| Urban Mass Transit: The Life Story of a Technology Contributor(s): Post, Robert C. (Author) |
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ISBN: 0801893151 ISBN-13: 9780801893155 Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press OUR PRICE: $30.40 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: July 2010 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Transportation | Public Transportation - Technology & Engineering | History - Technology & Engineering | Social Aspects |
| Dewey: 388.4 |
| LCCN: 2009936432 |
| Physical Information: 0.6" H x 5.9" W x 9.1" (0.65 lbs) 200 pages |
| Themes: - Demographic Orientation - Urban |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Technological choices depend on, and are part of, contests over political power, as the history of mass transit vividly illustrates. From horse-drawn omnibuses to subways to light rail, this volume highlights the technological and social struggles that have accompanied urbanization and the need for an efficient and cost-effective means of transportation in cities. Post depicts mass transit as a technology--rather, as a technological system--that provided an essential complement to industrialization, urbanization, and, ultimately, to the rise of consumer culture. He begins his narrative with the omnibus and horsecar in the 1830s and takes it to the renaissance of urban mass transit at the turn of the 21st century. Post focuses on innovations in the United States as well as worldwide developments. At the heart of the story is the streetcar, a conveyance that played a central role in the development of all U.S. cities and towns. For generations of Americans, streetcars were essential to everyday life. Once dominating the urban landscape in towns and cities throughout the United States, the streetcar has all but disappeared. Post traces its evolution and demise, debunking the urban myth that the downfall of the electric streetcar was directly attributable to the corporate malfeasance of General Motors and others from the automotive world. Post concludes with a meditation on the prospects for mass transit in a postmodern society that must face up to the contradictions of privatized mobility and the reality of dwindling natural resources. |
Contributor Bio(s): Post, Robert C.: - Robert C. Post, now curator emeritus, was employed by the Smithsonian for twenty-three years, beginning in 1973. He was responsible for several technological collections and story-driven exhibits. His books include Urban Mass Transit: The Life Story of a Technology and High Performance: The Culture and Technology of Drag Racing, 1950-2000, both published by Johns Hopkins. He also edited the quarterly journal Technology and Culture, also published by Johns Hopkins. The Society for the History of Technology awarded him the Leonardo da Vinci Medal, its highest honor. Who Owns America's Past? combines information from hitherto-untapped archival sources, extensive interviews, a thorough review of the secondary literature, and considerable personal experience. |