Thinking Through Technology: The Path Between Engineering and Philosophy
. Carl Mitcham. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994.
An accessible entry into the history of technology, sometimes used as a textbook.
Life's Solution: Inevitable Humans in a Lonely Universe
. Simon Conway Morris. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Two big ideas swim in this rambling book: evolution is convergent, and life forms are inevitable. Written by the biologist who deciphered the Burgess Shale fossils, the same evidence on which Gould based his
Wonderful Life
book, but with a 180-degree different conclusion from Gould.
The Deep Structure of Biology: Is Convergence Sufficiently Ubiquitous to Give a Directional Signal?
Simon Conway Morris, ed. West Conshohocken, PA: Templeton Foundation Press, 2008.
An anthology from many disciplines on convergent evolution.
Cosmic Evolution
. Eric J. Chaisson. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2002.
A little-known exploration of the idea that evolution procedes on a continuum that began before life, written by a physicist.
Biocosm : The New Scientific Theory of Evolution: Intelligent Life Is the Architect of the Universe
. James Gardner. Makawao Maui, HI: Inner Ocean, 2003.
At the center of this book is a very radical idea (that the cosmos is a living organism) that may be too far out for most people, but surrounding this core is a book filled with tons of evidence for the continuum between the inert universe, life, and the technosphere.
Biocosm
is the only other book I know about that covers the same cosmic trends I try to capture.
Cosmic Jackpot: Why Our Universe Is Just Right for Life
. Paul Davies. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2007.
Davies uses his professional knowledge of physics to tie the processes of life, mind, and entropy together. He is the most original reporter today who is digging into the tough big philosophical questions, yet who is still grounded in experimental scientific results. He is my guide into the large-scale structure of existence.
Cosmic Jackpot
is his latest and best summary.
Finite and Infinite Games
. James Carse. New York: Free Press, 1986.
This tiny book holds a universe of wisdom. Written by a theologian, you probably need to read only the first and last chapters, but that is enough. It altered my thinking about life, the universe, and everything.
The Riddle of Amish Culture
. Donald B. Kraybill. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.
Kraybill conveys the paradoxes of the Amish with both objective insight and warm sympathy. He's the expert on their use of technology. He was also my guide on one visit to the Amish.
Better Off: Flipping the Switch on Technology
. Eric Brende. New York: HarperCollins, 2004.
This is a refreshing, fast read about the two years Brende lived off the grid near an Amish community. His book is the best way to get the feelâthe warmth, the smell, the atmosphereâof the minimal lifestyle. Because Brende comes from a technological background, he anticipates your questions.
Laws of Fear: Beyond the Precautionary Principle
. Cass Sunstein. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Case studies on the faults of the Precautionary Principle and a suggested framework for an alternative approach.
Whole Earth Discipline
. Stewart Brand. New York: Viking, 2009.
Many of my themes about progress and urbanization and constant vigilance were first developed by Brand. This book also celebrates the transformative nature of tools and technology.
Limited Wants, Unlimited Means: A Reader on Hunter-Gatherer Economics and the Environment
. John M. Gowdy, ed. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1998.
Plenty of scholarly papers on the surprising research of anthropologists who found that hunter-gathering lifestyles were not as undesirable as moderns think. It is impossible to read this anthology without changing your mind several times.
The Foraging Spectrum: Diversity in Hunter-Gatherer Lifeways
. Robert L. Kelly, ed. Washington, D.C.: Simthsonian Institution Press, 1995.
Solid, cross-cultural data on how hunter-gatherers actually spend their time, calories, and attention. The best scientific studies on the economics and sociality of preagricultural life.
Neanderthals, Bandits, and Farmers: How Agriculture Really Began
. Colin Tudge. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999.
A courageously tiny book that manages to sum up the reasons for the birth of agriculture into 52 small pages. It packs in about five volumes of insight a whole library of research and then distills the essence into one beautiful essay. I wish I could write a tiny brilliant book like this.
After Eden: The Evolution of Human Domination
. Kirkpatrick Sale. Durham: Duke University Press, 2006.
An expose of early Sapiens' quick path to environmental domination and disruption, long before agriculture or industry.
The Ascent of Man
. Jacob Bronowski. Boston: Little, Brown, 1974.
Based on the 1972 BBC-TV series of the same name, this book inspired the sweep and scope of my own and provided some key concepts. Part geek, part poet, part mystic, part scientist, Bronowski was way ahead of his time.
Source Notes
Sources for illustrations and charts are included below.
1. My Question
7 the term
technology
essentially disappeared:
Carl Mitcham. (1994)
Thinking Through Technology: The Path Between Engineering and Philosophy.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 128-129.
