Leonardo book summary

October 25, 2011

Leonardo book reflection

Though much of the technology of the 15^th and 16^th century seems rude and elementary to us now, even then it had a positive impact in many ways on the lives of those living then. Youngsters taking jobs as apprentices were already involving themselves in the use of technology to provide additional income for their families while at the same time gaining valuable skills that would support them as they grew older and had families of their own.

Of course the technology employed during these years continued to improve and eventually brought us the printing press. This piece of technology may, depending upon your position, be one of the most important technological advances for mankind. Its creation brought about sweeping improvements in communication, the spreading of knowledge through the written word and significantly reduced the time and expense needed to produce documents. As a result of the printing press information became valuable and helped with opening more of the known world to a new age of commerce.

The Dutch, as indicated in chapter 2, relished during the 18^th century in the technology of commerce. New technologies of the day improved ships, advanced mining techniques, increased production of iron, brass, rope and greatly increased the amount of trading that took place between the Dutch and their neighbors.  Following the Dutch lead other countries also took advantage of the new technologies coming and further pushed trade and commerce to the new world, hence reshaping culture and society.

As with most things technology did not stagnant during the 18^th and 19^th century. In fact during these years technology brought about many very positive changes in the way work was completed. Now instead of needing a stable of horses or hundreds of human to bring products to market, technological advances brought about steam engines and other mechanical devices which increased the amount of product that could be produced and greatly reduced the cost of making each item, therefore dramatically increasing the profits realized. Beyond the lure of big money, technology also brought about numerous important changes that improved overall living circumstances and safety for workers, though these changes came at a slower pace than the greed for huge profits.

Heading into the 20^th century technology experienced what the book called a 2^nd industrial revolution. With many technologies being brought to market earlier, this time span saw the refining of technology which then brought us new products such as synthetic dyes, new fabrics for clothing, artificial fertilizers and organic chemistry. With the creation of untold numbers of new technologies all designed to increase human comfort, there quickly evolved a consumer mentality unseen in any previous generations. Humans began to expect there would continually be “new” products or practices to make their lives more and more comfortable and those commanding the technology were more than happy to oblige the thirst for more.  This quest for more and more of course brought about immense competition which led to patent wars between companies as each wanted to the first to bring new products to the consumer society they helped create. Being the first, like Ford, Edison or Huntsman brought these capitalists not only immense wealth but also granted them much power, influence and control in the market.

As the 20 century roared on modernism became popular and spawned yet more new technology to support its growth. This time also saw an increase in abstractism, use of new materials to build structures and more improvements in communication structures and transportation. In the middle of this century, as chapter 7 indicates, technology refocused society on the creation of the “war machine.” This mindset brought about some of the most ghastly uses of technology including atomic and nuclear weapons bent on human destruction, creation of powerful artillery and incredible losses of money for technological concepts that never came to fruition. Benefits of this war machine mindset brought about advances in computers, digital computing, factory efficiency and increased standard of living for many.

In reflecting on where the technology in this book started it hard to imagine what new things technology will bring us. In the last forty years the growth of technology has exploded. It used to take rooms and or buildings to house a computer. Now we have handheld technology that can turn the lights on from across the country and music devices that house more music selections than a wall of 8 tracks. The internet is now a given and most of you who have read this far can not remember having access to it.

Technology has globalized our world, improved our living conditions and accelerated the formats with which we communicate. Technology has increased our incomes, reduced poverty in many locations around the world and affords us the opportunity to access information in seconds.  Where will technology take us in one, three or five years?  Guess we don’t know that but we will look back on what we currently have and wonder how did we ever do it “back then.”