Forces of Production
A Social History of Industrial Automation
David F. Noble
Focusing on the postwar automation of the American metal-working industry, this is a provocative study of how automation is a technological as well as a social process that reflects very real divisions and pressures within our society. Noble argues that automation is often spurred and shaped by institutions such as corporations, universities, and the military as well as by a host of political, economic, and sociological considerations.