Rescuing Prometheus: The story of the mammoth projects--SAGE, ICBM, ARPANET/INTERNET, and Boston's Ce ntral Artery/Tunnel--that created new style - Hardcover

Hughes, Thomas P.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0679411518 ISBN 13: 9780679411512

Publisher: Pantheon, 1998

Synopsis

In his farewell address, President    Dwight Eisenhower warned against the dangers posed by the "military-industrial-university complex."  His warning became a rallying cry of liberal dissent and, for some, this partnership became the most ominous aspect of what came to be known as the "establishment."
        Rescuing Prometheus presents a radically different view of the alliances behind the large-scale technological and scientific undertakings of the post-World War II era.  In his analysis of the accomplishments of this coalition, Thomas Hughes shows how aerospace, computing, and communications were revolutionized.  He explains how the design and development of four projects in particular led to a new understanding of technology:  The SAGE air-defense project fostered the first interactive, digital computer designed for information processing; the Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile project inspired a new form of management known as systems engineering; the Boston Central Artery/Tunnel Project addressed the complex relations between industry, science, and grassroots community interests; and ARPANET, the Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency, would not only create the information superhighway but also develop the collegial, meritocratic management style now prevalent in the computer softwa
re industry.
        Rescuing Prometheus is an eye-opening revisionist history of technology in our time.

About this title

About the Author

Thomas P. Hughes is Emeritus Mellon Professor of the History and Sociology of Science at the University of Pennsylvania and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.  His books include American Genesis: A Century of Invention and Technology. Currently a Distinguished Visiting Professor at MIT, he lives in Philadelphia.

From the Back Cover

"Rescuing Prometheus is a remarkably well-detailed description of the organizing, developing, and executing of major and complex advanced technology projects that have greatly affected the society in the twentieth century. It is a particularly intelligent discussion of the leading personalities and other human factors that dominated the attainment of success in these endeavors."
--Simon Ramo, author of The Business of Science


"Hughes's research on large technical systems has made him the most influential living historian of technology. Here, he carries the story forward into the age of the Internet."
--Donald MacKenzie, author of Knowing Machines

From the Inside Flap

ell address, President Dwight Eisenhower warned against the dangers posed by the "military-industrial-university complex." His warning became a rallying cry of liberal dissent and, for some, this partnership became the most ominous aspect of what came to be known as the "establishment."
Rescuing Prometheus presents a radically different view of the alliances behind the large-scale technological and scientific undertakings of the post-World War II era. In his analysis of the accomplishments of this coalition, Thomas Hughes shows how aerospace, computing, and communications were revolutionized. He explains how the design and development of four projects in particular led to a new understanding of technology: The SAGE air-defense project fostered the first interactive, digital computer designed for information processing; the Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile

Reviews

Hughes, whose American Genesis was a Pulitzer finalist, believes that between 1950 and 1970 the military/industrial/ university complex played a far more innovative and beneficial role than is generally acknowledged. In fact, the author likens America's "technological transformations" as a "second creation; the first was mythologized in the book of Genesis." He focuses on four massive cooperative ventures: The first, Semi-automatic Ground Environment (SAGE), a collaboration involving MIT and the U.S. military, built a computer- and radar-based air-defense system. Next, University of Pennsylvania professor emeritus and historian of science Hughes examines the Atlas project, which produced America's first ICBM; Boston's Central Artery/Tunnel Project, a traffic-unclogging system of highways, tunnels and bridges scheduled for completion in 2004; and the Defense Department-funded ARPANET, an interactive computer-based information network that paved the way for the Internet. In fact, this is not just about the evolution of contemporary technology; it's also about how complex coalitions of scientists, engineers, managers and others paved the way for changes in corporate management and development. Whether the culture of these very specialized projects could make the leap to the society at large seems debatable. But this detailed study highlights the underappreciated role of managerial prowess, rather than pure science or engineering, in determining the success of large-scale technological projects. Photos. Editor, Dan Frank.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The odd and elusive story of how large-scale technological projects of the post-WWII era have created new, postmodern methods of management and engineering. Size matters for Hughes (History and Sociology of Science/Univ. of Pennsylvania), the author of numerous works on the history of technology. Innovation is no longer the product of the lone inventor but of systems of technology combining disparate centers of funding, research, and production. What these systems require is management, the coordinating of their various parts. The genesis of such ``systems management'' lies in the Cold War, when the ``military-industrial-university complex'' made significant breakthroughs in computer and aerospace technology through work on air defense and intercontinental ballistic missiles. Convinced of the efficacy of this systems approach to managing all complexity, engineers turned their attention to managing civil problems such as urban decay, and, says Hughes, they failed miserably. Political interests and the checks and balances of government do not lend themselves easily to centralized planning and management. Yet systems management learned to incorporate and accommodate social demands for accountability and participation. Hughes examines in great detail how Boston's Central Artery/Tunnel Project overcame not only technical but also social challenges. Out of this experience and the creation of ARPANET, the military forerunner to the Internet, came a systems management wed not to the certainties of mathematical models but to the vagaries of contingency, to open-endedness, and to change. Hughes's case-study approach demands the reader make his or her own connections; he spells out and summarizes very little. He is often ambiguous, condemning the ``anti-science'' bias of the '60s but praising the role of the '60s in bringing a new adaptability to systems management. He remains convinced, however, of the innate goodness of huge technological systems and only briefly engages views to the contrary. A complex book, but the attentive reader will be able to manage it. (b&w photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Hughes is a professor of the history and sociology of science at the University of Pennsylvania and author of American Genesis: A Century of Invention and Technological Enthusiasm (1989). He continues here from the premise he laid out in his earlier book: technology played a greater role in shaping America than did political achievement. Hughes traces American technology, from the independent, entrepreneurial inventor to the industrial scientist to the "systems builder." Systems builders evolved because they were needed to combine the financial, managerial, engineering, and scientific acumen required to complete the mammoth projects that built America. Hughes uses the history of four projects to show how systems management has adapted to cultural changes. Management has become less hierarchical, environmental concerns must be addressed, and public interest groups must be recognized. Hughes considers MIT's SAGE air defense project, the Atlas project (which produced the first intercontinental ballistic missile), the Department of Defense's ARPANET project (which laid the groundwork for the information highway), and Boston's Central Artery/Tunnel project, now the nation's largest urban highway project. David Rouse

In the latter half of the 20th century, we have grown accustomed to "bigger and better." Hughes (history and sociology of science, Univ. of Pennsylvania; American Genesis: A Century of Invention and Technological Enthusiasm, 1870-1970, LJ 3/15/89) shows that this was possible through systems engineering, which was an outgrowth of "the establishment" or, more formally, the "military-industrial-university complex." Here Hughes explores the development of systems engineering and its impact on management. To put some perspective on the modern engineering process, he uses the example of the ancient pyramids. Even today, their construction is almost unfathomable. Using contemporary systems standards, the pyramids would be fast-tracked, incorporating a vast array of mechanicals (plumbing, heating, cooling) and passing "go" with environmental impact statements and competing political pressures. Hughes's historical examples?SAGE, ISBM, ARPANET, and the Boston Central Artery/Tunnel?are worthy vehicles for demonstrating systems engineering and transdisciplinary involvement in bringing complex projects to fruition. This thoughtful and original book is appropriate for academic and larger public libraries.?Steven Silkunas, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority, Philadelphia
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Pantheon
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0679411518
• ISBN 13: 9780679411512
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 372