Of Bicycles, Bakelites, and Bulbs By Wiebe E. Bijker MIT Press, 1995, 380 pages Reviewed by: Samantha Alper Samantha_Alper@hp. com Bicycles, Bakelites, and Bulbs is a book serving two mas~ers. On the one and, it is an advanced college text fulfilling its subtitle of' Toward a Theory of Sociotechnical Change." On the other, it is three interesting tales of technological history. Overall, I enjoyed the book but wish its focus had been one or the other. Wiebe E. Bijker, a professor of technology and society at the University of Limburg, has developed a complex model of the interactions between science, technology, and society. The book uses three case studies to gradually teach the reader about this model and how it can be used to analyze social implications of technology. His model is qualitative; the best way to explain it is by tracing its development through the book. Unless you are a student of the social reconstruction of technology, skip the introductory chapter. After a friendly beginning, outlining Bijker's reasons for writing the book, the chapter describes the current state of the science-technology-society (STS) field. I soon felt overpowered by the academic prose of the overview. The second chapter
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