Graft Copolymerization of Lignocellulosic Fibers (ACS symposium series)

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Interesting but not Perfect.......2007-08-08

"Unintelligent Design" offers an outstanding summation of the mainstream scientific community's arguments against the Theory of Intelligent Design. The first half of the book is somewhat dense and goes in depth into establishing the foundation of Mr. Perkh's argument. Namely, the definition of probability by those who advocate Intelligent Design is fundamentally flawed, and does not conform to the scientific community's established notion of probability. Mr. Perkh does an excellent job in making his point, and explaining why Intelligent Design is a flawed scientific theory.

The remainder of the book goes into detail to debunk the theories of the prominent scientists advocating Intelligent Design--most notably, William Dembski and Michael Behe. His arguments against their theories are fair enough, but he tends to accuse both men of being disingenuous and hiding their deeply held religious beliefs behind the veneer of science. This maybe true, but I tend to give both Dembski and Behe the benefit of the doubt. I believe that they are not trying to pull the wool over anyone's eyes or trying to engage in some kind of intellectual jujitsu, but rather are attempting to put forward a plausible scientific explanation for their religious beliefs.

That said, Mr. Perakh makes a compelling and well reasoned case why Intelligent Design is bad science. I have no problem with someone believing in creationism. But, when one crosses the Rubicon from religious belief to scientific argument, then the rigors of the scientific method must apply to ALL theories. Since Intelligent Design assumes only one outcome to any "test" of it, is non-falsifiable and is based on a faulty definition of probability, it is not good science. A scientific theory that is immutable is not a theory; it is belief.

Although I respect the efforts of Dembski and Behe, their theory does not stand up to established and peer reviewed scientific rigor. If they want to forward a scientific theory of creationism, they need to go back to the drawing board. In this, Mr. Perakh succeeded in making his point with this book. Nonetheless, I only give this book a four-star review because I think Mr. Perakh is being unfair as to the motives of those who believe in Intelligent Design. Their theory maybe flawed, but their pursuit is a worthy one.

Challenging, but fascinating.......2007-05-29

In a thorough, detailed analysis, Perakh, a specialist in statistical physics, explains why the ID-iots' mathematical, statistical, and information-theory arguments, especially those of Dembski, Behe, and Johnson, are not just wrong but ridiculous.

Perakh spends most of his time deconstructing and demolishing Dembski's arguments, showing why Dembski's explanatory filter: 1) is inherently illogical; 2) relies on arbitrary assumptions that conflict with empirical reality; 3) uses key concepts, such as "complex, specified information," in ways that are contrary both to empirical evidence and to long-established practice among information theorists; 4) uses terms in different, mutually inconsistent ways; and 5) worst of all, routinely leads to false positives. Dembski's frequent use of math formulas is exposed as mere window-dressing, impressive-looking to amateurs, but adding nothing meaningful to his arguments; and Dembski's pretentious self-promotion regarding his so-called "law of conservation of information" is shown to be: 1) contrary to the conventions of physics regarding the derivation of laws; 2) contrary to readily available empirical evidence; and 3) contrary to the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Yikes! By the end of Perakh's exposition, Dembski looks like a pompous fool. No wonder no serious (i.e, practicing) scientist pays any attention to Dembski. Perakh's analysis is challenging in many places, but the practical examples he uses and his methodical, step-by-step explanations make the key points understandable.

Perakh spends much less time on Behe's arguments. Although Perakh points out that several professional biologists have voiced serious concerns about the accuracy of Behe's biochemical arguments, Perakh simply ignores those disputes and assumes for purposes of his own argument that Behe's specifically biochemical arguments are entirely correct; which leaves Perakh free to focus exclusively on Behe's statistical arguments, where Behe appears to be a virtual novice, making several, serious errors. Perakh discusses Behe's concept of irreducible complexity from two perspectives, the one described by Behe himself and the completely different one used in the Algorithmic Theory of Probability (which Behe apparently had never heard of before writing Darwin's Black Box), and shows that IC doesn't make sense regardless of which view is used. Since virtually every ID-iot relies heavily, if not exclusively, on IC, and since IC has so many mathematical and scientific flaws . . . well, you do the math.

