Why read Men, Machines, and Modern Times?

Book cover of Men, Machines, and Modern Times

Book description

An engaging look at how we have learned to live with innovation and new technologies through history.

People have had trouble adapting to new technology ever since (perhaps) the inventor of the wheel had to explain that a wheelbarrow could carry more than a person. This little book by a…

Explore

Topics

Genres

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Men, Machines, and Modern Times as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Joy Porter

Author

April this year, I found myself wandering around the MIT Museum shop in Boston, USA. I casually picked up this tiny, short book. Its theme, how can we organize a technological world we can live in, has stayed with me ever since. I was taking a break from a symposium at Harvard Law School about how to protect Indigenous intellectual property and intangible heritage in the coming AI revolution. Not being a lawyer, I felt like a fish out of water, but this book brought vital perspective.

Written by an MIT professor born in 1910, it explores how we’ve responded…

From Joy's 3 favorite reads in 2023.