Appraising the Records of Modern Science and Technology

710 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE sonalities, and values, coins—we are reminded by Schumpeter—that do not readily melt. Thus, the social system of technology and industrialization may indeed be analyzed scientifically but “only on the basis of an ordering principle, or a group of premises linked in various ways to the inter­ ests—in the widest sense—of the researcher and the historical context to which he belongs.” The author points this out not so much to introduce a methodological discussion ofexplanation in terms ofsocial interests but rather to establish as unsound the ingenuously positivist assumption that concrete social realities (given, invariable, and wholly knowable) are reflected in posited social systems and theoretical frameworks. More important, he notes that such positivist errors lead history and sociology to become handmaidens ofestablished interests, mere instruments “for the rationalization andjustification of the status quo.” It is no surprise, then, that the book should open with a warning against the dangers of technocracy “in its refined present day form,” which is seen as far more insidious than traditional notions of technocracy. In­ sidious, Ferrarotti says, because its structure and theoretical assump­ tions are invisible: “self-evident and self-justified and therefore not in need of either a historical dimension or a democratic legitimation.” Ferrarotti sees the process of industrialization as a fundamental cultural break—not just technical and economic, but transformative of traditional ideas and values, relating, for example, to time, to work, to class, to power, to the relationship between work and thought, and to the relationship between public and private. This analysis is strengthened by the attention he gives to the actors in the historical process (workers in the changing work environment, entrepreneurs in the corporate organization) as well as to institutions and their struc­ ture and context. The book penetrates a number of established myths about tech­ nology, not least the notion of inevitable progress being part and parcel of technical change. (Surprisingly, though, the author barely touches the vast literature on the idea of progress.) More important, he contributes to the pricking of the myth of scientific and techno­ logical development “conceived as a unilinear and basically homo­ geneous process, quite closed to local cultures and deaf, ultimately, to the problems of historical variation.” David Wade Chambers Dr. Chambers is chair of the Social Studies of Science Program at Deakin University, Victoria, Australia. He is the author of several university textbooks and has published papers on science and technology in the colonial context. Appraising the Records of Modern Science and Technology: A Guide. By Joan K. Haas, Helen W. Samuels, and Barbara T. Simmons. Cam- TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 711 bridge: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1985. Pp. 96; illus­ trations, bibliography, index. $9.00 (paper). Available from Society of American Archivists, 600 S. Federal, Ste. 504, Chicago, Illinois 60605. This guide aims to help archivists do a better job of appraising the records of science and technology. The authors present an intention­ ally simplified view of scientific and technological activities and then relate these activities to the kinds of records they produce. From the archivist’s viewpoint, the guide is very successful indeed and should improve appraisal practice. Although the work is not directed to his­ torians of technology, it is relevant to them because, if archivists use it, the quality of documentation kept for research will be affected. Appraisal—deciding what to keep and what to discard—is the professional core of archives administration. Archivists must decide what to discard because they have limited resources to acquire and service archives. Traditionally, the critically limited resources have included physical space to store voluminous records and staff to make them available for research. Emerging data storage technologies will dramatically reduce space costs but will not materially reduce staff time needed to provide access to archival documentation. Choices must be made. Although they rely on historians and others for expert advice, ultimately archivists make appraisal decisions. The guide achieves its objective of helping the archivist to under­ stand scientific and technological activities, but it focuses on how to appraise records that already have been given priority status for doc­ umentation. In other words, the guide takes up appraisal when

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