One cautionary point here. In discussing Behe's definition of IC, Perakh apparently takes the word "parts" to mean "proteins." Different ID-iots interpret Behe's definition in different ways, so I wouldn't be surprised to find one or even thousands of ID-iots do the same, but it is not clear that Behe himself interprets it that way. Behe has been remarkably evasive about clarifying his definition, frequently denies that he actually meant what the definition seems to say, and on at least one occasion, his reply to Shanks and Joplin, provided a "clarification" that was radically inconsistent with his standard definition. That said, Perakh's interpretation dramatically increases the complexity of the various biochemical systems that Behe uses as examples. That could be a point of possible controversy, though I suspect that most ID-iots would be happy to see Perakh giving an apparent gift to Behe like that.

Perakh doesn't spend much time on Phillip Johnson. Perakh quickly demonstrates that Johnson's arguments about information theory are simply ignorant, diametrically opposed to the most basic concepts of information theory, and concludes that Johnson is a dilettante who doesn't know what he's talking about, so why waste time arguing with an self-important ignoramus.

There are several additional chapters on other religiously motivated cranks and crackpots, like Hugh Ross, the Bible Code kooks, etc. I barely skimmed those chapters, though they did look interesting, so my five-star rating refers only to the first part of the book.

In summary, Perakh makes it clear that anyone who thinks that ID is a mathematically sophisticated theory with important insights into information theory's relevance to biology is simply deluded.

A Scientific Answer to Psuedoscience.......2007-02-28

I'm going to differ with some of the other reviewers of this book. My opinion is that of the three parts in the book the last is the most important. The last part of the book is on the general rules of how things are determined scientifically.

If you will allow me to summarize, and perhaps oversimplify, the rules are:

1. Observe something in nature.
2. Come up with a theory that explains your observation.
3. Use your theory to explain or predict something new and unknown.
4. Design experiments to test your prediction.
5. Adjust or expand theory accordingly.

Example: Einstein predicted that light would bend in a gravitational field. In 1920 it was proven correct.

What predictions does ID make? Can it even make predictions since its major thesis is to prove Darwin wrong rather than to make a new theory. How could you predict what God would do next.

This is not to say the other parts of the book are bad, they are not. Instead they answer the main ID books by analying the style, format, and structure of the psuedoscience they follow. But since the original doesn't make sense, the arguments against them are likewise difficult to follow.

As I say, great book, but I'd read Part 3 first, then Part 2 and then Part 1.

A Very Fine Scientist's Critique of "Intelligent Design".......2007-01-16

This fine book offers a powerful and sustained critique of the creationism argument versus evolutionary theory, especially the most recent iteration of "intelligent design" which has been politically but not scientifically successful in pressing an agenda in the public schools. The author, a scientist, also makes some larger comments on the relationship of science and religion. It many, many ways, this is a very fine work of use to anyone seeking information on the substance of the debate.

Mark Parakh divided "Unintelligent Design" into three large sections, and in some respects it has the feel of three separate books. The first, and by far the most impressive section is the first, which deals with the three central advocates of "intelligent design." Perakh devotes lengthy chapters each to the efforts of William A. Dembski, Michael J. Behe, and Philip E. Johnson, and demonstrates a succession of fallacies, logical flaws, and erroneous analyses in their publications. Perakh offers convincing evidence of the failings of "intelligent design" as propounded by Dembski, Behe, and Johnson. Anyone who investigates this subject will find Perakh's withering analysis of these three writers enormously useful. I found particularly thoughtful his critiques of Dembski's statistical analysis and Behe's ideas of "irreducible complexity." Perakh is especially effective in countering the complex statistical analysis that Dembski employs in his writings, finding that when stripped of its extraneous elements does not amount to much.

