The Nature of Technology: What It Is and How It Evolves

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In The Nature of Technology, ground-breaking economist W. Brian Arthur explores the extraordinary way in which the technology that surrounds us and allows us to live our modern lives has actually been developed. Rather than coming from a series of one-off inventions, almost all the technology we use today comes from previous developments: these technologies are not being created, but are instead evolving.

With fascinating examples, from laser printers to powerplants, Arthur reveals how our own problem-solving skills and creative vision can evolve alongside these technologies, and how this understanding can even improve our understanding of the wider world.

Our Top Reviews

Reviewer: Timmiley
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: BUY THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: This is an outstanding, fresh, new, informational, thought provoking, very interesting book. I read all books having to do with science and technology. I am a science teacher and I love to find new ideas and information. This book is special and will go down as a classic. For the first time an author has studied technology and made it a science to study. Technology is so important to our society, that everyone should read and learn what it is all about. This book gives the answers to the questions about technology that controls everyone’s life. Very seldom do I find a book that has new information instead of compiling other’s work. I have so much respect for the author and wish I could write such a masterpiece.

Reviewer: Dale B. Halling
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Important Topic
Review: There are flashes of brilliance in this work. The topic is very important and the author provides fairly clear definitions and useful examples. As the author clearly demonstrates technology is what defines are standard of living. The author’s understand that all technology is build on existing elements is very important. His explanation that neither technology nor the economy is ever in equilibrium is a point that cannot made too often. His suggested definition of economics is a profound movement in the right direction. Also his explanation that both technology and biological entities are built hierarchically and higher levels of technology cannot be created until the building blocks are in place is very important. His computer “experiment” about the development of logic circuits was very interesting. Most writing on technology and “innovation” is nonsense, with no definition, no useful conclusions, no defined course of action – it is all smoke and mirrors with anecdotal facts, worthy of PT Barnum.Here are some of couple of complaints.1) I am constantly amazed that people can talk about technology and inventions and not even mention patents. Many of the concepts the author struggles with have been dealt with by patent attorneys for years. Now in fairness the author could teach the Supreme Court a thing or two about technology, however note that none of the Supreme Court justices are patent attorneys. For instance, the author discovers that any technology can be expressed a system or a process. This is something every patent attorney learns during their first year and is clearly explained in Landis on the Mechanics of Claim Drafting.2) The author’s definition of invention and standard engineering needs to be rethought. Standard engineering is the creation of a specific instance of an invention to fit a particular need. For instance, standard engineering involves modifying a high pass operational amplifier to work for a specific design frequency or modifying it to handle a higher power signal. The engineer is not creating a new class of objects he is modifying an existing technology (invention) to meet a particular need.An invention is a human creation with an objective result, while art is a human creation with a subjective result. By objective result I mean one that is repeatable, in a scientific sense like an incandescent light bulb produces light when the appropriate electrical signal is applied. This definition is consistent with what the author calls a technology and always involves a unique combination of elements and always refers to a class of objects, such as high resistance incandescent light bulbs. An invention is always a class of things, it is a creation not a reproduction (Production).The author could learn a lot about how to define a technology or invention by studying how patent claims work (yes I am a patent attorney).3) I think the author’s definition of economy is a step in the right direction. He states economy is “the set of arrangements and activities by which a society satisfies it needs” and economics is the study of this. This is such a good step in the right direction, but “society” should be changed to “human beings.” This may sound like a small difference but it makes clear that economics applies even in small groups, even for an individual living on a deserted island. This is important because it eliminates the nonsense that what makes no sense in isolation makes sense with a large group of people.Overall a very admirable effort.Dale B. Halling, Author of Pendulum of Justice and The Decline and Fall of the American Entrepreneur.

Reviewer: D. Baxter
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Better understanding the complex
Review: I approached this book as a layperson. With no advanced degrees or formal engineering background, I read this book and found it to be both interesting and insightful. It is clear the author has brought a complex subject and a technological expertise down to earth for the non-professional person interested in science and technology.Even though the subject matter, the evolution of technology, is studied and debated primarily by academics and scientists, it is good to be able to delve into in a very well thought out and well written treatise.I recommend this book to those that are interest in how so many things in our world evolve and even those that just might be interested. Makes me want to learn more.

Reviewer: Roberto Rigolin F Lopes
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Ongoing symbiosis between humans and our evolving tech
Review: We are in 2009, Arthur is discussing the isomorphisms between the evolution of technologies and the evolution of living things like yourself. He starts with the provocative hypothesis that, in essence, technologies are alive and getting closer and closer to biological systems. If that is the case, kudos for Dawkins who said that evolution is the greatest show on earth, the only game in town. Thrilling. We are alive and evolving. Evolving using technology. By consequence, technology is speeding up our evolution. So, we evolve technology to evolve ourselves in a recursive loop. It is symbiosis! And Arthur did a great job knitting everything together.

Reviewer: Lance L. Trebesch
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Seminal Understanding
Review: Brian Arthur’s, The Nature of Technology is simply one of the best books I have ever read. How many books have we read which give us a profound understanding of the world? The Nature of Technology is a treatise on the deep underpinnings and dynamics of technology, which, as Arthur explains, is really the primary characteristic of our species on the planet. Technology is so infused into every aspect of our lives that we take for granted (or we don’t know) what exactly technology is and how it evolves. In my view, decades or even centuries from now, The Nature of Technology will be recognized as a seminal piece of the puzzle of human understanding and knowledge.

Reviewer: Jan Mendling
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: This book describes technology in its general essence in a very inspiring way. It sharens the view of reader on what technology is and how it evolves. Highly recommended!

Reviewer: SimpleSimon
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Brian Arthur deserves great credit for this exploration of what technology is, where it comes from and how it evolves. It’s a most interesting account and I particularly enjoyed thinking about his concluding observations that we are, in a way, slaves to the technology that we invent.I did wonder, however, whether Arthur had pulled a bit of a semantic trick, in that much of what he says about technology seems to be a restatement of what has already been said about systems in general, and in particular about purposeful systems, using the specific terminology of technology based systems. In fact I felt that the whole area of semantics was the most difficult aspect of the book. It would have been much better for having a glossary and for Arthur to have been a bit more rigorous in his use of terms. It’s clear that he has a model in his head, but he does not reveal it explicitly except in prose, so we are left having to infer it. Either the model isn’t a complete one that he’s happy with, so he hides it from us, or it’s a good semantic model and we have to waste time recreating it to clearly understand what he’s saying. A couple of diagrams would have resolved the matter, leaving me to suspect the former.But these criticisms should not detract from my enormous gratitude and admiration for the thinking that has gone into this endeavour to explain what we see around us. It is an entertainingly and, with caveats, beautifully written account. I am glad he gave me the opportunity to follow his journey.

Reviewer: panzerig
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: A beautiful book about the intriguing and odd relationship of the triad represented by nature, technology, and people. People have been at home in nature, people trust nature, not technology. And yet people look to technology to take care of their future, people hope in technology. People hope in something they do not quite trust. The irony which arouses the fear!

Reviewer: kis-
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: こういった技術発展の考察はとても面白い。とらえどころのない技術というものを、定義するところから始まる。技術は、構成する下位の技術に分解される。それらの組み合わせはまた、異なる技術を生む。個々の技術を深追いせず一般をとにかく説明しようという試みです。せいぜい数の問題だ、としてしまうのは思いきっているが的を得たアプローチだと思いました。

Reviewer: José Antonio Gonçalves dos Santos
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: O livro abora o tema sob a perspectiva que necessito para pesquisa,

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