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Synopsis
"This is a major work of synthesis and insight that will prove invaluable not only to scholars and students but also to policymakers, large-system designers, and others concerned with the role of computers in society. Rochlin has mastered an amazingly broad body of literature, grasped its deeper implications, and presented his results in a highly readable form, well peppered with anecdote and narrative. He has also, and most importantly, hit upon the most important characteristic of the society-wide electronics infrastructures now being put into place: that such systems are socio-technical in nature and cannot be understood as mere hardware and/or software."--Paul N. Edwards, Author of The Closed World: Computers and the Politics of Discourse
Booklist
[Rochlin's] straightforward argument should be apparent to those managing and promoting increasing computerization: that greater dependence on computers implies greater disaster when they fail. . . . Rochlin ends with an exploration of the new cyberized military and continues to pinpoint the unintended consequences that computer enthusiasts rarely think about, but should.