Parakh's second section deals with several writers, some of whom wrote more than a quarter century ago and play no role in the current "intelligent design" debate even if they may have discussed creationism, who sought to reconcile science and religion. One may ask if they are reconcilable; certainly Perakh does not think so and undertakes a blistering critique of factual and logic errors in discussing science and religion in the works of Hugh Ross, Grant Jeffrey, Fred Heeren, Aryeh Carmell, Cyril Domb, Menachem M. Schneerson, Nathan Aviezer, Gerald Schroeder, and Lee Spetner. This section is less satisfying than the first; for one thing it does not deal with "intelligent design" per se but with larger issues. Perakh does, however, shine a light on the mental gymnastics offered by the religious community in seeking to rationalize science and religion.

Perakh sees a threat to scientific understanding of the natural universe present in these ideas. At some level he is quite right. Arguments that the Earth is only 6,000 years old based on biblical evidence flies in the face of all the scientific evidence dating the Earth to several billions of age and Perakh is right to offer a rebuttal. At the same time, I find less disconcerting those who assign the cause of the Big Bang to God--although we have no evidence for this--for it is a statement of faith made in the absence of any evidence whatsoever to the contrary. I find speculating on the possibility that a deity might have been the prime mover for the Big Bang much less worrisome than some of these other efforts to counteract the findings of science. Absent an effort to force the teaching of this interpretation of the Big Bang in schools, museums, science centers, and the like people of faith are free to accept this position if they wish. While the critique in this section is still quite useful, I found it less compelling than the first section's analysis of the principal proponents of "intelligent design."

Finally, Mark Perakh offers in his third section a fascinating discussion of science, its methodologies, and its manner of self-correction through peer review, acceptance or rejection of ideas, and the development over a long period of time with contributions from a large and diverse community of scientists a body of knowledge that has restructured the lives of every individual on Earth. In some ways, this section might have been useful in leading off the book because of its introductory nature. Even so, it is a welcome addition to the book.

At sum, Mark Perakh finds that "intelligent design" amounts to a version of pseudoscience, proof of which comes through its "distortion and use of facts." He asserts: "As discussed in several previous chapters, this theory, promoted by a large group of writers, including many with scientific degrees from prestigious universities and with long lists of publications, and propagated at various levels of sophistication, has all the appearance of scientific research, as it offers definitions, hypotheses, laws, models, and theories like a genuine science. What is absent in the intelligent design theory, though, is evidence. No relevant data which would support its hypotheses, laws, models, or theories are found in the articles and books written by proponents of intelligent design--only unsubstantiated assumptions. Therefore it can justifiably be viewed as pseudoscience" (p. 326).

"Unintelligent Design" is a powerful argument against the rise of the new creationism offered with the catchy title of "intelligent design." It should become essential reading for anyone who has to deal with this subject in both public and private settings. It also offers greater understanding for those studying the findings of Darwinian evolution.

Remember Voltaire?.......2006-07-11

Whether Dr. Perakh is entirely wrong, partially right, or entirely right is almost irrelevant. Anyone trying to understand his ideas has to dig them out of a tremendous pile of dirt he heaps on his opponents' (or victims?) heads. This alone makes his arguments highly suspect. There are few, if any, cases when someone resorting to vicious personal attacks in a purportedly scientific argument has been right.

Unintelligent Design: Why God Isn't as Smart as She Thinks She Is

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Thank God for Robyn Williams
Two-day job

Unintelligent Design: Why God Isn't as Smart as She Thinks She Is
Robyn Williams
Manufacturer: Allen & Unwin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1741149231

Book Description

Providing a humorous argument against creationism, this witty book debunks popular theories of intelligent design while showing how science can explain nearly everything, including sinus pain, hedonism, hernias, and morality. This critique of conservatism is supported by concrete scientific evidence and uses clever syllogisms to ask Why make the earth, the solar system, our galaxy, and all the rest when the Garden of Eden was all that was wanted? and If man is made in God’s image, does God ever get a back ache? Contending that intelligent design is a political movement that limits intellectual freedom, this book will fuel the current debate among fundamentalists, scientists, politicians, and the rest.

