1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910155116303321

Autore

Golding Edward L.

Titolo

A history of technology and environment : from stone tools to ecological crisis / / Edward L. Golding

Pubbl/distr/stampa

London ; ; New York : , : Routledge, , 2017

ISBN

1-315-54295-1

1-134-86774-3

1-134-86781-6

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (270 pages)

Disciplina

609

Soggetti

Technology - Social aspects

Technology - Environmental aspects

Technology and civilization

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Over-harvesting of natural resources : hunting and fishing -- Over-harvesting of natural resouces : fresh water -- People and the land -- Manufactured chemicals -- Chemicals in the environment -- Power technologies -- Environmental impacts of fossil fuels -- Nuclear power and renewable energy.

Sommario/riassunto

This book provides an accessible overview of the ways that key areas of technology have impacted global ecosystems and natural communities. It offers a new way of thinking about the overall origins of environmental problems. Combining approaches drawn from environmental biology and the history of science and technology, it describes the motivations behind many technical advances and the settings in which they occurred, before tracing their ultimate environmental impacts. Four broad areas of human activity are described:   over-harvesting of natural resources using the examples of hunting, fishing and freshwater use; farming, population, land use, and migration; discovery, synthesis and use of manufactured chemicals; and development of sources of artificial energy and the widespread pollution caused by power generation and energy use. These innovations have been driven by various forces, but in most cases new



technologies have emerged out of fascinating, psychologically rich, human experiences. This book provides an introduction to these complex developments and will be essential reading for students of science, technology and society, environmental history, and the history of science and technology.