Technologies of the Past

TECHNOSPHERES

Hunting Gathering Societies

Hunting Gathering Societies

Energy sources: human muscle power, fire

Total energy use: 2,000-5000 kcal / person / day (mostly from diet)

World population: less than 1 million people

Life expectancy: ~ 30 years

Social grouping: communal ~50 individuals, nomadic

Food sources: fruits, seeds, berries, wild animals (subsistence)

Material culture: stone (Paleolithic), bone, leather, fur

Environmental problems: related to basic survival, extreme vulnerability to predators, natural disasters, environmental changes

Agricultural Societies

The Gleaners - 1857, Jean-François Millet

Agricultural Societies

Energy sources: animal power, water power, wind, fireTotal energy use: 12,000-20,000 kcal / person / dayWorld population: growing to 500 million by 1500 ADLife expectancy: ~ 35 yearsSocial grouping: villages, towns, cities -- sedentaryFood sources: domesticated crops and animalsMaterial culture: (Neolithic) bronze, iron, wood, wool,

leather, accumulation of goodsCultural products: writing, mathematics, astronomy,

philosophy, religionsSocial problems: centralization of power, war, slaveryEnvironmental problems: disease, pestilence, overgrazing,

desertification, overshoot and collapse

Industrial Societies

LATE

Industrial Societies EARLY LATE

Energy sources: charcoal, coal oil, nuclearEnergy use (kcal/p/d): 60,000 230,000 (U.S.)World population: 1 billion - 1850 4 billion - 1975

2 billion – 1945 8 billion - 2017

Life expectancy: ~ 45 years in 1900 ~ 60 in 1990 ~ 75 in U.S.

Material culture: iron and steel aluminum, plasticsdisposables

mass mass production consumption

Social grouping: increasingly urban with vastly more international travel, breakdown of tribal and family groups.

Food sources: Increasingly processed, mass produced, and marketed. Humanity separated from the land; genetically engineered crops.

Cultural products: Techno-science, info-tainment, individualism.

Social problems: Haves and have-nots, total industrial war, racial & ethnic hatreds.

Environ. problems: Urban air and water pollution, deforestation, increasingly toxic wastes, regional and global pollution, threats to ozone and oceans.

World rate of population growth: 3 per second, 10,000 per class period, 250,000 per day, 1.8 million per week, 100 million per year, 1 billion per decade.

LATE INDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES

ERA ENERGY MATERIALS ARTIFACTS METAPHOR-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Paleolithic Muscle Stone/Bone Stone tools Survival40,000-10,000 BC-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Eotechnicor Neolithic Water Metals Clipper Ship Agriculture10,000 BC Wind Wood Water Wheel Artisans-1750 AD Animals Cloth/ Leather Violin-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Paleotechnic Steam Coal Railroads Industry 1750-1930 Steel Factories Pollution-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Neotechnic Electricity Aluminum Automobiles High-tech1930-2000 Oil Plastics Airplanes Toxics-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ecotechnic Renewable Recyclable Less is more Sustainabilty21st C? Solar/ Wind Biodegradable

Adapted from Lewis Mumford, Technics and Civilization(1934).

Eo-Technic Era

Industrial SocietiesEARLY

Paleo-Technic Era

Neo-Technic Era

Going beyond Mumford:

Eco-Technic* Era?

*The term “Eco-technic” implies that humans will always engage in technological innovation, yet we must always live within an ecosystem.

• Eco-technic?

• Bio-technic?

• Nano-technic?

• Cyber-technic?

• Geo-technic?

Geotechnic ?