Review by Choice Review
In this work, Francis (Univ. of Calgary) demonstrates the historical development of a "metaphysics of technology" by Anglo-Canadian thinkers from the mid-19th century to recent times. The writings of several dozen theologians, academics, and poets illustrate a struggle of a rising "technological imperative" with a "moral imperative" inherited from Canada's British origins. In the 19th century, the rapid spread of industrialization, transportation, and communications technologies bred optimism in men such as Thomas Keefer and Thomas Haliburton. This optimism was radically disrupted by the horrors of the Great War, particularly for men like William Lyon Mackenzie King ("Canada's Mary Shelley") and Frederick Philip Grove. The post-WW II explosion of electronic technology and the economic and cultural hegemony of the US generated expansive new perspectives such as those of the celebrated Marshall McLuhan. Capsule biographies illuminate the contexts, showing much international thinking refracted through Canada's particular history (including a major influence of academics at the Universities of Chicago and Toronto). A conclusion surveys recent developments in feminist and postmodern analyses, leading Francis to see a robust survival of the moral imperative, and hoping for a future synthesis of the themata. Summing Up: Recommended. Science studies collections serving upper-division undergraduates through researchers/faculty. P. D. Skiff Bard College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
