Myth of the Machine : Technics and Human Development

Mumford explains the forces that have shaped technology since prehistoric times and shaped the modern world. He shows how tools developed because of significant parallel inventions in ritual, language, and social organization. “It is a stimulating volume, informed both with an enormous range of knowledge and empathetic spirit” (Eliot Fremont-Smith, New York Times). Index; photographs.

Lewis Mumford (1895-1990) was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1955 and received the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964. He is the author of The City in History, The Culture of Cities, Condition of Man, Interpretations and Forecasts, and Sketches from Life.