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Technocracy is dealing with social phenomena in the widest sense of that word; this includes not only actions of human beings but also everything else which directly or indirectly affects their actions. Consequently, the studies of Technocracy embrace practically the whole fields of science and industry. Biology, climate, natural resources, and industrial equipment, all enter into the social picture. Consequently, no one can expect to have any understanding of our present social problems without having at least a panoramic view of the basic relationships of these essential elements of the picture. All things on the earth are composed of matter, and therefore require a knowledge of chemistry. These things move, and in so doing involve energy. An understanding of these relationships requires a knowledge of physics. Industrial equipment, as well as the substances of which living organisms are composed, are derived from the earth; this requires a knowledge of geology and earth processes. Man is himself an organism, and derives his food from other organisms; hence, a knowledge of biology is necessitated.
The purpose of the Technocracy study course, which is for members only, is not to give to any person a comprehensive knowledge of science and technology, but rather to present an outline of the essential elements of these various fields, as they pertain to the social problem, in a unified picture. Neither are these lessons a textbook. They are instead, a guide to study. The materials to be studied are to a great extent already very well written in various standard and authentic references and texts in the fields of science.
At the end of each lesson there is cited a series of references. If one is sincerely interested in learning what Technocracy is, one of the best means of doing so is by mastering the basic material contained in these references, or its equivalent from other sources.
The scope of materials in this course of studies is so broad that it is very doubtful that any group will have among its members a single person competent to discuss all topics. It is quite probable, however, that there may be individual members who are engineers, physicians, and people with other branches of technical training. The procedure therefore recommended for conducting the course is that of the seminar method-each member of the group is i student, and none is the teacher. Under this method there should be a permanent presiding officer, but discussion leaders should b(- chosen from among the group with topics assigned on the basis of making the best uses of the talent afforded by the group. Thus, for the matter and energy discussions, use should be made of members with training in physics, chemistry or engineering. For the biological discussions use should be made of physicians, or of people having training in biology. For the mineral resources, people with a knowledge of geology should be the preferred leaders.
The above suggestions are offered only as guides to the Technocrats who are studying the Course. If special talent in the various fields is not available, then any suitable leader can direct the discussion, using the outline and references as sources of information. The important thing is to get a comprehensive view of the problem as a whole, rather than of its parts as unrelated scraps of knowledge. Following are descriptions of some of the books which Technocrats read in connection with the Study Course.
Dantzig, Tobias: Number, the Language of Science; A critical survey written for the cultured non-mathematician. New York, The Macmillan Co., 1930; viii, 260 pages, plates.
Mathematics has always stood in the popular mind as a symbol of everything abstruse, remote, final, hopelessly rigorous and correct: for this view we are still much indebted to the mathematical idealism of Pythagoras and Plato. Actually, however, no science has grown so slowly, followed more false leads, gone more astray in bogs of speculation and sterile intellectual jugglery. This excellent volume by a member of the United States Bureau of Standards can be recommended to the interested layman, not only for the human charm with which the author invests the `Queen of the Sciences, I but for the substantial historical background it provides for a true appreciation of mathematical thought. Dr. Dantzig begins with `number-sense' and continues through the early gropings of arithmetic, geometry and algebra; discusses the rise and growth of symbols; the Irrational, Incommensurate, and Transcendental. Guided by such great figures as Leibnitz, Fermat, Newton, Euler, Cantor, Gauss, Dedekind, Hilbert, we journey from zero to the infinite: yet, if we are wise, we will recognize--as does Technocracy--that every step forward in this vast domain has not only been gained at a heavy cost, but that the gain itself is measured ultimately, by the success with which a new mathematical procedure can be utilized (through science and technology) to solve some problem of the actual world. If, as David Hilbert said, mathematics is a game played according to certain rules, it is nevertheless a game played by fallible beings in their unending efforts not merely to understand but to dominate Reality.
Maxwell, James Clerk: Matter and Motion; reprinted, with notes and appendices by Sir Joseph Larmor. London, The Sheldon Press, (American distributors, The Macmillan Co.), 1925; xv, 163 pages.
