Readings · Lecture Notes
MIT OpenCourseWare
Social and Political Implications of Technology
Art: Lantern Slide - Cross-Section of Watt's Rotative Double-Acting…, Circa 1782 · Public domain
- Instructors
- Prof. David Mindell, Prof. Merritt Roe Smith
- Term
- Spring 2006
- Level
- Graduate
- What's inside
- 1 reading · 7 other files · 2 web pages
- Materials open
- MIT OCW
About this course
Source: MIT OpenCourseWare STS.462 Social and Political Implications of Technology, Spring 2006, Prof. David Mindell, Prof. Merritt Roe Smith — original course page on ocw.mit.edu ↗. License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Study order: MIT's own listing order, section by section. Taken from MIT's published course files, downloaded from ocw.mit.edu on September 23, 2026. How RedLectern is built.
Materials are grouped the way MIT organized them. A verified, course-wide order has not been established here.
Before you start
Prerequisites are not listed here. Check MIT's own syllabus for this course.
How this course was organized
What's here, and what isn't
- A lecture sequence of 14 items is confirmed. It stays as organized materials rather than a full course order.
Not included here
4 items from the source could not be safely included:
- MIT's page format for this item wasn't recognized clearly enough to place it safely. (4 items)
Materials by section
Grouped by section, as MIT organized them. Not sequenced or ordered.
Assignments
Course outline
Readings · Lecture Notes
Lecture 2: Mumford. Technics and Civilization . pp. 3-106. Mumford Article Lapartito. “Historian in the Rose Garden.”
Readings · Lecture Notes
Lecture 3: E. P. Thompson Article Gutman Article Smith and Clancey. pp. 144-190.
Readings · Lecture Notes
Lecture 4: Cronon. Nature’s Metropolis. (Complete) Smith and Clancey. pp. 191-233.
Readings · Lecture Notes
Lecture 5: Reading period (class does not meet)
Readings · Lecture Notes
Lecture 6: Aitken. Taylorism . (Complete) Smith and Clancey. pp. 267-354.
Readings · Lecture Notes
Lecture 7: Fritzsche. Nation of Fliers . (Complete)
Readings · Lecture Notes
Lecture 8: Nye. Electrifying America . (Complete) Smith and Clancey. pp. 233-66 and 355-82.
Readings · Lecture Notes
Lecture 9: Cowan Articles McGaw Article Lapartito. “When Women Were Switches.”
Readings · Lecture Notes
Lecture 10: Russell. War and Nature . (Complete) Smith and Clancey, pp. 383-426.
Readings · Lecture Notes
Lecture 11: Reading period (class does not meet)
Readings · Lecture Notes
Lecture 12: MacKenzie. Inventing Accuracy . (Complete) Smith and Clancey. pp. 427-70.
Readings · Lecture Notes
Lecture 13: Reading period (class does not meet)
Readings · Lecture Notes
Lecture 14: Maines. Asbestos and Fire . (Complete)
MIT OpenCourseWare, Prof. David Mindell, Prof. Merritt Roe Smith, STS.462 Social and Political Implications of Technology, Spring 2006.
License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · Edition: Spring 2006 · Open the original course on OCW ↗
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