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

Review

Thomas Hughes takes an in-depth look at four giant technological projects of the post-World War II era. He paints a portrait of the evolving organizational structures and ever-improving management styles that have enabled engineer managers and their teams to accomplish the near-impossible. The four projects are the Semiautomatic Ground Environment (SAGE) air defense project, the Atlas Intercontinental Ballistic Missile project, the development of ARPANET/Internet, and the construction of Boston's Central Artery/Tunnel. Each of these undertakings broke new ground, requiring new techniques to overcome daunting obstacles and foster interdisciplinary cooperation.

As a study in management, the book begins its coverage of managerial evolution with the development of systems engineering. Systems engineering reduced much of management to scientific principles and was critical to the successful interaction that created SAGE. However, later projects proved that the strict science of systems engineering failed when the system to be engineered included a large human element. Hughes shows how a flattening of the management structure and the enhanced use of diverse teams enables the continuing Boston Central Artery/Tunnel project to proceed. Not only does that plan allow for the wide diversity of human interaction but it embraces it. Project management relies on continuing input from all facets of Boston's social and political scene to shape the project as it develops.

Hughes celebrates the role that idealism, as well as creativity, has often played in technological achievements. In today's sociopolitical environment, when many people look upon military-based research and development with a jaundiced eye, it's easy to forget that such projects as SAGE and the Atlas missile were driven by an idealistic belief in the need to protect our society from what was then perceived as a clear danger from a declared enemy.

Hughes's step-by-step examination of how each project team met its challenges is both thought-provoking and insightful. If the Dilbert's-eye view of technology and management has become a bit too depressing, here's a book that reminds us that we are capable of anything. --Elizabeth Lewis

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

Edition details

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