At reader : theory and practice in appropriate technology / edited by Carr Marilyn

Appropriate Technology-the study of applying technologies relevant to the context in which they will be used-has now been recognized as an essential element in all Third World development work. Governments and aid agencies incorporate AT into their programmes and projects; AT courses-or units in courses-have been established in university departments throughout the world; and what E.F. Schumacher called economics as if people mattered' has come to be seen to matter.

This growth in interest in AT has not so far been matched by the production of source materials. The primary writings on 'Appropriate Technology' are contained in the academic papers of research institutions around the world, in the unpublished reports of development agencies like ITDG, and, often, in journals and newsletters of limited and local circulation--and are not easily accessible. The AT Reader brings together these basic materials, and will become the standard introduction to AT, both as an explanation of the origins of the idea and as a demonstration of its changing application. Through a carefully planned and presented mix of over 200 extracts from the Development writings of the last thirty years Marilyn Carr describes the history and development of Appropriate Technology. She gives examples of AT's application (and mis-application) in a wide variety of contexts, and the introductions to each chapter provides guidance for both the student and the general reader.