Ithiel de Sola Pool
Overview
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
. Pool led groundbreaking research on technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
and its effects on society. He coined the term "convergence" to describe the effect of various scientific innovations on society in a futuristic world. In the course of his career, he would make startlingly accurate predictions about technology and society. In Pool's 1983 book, Technologies of Freedom he described the modes of technology.
Quotations
The Telephone will democratize hierarchic relations.
Forecasting the Telephone: A Retrospective Technology Assessment. (1983), MIT Press, p. 61