This remarkable little book by one of the greatest mathematical physicists of all time was first published in 1877: its reissue in 1920 is sufficient proof of the vitality inherent in all fundamental scientific thought. It is recommended because of the clear and rigorous way in which are developed the concepts of force, motion, work, energy, and `material systems.' The treatment, although advanced and frequently mathematical, should not prove a stumbling block to anyone with a fair knowledge of physics and a genuine interest in the methods of science-which are, ultimately, those of strict observation, correlation, and exact quantitative measurement. Particular attention is directed to the chapters on force and energy, which are basic to all phenomena exhibiting motion, and thus fundamental to an understanding of Technocracy. If the reader will strive to appreciate and share Clerk Maxwell's lifelong interest in the `go' of things, he will not only gain much from a careful study of this book, but find it both possible and profitable to approach social phenomena with something of the objective clarity which has always distinguished the conquests of science, and which now, through Technocracy, seeks to become effective in the domain hitherto consecrated to the speculations of philosophy, the animosities of politics and the values of economics.
Andrade, E. N. DA C.: The Mechanism of Nature; being a simple approach to modern views on the structure of matter and radiation. London, G. Bell & Sons, Ltd., 1930; xii, 170 pages.
The seven chapters which make up this extremely readable book by one of England's best known physicists consider such important matters as heat and energy, sound, light, and radiation; electricity and magnetism; the atom and the Quantum Theory. Professor Andrade has remarkable talent in exposition, and the reader is advised not to permit his enjoyment of the author's style to undermine his attention to the matters in hand. Particularly noteworthy is the chapter on heat and energy, which provides excellent material to supplement the more abstruse treatment of those subjects in Clerk Maxwell's book. The problems of heat transfer and energy exchanges are well posed and clarified, as is also the theory of probabilities as it applies in the kinetic theory of gases. Light and radiation, sound and vibration (the latter being Andrade's special field) are skillfully discussed, with many examples from common life, and references to such critical experiments as those of Michelson and Morley. The chapters on the atom, and on Quantum Theory are among the best short discussions of these rapidly changing subjects thus far written for the layman. Largely factual in character--and to this extent liable to correction through subsequent discoveries-- this little volume will nevertheless go far to establish a finer appreciation of the importance of exact observation and close reasoning in dealing with natural phenomena: of which so many are now irrevocably part and parcel of the social macrocosm studied by Technocracy.
Cajori, Florian: A History of Physics in its Elementary Branches; including the Evolution of Research Laboratories; revised and enlarged edition. New York, The Macmillan Co., 1929; xiii, 424 pages.
There can be no better foundation for an understanding of the physical sciences than a sound general knowledge of their history. For physics proper such a knowledge is admirably supplied by this short but scholarly and readable volume by one of America's foremost historians of mathematics. The somewhat cursory treatment of ancient and medieval science (which receives only thirty pages) is followed by chapters on the Renaissance (Copernicus, Kepler, Stevinus, Galileo, Gilbert, Francis Bacon), and on the seventeenth and following centuries. The gradual progression of quantitative physical ideas is illustrated by constant reference to the work of such pioneers as Newton, Boyle, Black, Lavoisier, Laplace, and Huygens; with each step forward the basic concept of energy is more firmly established until, in the twentieth century, atomic physics, radioactivity, and the brilliant formulations of Max Planck set up a challenge to all old ways of thinking about the world and the universe which the future will have to heed. Cajori's book is recommended principally because it gives a sense of that inevitable drawing together of scientific method and social thought which forms the basic conviction of Technocracy and will prove its final justification as a fertile approach to the problems of society considered as a functioning organism.
Mott-Smith, Morton: This Mechanical World; an introduction to popular physics. New York, D. Appleton & Co., 1931; xvi, 233 pages, illus., bibl.; New World of Science Series, ed. by Watson Davis.
