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