Customer Reviews:

Thank God for Robyn Williams.......2007-10-05

Thoroughly enjoyed this book by Robyn Williams, and despite being a fan of his superb radio shows The Science Show and Ockham's Razor, I had never read him before now. It is much as you'd expect if you've ever listened to those shows, as he clearly and humorously decries the rise of ID. He doesn't attempt to make a book showing the mountain of evidence against ID, as he states many books do this such as the excellent An Ancestor's Tale. ID has clearly annoyed him, much as it has Richard Dawkins and the tens of thousands of other professional evolutionary biologists. He expresses this annoyance with wit and charm, and presents a good overview of the state of play in the argument between the science of evolution and the politcal maneuvering (as he sees it) of ID as it stands today. It isn't written to convince creationists, more to amuse and inform those who accept evolution's place alongside gravity, relativity, plate tectonics and thermodynamics in the Science Theories Hall of fame.

Two-day job.......2007-02-14

Robyn Williams is a very intelligent and witty man, and he has written some clever and informative books.

This, most emphatically, is not one of them.

I would never have thought Williams would produce anything so careless; it looks as if he spent about two days writing it.

For a man who normally researches things very well, the incredible thing is that he seems to know next to nothing about his topic. He gives absolutely no evidence that he has actually read any of the authors he claims to be criticizing. He seems to think he can refute ID by referring to some aspects of human anatomy that he regards as "unintelligent", showing a complete ignorance of what the term "intelligent design" actually means.

In place of logic, he resorts to insults, and some pretty bizarre insults at that. He says ID is "devious", "deceitful", "terrorism", a "Trojan Turkey", "inimical to the truth", and "as scientific as the tooth fairy or Santa Claus". He accuses it of springing up "like a boil on a bum".
He does not even attempt to justify these insults.

Most incredible of all is his "argument" against irreducible complexity, which avoids the issue completely. Well, why bother to refute your opponent's argument when you can come up with an incredibly stupid argument of your own?
Ironically, he condemns "ID's proud and wilful ignorance of what science actually says", while proudly displaying his own wilful ignorance of his subject.

Design, agency, baloney.(Unintelligent Design)(Book Review): An article from: Skeptic (Altadena, CA)

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Design, agency, baloney.(Unintelligent Design)(Book Review): An article from: Skeptic (Altadena, CA)
Paul R. Gross
Manufacturer: Skeptics Society & Skeptic Magazine
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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This digital document is an article from Skeptic (Altadena, CA), published by Skeptics Society & Skeptic Magazine on March 22, 2004. The length of the article is 3166 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Design, agency, baloney.(Unintelligent Design)(Book Review)
Author: Paul R. Gross
Publication: Skeptic (Altadena, CA) (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 2004
Publisher: Skeptics Society & Skeptic Magazine
Volume: 11 Issue: 1 Page: 75(4)

Article Type: Book Review

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Unintelligent debate: time to leave behind the ID Twilight Zone.(intelligent design)(Editorial) : An article from: Church & State

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Unintelligent debate: time to leave behind the ID Twilight Zone.(intelligent design)(Editorial) : An article from: Church & State

Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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This digital document is an article from Church & State, published by Thomson Gale on February 1, 2006. The length of the article is 549 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Unintelligent debate: time to leave behind the ID Twilight Zone.(intelligent design)(Editorial)
Publication: Church & State (Magazine/Journal)
Date: February 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 59 Issue: 2 Page: 15(1)

Article Type: Editorial

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Unintelligent design.(teaching human evolution at schools) : An article from: The Progressive

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Unintelligent design.(teaching human evolution at schools) : An article from: The Progressive
Will Durst
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
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Binding: Digital

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This digital document is an article from The Progressive, published by Thomson Gale on October 1, 2005. The length of the article is 683 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Unintelligent design.(teaching human evolution at schools)
Author: Will Durst
Publication: The Progressive (Magazine/Journal)
Date: October 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 69 Issue: 10 Page: 46(1)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

This hardcover edition is available only in a premium, full-cloth binding. It will not ship with a dust jacket.

