history of technology

Ozempic is the Latest Vain Pursuit of a Scientific Solution to Addiction

by Simon Torracinta

Now that the diabetes drug has been used off-label to suppress appetite, scientists are speculating about its use to suppress neurological aspects of addictive behavior. History suggests this is misguided. 

New Research Shows British Industrialization Drew Ironworking Methods from Colonized and Enslaved Jamaicans

A process for producing wrought iron from scrap had been credited to Henry Cort. But Cort likely adopted it from a Jamaican works operated by 76 Black metallurgists, including enslaved workers. 

AI the Latest Instance of our Capacity for Innovation Outstripping our Capacity for Ethics

by Walter G. Moss

The words of General Omar Bradley are as prescient as ever: "Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. If we continue to develop our technology without wisdom or prudence, our servant may prove to be our executioner."

Historian Chris Miller on the Amazing—and Dangerous—Semiconductor

From surveillance to geopolitics, there are dangers alongside the benefits that ubiquitous semiconductor chips bring to contemporary life. Ezra Klein interviews Miller on his podcast to dig in. 

The Dangerous Delusion of the Big Data Utopia

by Jill Lepore

Why has "data" supplanted metaphysical inquiry, empirical observation, and even standard statistical analysis as the go-to source for understanding the world? Is data science the latest episode in a history of technological utopianism? 

O'Mara: Politics and Commercial Pressure, not ChatGPT, are the Threats

Historian of technology and Silicon Valley Margaret O'Mara says that the peril of artificial intelligence chatbots and artificial intellience will lie in how it is marketed; the rush to be first to the market creates conditions for sloppy tech and abusive applications. 

Don't Like Where Society's Heading? Blame Palo Alto

by Scott W. Stern

Journalist Malcolm Harris attempts to excavate the history of how a worldview shaped by the tech industry—most notably its rampant individualism and subordination of the self to surveillance, metrics and monitoring—conquered the world, while also keeping the flames of unregulated capitalism and eugenics burning. 

As the Progressive Era Ideal of Regulation Vanishes, What Will Stop the March of AI?

by Walter G. Moss

If capital decides that artificial intelligence is sufficiently profitable to put in charge of driving our cars, writing our essays, or even teaching our history classes, what is left to stop it, even if the products are terrible or even dangerous? 

Oil and Spills Have Always Gone Hand in Hand

by Nolan Varee

Transporting a toxic substances quickly over long distances to market will inevitably produce spills. Though the technology of oil transport has changed, this essential fact remains unchanged, and will as long as regulation treats the risk as an acceptable part of the business.

We Know About Fire. What Does Ice Tell Us About Humanity's Past and Future?

by Fred Hogge

Harnessing cold – both natural and artificially-created—has been a key support for human flourishing, but also a factor in the consumption of resources that imperils the environment. 

Why Has American Progress Stalled? Blame Our Belief in "Eureka!"

Moments of creative innovation matter, but invention depends on a society that is prepared to take advantage and distribute the benefits. 

The Missouri Social Worker Who Founded the Global Internet Name Registry

by Ayden Férdeline

Marilyn Cade played a major role in establishing the global governance structure of the internet. 

Ben Tarnoff on Building an Internet for the People

While the media pays significant attention to the influence of social media platforms, the structure of the internet is dicated by the privatization of the physical architecture of the internet since the 1990s. 

Intimacy at a Distance: A New Book on Teletherapy Reviewed

by Danielle Carr

Hannah Zeavin's book traces the roots of the contemporary surge in mental health apps and pandemic-driven teletherapy, arguing that psychiatry has always relied on a fantasy of unmediated communion between two separate people that doesn't hold up to scrutiny.

Meet the New Middleman, Same as the Old Middleman

by Kathryn Judge

The internet's promise to cut out any number of middlemen from the consumer experience has been a failure. 

The Ideology of the Bicycle

The bicycle since its invention has found itself at the center of debates about who public space is for. 

Can the Nuclear Genie Be Put Back In the Bottle? Must It?

by David P. Barash and Ward Wilson

We won't eliminate nuclear weapons by expunging the science behind their creation but by comprehending their uselessness and letting them join the ranks of abandoned technologies.

How Wood Helped America Become Great – But Mislay its Sense of History

by Roland Ennos

Industrializing America's infrastructure was much more likely than Europe's to be made of wood. This accident of nature and geography helped drive rapid expansion, but today means much of the 19th century built environment of the United States has vanished. 

The Promise and Risks of Artificial Intelligence: A Brief History

by Rebecca Slayton

Machines have been taking over tasks that otherwise require human intelligence for decades, if not centuries.

How antitrust laws can save Silicon Valley — without breaking up the tech giants

by Margaret O'Mara

For AT&T in the 1950s, antitrust enforcement helped increase competition while keeping Ma Bell intact.