Inventing for the Environment (Lemelson Center Studies in Invention and Innovation series) - Softcover

 
9780262633284: Inventing for the Environment (Lemelson Center Studies in Invention and Innovation series)
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0262633280 ISBN 13: 9780262633284
Publisher: MIT Press, 2005

Synopsis

Essays by historians and practioners on how invention can benefit the environment.

This ambitious book describes the many ways in which invention affects the environment (here defined broadly to include all forms of interaction between humans and nature). The book starts with nature itself and then leads readers to examine the built environment and then specific technologies in areas such as public health and energy.

Each part focuses on a single environmental issue. Topics range widely, from the role of innovation in urban landscapes to the relationship among technological innovation, public health, and the environment. Each part features an essay by a historian, an essay by a practitioner, and a "portrait of innovation" describing an individual whose work has made a difference. The mixture of historians and practitioners is critical because statements about the environment inevitably measure present and future conditions against those of the past. Early in the industrial revolution, smoke stacks were symbols of prosperity; at its end they were regarded as signs of pollution. Historical examples can also lead to the rediscovery of an old technology, as in the revival of straw bale construction. As it explores the history of invention for the environment, the book suggests many new ways to put the past to use for the common good.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author

Arthur P. Molella is Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Director of the Smithsonian Institution's Lemelson Center. He is the co-editor (with Joyce Bedi) of Inventing for the Environment (2003, MIT Press).

Joyce Bedi is Senior Historian at the Smithsonian Institution's Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Publisher
MIT Press
Publication date
2005
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0262633280
ISBN 13 
9780262633284
Binding
Paperback
Number of pages
418
Editor
Arthur P. Molella, Joyce Bedi

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780262134279: Inventing for the Environment (Lemelson Center Studies in Invention and Innovation)

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  0262134276 ISBN 13:  9780262134279
Publisher: MIT Press, 2003
Hardcover