Today's business environment demands significant changes in the way we do business. Simply formulating strategy is no longer sufficient; we must also design the processes to implement it effectively. The key to change is process innovation, a revolutionary new approach that fuses information technology and human resource management to improve business performance. The cornerstone to process innovation's dramatic results is information technology--a largely untapped resource, but a crucial enabler of process innovation. In turn, only a challenge like process innovation affords maximum use of information technology's potential. Davenport provides numerous examples of firms that have succeeded or failed in combining business change and technology initiatives. He also highlights the roles of new organizational structures and human resource programs in developing process innovation. Process innovation is quickly becoming the byword for industries ready to pull their companies out of modest growth patterns and compete effectively in the world marketplace.

Customer Reviews:

A great book on Process Improvement.......2005-10-08

Thank You to Tom Davenport.

This is a wise author who wrote a great book in the early 90's. It was eclipsed a bit by Hammer and Champy's "reengineering the corporation." It has never been given the press it rightfully deserves. I read this book in 1997 and have found it to be useful over and over again. This is a book of important business insights regarding process improvement through technology. Keep in mind that the book was written prior to the internet becoming mainstream. This author saw the future and wrote about it before it happened on a wide scale.

Any business person can draw from the wealth of knowledge in this book.

The book is a must read for business analysts, managers, and project leaders in the Information Technology field.

This book, Hammer and Champy's book, Books by H James Harrington, and some of the newer Six Sigma books can form a great curriculum for those professionals undertaking process improvement initiatives in their companies.

Change is constant. When will process improvements cease to be needed? This book looks at the dynamics of process innovation/change and how it pervades organizations.

In economic downtimes, innovation can spur growth. Leaders in companies can improve their competitive advantage through process innovations and benefit from the efficiencies and savings gained through process improvements.

A roadmap for process innovation and improvement.......2000-06-14

Davenport presents a practical roadmap for process improvement and process innovation which I have found very useful as a practitioner. Although not prescriptive, the text provides practitioners with useful very insights which can form the basis of an organisation's business process innovation/improvement methodology.

Must read.......2000-03-29

This is a well-written book on the subject of process or business reengineering. It is written in a non-technical language, wastes few words, and covers the entire spectrum of topics that are essential to a successful reengineering effort. The discussions place a significant emphasis on the role that information or computer technology play today in the reengineering effort, particularly how this technology can facilitate the overall effort. I found the book largely sticking to the overall thread however at times it did become a wee bit academic to flip through the sections. All in all, a very good read.

Creating Tomorrow's Organization: Unlocking the Benefits of Future Work

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A summary of trends

Creating Tomorrow's Organization: Unlocking the Benefits of Future Work
David Birchall
Manufacturer: Financial Times/Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0273610945

Book Description

This is a comprehensive guide to creating tomorrow's virtual corporation today.

Customer Reviews:

A summary of trends.......2000-08-02

New organisational trends and fads are a big business. If you manage to introduce one, you can be assured of lucrative lecturing and publishing deals. You cannot avoid thinking these realities of modern consulting as you read how Birchall and Lyons try to glue together ideas like teleworking, hotdesking, networking, distributed teams, business process re-engineering, virtual and learning organisations, etc. in order to build their concept of Future Work. The problem is, there is nothing new in this book, and quotes from literature make up a considerable part of the 274 pages. What is more, there is a lot of redundancy in addition to the introductions and executive summaries of each chapter. Finally, the language used is unnecessarily tangled and tricky. A good editor should have been able to shave away dozens of pages without removing any actual content.

Amazon.com

If there was ever a company that epitomized corporate downsizing, it's AT&T. Between 1984 and 1995, the company managed to slash some 120,000 jobs, and in 1996, in a bit of bravado and posturing for Wall Street, it announced the elimination of another 40,000 jobs (the final number, however, was considerably less). In Disconnected, author Barbara Rudolph looks at the lives of six white-collar workers--a telephone operator, engineer, salesperson, business strategist, corporate planner, and an assistant staff planner--who in AT&T's terms were "accepted for the package," "involuntarily separated," or in real terms, were fired.

