Engineering the Revolution : Arms and Enlightenment in France, 1763-1815 - Ken Alder

Engineering the Revolution

Arms and Enlightenment in France, 1763-1815

By: Ken Alder

Paperback | 15 April 2010 | Edition Number 1

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Engineering the Revolution documents the forging of a new relationship between technology and politics in Revolutionary France, and the inauguration of a distinctively modern form of the âtechnological life.â  Here, Ken Alder rewrites the history of the eighteenth century as the total history of one particular artifactâ"the gunâ"by offering a novel and historical account of how material artifacts emerge as the outcome of political struggle. By expanding the âpoliticalâ to include conflict over material objects, this volume rethinks the nature of engineering rationality, the origins of mass production, the rise of meritocracy, and our interpretation of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution.

Industry Reviews
"A work of stunning originality.... An important contribution to a variety of fields." - Ted Porter. "A triumph. It deserves to be read widely, and not just as an inquiry into the origins of modern France." - Donald MacKenzie, "London Review of Books." "In the history of technology, one of the very best books is Ken Alder's Engineering the Revolution, about the ways in which new engineering practices both emerged from and shaped the ideals of the French Revolution." - Peter Galison, American Scientist. "Ken Alder's study of the relations between artifacts, technical life, and politics constitutes a model study in its genre." - Terry Shinn, "Social Studies of Science."

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