Shock Of The Old: Technology and Global History since 1900: Technology in Global History Since 1900 [Hardcover]

"So the new is old, and the old is new! Edgerton is a splendid corrective to all victims of technodazzle and neophilia. Marvellous stuff, and absolutely spot-on." Simon Jenkins"

'he eviscerates our obsession with novelty'

'bash it over the heads of every techno-nerd, computer geek and
neophiliac futurologist'

'So the new is old, and the old is new! Marvellous stuff, and
absolutely spot-on'

Whereas standard histories of technology give tired old accounts of the usual inventions - planes, bombs - The Shock of the Old is based on a different idea. Its thrust is that for the full picture of the history of technology we need to know not about what a few people invented, but about what everyday people used - and when they actually used things, if it was a long time after invention. It therefore reassesses the significance of, for example, the Pill and IT, and shows the continued importance of technology such as corrugated iron and sewing machines. In taking this approach, The Shock of the Old challenges the idea that we live in an era of ever increasing change. Interweaving political, economic and cultural history, it will show what it means to think critically about technology and its importance.

Born in Montevideo in 1959, David Edgerton is one of Britain's leading historians, and has challenged conventional analyses of technology for 20 years. Currently the Hans Rausing Professor at Imperial College London, he writes for the broadsheet press and is a regular on television and radio. He lives in London.