Rudolph argues that the American workplace has undergone a profound and lasting change. In the '50s and '60s job security was part of the social contract in a "world of three television networks and one phone company, a single computer giant, and a small clique of regulated airlines." These days, that contract has all but disappeared in the wake of much more fluid and competitive global business environment. She writes:

"Like many of their peers, these six came to see the organization as a kind of family. If they did not perceive it as benevolent, they assumed that it was more or less benign. They imbued it, too, with a rationality and coherence that did not actually exist. They lost sight of the fact that a company is not a purposeful entity but merely a set of shifting alliances that mix people and power, ego and intellect."

At the heart of Disconnected is the story of how these six workers moved beyond the initial insecurity and pain of their joblessness to redefine themselves, find happiness, and at least for five of the six, move on to new and productive careers. Disconnected is a useful primer to the inevitable career changes that most of us will have to undergo as the workplace lurches forward into the new millennium. --Harry C. Edwards

Book Description

The economy is booming, yet healthy, profitable companies continue to lay off hundreds of thousands of employees and downsizing has become a permanent part of the landscape of corporate America. In Disconnected, acclaimed journalist Barbara Rudolph puts a human face on this new economic reality, through intimate portraits of six people whose lives were irrevocably changed when they lost their jobs at AT&T.

When they were cut loose from the corporate fold at AT&T -- an American icon that once promised lifetime job security and claimed the unquestioning allegiance of its employees -- these six people made a difficult transition from the old world of work to the new one. Rudolph takes us inside the lives of Maggie, a feisty telephone operator whose job was made obsolete by technology; Tom, a brilliant executive who survived unscathed through childhood polio and the Vietnam War, but never fulfilled his early promise; Vince, a soft-spoken manager, son of the first black general counsel at GM, who found strength in his father's legacy; Barbara, a self-sufficient salesperson who learned to move on; Larry, a blunt-speaking, rumpled-looking Bell Labs engineer, who was bolstered by early fame; and Kyle, a strategist who discovered how to land on his feet and look out for himself.

These are moving tales of resilience and triumph, terror and redemption. With empathy and a reporter's instinct for telling detail, Rudolph eloquently portrays the full impact of downsizing on her individual subjects and their families. Each struggled to reclaim a sense of self in the wake of this loss. Each emerged with radically different notions of loyalty, commitment, and personal responsibility.

Many of us have made this journey; many others will. Through these six lives, Rudolph sheds new light on the connection between work and identity, between who we are and what we do. What does it mean today to be a company man or woman in an environment defined by bald individualism and emotional detachment? And most important, how do we find security and meaning in the unmapped territory of the new world of work? The people who survive share something precious, Rudolph concludes: "They have come to comprehend their value, independent of their corporate identity. They have claimed their personal dignity."

Customer Reviews:

A moving, sensitive, and compelling set of portraits..........1998-09-04

Barbara Rudolph has accomplished a very difficult task: she has completely humanized the relationships between people and their work, and has gotten six long-term, loyal employees of AT&T who were downsized (fired, dismissed) after many years of service to reveal their thoughts, feelings, fears and triumphs in the aftermath of that blow to their self-image, their self-esteem and their security. It is less an attack on America's corporate culture than it is a tribute to the essence of the people who are the real shapers of our economy and our culture. Rudolph, who according to the bio on the book,has been a business writer for major publications, obviously understands the corporate culture and sets her human stories in a very professionally rendered account of the changing nature of employment and of the corporation as family, then she introduces her subjects to fill in the important aspects of our attitudes toward work and the identities we shape through it. It's wonderful. And, I was first attracted ot the book by the back-cover blurbs from Richard Sennett and Earl Shorris, whose recommendations are once again justified.

