Against Technology: From the Luddites to Neo-Luddism

The vast technological potential of nanocrystalline materials, as well as current intense interest in the physics and chemistry of nanoscale phenomena, has led to explosive growth in research on semiconductor nanocrystals, also known as nanocrystal quantum dots, and metal nanoparticles. Semiconductor and Metal Nanocrystals addresses current topics impacting the field including synthesis and assembly of nanocrystals, theory and spectroscopy of interband and intraband optical transitions, single-nanocrystal optical and tunneling spectroscopies, electrical transport in nanocrystal assemblies, and physical and engineering aspects of nanocrystal-based devices. Written by experts who have contributed pioneering research, this reference comprises key advances in the field of semiconductor nanocrystal quantum dots and metal nanoparticles over the past several years. Focusing specifically on nanocrystals generated through chemical techniques, Semiconductor and Metal Nanocrystals Merges investigative frontiers in physics, chemistry, and engineering Documents advances in nanocrystal synthesis and assembly Explores the theory of electronic excitations in nanoscale particles Presents comprehensive information on optical spectroscopy of interband and intraband optical transitions Reviews data on single-nanocrystal optical and tunneling spectroscopies Weighs controversies related to carrier relaxation dynamics in ultrasmall nanoparticles Discusses charge carrier transport in nanocrystal assemblies Provides examples of lasing and photovoltaic nanocrystal-based devices Semiconductor and Metal Nanocrystals is a must read for scientists, engineers, and upper-level undergraduate and graduate students interested in the physics and chemistry of nanoscale semiconductor and metal particles, as well as general nanoscale science. About the Editor: VICTOR I. KLIMOV is Team Leader, Softmatter Nanotechnology and Advanced Spectroscopy Team, Chemistry Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico. The recipient of the Los Alamos Fellows Prize (2000), he is a Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, leader of the Nanophotonics and Nanoelectronics Thrust of the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (U.S. Department of Energy), a member of the Los Alamos Board of Governors of the Institute for Complex Adaptive Matter, and a member of the Steering Committee for the Los Alamos Quantum Institute. He received the M.S. (1978), Ph.D. (1981), and Dr. Sci. (1993) degrees from Moscow State University, Russia.

Table of Contents:
Introduction; Chapter 1 The Boom, the Bust, and Neo-Luddites in the 1990s; Chapter 2 The Mythic History of The Original Luddites; Chapter 3 Romanticizing the Luddites; Chapter 4 Frankenstein and the Monster of Technology; Chapter 5 Novelizing the Luddites; Chapter 6 Counterculture and Countercomputer in the 1960s; Chapter 7 Ned Ludd in the Age of Terror;

About the Author :
Steven E. Jones is Professor of English at Loyola University, Chicago. He is author of Satire and Romanticism and editor of The Satiric Eye.

Review :
"In Against Technology, Jones has opened up a rich field of study that cries out for more examination. The unintended consequences of technology, such as global warming, should not be seen as a call to retreat to a simpler time." - Robert L. Park, Physics Today 'The book is accessibly written and well informed, with technology discussions avoiding naivete and literary analyses resisting theoretical quagmires. As such, it appeals not only to general readers but scholars from a variety of disciplines.' - International Journal of Communication "Against Technology critically interrogates the supposed continuity between neo-Luddism and its alleged precursor, the original Luddite movement of 1811-16. Along the way, the book provides fascinating insights into the development of this unruly working-class movement and demonstrates its continuing relevance to twenty-first-century culture. Against Technology is a magisterial scholarly work of compelling interest to readers of British Romantic literature." -James McKusick, The Wordsworth Circle