Behind such prodigious economic facts lies that great, growling engine of change—
technology. This is not to say that technology is the only source of change in society. Social
upheavals can be touched off by a change in the chemical composition of the atmosphere, by
alterations in climate, by changes in fertility, and many other factors. Yet technology is
indisputably a major force behind the accelerative thrust.
To most people, the term technology conjures up images of smoky steel mills or
clanking machines. Perhaps the classic symbol of technology is still the assembly line created
by Henry Ford half a century ago and made into a potent social icon by Charlie Chaplin in
Modern Times. This symbol, however, has always been inadequate, indeed, misleading, for
technology has always been more than factories and machines. The invention of the horse
collar in the middle ages led to major changes in agricultural methods and was as much a
technological advance as the invention of the Bessemer furnace centuries later. Moreover,
technology includes techniques, as well as the machines that may or may not be necessary to
apply them. It includes ways to make chemical reactions occur, ways to breed fish, plant
forests, light theaters, count votes or teach history