Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
biology, and chemistry and transformed the views of society and nature, laying the
foundation for the Age of Enlightenment.
In the 18th century, philosophers and intellectuals such as Diderot, Montes-
quieu, Rousseau, and Voltaire, among others, created an unshakable faith in hu-
man reason and the notion that continuous progress was possible. Their project,
the encyclopedia, was to collect, organize, and distribute all new knowledge that
was based on reason—that is, secular, not religious, knowledge. The assumption
was that through scientific research and education, human change was possible.
The result and orientation was toward utilization, fostering the Industrial Revolution
during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Industrialization moved manufacturing from hand-production of products in
homes and small shops to factories using powered machinery to mass-produce
goods. Development of the steam engine played a central role in the Industrial Re-
volution, which also resulted in a revolution in transportation and communication,
discussed in previous chapters of this topic. The Industrial Revolution resulted in a
revolution in the information infrastructure, including the way that new knowledge
is put to use in society.
With the establishment of land-grant institutions following the U.S. Civil War, the
intent was to make new knowledge available for use by the general public. Re-
search from land-grant universities was instrumental in recovering from the Great
Depression during the 1930s and 1940s.
Diffusion of innovation in agriculture was largely responsible for prompting
American utilization studies. Rural sociologists employed in agricultural colleges
and land-grant universities studied the spread of technology in farming. For ex-
ample, innovation and utilization in the application of antibiotics to control disease,
chemical weed sprays, pesticides, new seed varieties, and improved farm ma-
chinery were responsible for increased agricultural production. These innovations
benefitted an increasing population and met the needs of government during World
War II and the postwar demands for additional food requirements. The U.S. De-
partment of Agriculture's Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension
Service is an example of a government policy initiative to increase diffusion and
use of new research and products.
The post-World War II period showed an increase in government interest in
knowledge utilization to stimulate economic growth through technology transfer.
Space research and promotion of health, education and human services became
policy objectives. A prominent example is President Johnson's Great Society and
“war on poverty.”
The computer and communication revolutions continued the shift toward a
knowledge economy and a global economy. In a networked environment, know-
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