TAMING THE TIGER: THE STRUGGLE TO CONTROL TECHNOLOGY, Witold Rybczynski

"Calm, clear-headed, heartening... it reminds us who's in charge here."
– Psychology Today

"Rybczynski's are the arguments that need to be heard amid the extremes of pros or anti-technological utopianism"
– Los Angeles Herald Examiner

Can Runaway Technology Be Harnessed?

To many, technology is untamed tiger – dangerous, powerful, uncontrollable. The shock of the new machine is not a recent phenomenon, and in this fascinating volume Witold Rybczynski examines how and why individuals – and entire nations – have throughout history resisted technological innovations. From the Luddites to the Lordstown General Motors workers, from Kampuchea to Madagascar, from Thoreau to Engels and Morris, valiant attempts have been made to "turn back the clock." Drawing upon these lessons of history, Rybczynski shows the issue is not really the control of machines but of ourselves. If we know where to look, Rybczynski maintains, we can push the right button and reassert control.