If, as Technocracy has indicated in no uncertain terms, modern society is becoming more and more a dynamic phenomena, an understanding of the principles of dynamics might well be given the right of way over the a priori speculations of traditional economics and sociology. Mott-Smith's volume is admirably suited to provide the intelligent, non-technical reader with a background in this great branch of the physical sciences. Believing that `it is important for our security and progress to know and understand the physical environment in which we live,' Professor Mott-Smith loses no time in getting at the heart of his subject. Hydrostatics, inertia, force, acceleration; the laws of motion and gravitation; mass, weight, and momentum; the conservation of energy and the forms of energy; old beliefs and modern theories of physical phenomena-these are a few of the things discussed, with adequate references to the great pioneers from Archimedes through Galileo to, Newton, Maxwell and Ernst Mach. The reader is made to realize the importance of clear ideas and exact measurement in dealing with natural phenomena, and the frequent use of homely examples, such as the lever, inclined plane, pulleys, and projectiles, help to drive home the basic concepts of dynamics--particularly those which show the inseparable relationship between energy expended and work accomplished. From the viewpoint of Technocracy, this popular exposition of mechanics is commendable not only for the skill shown in presenting difficult material, but because this material, properly assimilated, will give the layman a keener appreciation of the impersonal forces underlying even the last stronghold of human values-society.
Cannon, Walter B.: The Wisdom of the Body; New York, W. W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1932; xv, 312 pages, diagrams, bibl.
Recommended by Technocracy because it is one of the few recent books which describe that primitive biological prime mover, Man, in the terms and with the special objective methods of science. The author, Dr. Cannon, is not only one of America's foremost living physiologists who has been widely honored here and abroad, but is also a very gifted expositor of his specialty. In this volume, intended for the layman, he reveals the human body as a mechanism of extraordinary complexity and adaptability: with each of the major functions--respiratory, digestive, circulatory and reproductive--there are associated others that express themselves in determinate ways, and in entire accordance with the principle of the conservation of energy. The outcome of all this largely automatic internal activity is the attainment and maintenance of what Professor Cannon calls `homeo-stasis' and which he defines as `the coordinated physiological processes which maintain most of the steady states in the organism'--that is to say, which insure the proper stability against environmental and physiological disturbances. The use of the expression `steady states' is peculiarly appropriate, for it is one of the terms widely used in thermodynamics and is employed also by Technocracy to describe those social structures in which that highly stabilized engine, Man, was the principal engine of energy conversion. Professor Cannon, in a suggestive final chapter, attempts a parallel between physiological and `social' homeo-stasis which should not be taken too seriously: he does, however, recognize that stability results from an even flow of the materials of the organism. This is a shrewd approach to the view of Technocracy; that smooth social operation depends solely upon the rates of flow of the available physical energy as converted into use-forms and services.
Petrie, Flinders: Social Life in Ancient Egypt; London, Constable & Co., Ltd., reissue, 1932; viii, 210 pages.
Sir Flinders Petrie needs no introduction to those with any interest in, or knowledge of, archaeology or the history of human cultures. To a thoroughgoing scholarship and extensive field experience he adds what, from the point of view of Technocracy, is of supreme importance to all engaged in historical research: keen appreciation of the natural factors on which all human societies depend, and by which alone they can function adequately. It is for this reason that his small but remarkably well-informed volume on Egyptian social life is included here: in six chapters we are given a picture of an ancient society as it actually worked under the special conditions imposed by nature. We see the framework of this society, bounded by king, priest, warrior and slave; the conditions of labor are set forth, and authentic details regarding such colossal achievements as the Pyramids enable us to realize both the pathos and the terrific efficiency of the institution of human slavery --that historic progenitor of technology and the machine. The administration of Egypt and the intricacies of court life; existence in town and country; legal, political and social customs (many of them suggestively `modern'); and, particularly to be noticed, very full accounts of commerce, manufacturers and trades, primitive industries; weights and measures; construction and national defense. In effect, what Sir Flinders Petrie has done in 200 compact pages is to give us one of the most instructive accounts we know on ancient society as a functioning organism rather than as a static repetition of dynastic and political changes on the level of nationalist chicanery. One reason for this stimulating dynamic attitude may be found in these words taken from the opening chapter: `It is not too much to say that the discoverer is the maker of society. Every step of discovery or invention reacts on the structure of social relations. We can see this around us today; . . . . the present use of electric power and of the internal combustion engine for motors, will entirely alter the relation of town and country.' To this extent at least, Technocracy gladly acknowledges Sir Flinders Petrie as a worthy ally.
