academic researchers/readers of mastodon: is there a solid historical book (books?) that documents and explores the transition from the mechanical age to the age of “modern” technology as someone like heidegger understands the term technology?
i’m imagining a book that interprets the social and cultural transformations between the late medieval and victorian periods, from older conceptions of morality and mechanism to newer ideas about individualism and automation? eg. documenting not only demographic changes, but also the ways of thinking about people that were preconditions for modern technological thought.
i realize this is a rather nebulous request covering a huge time span, but my background is in the philosophy of science and not british history literature.
#academicmastodon #history
adding to the aforementioned bibliography of books concerning the intersection of the 15th-19th centuries and technological change. found them at a local used bookstore.
web searches for broad topics like this are often fruitless. a good library or academic bookstore already has this presorted by topic.
#bookstodon #books
how could i forget these two absolutely hilarious and informative illustrated texts on medieval and 18th century life.
i’ve had them sitting on the shelves for years, and realized they make a compelling visual reference
#bookstodon #illustration #books
@vga256@dialup.cafe Game artists really need to read this. Too many “realistic” games where the castles look like out of Disneyland and ships are shoeboxes with toothpick masts
@kwramm@mastodon.gamedev.place totally agree!
@vga256@dialup.cafe !!! I’d completely forgotten that these existed!
@billgoats@bitbang.social i fear that most of the civilized world has forgotten too. i found them dirt cheap at thrift shops. i doubt they’re still in print, but thankfully they are dirt cheap from used book sellers
@vga256@dialup.cafe Marvellous!
@vga256@dialup.cafe Dang, there’s a memory unlocked!
adding two incredible finds to this medieval technology reading/research bibliography: Cathedral, Forge and Waterwheel by Frances and Joseph Gies. The bookseller immediately recognized it and exclaimed “I appreciate a writer with the common touch!”
The second book - Tavistock Abbey: A Study in the Social and Economic History of Devon by HPR Finberg was an accidental find. While it does not speak to technological change in the late middle ages, it speaks to the social and cultural life of an abbey and its surrounding village.
#books #bookstodon