At reader : theory and practice in appropriate technology / edited by Carr Marilyn C.2

Much of the technology imported into the Third World from the advanced countries costs too much per workplace, creates too few new jobs and involves an excessive scale of production leading to over rapid urbanization. At the same time, it leads to the production of over sophisticated products which do not meet the basic human needs of the poor. Even in advanced countries, too advanced technology has failed to create enough jobs, has had destructive effects on the environment and led to alienation amongst workers.

This comprehensive A(ppropriate) Technology) Reader brings together, in an attractive and conveniently marshalled form, extracts from all the significant writings on the development, theory and practice of appropriate technology, i.e. a technology appropriate to the environment, on a global scale. They encompass the work of a galaxy of distinguished people who have contributed to the subject, ranging from Schumacher, Hans Singer, Julius Nyerere, M.K. Gandhi, Galbraith, Ivan Illich, to contemporary Third World writers like Deepak Lal, M.K. Garg, Darryl D'Monte, K.D. Trivedi and others.

Opening with a detailed examination of the history, concepts and evolution of appropriate technology, the book moves on to the theory and practice underlying it and then in chapters III to VI looks in detail at specific areas, viz. 'Agriculture, Food, Processing, Livestock', 'Health, Water and Sanitation', 'Biomass and Renewable Energy', 'Housing, Construction and Transport', 'Manufacturing, Mining and Recycling', 'Generation and Transfer of Technology', 'The Dissemination of Technology', 'Education, Training and Communication'.

There is thus hardly an area of human activity, be it the microchip or the Jaipur Foot, Multinationals or solar TV, that this profusely illustrated Handbook does not touch; scarcely a profession to which or individual to whom it does not profitably relate, be it in Economics, Industry, Agriculture, Technology, or any other sphere.