into the ocean, fisherman learned to weave nets and baskets and, with boats, trade and communication become possible.
   
   Mining led to capitalism by requiring investment capital to fund expensive operations and spread the risk. In addition, to buy capital goods, a sound currency was necessary. Wood was the most important component of early technology. It propped up the mines, was used to make machines, and was a source of fuel. The woodman was a technical innovator; "the lathe...his decisive contribution to the development of machines."(80)
   
   Warfare organized human effort and utilized machines in a cohesive manner. Firearms added to technics by the unprecedented need for iron, the development of a power cylinder (the barrel) and piston (the projectile), and the development of heavy fortifications. The ability to make standardized weapons, steel, and uniforms for the military encouraged a consumer market for civilians.
   
   In the paleotechnic phase the Industrial Revolution transformed the way men thought, the manner of production, and the way of life. These ideas are so profound that historians saw them as new, but Mumford shows how they were rooted in the past. What is most striking is that they occurred in England where the eotechnic phase had had the least impact and England, therefore, was susceptible to change. Whereas technical development in the earlier phase was not a complete breach with the past, "paleotechnical industry, on the other hand, arose out of the breakdown of European society and carried the process of disruption to the finish."(153) The machine thrust society into an era of "barbarism." This had as its basis the shift to coal as the new energy source, and iron as the medium of construction which gave us the steam engine. The cost of steam power was expensive and this encouraged concentration and monopoly, in contrast to water and wind power, which were free. Military demands for steel influenced the Darby process for cast iron and made it more affordable. Mumford says the paleotechnical period was characterized by warfare, environmental pollution, the degradation of the worker as a machine tender, diseases, and from a rising population. The net result was a lowered quality of life. Mumford sees the paleotechnic phase as a period of transition.(211)
   
   To Mumford, the neotechnic phase is more like the eotechnic phase, except in degree. Fifteenth century ideas have become reality, but class and national struggles persist. Since the neotechnic phase is ongoing, its full implication cannot be measured. It began with the Fourneyron's water-turbine which increased water power output nine fold, but electrical power characterizes the period. Electricity can be transported efficiently and used in many ways. In the Neotechnic phase, the use of the scientific method is widened to include the humanities. This awareness promots social order and clarity.
   
   "In the neotechnic phase, the main initiative comes, not from the ingenious inventor, but from the scientist who establishes the general law: the invention is the derivative product."(217) Improvements in the internal combustion engine provide a new source of power which changes the social order. Rapid transportation is possible by the automobile and the airplane. Communication is further enhanced by the telegraph and the telephone. But, "whereas the growth and multiplication of machines was a definite characteristic of the paleotechnic period, [Mumford says] one may already say pretty confidently that the refinement, the diminution, and the partial elimination of the machine is characteristic of the emerging neotechnic economy."(258)



2. Lewis Mumford's, Technics and Civilization, may be one of the most important and influential works concerning technological progress in Western Civilization and its cultural and environmental effects. The study covers a wide area of historical past stretching from the Roman Empire all the way to the present (1934). The importance of Mumford's study lies in the fact that it is not just another technophilic antiquarian study of technological improvement but rather it is an intelligent and highly critical look at the cultural development that gave rise to the machine and, from there, a critical study of how the "progress" of the machine affected the culture it was developing within. Mumford shows how the progression of the machine has affected nearly every aspect of human society including but not limited to sexuality, economy, ecology, warfare, occurrence of disease, and medicine.
   
   The terminology surrounding matters of technology is not firmly defined and usually becomes a question of post-structural analysis when the meanings of these words are debated by academics in various fields of study. One of the main areas of confusion has been over the meaning of the word "tool" and the meaning of the word "machine." To quell confusion over the meaning of his own study, Mumford has given each word his own definition. According to Mumford: "[t]he tool lends it self to manipulation" while "[t]he machine lends it self to automatic action" (p.10). These definitions are important for understanding the meaning behind Mumford's study.
   
   Mumford traces the cultural origins of the first machine, the mechanical clock, to the influences of monasticism and the Catholic teachings. The Church teachings of the early millennium stressed an extreme denial of the body which was viewed as sinful and polluted with the profanities of the earthly realm. Mumford believed that this denial of the body led to the growth of hatred for the organic which in turn fostered a cultural admiration for the machine as something that was disassociated from a polluted organic nature. Thus, as the first true machine, the mechanical clock fostered one of the original disassociations - the disassociation of time from the rhythms of nature. Although the Church teachings were based on the subjective belief in a utopian afterlife, the extreme denial of organic and natural earthly pleasures advocated by the early church caused an objective view of the organic to develop. By the 16th century the new protestant religion and the growth of objectivism coincided with what Mumford labeled the "disassociation of the animate and the mechanical" (p.31). This disassociation opened the floodgates for the objective sciences which were developing a common cultural understanding of the organic as merely a conglomeration of dead material to be studied and manipulated. The growth of objectivism coupled with the new protestant teachings, specifically the abandonment of the prohibition of usury, enabled the development of the early stages of capitalist economics by allowing God's work to be viewed as the accumulation of personal wealth. Not surprisingly, it was to the machine that these possessed western men turned to increase the production of wealth.
   
   At this point in time, western civilization was in the first of three periods of technological development. Mumford labels these three stages based upon their method of energy production and organic material usage: the Eotechnic phase (based on water energy and wood), the Paleotechnic phase (based on coal energy and iron), and the Neotechnic phase (based on electricity and the alloys). Mumford explains that these stages overlap in many cases and should not be viewed as clean categories. Nevertheless, they do provide a useful framework for understanding the progression of the machine. The origins of capitalism occurred during the Eotechnic phase. Mumford finds the mine to be the central stimulant of Eotechnic technological progress. New mining technologies were created to extract increasing amounts of organic material to be converted into ever-increasing wealth for the emerging capitalist class. For Mumford, the Eotechnic phase cemented the alliance between capitalism and technology.
   
