Review: The public understanding of technology

13 October 1990

Levitating Trains and Kamikaze Genes: Technological Literacy for the
1990s by Richard P. Brennan, John Wiley and Sons, pp 262, Pounds sterling

RECENTLY I have been dragged, most unwillingly, into a ludicrous debate
about whether hi-fi systems sound better if the room, records and electronics
have been treated with coloured inks to convert the adverse effects of the
Earth’s gravitational field into effects that are more beneficial.

I regret that this is not a joke. Some people do seriously believe that
their records sound better if the labels are smeared with ‘neutralising
cream’ and stored with the sleeve-notes pointing in a particular direction
to align the printing inks! Others sell the cream and ink and offer home
treatment for a price.

Needless to say no one has yet proved by blind testing that any of the
effects claimed are reproducible. There is of course no incentive to run
tests and analyse the results. Without statistics to prove the theories
daft, the opportunity remains to rely on the powers of suggestion to perpetuate
the myth.


I was thus thrilled to read, in the first chapter of Richard Brennan’s
book, an argued attack on the cult beliefs, unproven theories, ignorant
superstitions and mumbo-jumbo pseudoscience that so many people now prefer
to the hard work involved in becoming technologically literate. Unfortunately,
this work is made unnecessarily hard because most technical text books are
unfriendly, obscure and aimed at specialist readers. Condensed encyclopaedias
of the ‘how things work’ variety inevitably cover so much ground that there
is not enough room to cover any one subject in relaxed and readable style.

Brennan has adopted a completely different approach. In nine chapters
he takes a score of technical topics that are always in the news and explains
them in clear and very readable terms.

The author makes it plain from the outset that he has no interest in
trying to convince bar-stool pseudoscientists that they are wrong in believing
that early cave dwellers battled marauding dinosaurs, that Big Foot lives
in the lost city of Atlantis and that astrology tells all. He merely notes
that the bad news for technological illiterates is that the world is not
as they think it is, and if they are interested in the truth his book will
fill some gaps.

Those who want equal time for creation science in biology classes might
as well make similar demands for Flat Earth theory in astronomy classes
or Stork theory in sex education. They have picked up the wrong book, says
Brennan, and they are probably in the wrong bookstore.

Although this is an American book, the same beliefs persist in Britain.
A local newspaper in Sussex recently published a reader’s letter complaining
that Darwin’s evolution theory is still taught in schools and colleges instead
of creation, despite ‘scientific evidence limiting the age of the Earth
and Universe to a few thousand years’.

First Brennan looks at space, the Universe, Big Bang theory and Einstein’s
theory of relativity. Those who dream of a holiday on the moon will be disappointed
by the calculations of rocket weight to transported load ratios. There is
a good chapter on biotechnology and genetic engineering, with a simple explanation
of gene splicing. Another excellent chapter deals with the greenhouse effect
and ozone depletion, which Brennan admits is a personal hobby horse. He
does a similarly good job on energy, with some sobering figures on inefficiency
and the build-up of toxic waste.

The chapters on high technology medicine, superconductivity and super
weapons all tell a lot, in surprisingly easy langauge. As Bob Hope said
of the Stealth bomber, ‘If it is supposed to be invisible to radar, why
don’t we just not build it and tell the Russians it’s there?’

There are a few areas where descriptions are skimped (for instance the
Doppler effect) and I found a few small errors. The abbreviation for computer
display is surely wrong; VGA stands for video, not virtual, graphics array.
The references to kilo and mega in the context of computer technology are
misleading; kilo is 2 10, not 1000, and mega is 2 20,
not a million. Doubtless others with specialist knowledge will spot similar
mistakes in their own areas.

Brennan is out of date on some points, too: for instance, his promise
of what the Hubble telescope will achieve has now turned sour.

But all in all this is an excellent book, highly recommended for anyone
interested in escaping the black hole of technological illiteracy which,
in Brennan’s own words, sucks in all the pseudosciences.