The Illusory Boundary: Environment and Technology in History

Reuss (historian, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, retired) and Cutcliffe (history, Lehigh University) present essays on the permeability of nature and technology in history and in the present. They begin with ways in which human beings understand their environment and technology. Essays on how humans shaped their environment through industrialization and water diversions point out that these are still ways in which we use nature. The history of how waste is disposed of is a good example of this as two essays stress. In the midst of the debate on genetic engineering of our food, the articles on selective breeding of tomatoes and organisms as "factories" are particularly apt. Concluding essays provide a review of the literature on the subject and an overview of the topics addressed. The overarching argument is that we cannot treat nature and technology as opposing forces but must recognize how they are intertwined. Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Martin Reuss served as Senior Historian, Water Resources, in the Office of History of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for nearly twenty-five years. He is the author of Designing the Bayous: The Control of Water in the Atchafalaya Basin, 1800–1995. Stephen H. Cutcliffe is Chair of the Department of History at Lehigh University and the author of Ideas, Machines, and Values: An Introduction to Science, Technology, and Society Studies.