This is a very different book from the one I began writing four years ago... In 1991, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation provided grants to some two dozen writers to create a series of books on technology. Because technology has shaped the modern world so profoundly, Sloan wanted to give the general, non-technical reader some place to go in order to learn about the invention of television or X-rays or the development of birth control pills. This would be it. Sloan asked that each book in the series... be accessible to readers with no background in science or engineering... I took nuclear power...
—Introduction to Beyond Engineering [emphasis mine]
Robert Pool, author of the controversial look at the biological basis of gender, Eve's Rib, and longtime contributor to several distinguished science and technical journals, did not realize what a complex topic he had chosen. Originally, he intended to write "a straight-forward treatment of the commercial nuclear industry—its history, its problems, and its potential for the future." Instead, he discovered a Byzantine maze of inter-connected choices, society shaping technology, rather than the opposite. Beyond Engineering completes the circle, reflecting what he discovered back to the general, non-technical public in very accessible terms.
History and Momentum begins this journey into complexity with a look at how society has shaped the choices made in providing electricity to the user. Edison, Westinghouse, and Tesla; Szilard, Einstein and Rickover—choices made by these men before 1950 determined the economy of future decisions in the power industry. Pool then looks at The Power of Ideas, giving us a background on the concept of paradigm shift in molding scientific inquiry, before exploring how the "endless power source" paradigm shifted irretrievably to an "evil destructive nuclear polluter" view of nuclear power.
A chapter on Business looks at the rise of giants like GE, IBM, Apple and Xerox, in the background of the growing industrial demand for power; one on Complexity examines the history of steam power, the growth of the US automobile and airline industries and airplane manufacturers like McDonnell, before presenting information about nuclear generation of electric power. By doing this, Pool gives his reader a stronger base to judge the value of the information he presents.
Choices and Risk then take us into the heart of Pool's contention that society shapes technology. In delineating the choices available in nuclear power, Pool first introduces the concept by discussing previous choices: internal combustion vs. steam; QWERTY vs. the Dvorak keyboard; VHS vs. Betamax. To illustrate how risk assessments should and do guide such choices, he uses a discussion of recombinant bovine growth hormone, rBGH, and the controversy its use stirred up:
...The system of cows, humans and bacteria was simply too complex to analyze in any but the crudest detail. The calculation of risk could only be an approximation.
In such cases, where there is no clear right or wrong answer, people tend to rely on their instincts, biases and gut feelings about how the world works...
Finally, Pool looks at Control and reliability (in a section titled Managing the Faustian Bargain). The chapter on control investigates the legal system that has grown up around the power industry, by telling the story of how a former church secretary named Juanita Ellis fought the giant Texas Utilities to a standstill—for nearly a decade—over the building of the Comanche Peak nuclear power plant. In looking at reliability, Pool examines once-reliable entities such as NASA, and what happens when that reputation is allowed to substitute for acting in reliable ways. The description of a exemplary "highly-reliable organization" (a Nimitz-class carrier, written by a naval carrier officer) is notable:
So you want to understand an aircraft carrier? Well, just imagine that it's a busy day, and you shrink San Francisco Airport to only one short runway and one ramp and gate. Make planes take off and land at the same time, at half the present time interval, rock the runway from side to side, and require that everyone who leaves in the morning returns that same day. Then turn the radar off to avoid detection, impose strict controls on radio, fuel the aircraft in place with their engines running, put an enemy in the air, and scatter live bombs and rockets around. Now wet the whole thing down with salt water and oil, and man it with 20-year-olds, half of whom have never seen an airplane close up. Oh, and by the way, try not to kill anyone.
In this increasingly technological age, the complexity of technology has grown to the point where no one person can know everything about even a very restricted discipline, at the same time that more and more of societal attention is focused on how these complex systems interact. Pool's book is a good first step on the road to the re-engineering of engineering itself, and an excellent argument that such a sweeping change is essential.
Article comments
1 - RJ
"the complexity of technology has grown to the point where no one person can know everything about even a very restricted discipline"
Great point.
2 - Aaman
A necessary, somewhat related read is Thomas Kuhn's "The Structure Of Scientific Revolutions" - the paradigm shift concept saw it's formative use here.
Scientists, engineers and politicians dislike being on the downside of a paradigm shift, as they often discover themselves to be.
Great review - thank you
3 - Bill Wilson
The key point here, as you point out in the last paragraph, is *interaction*. We can design safe, efficient systems. We can interconnect them and operate them safely. However, this requires management of *interfaces*, which are often controlled inadequately. Quite frequently, interfaces are treated as shared responsibilities between functional units -- units that may have differing needs, priorities, expectations, or goals. This creates mismatches and contradictions that can lead to problems, sometimes catastrophic. Successful management of complex socio-technical systems requires managing interfaces to prevent these contradictions.
4 - Eric Olsen
very important and thought-provoking, thanks Dr.Pat! I thought it was technology that shapes society, however
5 - DrPat
I thought it was technology that shapes society, however
Eric, that appears to be what Pool thought before he commenced writing. Certainly, it is what the Sloan Foundation thought when they commissioned him to write it.
Successful management of complex socio-technical systems requires managing interfaces to prevent these contradictions.
Bill, the main contention of Pool's treatise is that these systems are already so complex that the systems themselves are escaping management - and the interfaces simply add another layer of complexity.
When a single discipline is too complex for any one person to master, the interface (requiring mastery of yet another discipline) may be hopelessly beyond reach.
A necessary, somewhat related read is Thomas Kuhn's "The Structure Of Scientific Revolutions"
Aaman, Pool cites Kuhn's seminal work in giving us background on the concept. I initially had the citation in my review, but it wound up on the cutting room floor. Thanks for restoring it here!
BTW, I love the first paragraph of the first review on Amazon:
6 - Aaman
This mode of thought is also reflected in Jared Diamond's works "Guns, Germs And Steel" and "Collapse: How Societies Chooise To Fail Or Succeed"
Nice summation, DrPat
7 - Bill Wilson
DrPat, thanks for the reply. I appreciate what you (and Pool) are saying, and even agree with it... somewhat. I just think it's an overly pessimistic viewpoint. I'll still go out and read the book though. Thanks for the review.
8 - DrPat
Rather than being pessimistic, I think Pool's work points the way to recovering control and understanding of these complex technologies. I enjoyed it, and I'm about as far from neo-Luddite as one can get!