STS.007 | Fall 2010 | Undergraduate

Technology in History

Lecture Notes

Selected lecture notes are provided below.

LEC # TOPICS FILES
Unit 1: Humankind as a History-making Species
1 Introduction to class and key concepts  
2 What is technology? What is history (and prehistory)? (Visitor: Prof. Leo Marx)

Notes (PDF)

Slides (PDF)

3 Technology in prehistory: cave art

Notes (PDF)

Slides (PDF - 11.7MB)

4 Technology in “prehistory”

Notes (PDF)

Slides (PDF)

5 Historical Analogies  
Unit 2: Civilizations Based on Agriculture
6 The Neolithic Revolution

Notes (PDF)

Glossary (PDF)

7 Introduction to MIT’s 150th anniversary: class visit to MIT archives  
8 Discuss visit to Archives Notes (PDF)
9 Civilizations and Empires (part two)

See Wikipedia: Megalith

Lubbock, Tom. “Uffington White Horse (c.1000BC).” The Independent (UK), Great Art Series. 30 March 2007. 

10 Technohistorical Revolutions (part one)  
11 Technohistorical Revolutions (part two)  
12 Agrarian Civilizations (part one): megalithic agrarian civilizations Notes (PDF)
13 Agrarian Civilizations (part two): the Roman Empire as an agrarian civilization  
Unit 3: Civilizations Based on Fossil Fuels
14 The Industrial Revolution

Notes (PDF)

Slides (PDF - 4.7MB)

15 Visit to MIT Museum  
16 The Second Industrial Revolution (part one)

Notes (PDF)

Slides (PDF - 2.5MB)

17 The Second Industrial Revolution (part two)  
Unit 4: Human Empire
18 The Second Industrial Revolution (part three)  
19 The Second Industrial Revolution (part four)  
20

From Industry to Battlefield

Chemical Engineering at MIT

Notes (PDF)

Slides (PDF - 10.2MB)

21 Ground Zero (part one) Notes (PDF)
22 Ground Zero (part two)  
23 Looking Back and Beyond: General review of MIT 150

24 Looking Back and Beyond: Presentations and discussion on “what is the role of technology in history?”  
25 Looking Back and Beyond: Presentations and discussion on “what is the role of technology in history?” (cont.) (PDF) (Courtesy of MIT student. Used with permission.)

Course Info

As Taught In
Fall 2010
Learning Resource Types
Written Assignments