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David Rothenberg
Hand's End
Technology and the Limits of Nature
$23.95, £16.95 paperback
978-0-520-08055-3
Available Now
256 pages,
October 1995, Available worldwide
Categories: Natural History; Philosophy; History of Science
October 1995, Available worldwide
Categories: Natural History; Philosophy; History of Science
"Convincing and well-written, this book should be read by all of us."—Anna Otten, The Antioch Review
"Hand's End is remarkably rich in its vocabulary, its ideas and images, its sources. It requires and deserves careful reading. A special not should be made of the illustrations—drawings from a 1588 book by Agostino Ramelli, an engineer. These, with their explanatory notes, embody the abstractions most gracefully."—META
"Hand's End is remarkably rich in its vocabulary, its ideas and images, its sources. It requires and deserves careful reading. A special not should be made of the illustrations—drawings from a 1588 book by Agostino Ramelli, an engineer. These, with their explanatory notes, embody the abstractions most gracefully."—META
Hand's End provides a historical overview of Western philosophical thought about the interrelationship of technology and nature. . . . For all concerned about our planet and humankind's ability to find a sustainable future, Rothenberg extends his hand and mind in affirmation of a more beneficial technology."—Robert S. Blount III, Forest and Conservation Biology
"Technology, human nature, and nature, according to Rothenberg, are inextricable. . . . [and are] explained en route to a bold new theory that encompasses ancient waterworks and nuclear weapons."—Howard Rheingold, editor ofThe Millennium Whole Earth Catalog
"Using pungent historical examples, Hand's End argues that technology, properly used, can extend nature rather than destroy it."—Roger Shattuck, author of The Innocent Eye
"Technology, human nature, and nature, according to Rothenberg, are inextricable. . . . [and are] explained en route to a bold new theory that encompasses ancient waterworks and nuclear weapons."—Howard Rheingold, editor ofThe Millennium Whole Earth Catalog
"Using pungent historical examples, Hand's End argues that technology, properly used, can extend nature rather than destroy it."—Roger Shattuck, author of The Innocent Eye
Hand's End offers a new philosophy of technology as the fundamental way in which humans experience and define nature—the tool as humanity extended. Rothenberg examines human inventions from the water wheel to the nuclear bomb and discusses theories of technology in the thought of philosophers including Plato, Aristotle, Bacon, Marx, Heidegger, Spinoza, Mumford, and McLuhan.
Thing Knowledge: A Philosophy of Scientific Instruments, by Davis Baird