Books : Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences (Vintage)
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by: Edward Tenner
List Price: $15.95Amazon.com's Price: $10.85 You Save: $5.10 (32%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 303.483
EAN: 9780679747567
ISBN: 0679747567
Label: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 448
Publication Date: September 02, 1997
Publisher: Vintage
Release Date: September 02, 1997
Sales Rank: 313618
Studio: Vintage
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
In this perceptive and provocative look at everything from computer software that requires faster processors and more support staff to antibiotics that breed resistant strains of bacteria, Edward Tenner offers a virtual encyclopedia of what he calls 'revenge effects'--the unintended consequences of the mechanical, chemical, biological, and medical forms of ingenuity that have been hallmarks of the progressive, improvement-obsessed modern age. Tenner shows why our confidence in technological solutions may be misplaced, and explores ways in which we can better survive in a world where despite technology's advances--and often because of them--'reality is always gaining on us.' For anyone hoping to understand the ways in which society and technology interact, Why Things Bite Back is indispensable reading. 'A bracing critique of technological determinism in both its utopian and dystopian forms...No one who wants to think clearly about our high-tech future can afford to ignore this book.'--Jackson Lears, Wilson Quarterly
Amazon.com Review:
If it can go wrong, it will--thus Murphy's Law. Science journalist Edward Tenner looks more closely at this eternal verity, named after a U.S. Air Force captain who, during a test of rocket-sled deceleration, noticed that critical gauges had been improperly set and concluded, 'If there's more than one way to do a job and one of those ways will end in disaster, then somebody will do it that way.' Tenner concurs, and he gives us myriad case studies of how technological fixes often create bigger problems than the ones they were meant to solve in the first place. The indiscriminate use of antibiotics, by way of example, has yielded hardier strains of bacteria and viruses that do not respond to pharmaceutical treatment; the wide-scale use of air conditioning in cities has raised the outdoor temperature in some places by as much as 10 degrees, adding stress to already-taxed cooling systems; the modern reliance on medical intervention to deal with simple illnesses, to say nothing of the rapidly growing number of elective surgeries, means that even a low percentage of error (one patient in twenty-five, by a recent estimate) can affect increasingly large numbers of people. Tenner examines what he deems the 'unintended consequences' of technological innovation, drawing examples from everyday objects and situations. Although he recounts disaster after painful disaster, his book makes for curiously entertaining, if sometimes scary, reading. --Gregory McNamee
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Deserves to be better known
What a great book! Edward Tenner's analysis of why technological improvement somehow never seems to get us anywhere deserves to be far better known than it is. Tenner's writing is lively and his stories fascinating.
Chapter Nine, on how the computerized office somehow has never brought the fantastic improvements in productivity that were predicted for it, is worth the price of the book by itself. I work all day on a computer. The programs I work with have some great features. Yet, ... Read More
Rating:  - Perhaps showing its age?
This book is ten years old. At the time of its publication, it may have seemed more relevant than it struck me as I read it for the first time. Literally, the book is about the unintended consequences of technology. Invent a mass producible automobile and, as one result, thousands die every year in traffic accidents.
Likewise the now ubiquitous mouse that made the computer so accessible has also become a public health hazard owing to carpal tunnel syndrome.
In short, no ... Read More
Rating: - Interesting
This book not only makes you question why, but how you perceive the world, with unintended consequences and revenge effects. Good read, but very wordy.
Rating: - Why did Air France Flight 358 crash ?
The ultimate root cause of the crash was the pilots choosing to land in the middle of an intense thunderstorm due to their fancy A340. This book includes a nice collection of case histories on this "Generalized Utterly Dismal Theorem" - that technical safety-margins must disappear because folks eventually push any limits.
More recently, the Google query (( coral destruction tires )) demonstrates what once seemed like a brilliant concept just did not work out that way. The book is filled ... Read More
Rating: - Good Coverage of Difficult Subjects
Edward Tenner has written an amazing book dealing with unintended consequences of technology. The book probably would have received five stars if it was available in a more up to date version and/or more individual technologies had been explored (hopefully 'Our Own Devices', his newest book will rectify both points). A revised edition would be most welcome. (For instance in the section on computers the Pentium chip had just been released.)
Tenner's gift is in his ability to take very complex ... Read More
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