[net.books] not another SF review

geo (04/07/83)

I am interested in reading about technology, and the history
of technology.  I would like to briefly describe for you a
book I read that dealt with these themes.  The book is
"The Titanic: End of a Dream".

This is not the book that you or your pals did book reports on
when you were in grade school.  It is nothing like the books
that focussed on the Titanic as a spectacle.
The author, one Wyn Craig Wade, is quite perceptive.  He focusses
on the impact the sinking had on society and people's perceptions
of the nature of their world.  A quote from the second paragraph
will give you the tone of the book:
	"   In recent years, there has been an attempt to
	escape the Titanic's mystique by focussing on the
	shipwreck and belittling the response ashore, 
	which -- so it has been argued -- is full of pointless
	emotionalism and only obsfuscates the "facts" of the
	wreck.  The "facts" of the wreck are these: In 1912
	1,522 people drown or froze to death after the 
	palatial liner in which they were sailing was sufficiently
	mismanaged as to take a nose-dive to the bottom of
	the North Atlantic.  The disaster ashore was quite
	another matter...."

   Among the reasons I mention the book, is that I was continually
struck by the lack of professional standards displayed by the 
various technical people involved.  It reminded me of the lack
of clearly defined professional standards in the field of 
computer science.

   Additionally, the book tackles an issue that has always fascinated
me.  Practically no-one could deal with the actual behaviour of the
passengers and crew.  The author claims that the disaster shattered
the commonly held view of of the relationship between mankind and
the universe.  The thing I found fascinating was the web of untruths
that began to be spun about the disaster.  To wit, that the anglo-saxon 
passengers displayed cool British aplomb as they slipped beneath the
waves, and that the only males who were unchivalrous were "foriegners,
Italians, and Orientals".

   I am fascinated by the hold these popular notions (for want of
a better phrase) have over people's imaginations.  
People like to believe that we live in a modern age, and that
we have banished superstition.  (ha ha ha)  I would welcome
references to books that tackle this issue.
	Cordially, Geo Swan, Integrated Studies, University of Waterloo
	(allegra|decvax) !watmath!watarts!geo