The Children of Frankenstein

IECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 137 environment. The kinds of solutions (basically moralist and nonprogrammatic ) which are recommended in this volume (the right of all to share in social resources, the right to leisure time, the right to education, the right to employment, the right to job retraining and relocation) are projected from assumptions that do not comprehend the magnitude of the problems discussed. There are other kinds of solutions. They would require first of all the acquisition of far greater power by workers, technicians, and intellec­ tuals in businesses, corporations, and institutions. Democratic power of this kind would tend to bring decisions under the control of emploveesas -consumers. It would tend to narrow the gap between production and the satisfaction of needs, and thus help to eliminate waste and unnec­ essary production. It would restore some degree of purposefulness to work and provide social criteria (as opposed to profit criteria) for im­ plementing automation. It would strengthen the possibilities of even and rational development of productive forces, and in the form of col­ lective social planning it would reverse the rampant mutilation of the natural environment. Along with all of this it would provide new social criteria for productive activity while redefining the spheres of leisure and work. Programmatic suggestions such as these are implied in the selections by R. K. Merton and B. Seligman (in a more Luddite form) in the volume under review. But they are not fully developed as critical arguments. Willis H. Truitt* The Children of Frankenstein: A Primer on Modern Technology and Human Values. By Herbert J. Muller. Bloomington: Indiana Univer­ sity Press, 1970. Pp. 431. $10.00. The subtitle of Mr. Muller’s new work—he has previously published, among other things, a multivolume historv of freedom—tells the reader what he is being offered on more than 400 pages. The main title is puz­ zling and misleading. Puzzling, because potential readers might wonder where to look for the book: on the shelf for science fiction, mystery, or comics. In fact, it belongs on the shelf for social philosophy. Perhaps the author figured that the choice of a dramatic title might improve his chances for reaching an audience that would not normally open a philosophical book. The title is misleading because the reference to the monster which destroyed his creator made me expect another easy con­ demnation of technology, a doomsday story about how science and technology inevitably destroy man and his humanity. But Muller is too knowledgeable and too wise a man to join the rapid­ ly swelling ranks of fin de siecle Cassandras and has written a thoughtful * Dr. Truitt, of the University of South Florida, has published articles on social theory and aesthetics. He is currently engaged in research in both the history of science and technology and aesthetics and the environment. 138 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE analysis of the role of technology in our society. He first retraces the major changes brought about bv industrialization and urbanization and then considers, one by one, the impact of technology on our contem­ porary institutions, on culture, and on people. Toward the end of the book he accurately summarizes his approach: “I tried to specify the major efFects of technology, define the kind of problems they raised, point out the obvious abuses; and if I usually suggested that the pros­ pects of eliminating these abuses were not bright, at least the problems seemed relatively clear to me, as did some possible ways of doing some­ thing about them” (p. 330). Whoever lias looked for sober and balanced discussion of the complex technology-society relationship knows that there are not many books on which he can rely for help in forming his own opinion. This book, with no special pretense to originality, suc­ ceeds well in surveying the case. Muller searches for an answer to one central question: “Just what has modern technology done to as well as for people?” (p. x). The author comes to his task with a profound knowledge of literature and history (he holds the probably unique position of professor of English and government at the University of Indiana). This gives perspective and balance to his judgment. He

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