7 glass, cement, sewers, and water mills:
Henry Hodges. (1992)
Technology in the Ancient World.
New York: Barnes & Noble Publishing.
7 “and not just for technical reasons”:
Carl Mitcham. (1994)
Thinking Through Technology: The Path Between Engineering and Philosophy.
Chicago; University of Chicago Press, p. 123.
8 that forgotten Greek word:
Johann Beckmann. (1802)
Anleitung zur Technologie
[
Guide to Technology
]. Gottingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht.
12 the society and culture of tools:
David Nye. (2006)
Technology Matters: Questions to Live With.
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 12, 28.
14 eyes (phone and webcams) plugged in:
Ibid.
14 from the system at large:
Reginald D. Smith. (2008, revised April 20, 2009) “The Dynamics of Internet Traffic: Self-Similarity, Self-Organization, and Complex Phenomena,”
arXiv:0807.3374.
http://arxiv.org/abs/0807.3374
.
14 fractal pattern of self-organization:
Ibid.
2. Inventing Ourselves
21 predigesting, with fire:
Richard Wrangham and NancyLou Conklin-Brittain. (2003) “Cooking as a Biological Trait.”
Comparative Biochemistry and PhysiologyâPart A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology,
136 (1).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1095-6433
(03)00020-5.
22 red deer skeleton:
Kirkpatrick Sale. (2006)
After Eden: The Evolution of Human Domination.
Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
22 Some say 200,000:
Ian McDougall, Francis H. Brown, et al. (2005) “Stratigraphic Placement and Age of Modern Humans from Kibish, Ethiopia.”
Nature
, 433 (7027).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature03258
.
22 they were outwardly indistinguishable from us:
Paul Mellars. (2006) “Why Did Modern Human Populations Disperse from Africa Ca. 60,000 Years Ago? A New Model.”
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
103 (25).
http://www.pnas.org/content/103/25/9381.full.pdf+html
.
23 “something was missing”:
Jared M. Diamond. (2006)
The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal
. New York: HarperPerennial, p. 44.
23 Prehistory Explosion of Human Population:
Data from Quentin D. Atkinson, Russell D. Gray et al. (2008) “Mtdna Variation Predicts Population Size in Humans and Reveals a Major Southern Asian Chapter in Human Prehistory.”
Molecular Biology and Evolution
, 25 (2), p. 472.
http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/25/2/468
.
24 they reached the edges of Asia:
Kirkpatrick Sale. (2006)
After Eden: The Evolution of Human Domination
. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, p. 34.
24 to fill the whole of the New World:
Jared M. Diamond. (1997)
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies.
New York: W. W. Norton, pp. 50-51.
24 “the world's most rugged terrain”:
Ibid., p. 51.
24 tailored hides in graves:
Kirkpatrick Sale. (2006)
After Eden: The Evolution of Human Domination
. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, p. 68.
24 woven net and loose fabrics on them:
Ibid., p. 77.
25 individuals at one time:
Juan Luis de Arsuaga, Andy Klatt, et al. (2002)
The Neanderthal's Necklace: In Search of the First Thinkers.
New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, p. 227.
26 “rapidly produced, articulate speech”:
Richard G. Klein. (2002) “Behavioral and Biological Origins of Modern Humans.” California Academy of Sciences/ BioForum, Access Excellence.
http://www.accessexcellence.org/BF/bf02/klein/bf02e3.php
. Transcript of a lecture, “The Origin of Modern Humans,” delivered December 5, 2002.
26 “far beyond all other Earthly species”:
Daniel C. Dennett. (1996)
Kinds of Minds.
New York: Basic Books, p. 147.
27 rapid sequences of notions:
William Calvin. (1996)
The Cerebral Code: Thinking a Thought in the Mosaics of the Mind.
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
27 the Neanderthal diet was mostly meat:
Kirkpatrick Sale. (2006)
After Eden: The Evolution of Human Domination
. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, p. 51.
28 Hemple Bay tribe, 2,160:
Marshall David Sahlins. (1972)
Stone Age Economics.
Hawthorne, NY: Aldine de Gruyter, p. 18.
28 days spent sleeping were not uncommon:
Ibid., p. 23.
28 “without showing great fatigue”:
Ibid., p. 28.
29 was only half that of gathering:
Mark Nathan Cohen. (1989)
Health and the Rise of Civilization.
New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
29 “the cost of his own esteem”:
Marshall David Sahlins. (1972)
Stone Age Economics
. Hawthorne, NY: Aldine de Gruyter, p. 30.
30 the goodness of the forest:
Nurit Bird-David. (1992) “Beyond âThe Original Affluent Society': A Culturalist Reformulation.”
Current Anthropology,
33(1), p. 31.