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Classic Works in the History of Technology

Certain works in the History of Technology are timeless, commanding the attention of scholars over the course of time. The list below is assembled from the "Classics Revisited" series in Technology and Culture, a regular feature that reassesses in contemporary terms the enduring works of prior decades. Where a book's title appears below in bold italic, the user can click to access extended excerpts of that work through Google Books. Where the name of the "Classics Revisited" article appears in bold, the user can click to access the article from T&C.

Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York, Knopf, 1974. Revisited in T&C by Jon C. Teaford, "Caro versus Moses, Round Two: Robert Caro’s The Power Broker," vol. 49 no. 2 (April 2008)

Alfred D. Chandler, The Visible Hand, Belknap Press, 1977. Revisited in T&C by Steven W. Usselman: “Still Visible: Alfred D. Chandler’s The Visible Hand,” vol. 47, no. 3 (July 2006)

Carl W. Condit, The Chicago School of Architecture: A History of Commercial and Public Building in the Chicago Area, 1875–1925, University of Chicago Press, 1964. Revisited in T&C by Sharon Irish, "Preservation, Polemics, and Power: Carl W. Condit’s The Chicago School of Architecture," vol. 49 no. 1 (January 2008)

Ruth Schwartz Cowan, More Work for Mother, Basic Books, 1983. Revisited in T&C by Joy Parr, vol. 46, no. 3 (July 2005)

A. Hunter Dupree, Science in the Federal Government: A History of Policies and Activities, Belknap Press, 1957. Revisited in T&C by John Cloud, "Discerning the Relation between American Science and American Democracy: A. Hunter Dupree’s Science in the Federal Government," vol. 48, no. 3 (July 2007)

Lucien Paul Victor Febvre, Annales d’histoire économique et sociale 7, Les techniques, l’histoire et la vie, November 1935. Revisited in T&C by Pamela O. Long, vol. 46, no. 1 (January 2005)

Sigfried Giedion, Space, Time and Architecture, Harvard University Press, 1967; Mechanization Takes Command, Norton, 1969. Revisited by in T&C by Arthur P. Molella, vol. 43, no. 2 (April 2002).

I. B. Holley, Ideas and Weapons, Yale University Press, 1953. Revisited in T&C by Timothy Moy, vol. 46, no. 4 (October 2005)

Louis C. Hunter, Steamboats on the Western Rivers, Harvard University Press, 1949. Revisited in T&C by John K. Brown, vol. 44, no. 4 (October 2003)

Harold Innis, Empire and Communications, University of Toronto, 1972. Revisited in T&C by Megan Mullen: "Space Bias/Time Bias: Harold Innis, Empire and Communications," vol. 50, no. 1 (January 2009)

Tracy Kidder, The Soul of a New Machine, Little Brown, 1981. Revisited in T&C by Suzanne M. Moon, vol. 45, no. 3 (July 2004)

David Landes, The Unbound Prometheus, Cambridge University Press, 1969. Revisited in T&C by Leonard Rosenband, vol. 46, no. 1 (January 2005)

Edwin T. Layton, Revolt of the Engineers, Press of Case Western Reserve University, 1971. Revisited in T&C by Ronald R. Kline, "From Progressivism to Engineering Studies: Edwin T. Layton’s Revolt of the Engineers," Vol. 49 No. 4 (October 2008)

Leo Marx, The Machine in the Garden, 2nd ed., Oxford University Press, 2000. Revisited in T&C by Jeffrey L. Meikle, vol. 44, no. 1 (January 2003)

Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media, McGraw-Hill, 1965. Revisited in T&C by Megan Mullen: “Coming to Terms with the Future He Foresaw: Marshall McLuhan’s Understanding Media,” vol. 47, no. 2 (April 2006)

Lewis Mumford, Technics and Civilization, Harcourt Brace, 1963. Revisited in T&C by Rosalind H. Williams, vol. 43, no. 1 (January 2002)

John U. Nef, The Conquest of the Material World, University of Chicago Press, 1964. Revisited in T&C by Leonard Rosenband, vol. 44, no. 2 (April 2003)

William F. Ogburn, Social Change with Respect to Culture and Original Nature, BW Huebsch, 1922. Revisited in T&C by Rudi Volti, vol. 45, no. 2 (April 2004)

George Rogers Taylor, The Transportation Revolution, 1815-1860, Rinehart, 1951. Revisited in T&C by Bruce Seely, "Economic History as Technological History: George Rogers Taylor’s The Transportation Revolution," vol. 48 no. 4 (October 2007)

A. P. Usher, A History of Mechanical Inventions, Beacon Press, 1954. Revisited in T&C by Arthur P. Molella, vol. 46, no. 4 (October 2005)

Walter Prescott Webb, The Great Plains, University of Nebraska Press, 1981. Revisited in T&C by George O'Har: “Where the Buffalo Roam: Walter Prescott Webb’s The Great Plains,” vol. 47, no. 1 (January 2006)

Lynn White Jr., Medieval Technology and Social Change, Oxford University Press, 1980. Revisited in T&C by Alex Roland, vol. 44, no. 3 (July 2003)

Donald Worster, Dust Bowl, 25th Anniversary edition, Oxford University Press, 2004. Revisited in T&C by Jeffrey K. Stine: “A Sense of Place: Donald Worster’s Dust Bowl,” vol. 48, no. 2 (April 2007)