Understanding Machines: A History of Canadian Mechanology

Abstract

Background The paradigms of cybernetics and media theory developed in the postwar era in response to new developments in technology and science. At their margins, an intellectual movement called “mechanology,” or the science of machines, also attempted to apprehend such changes.Analysis The article uses the archival material of two major figures of mechanology, Canadians John Hart and Jean Le Moyne, to examine the overlooked contribution of mechanology to postwar debates on technology and culture. It contrasts the theories, concepts, and epistemologies of mechanology with both cybernetics and media theory. Conclusion and implications The article reveals some of the reasons behind mechanology’s inability to establish itself as new field, and shows how the concept of “the machine” lost ground in the postwar era.RÉSUMÉContexte La cybernétique et la théorie médiatique se sont développées au sortir de la Seconde Guerre mondiale en réaction aux avancées technologiques et scientifiques. En marge de ces paradigmes, un mouvement intellectuel nommé la « mécanologie », ou la science des machines, a aussi cherché à comprendre ces bouleversements.Analyse Cet article analyse les documents d’archives des Canadiens John Hart et Jean Le Moyne et explore la contribution méconnue de la mécanologie aux débats sur la technologie et la culture dans la période d’après-guerre. L’article compare les théories, concepts et épistémologies de la mécanologie, de la cybernétique et de la théorie médiatique.Conclusion et implications L’article expose quelques facteurs expliquant l’échec de la mécanologie et démontre comment le concept de machine a perdu son caractère signifiant.

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Ethics in Jacques Lafitte’s Mechanology

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