Ass2ASAns
rtf
keyboard_arrow_up
School
University of Ottawa *
*We aren’t endorsed by this school
Course
2129
Subject
History
Date
Feb 20, 2024
Type
rtf
Pages
3
Uploaded by dwang123
HIS 2129 B
History 2129: Technology, Society, and Environment since 1850
Professor: Jean-Louis Trudel
Office hours: by appointment (Zoom)
Assignment 2 (Answers)
Option A: (double-spaced; outside sources may be used, but must be cited properly)
1) Identify four (4) cities where North American governments located research laboratories
during World War II as part of the war effort. [2 points]
Half a point each for any four (4) of the following:
(i) Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. (the Radio Research Laboratory and the Radiation Laboratory)
(ii) Los Alamos, New Mexico, U.S.
(iii) Montréal, Québec, Canada
(iv) Chalk River, Ontario, Canada
(Trudel, p. 186.)
2) According to Winner, how were McCormick's molding machines and the low bridges of Moses similar in a way that differentiated them from television, which may be used to promote an unsavoury candidate? Explain fully. [2 points]
Two (2) points for an explanation highlighting Winner's argument: According to Winner, the molding machines and the low bridges were either chosen on the basis of their design
or specifically designed
beforehand to achieve a certain political result
, such as breaking a union or excluding Black Americans from a popular beach, respectively. This made them different, as examples, from the case of television where its use for malicious propaganda was most often a later choice taking advantage of the technology's fundamental features (without
any need for a redesign).
(Winner, pp. 124-125.)
3) Explain clearly why 19th-century city governments believed that sewers would slow down the spread of disease. [1 point]
Sewers would remove the human waste found in backyard toilets and other pools of stagnant water that produced a foul stench. Since bad smells (known as miasma) were thought to spread disease, removing the source of the stink would also reduce the likelihood of disease propagation
in the view of government officials and city administrators.
(Trudel, p. 131.)
4) What was the average size of a radio station's audience in 1923? Justify your answer. [1 point]
Since a million listeners caught the broadcasts of fewer than 600 stations, the average size was above 1,667 [1 point]
.
Half a point for quoting the numbers "million" and "600".
(Trudel, p. 172.)
5) Identify four (4) recognizably American features of U.S. automobiles in 1939. [2 points]
Half a point each for any four (4) of the following:
(i)
larger engines than in European automobiles;
(ii)
all-steel bodies;
(iii)
roomier and more comfortable designs;
(iv) the automatic transmission (which could use hypoid gears and relied on other patents whose origins or other uses are not characterized);
(v)
hypoid gearing;
(vi)
colours besides black.
(Trudel, pp. 150-151.)
6) Why is the vegetation found by the side of the road in North America often different from the prevailing flora of the local area? [1 point]
One point for answering that cars and trucks spread the seeds and pollen of common weeds (and
plants from other parts of the country).
Half a point for noting that roadside plants may be more polluted than vegetation away from roads (though that is a possibility, not a certainty, as it will not always be the case).
(Trudel, p. 155.)
7) Efficiency experts such as Frederick Taylor and the Gilbreths sold their methods for improving industrial productivity as being "scientific". Show how this characterization was bolstered by identifying two (2) ways of communicating that their approach was "scientific". Elaborate sufficiently. [1 point]
Half a point each for any two of the following:
(i)
Taylor called it "scientific" management;
(ii)
Taylor and the Gilbreths used stopwatches and clocks to measure elapsed time when they
studied a worker's performance;
(iii)
the Gilbreths filmed workers against a grid pattern to facilitate motion measurements;
(iv)
the Gilbreths produced three-dimensional models of a worker's motions to facilitate their analyses;
(v)
Frank Gilbreth broke down the complexity of a worker's motion into a catalogue of sixteen basic categories.
For (ii), (iii), and (iv), it may be said that measurements (in time and space) were perceived as a basic part of the scientific method. For (v), the same may be said of taxinomy.
(Trudel, pp. 136-139.)
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
- Access to all documents
- Unlimited textbook solutions
- 24/7 expert homework help