The Dark Side of Technology

Right from the time of the Industrial Revolution it became clear that technology was not all good and that it had another side. No doubt thanks to the early technologies – textiles, iron and steel, transportation (steam engine, steam ships, railways, etc.) – productivity increased, drudgery reduced, income levels improved and rural communities were transformed into urban neighbourhoods. But, as social historians would tell us, it was only the rich and the middle class who started enjoying a better quality of life; for the working class life became more difficult. Technology also led to exploitation of labour (long working hours in poor and unsafe conditions, for example) and industrial disputes as was illustrated by the Homestead strike at the Carnegie Steel Company in Pennsylvania in 1892. The social dimensions of today’s technologies, e.g. information technology and biotechnology, are far more serious than those of the earlier technologies. In this book, the author aims to show how science and medicine have altered our lives.