   Soon, deforestation for fuel to be used in iron manufacture became a major cause for the progression into the Paleotechnic phase and the usage of coal as a primary energy source. Mumford labeled this Paleotechnic phase "The New Barbarism" (p.153). Although it decreased the levels of deforestation, the burning of coal ushered in profound environmental damage to the air and water. Through the use of coal and the development of steam power, production of iron and other goods increased exponentially at the expense of the emergent proletariat class. Mumford argued that this period gave birth to the "unsustainable society" (p.157) where military interests and warfare grew together with increased production and the need for continuous, escalating consumption, all of which were only possible due to the technological progress of the Paleotechnic period. As an example of this alliance, Mumford explains how the American Steel Manufacturing group deliberately destroyed the possibility of an arms reduction agreement, at the international arms conference of 1927, in order to maintain their profit share in the arms trade. (p.165).
   
   The Neotechnic phase was ushered in with the spread of electricity as a power source at the beginning of the 19th century. The creation of electric power dramatically cleaned the air and water and the increased production enabled by the efficiency of electric power enabled another boom in the production of consumer items. However, the new phase also increased the power of those in control of technology, and Mumford shows how Neotechnic inventions such as the radio, photography, and the telephone were used by those in power to manipulate and manufacture consent in populations. Nevertheless, in the Neotechnic period, Mumford saw what he believed to be a possibility for the creation of a humane and compassionate society as well as a return to the organic.
   
   Mumford saw the Paleotechnic phase as one that enabled and rewarded the anti-social characteristics of human nature, thus it inevitably created a society of inequality, increasing pollution, anomie, and warfare. Although Mumford was very aware of the destructive and anti-social record of technological progress, he refused to argue for the abandonment of the machine. Mumford stated that "lacking a cooperative social intelligence and good-will, our most refined technics promises no more for societies improvement..."(p.215). In this he is placing all the blame for the anti-social and ecologically genocidal effects of the machine on the economic organization of society. The problem with this analysis is that it is not teleologically secure. Written during the early years of the rise of Communism in the former Russian Kingdom, Mumford held out hope that, through Communism, the power of the machine could be harnessed to provide for the general welfare of society and that his hope in the future of technics would be born out. However, history has shown that technology in service of Communism, while it may help to normalize consumption, still produces many of the same destructive effects that it produced under capitalism - specifically militarism and environmental destruction. The hard reality is that Capitalism was not the cause of technological anti-socialism. Capitalism is a function of the same anti-social impulse that gave rise to technology - the will towards domination. Given the history of mechanical progress, it becomes essential to view technology as inherently anti-social. Rather than looking towards alternative methods of using machines of power to fix our world, as Mumford did, we should be thinking of and developing methods with which we can create a future world where machines and domination are not only unnecessairy but are also non-existant.



3. This book is a historical interpretation of the effect of technology on society. Mumford traces the Industrial Revolution to its earliest roots, which he argues, go back to the invention of reliable timepieces in the Eleventh Century (whose invention was motivated, according to Mumford, by the need for recognizing prayer times in Catholic monasteries). Mumford also stresses the effects mining, the military, and the production of arms had on each other and on the development of technology, from earliest recorded history through modern times. Another recurrent theme is power, and how discoveries of new ways to harness power led to economic development. The final part of the book discusses the invention and assimilation of "the machine," as a generic concept for an advanced technology item. The book is illustrated with several sections of black-and-white photographs and reproductions of artwork. End material includes a chronology of inventions, a lengthy annotated bibliography, and an index.
   
   In a discussion of the motivation behind invention, Mumford notes that "a good part of the mechanical elements in the day are attempts to counteract the effects of lengthening time and space distance. The refrigeration of eggs, for example, is an effort to space their distribution more uniformly than the hen herself is capable of doing...The accompanying pieces of mechanical apparatus do nothing to improve the product itself: refrigeration merely halts the process of decomposition." Is this progress? Although he originally wrote this book back in the 1930s, well before our present energy crises, Mumford was adamant that renewable energy sources must supply the power of the future. He is an advocate for wind and water energy, and he dreams of a day when the power of the sun can be used to generate electricity. Mumford is also disturbed by rampant consumerism. He quotes a Hoover Committee report on a survey of Recent Economics that states "The survey has proved conclusively, what has long been held theoretically to be true, that wants are almost insatiable; that one want makes way for another. The conclusion is that economically we have a boundless field before us; that there are new wants which will make way endlessly for newer wants, as fast as they are satisfied." Interesting points such as these, which sound remarkably fresh today, can be found scattered amongst the text. Unfortunately, however, such gems are overshadowed by the sheer volume of text. This book would benefit greatly from an abridgment that would bring out the best, most important ideas by eliminating the wordy asides and statements of personal opinion.



4. Mumford has got to be one of the most over-looked (by main-stream) social critics of our time. He covers and unravels our confusing society so well, even though this book was written some time ago. Mumford's points ring quite true even in the 21st century.

   Lengthy read but, for those who are serious about making sense of "why" things are they way they are here in the "civilized" world, Mumford is worth it.




5. From the beginning of time, technology has affected our lives. Learn how every invention (from the greatest milestone of them all: the clock) through history influences society and the way we live and think.

   Excellent source for everyone wanting to reflect deeply on technology.