Myth of the Machine : Technics and Human Development

388 Pages·1971·24.323 MB·English

by  Lewis Mumford

Technics
Human
and
The Myth of the Machine
Volume One
LEWIS
MUMFORD
A Harvest Book HB 208 $3.45 Slightly higher in Canada
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The Myth of the Machine:
TECHNICS AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
BooksbyLewisMumford
THE STORY OF UTOPIAS 1922
STICKS AND STONES
1924
THE GOLDEN DAY
1926
HERMAN MELVILLE
1929
THE BROWN DECADES
1931
TECHNICS AND CIVILIZATION
1934
THE CULTURE OF CITIES
1938
MEN MUST ACT
1939
FAITH FOR LIVING
1940
THE SOUTH IN ARCHITECTURE 1941
THE CONDITION OF MAN
1944
CITY DEVELOPMENT
1945
VALUES FOR SURVIVAL
1946
GREEN MEMORIES
1947
THE CONDUCT OF LIFE
1951
ART AND TECHNICS
1952
IN THE NAME OF SANITY 1954
FROM THE GROUND UP
1956
THE TRANSFORMATIONS OF MAN
1956
THE CITY IN HISTORY 1961
THE HIGHWAY AND THE CITY
1963
THE MYTH OF THE MACHINE:
TECHNICS AND HUMAN
I.
DEVELOPMENT
1967
THE URBAN PROSPECT
1968
THE MYTH OF THE MACHINE!
II. THE PENTAGON OF POWER 1970
K
The Myth Machine
of the
TECHNICS
AND HUMAN
DEVELOPMENT
MUMFORD
LEWIS
by
HARCOURT BRACE JOVANOV ICH , IN C. , N EW Y OR
A HARVEST BOOK
COPYRIGHT© 1966, 1967 BY LEWIS MUMFORD.ALL RIGHTS RE-
SERVED. NO PART OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE REPRODUCED
OR TRANSMITTED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS, ELECTRONIC
OR MECHANICAL, INCLUDING PHOTOCOPY, RECORDING, OR ANY
INFORMATION STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEM, WITHOUT
PERMISSION IN WRITING FROM THE PUBLISHER. LIBRARYOF
CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER: 67- 16088. PRINTED IN THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. ISBN 0-15-662341-2
ABCDEFGHIJ
Pictures la, 9a, and 9c are from The Eternal Present by S. Giedion, Bollingen
XXXV.6.1, distributed by Pantheon Books, copyright 1962 by the Trustees of the
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. By permission of Achille Weider.
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
I: 3
THE MINDFULNESS OF MAN
2: 14
3: IN THE DREAMTIME LONG AGO 48
THE GIFT OF TONGUES
4: 72
FINDERS AND MAKERS
5: 98
FORE-STAGES OF DOMESTICATION
6: 126
GARDEN, HOME, AND MOTHER
7: 142
8: KINGS AS PRIME MOVERS 163
THE DESIGN OF THE MEGAMACHINE
9: 188
THE BURDEN OF 'CIVILIZATION'
10: 212
INVENTION AND THE ARTS
11: 234
12: PIONEERS IN MECHANIZATION 263
BIBLIOGRAPHY
297
INDEX
325

ILLUSTRATIONS
Between pages 166 and 167
IN THE BEGINNING
1:
2-3: REPRESENTATIONS OF LIFE
THE ENCHANTMENTS OF SEX
4:
5: ANTICIPATIONS IN CLAY
THE WORLD OF DREAM
6:
ANCESTORS, GODS, MASKS
7:
8: TEXT FOR 6, 7, AND 9
SIGNS AND SYMBOLS
9:
DANCE BEFORE DRUDGERY
10:
THE HUMAN EMPHASIS
11:
NEOLITHIC ECONOMY
12:
NEOLITHIC CONTINUITIES
13:
BIRDS, SONGS, AND FLOWERS
14:
VITAL AND MECHANICAL POLARITIES
15:
16-17: MEGAMACHINES IN OPERATION
DIVINE KINGSHIP ABOVE AND BELOW
18:
'CIVILIZED* DESTRUCTION
19:
ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE MEGAMACHINE
20:
FROM ANCIENT TO MODERN
21:
HANDICRAFT AND THE HUMAN SCALE
22-23:
vu
ILLUSTRATIONS
Vlll
ANIMAL AND WATER POWER
24:
WIND POWER
25:
INDUSTRIAL AND MILITARY ARTS
26:
DOMESTIC IMPROVEMENTS
27:
PLAYFUL AUTOMATION
28:
FROM MANUSCRIPT TO TYPEFACE
29:
SUBTERRANEAN MECHANIZATION
30-31:
THE SECOND COMING OF THE
32:
MEGAMACHINE