The Encyclopedia of Science, Technology and Society

This is a very curious little encyclopaedia. Its editor comes from Pitzer College, and most of the fairly short list of contributors also appear to work at minor American universities. With its black‐and‐white illustrations and its general air of breezy optimism it has an oddly dated, 1950s feel to it. In fact I am sure that I had a copy of the same full‐page picture of the Hoover Dam in a book called something like The Wonder Book for Boys, given to me by my granny when I was about ten.

There isn’t even so much as a mention of...