Voskuil, Walter A.: Minerals in Modern Industry; Philadelphia, John Wiley & Sons, 1930; 350 pages.
Technocracy is able to recommend this book as containing one of the most readable and concise summaries available of the mineral position of the United States in relation to the rest of the world; and also because of the emphasis it lays upon the basic role played by minerals in our present industrial social mechanism. The author's occasional departure from the scientific terms of mass and energy and his discussion of certain phases of the question in the non-scientific terms derived from economic theory (in particular those centering about `value' and `monetary costs') would be much more objectionable had he not made clear his adherence to a broad social welfare point of view. This view has led him to recognize the imperative need for the conservation and wise use of mineral resources, thus automatically invalidating his references to the traditional Price System methods of evaluating and operating the functional sequences of industry. It is to just such paradoxes and contradictions in current thought on social problems that Technocracy has consistently been directing public attention.
Leith, C. K.: World Minerals and World Politics; New York, Whittlesey House (McGraw-Hill Co.), 1931; 193 pages.
Professor Leith is the head of the Geology Department of the University of Wisconsin and one of the leading authorities on world mineral resources. He is also a wealthy owner of iron interests. This dual position of the author is faithfully reflected in his book. Technocracy regrets that it can unreservedly recommend only those chapters dealing with Professor Leith's proper scientific domain: world minerals. In these he discusses, with the skill and competence possible only to one thoroughly familiar with the subject, the geographical areas of the earth with regard to minerals, emphasizing the close interdependence of these areas, their various strong points and weaknesses. Here he almost recognizes some of the conclusions long held by Technocracy: that actual wealth is the degradation of available energy into socially desirable use-forms and services, and is thus measurable only in the quantitative units derived from the physical sciences. The chapters on world politics in relation to minerals, however, appear to have been written by the author in his capacity as owner of large iron interests, for in them he relaxes in scientific detachment, attempting to elucidate ways and means for the further exploitation of mineral resources according to the still accepted canons of the Price System and of that `absentee ownership' so shrewdly analyzed by Thorstein Veblen. Technocracy therefore discards these chapters as having no relevance to the subject in hand, and as being inspired by an attitude with which it has nothing in common.
Usher, Abbott Payson: A History of Mechanical Inventions; New York, McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1929; 390 pages, illus., bibl.
This well-documented and generously illustrated volume is of major importance to those who wish to acquire a correct insight into the technological factors of modern life. Disregarding the somewhat loose psychological speculations on the.nature of invention in general (Particularly the references to the `Gestalt theory' of human behavior) the reader may concentrate his interest in the fascinating story that begins with the `eolipile' steam toy of Hero and comes down to the internal combustion engine of the modern motor car and aeroplane. Despite the steady efforts of man to eliminate toil through mechanical aids, and the support of a growing body of exact scientific knowledge (here again Galileo scored many triumphs), the actual saving in human labor was negligible until James Watt inaugurated the Age of Power by his improved steam engine about the time of America's Declaration of Independence. Professor Usher is particularly full in his discussions of water wheels and wind mills, clocks and watches; the invention of printing; textile machinery; and he has an unusually valuable chapter on the mechanical genius of that great forerunner of modern technology, Leonardo da Vinci. Other chapters on machine tools, quantity production, and power complete a volume which Technocracy can thoroughly recommend for the clear understanding it will give intelligent readers of the slow progression of man through the centuries of toil to the rapidly accelerating Epoch of Power. Professor Usher's general point of view is well stated in the following sentence: `The technological sciences furnish the account of the most important single factor in the active transformation of the environment by human activity'--provided that by `human activity' we understand, not labor in the sense intended by Adam Smith or even the Physiocrats on whom he drew so generously, but `exploitation by man of extraneous physical energies converted to his use through technological means.'
