science and technology studies

Written for a large public interested in renewing the understanding of scientific practice and its connection with the rest of society this book uses anecdotes, case studies, examples from many different periods and disciplines, to define rules of methods which can be used in following scientists around; the key role is given to non-humans, that is to associations that cut accross the former divide between nature and society. It can be used as a general introduction to science studies. (Source: http://www.bruno-latour.fr/node/130)

Highways of the Mind explores the history of the interstate highway system and its transformative impact on the physical and cultural landscapes of America. Beginning with the 1939 New York World’s Fair andtracing the development of America’s automotive culture, Highways of the Mind combines interactivemultimedia features with original scholarly content to provide new insight into the figure of thesuperhighway as a metaphor for social progress through technology. We show that thesuperhighway is a compelling 20th-century metaphor that reveals the complex nature of humankind'sfascination with technologies of transportation, from our fantasies of techno-utopianism to ouranxieties about the disappearance of nature and the dehumanizing impact of modern technology.

A scholarly multimedia work exploring the rhetorics and cultural impact of the American superhighway system in urban planning, urban/environmental criticism, ecological studies, infrastructural studies and science fiction.

Every culture has its own word for this nothing. Synonymous with the idea of absolute space and time, the ether is an ancient concept that has continually determined our definition of environment, our relations to each other, and our ideas about technology. It has also instigated our desire to know something irrepressibly beyond all that. In Ether, the histories of mysticism and the unseen merge with discussions of the technology and science of electromagnetism. Joe Milutis explores how the ideas of Anton Mesmer and Isaac Newton have manifested themselves as the inspiration for occult theories and artistic practices from Edgar Allan Poe’s works to today. In doing so, he demonstrates that fading in and out of scientific favor has not prevented the ether, a uniquely immaterial concept, from being a powerful force for material progress. Milutis deftly weaves the origins of electrical science with alchemical lore, nineteenth-century industrialism with yogic science, and network space with dreams of the absolute. Linking the ether to phenomena such as radio noise, space travel, avant-garde film, and the rise of the Internet, he lends it an almost physical presence and currency. From Federico Fellini to Gilles Deleuze, Japanese anime to Italian Futurism, Jean Cocteau to NASA, Shirley Temple to Wilhelm Reich, Ether traverses geographical boundaries, spiritual planes, and the divide between popular and high culture.