|9780822949244|Predictions of Technology and Nature in America’s Future, 1930–1980|In the mid-twentieth century, popular predictions offered bold visions of what life would be like in the future. In the 1930s and 1940s, scientists and engineers predicted an imminent synthetic age unlimited by the bounds of organic materials and natural resources. After World War II, public intellectuals warned of a much darker future brought about by technological hubris. In the decades that followed, an environmental consciousness inspired visions of a future based on sustainable production and consumption. In Unfinished Worlds, environmental historian Richard Judd uses “predictive literature”—books and popular articles about the…

|9780822968412|Predictions of Technology and Nature in America’s Future, 1930–1980|In the mid-twentieth century, popular predictions offered bold visions of what life would be like in the future. In the 1930s and 1940s, scientists and engineers predicted an imminent synthetic age unlimited by the bounds of organic materials and natural resources. After World War II, public intellectuals warned of a much darker future brought about by technological hubris. In the decades that followed, an environmental consciousness inspired visions of a future based on sustainable production and consumption. In Unfinished Worlds, environmental historian Richard Judd uses “predictive literature”—books and popular articles about the…

|9780822968559|Law, Technology, and Child Labor| At the end of the nineteenth century, Pittsburgh led the nation in glass production. Glass bottle plants relied heavily on adolescent boys for their manufacturing process. These “glass house boys” worked both day and night, as plants ran around the clock to meet production demands and remain competitive with their newly automated rivals. The boys performed menial tasks, received low wages, and had little to say on their own behalf. By the turn of the century, most states had greatly reduced the use of children in industry, but Pennsylvania lawmakers lagged behind. In The Glass…

|9780822968474|A History of Energy Transitions in Europe and North America|Over the past 250 years, energy transitions have occurred repeatedly—the rise of coal in the nineteenth century, the explosion of oil in the twentieth century, the nuclear utopianism of the 1950s and 1960s. These transitions have been as revolutionary as any political or economic upheaval, and they required changes in infrastructure and behavior. Yet new energies never wholly replace old ones. This volume historicizes energy production and consumption while demonstrating how energy use has reshaped everything from social life and economic organization to political governance. It foregrounds the importance of energy…

|9780822968337|A Historical Approach to Understanding Einstein’s Theory|Albert Einstein transformed our understanding of the universe—but he didn’t do it alone. The Road to Relativity traces the full arc of the relativity revolution, from the overlooked protorelativity period (1880–1905) through Einstein’s 1905 breakthrough and the long road to acceptance into the 1930s. Dan Siegel explains the radical reconception of space, time, mass, and energy, along with the novel logic and structure that set Einstein’swork apart, bringing a clear understanding of relativity to readers without a background in physics. Retracing the steps taken by Einstein and his predecessors and followers, the author leads…