Soddy, Frederick: Wealth, Virtual Wealth and Debt, the Solution of the Economic Paradox; New York, E. P. Dutton & Co., 1926; 320 pages.
This, the only volume in the group dealing in any specific way with the subject of economics is included because the author is primarily a scientist of notable achievements in the field of physics. Nobel Prize winner in chemistry, discoverer of isotopes, collaborator with Lord Rutherford in pioneer researches on atomic structure and radio-activity, Professor Soddy attempts here a very interesting thing: the reduction of economics to quantitative methods of analysis. In view of the hasty charge of plagiarism brought against Technocracy in connection with this book, it is desirable to point out: first, that Soddy's earlier chapters (up to the sixth) give a valuable account of the social implications of modern science, particularly in the fields of thermodynamics and energy-exchanges; second, that the necessity for interpreting social forces in terms of dynamic physical forces susceptible to measurement and control, is very pressing; third, that through inability, or unwillingness to follow these vital premises through, Soddy still maintains the traditional view of `wealth' as bearing some functional relation to the `value medium' of money rather than--as is basic to Technocracy-- to quantitative units derived from the conversion of available physical energy into use-forms and services. This peculiar confusion of thought is reminiscent of Tycho Brahe's ingenious effort to reconcile the exploded Ptolemaic cosmogony with the Copernician, or of Joseph Priestley's last ditch defense of the `Phlogiston theory' his own experiments did so much to discredit. For this reason Technocracy, however appreciative of Professor Soddy's valiant and suggestive attempt to recast economics in a scientific form, must qualify its recommendation of this volume by a warning which may be thus generalized: Economic theory, as it has come down to us from `yesterday's seven thousand static years,' can neither be reconciled with, nor recast by, these methods of the physical sciences now functionally dominant in our modern industrial mechanisms: it must be discarded.
The books herein listed are intended primarily to be read by Technocrats in conjunction with the Technocracy Study Course which points out the social implications of the physical factors and laws described. The books are on two separate levels of technicality--elementary, and advanced. Those on the elementary level may be read by people not already familiar with mathematics, physics, and chemistry. Those on the advanced level are primarily for technically trained people who have a moderately advanced knowledge of mathematics, physics, and chemistry. In no case have cheap popularizations been included, and in all cases the books presented are among the best that exist in the English language. As better books become available this bibliography will be changed so as to include them.
All of the United States Government Publications may be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents, United States Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C.
Canada Year Book, Dominion Bureau of Statistics, Ottawa, Ontario. (A wide selection of other statistical material regarding Canada may be obtained from the same source).
[This list is from 1938, see the Technocracy Publications page for the current list]
| Science vs Chaos, by Howard Scott | 10 cents |
| America Must Show the Way | 10 cents |
| The Mystery of Money | 10 cents |
| The Energy Certificate | 10 cents |
| Technocracy in Plain Terms | 5 cents |
The foregoing list is subject to change as new pamphlets are added. A catalogue will be mailed upon written request. In addition to these pamphlets a wide selection of free literature is available to those who request information on Technocracy.
The following magazines, prepared by members of Technocracy Inc., and sustained without advertising income, contain reports of technological advance, physical change, and up-to-the-minute commentary on all phases of this Continent's social trend. [This list is from 1938, see the Technocracy Publications page for the current list]
Technocracy, the official magazine, published by Continental Headquarters, 155 East 44th Street, New York, N. Y.; 15 cents a copy, $1.50 for 12 issues, $1.00 for 8 issues.
Technocracy Digest, published by Section 1, R. D. 12349, 307 West Pender Street, Vancouver, B. C.; 10 cents a copy, $1.00 for 12 issues.
