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BKKNWMCH.RVW   960415
 
"Knowing Machines", Donald MacKenzie, 1996, 0-262-13315-6, U$35.00
%A   Donald MacKenzie d.mackenzie@ed.ac.uk
%C   55 Hayward Street, Cambridge, MA   02142-1399
%D   1996
%G   0-262-13315-6
%I   MIT Press
%O   U$35.00 curtin@mit.edu
%P   338
%T   "Knowing Machines"
 
MacKenzie's varied essays are erudite and thoughtful, but it is difficult to
find any common theme.  Some appear to be explorations of sociological
literature, others histories of technical development, and there is even one
brief biography.  Generally one can say that each chapter looks at how
machines, particularly computers, have, and sometimes are, evolved.  (For those
who may be misled by the title, the book has nothing to do with cognitive
science.)
 
While the background study is impressive (a quote from Babbage shows that he
was well aware of the possible negative consequences of job automation), a lack
of feeling for technical realities occasionally shows through.  An assertion
that projections of computing power are self-fulfilling prophecies fails to
take into account the difference between technical and business aspects of
computer development.  The thesis that nuclear weapons can be "uninvented"
through the loss of "tacit knowledge" (cultural and almost kinesthetic
information) fails to understand that chefs rely on such tacit knowledge for
much of their art, but that a loaf of bread can still be made by anyone with a
cookbook.  The examination of "Computer-Related Accidental Death" is
particularly useless despite access to tremendous resources on the subject:
three high profile events are allowed to completely skew the examination, human
error is found to be a major factor (and is then left unexamined), and no
conclusions are drawn except that computers are, so far, relatively safe.
 
copyright Robert M. Slade, 1996   BKKNWMCH.RVW   960415
 
====================== 
ROBERTS@decus.ca  rslade@vanisl.decus.ca  Rob.Slade@f733.n153.z1.fidonet.org
    If you can tell good advice from bad advice, you don't *need* any advice
Author "Robert Slade's Guide to Computer Viruses" 0-387-94663-2 (800-SPRINGER)