The Development Of Large Technical Systems (Publications of the Max-Planck-Institut Fur Gesellschaftsfor)

This book is an outcome of the conference on the development of large technical systems held in Berlin in 1986. It focuses on the comparative analysis of the development of large technical systems, particularly electrical power, railroad, air traffic, telephone, and other forms of telecommunication. Frontmatter Foreword (page 5) 1. Large technical systems: Concepts and issues (Bernward Joerges, page 9) 2. The emergence of an early large-scale technical system: The American railroad network (Stephen Salsbury, page 37) 3. The evolution of the technical system of railways in France from 1832 to 1937 (Francois Caron, page 69) 4. The development of the German railroad system (G. Wolfgang Heinze and Heinrich H. Kill, page 105) 5. Looking for the boundaries of technological determinism: A brief history of the U.S. telephone system (Louis Galambos, page 135) 6. The telephone in France 1879 to 1979: National characteristics and international influences (Catherine Bertho-Lavenir, page 155) 7. The politics of growth: The German telephone system (Frank Thomas, page 179) 8. The United States air traffic system: Increasing reliability in the midst of rapid growth (Todd La Porte, page 215) 9. The French electrical power system: An inter-country comparison (Maurice Levy-Leboyer, page 245) 10. The dynamics of system development in a comparative perspective: Interactive videotex in Germany, France and Britain (Renate Mayntz and Volker Schneider, page 263) Contributors (page 299) Renate Mayntz, Thomas P. Hughes (editors). Papers From A Conference Held At Max-planck-institut Für Gesellschaftsforschung, Cologne, Germany, Nov. 1987. Includes Bibliographies.