Eighty-One Forty-One, published by Section 2, R. D. 8141, 438 The Old Arcade, Cleveland, Ohio; 10 cents a copy, $1.00 for: 12 issues.
The Technocrat, published by Regional Division 11833-11834, 154 West 12th Street, Los Angeles, Calif.; 10 cents, $1.00 for 12 issues.
The Section Post, published by Section 1, R. D. 12245 P.O. 1003, Portland, Oregon; 10 cents a copy; $ 1.00 for 12 issues.
The Foothills Technocrat, published by Section 1, R. D. 11451, 305 I.O.O.F. Bldg., Calgary, Alberta; 10 cents a copy, $1.00 for 12 issues.
The Northern Technocrat, published by Section 1, R. D. II 353, Box 371, Edmonton, Alberta; 10 cents a copy, $1.00 for 12 issues.
The Prairie Technocrat, published by Section 1, R. D. 9749, 342 Main. Street, Winnipeg, Man.; 5 cents a copy; 50 cents for 12 issues.
The Southwest Corner, published by Section 1, R. D. 11732, 964 Fifth Avenue, San Diego, Calif.; 5 cents a copy, 50 cents for 12 issues.
Technocratic America, a publication of Regional Division 11734, R.R. 2, Box 524, Fontana, Calif.; 5 cents a copy, 50 cents for 12 issues.
The Desert Salute, published by Section 1, R. D. 11734, Box 123, Hinkley, Calif.; gratis.
There has been much discussion concerning the origin of the body of ideas for which the term Technocracy now stands. Speculation concerning this point has focused attention upon the work of Thorstein Veblen as the source of inspiration, with particular reference to the Engineers and the Price System as the animating force. Such conclusions are quite contrary to the facts.
Shortly after the close of the World War, Scott was introduced to Veblen by a mutual acquaintance who recognized,that the two men had come to quite similar conclusions concerning the operation of the social mechanism--Scott by way of physical science and Veblen by hacking his way through the preconceptions of economics. In the Engineers and the Price System which was written after contact with Scott, Veblen indulges in extrapolations that are at wide variance with the work since accomplished by Technocracy.
Veblen's position at that time is expressed in his published works such as The Theory of Business Enterprise, The Instinct of Workmanship, The Place of Science in Modern Civilization, Imperial Germany and the Industrial Revolution. Scott was not at that time acquainted with the works of Veblen and although Scott's published statements are of a later date,. to those who knew both, during the years immediately following the War when Technocracy was organized, there can be no question as to the complete independence of the two men and their theories. You cannot state Scott's theory in terms of Veblenian formulations, nor can you express Veblen's economic theory in terms of Scott's theory of energy determinants.
Veblen was working at that time under the point of view expressed in his note Why is Economics not an Evolutionary Science which is found in The Place of Science in Modern Civilization. Scott approached his work under the theories of physical science. It was this approach by way of physical science to the problems of explaining and operating the social mechanism that enabled him to take the next all important step: the substituting of a metrical for the prevailing `value' interpretation of the social mechanism. In this manner, he was able to reduce such generalized concepts as the accelerating productivity of the state of the industrial arts' to quantitative terms with which physical science and technology could deal.
In their treatment of `price' (Veblen in The Theory of Business Enterprise and Scott in Part III of this book) and its bearing upon the productivity of the industrial system it is difficult to distinguish between the two points of view. To both, `price' is an independent variable that intrudes and, through its controls, serves to throw the system out of balance. Nor is there any important distinction to be drawn from their handling of debt.
The body of ideas for which Technocracy acts as spokesman is seemingly foreshadowed in the recent drift of modern common sense as it has gradually taken form under the impact of physical science and technology. Veblen was caught in that drift and he gave it both acceleration and direction. Scott likewise was caught in it; but being free of the preconceptions of economics, he was able to turn his knowledge of physical science to bear directly upon the problems of the physical operations of a social mechanism that had already passed under the dominating control of science and technology.