Technology

I got into the Eyewitness books because I was struggling to find material to use to interest a young man in high school in reading. He was placed in the SED (Severely Emotionally Disturbed) room at his high school and was not interested in academics. However, once I brought in the Cars Eyewitness book, I realized what a great tool they are! He pulled the book right out of my hands and wouldn't give it back.

What is technology? Can you define it? "Eyewitness Technology" defines technology as "the science and art of making and using things." What does THAT mean? Let's try again. The cover says: "Discover the ways technology has transformed everyday life--from the largest structures to the smallest electronic devices." There are pictures of recognizable objects: the Coliseum, a telephone/fax machine, a CD, a vacuum cleaner, energy windmills, a screw, pens, a mixer, a kerosene lantern, ball bearings in a wheel, plus things I don't recognize. I think I "get" it now--the science and art of making and using things. Let's take the mixer: science--making it, art--how it looks. This one is red and silver. So far we have examined only the covers and paragraph one. Based only on the information so far provided, I tried to imagine what topics might be included. Computer, airplanes, printing press, cell phone, sinks, commodes, lamps, automobiles, washing machines. After completing the last page, I now know I had not even scratched the surface. Before technology is possible, materials must be transformed. Three wonderful examples are explained using words and pictures: using clay to make a bowl--from coils to a solid piece, then with glaze that is fired to become a lovely cobalt-colored bowl. The gelatinous goo of egg whites and yolks into the solid white and yellow of a boiled egg. Or the ingredients that make a pasty glob that becomes fluffy biscuits. Other basics of technology include defining metals, using metals, and shaping metals. Think how metals changed war and farming from wooden clubs to swords to artillery to fighter planes, from antlers to metal plows to tractors. Eyewitness technology writer Roger Bridgman shows how specific materials, using technology, are converted into useful and beautiful things. Wood becomes tools and violins and chairs. Plastics become CD's, bakelite containers, celluloid for movies, eyes for a teddy bear, chairs. More technology: heat engines, tools of measurement, mass production, household tools, perfumes, gas chromatographers, banking systems, specific colors, x-rays, laser surgery, loudspeakers, in-vitro cultivation of plants, and recycling. Now I know what technology is. Go into your house, look around and say: This is technology (the science and art of making and using things). Thanks to the Dorling Kindersley people who use technology to make useful and beautiful Eyewitness books to teach us so many things.