Deck 3: A Brief History of Engineering

Question 1

Develop an argument both for and against technological determinism.

Answer 1

No Answer.

Question 2

Develop an argument both for and against technological co-constructivism.

Answer 2

No Answer.

Question 3

What is the most important invention in history? Explain why.

Answer 3

No Answer.

Question 4

Can we predict future technologies by studying the past? Explain why.

Question 5

Discuss engineers in Ancient Egypt.

Question 6

The view that there is a fixed sequence to technological development and therefore a necessary path over which technologically developing societies must travel.

A) Technological pessimism
B) Technological optimism
C) Social Constructivism
D) None of the above

Question 7

Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone to help people who were hard of hearing, yet the device quickly became used primarily for long-distance communication. This best illustrates which of the following views of technology?

A) The technological determinist model by which technology is seen to determine social change
B) Luddite view on which technological inventions after the 17th century are mostly superfluous
C) Social constructivist view on which humans as a social group ultimately determine the meaning and purpose of technology
D) Co-constructivist model, which gives priority neither to technology nor to society

Question 8

The invention of the light bulb might support Heilbroner's thesis about technological determinism in what way?

A) The light bulb is only an incremental improvement over a kerosene lamp.
B) The conditions of the early 19th century made its invention easy to predict.
C) Once invented, it is impossible to go back because we are determined to use this invention.
D) Two inventors invented it almost simultaneously.

Question 9

Technological determinists believe that

A) technology is the driving force in societal transitions and decision making processes.
B) technological innovations determine social developments.
C) a wide range of political decisions made after World War II were ultimately triggered by the development of the nuclear bomb in the early 1940s.
D) All of the above

Question 10

All of the following would be found in use in ancient Mesopotamia except

A) the wheel.
B) the plow.
C) iron tools.
D) writing.

Question 11

The Egyptians built massive temple cities and 80 pyramids using

A) the wheel.
B) iron tools.
C) strong draft animals like horses and the oxen.
D) surplus labor as a result from relatively easy agriculture.

Question 12

The main technological innovation of the Greeks was

A) bronze tools.
B) sophisticated pulleys.
C) rigorous mathematics.
D) the wheel.

Question 13

The skill of Roman engineering practices is evidenced by the long life of all the following except

A) Roman highways.
B) Roman city of Pompeii.
C) the Roman Colosseum.
D) Roman aqueducts.

Question 14

All of the following are engineering advances of the medieval period except for

A) the number zero.
B) horseshoes.
C) the waterwheel.
D) gunpowder.

Question 15

When did universities adopt Engineering as a course of study?

A) From the beginning of the University in the Middle Ages
B) In the 20th century
C) Near the end of the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century
D) In the early modern period around 1600

Question 16

The Industrial Revolution is characterized primarily by the invention of

A) insurance.
B) the steam engine.
C) the waterwheel.
D) the iron plow.

Question 17

Which of the following is a change that the invention of the washing machine is thought to have contributed to in the early 20th century?

A) Cleaner clothes and a reduction in disease
B) More women in the workplace
C) The spread of electricity to private homes
D) The need for larger and more reliable municipal water supplies

Question 18

One example of a technological transition driven by political views is

A) the invention of air conditioning.
B) the move from cassette tapes to CDs.
C) interest in shifting from gas-powered cars to electric cars.
D) None of the above

Question 19

Co-constructivism can best be described as

A) the major forces driving history are socio-economic, cultural, ideological, and political.
B) the major force driving history is technology itself and engineers.
C) the major force driving history is economic and ideological.
D) None of the above

Question 20

Which of the following are considerations against technological determinism?

A) We don't have household-sized nuclear power plants in our homes.
B) Cell phone screens are bigger.
C) Washing machines became automatic.
D) None of the above

Question 21

The manner in which the automatic washing machine became a symbol for gender equality supports

A) technological determinism.
B) technological optimism.
C) technological pessimism.
D) None of the above

Question 22

Which of the following illustrates Heilbroner's claim that the history of technology lacks technical leaps?

A) No attempt to harness nuclear power in 1700s
B) Electric washing machine
C) LCD screens on cell phones
D) None of the above

Question 23

All of the following are elements of Heilbroner's thesis except

A) absence of technical leaps.
B) simultaneity of invention.
C) predictability of technology.
D) None of the above

Question 24

The use of DC electricity in the 19th century reflects

A) the superiority of Edison over Tesla.
B) the superiority of Direct Current over Alternating Current.
C) the technological lock-in effect.
D) None of the above

Question 25

The Industrial Revolution can be credited for

A) making England fabulously wealthy.
B) inspiring Marx and Engels.
C) exacerbating the gap between rich and poor.
D) All of the above