Employment and Technical Change in Europe: Work Organization, Skills and Training

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Employment and Technical Change in Europe: Work Organization, Skills and Training

Manufacturer: Edward Elgar Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Labor & Industrial Relations | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Unemployment | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Vocational Guidance | Job Hunting & Careers | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Labor & Industrial Relations | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1852787759

Job Design and Technology: Taylorism vs. Anti-Taylorism (Routledge Advances in Management and Business Studies, 4)

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Job Design and Technology: Taylorism vs. Anti-Taylorism (Routledge Advances in Management and Business Studies, 4)
Hans Pruijt
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

This book provides a systematic analysis of anti-Taylorist activity at a shop-floor level, analyzing 150 cases of anti-Taylorist initiatives in Scandinavia, the UK and the Netherlands.

The Machine at Work: Technology, Work and Organization

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Interesting but could benefit from primary sources

The Machine at Work: Technology, Work and Organization
Keith Grint , and Steve Woolgar
Manufacturer: Polity Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0745609244

Book Description

This highly topical book is a concise and accessible account of the relationship between technology and work. Firstly, it reviews and critically assesses a variety of recent approaches to the social and cultural dimensions of technology. Secondly, it examines the implications of these new approaches for existing ideas about the nature of technology and work organization.At the core of much thinking about technology is the assumption that the technical character and capacity of artefacts is given. The enduring image of deus ex machina captures the idea that it is the essential capacity 'within' a technology which, in the end, accounts for the way we organize ourselves, our work and other life experiences. Recent work in the sociology of technology, by contrast, sets out relativist and constructivist accounts of technology, which begin to challenge this central assumption.The Machine at Work includes a reinterpretation of the Luddites; a review of the social processes of development in information technology; a reassessment of theories of the role of technology in work; and an analysis of the common limitations of some constructivist and feminist perspectives on technology. The book argues that only a commitment to a particular conception of constructivism enables the kind of radical rethinking about technology and work relations that is needed.This engaging and informative text will be of interest to students in a range of subject areas - from sociology, organizational theory and behaviour, to industrial relations, management and business studies.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting but could benefit from primary sources.......2003-11-28

In the Poverty of Theory, E.P. Thompson argues for a truly material history. Thompson's argument, like his historiographical practice, is to use primary sources and to allow theories to develop out of the scrutiny of those sources. Grint and Woolgar apply sociological methods to the study of Luddism, the resistance to technology, and the social organization of technologically-centered labory. The actor-network theory that they unfold could do much to explain societal and worker attitudes toward machine-based labor; however, The theory they develop could do much to explain society and worker attitudes toward machine-based labor; however, the theory is left unsupported by primary sources. It might be that primary sources from those working-class writers, some of whom were prolific writers expressing their own views, could buttress Grint and Woolgar's theories, but, as it is, Grint and Woolgar refer only to secondary sources for the groundwork for their theories. I was fascinated by the book, learned a great deal, and recommend the book, but I would like to see how Grint and Woolgar's theories work with primary historical documents.

Managing New Technological Change: Case Studies in the Reorganization of Work (Avebury Business School Library)

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Managing New Technological Change: Case Studies in the Reorganization of Work (Avebury Business School Library)
Peter Wilkins
Manufacturer: Avebury
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1856283364

Researching Enterprise Development: Action Research on the Cooperation Between Management and Labour in Norway (Dialogues on Work and Innovation)

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Researching Enterprise Development: Action Research on the Cooperation Between Management and Labour in Norway (Dialogues on Work and Innovation)

Manufacturer: John Benjamins Publishing Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Labor Policy | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1588113345

The Sources of Military Change: Culture, Politics, Technology (Making Sense of Global Security)

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The Sources of Military Change: Culture, Politics, Technology (Making Sense of Global Security)

Manufacturer: Lynne Rienner Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1555879756

Book Description

Are you bored with characters who are too good or too evil to believe, tired of plots about threats to the world by sinister evil gangs, tired of the obligatory sex scenes? Welcome to 13 everyday nasty type people talking hypocritically and doing despicable things leading to murder. Can you solve these `who done it' murders, given sufficient clues?

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