Michael Brian Schiffer's Books

The Portable Radio in American Life

By: Michael Brian Schiffer

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The Portable Radio in American Life

By: Michael Brian Schiffer

In this fascinating history of the portable radio, Michael Schiffer shows how this invention is as American as apple pie. Along the way, he tells how technology has responded to consumer preference, how corporate "cryptohistory" has made us believe the Japanese invented the radio, and how the spread of the portable radio mirrors that of other technologies. More than 400 photographs make this book both a definitive resource and a delightful browse.

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281

Publisher

University of Arizona Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0816547688

ISBN 13

9780816547685

Spectacular Flops

Game-Changing Technologies That Failed

By: Michael Brian Schiffer

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Spectacular Flops

Game-Changing Technologies That Failed

By: Michael Brian Schiffer

Many technologies begin life as someone's vision of an ambitious, perhaps audacious, technology that is expected to have a revolutionary impact on consumers-whether families, companies, or societies. However, if this highly touted technology fails "prematurely" at some point in its life history, it becomes a spectacular flop. Employing a behavioral perspective, this book presents a sample of twelve spectacular flops encompassing the past three centuries-ranging from the world's first automobile to the nuclear-powered bomber. Because technologies may fail from many different causes, spectacular flops pose a special challenge to the author's long-term project of furnishing generalizations about technological change. Instead of constructing generalizations that apply to all spectacular flops, this book provides limited generalizations that pertain to particular groups of technologies bounded by parameters such as "long-term development projects" and "one-off projects." The reader need have no prior familiarity with the technologies because basic principles are introduced as needed.

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Page Count

354

Publisher

Eliot Werner Publications

Published Date

ISBN 10

1733376941

ISBN 13

9781733376945

The Material Life of Human Beings

Artifacts, Behavior and Communication

By: Michael Brian Schiffer

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The Material Life of Human Beings

Artifacts, Behavior and Communication

By: Michael Brian Schiffer

In this ground-breaking work, the distinguished anthropological theorist, Michael Brian Schiffer, presents a profound challenge to the social sciences. Through a broad range of examples, he demonstrates how theories of behaviour and communication have too often ignored the fundamental importance of objects in human life. In The Material Life of Human Beings, the author builds upon the premise that the most important feature of human life is not language but the relationships which take place between people and objects. The author shows that artifacts are involved in all modes of human communication - be they visual, auditory or tactile. By creatively folding elements of postmodernist thought into a scientific framework, he creates new concepts and models for understanding and analysing communication and behavior. Challenging established theories within the social sciences, Michael Brian Schiffer offers a reassessment of the centrality of materiality to everyday life.

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Page Count

182

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1134637241

ISBN 13

9781134637249

The Archaeology of Science

Studying the Creation of Useful Knowledge

By: Michael Brian Schiffer

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The Archaeology of Science

Studying the Creation of Useful Knowledge

By: Michael Brian Schiffer

This manual pulls together—and illustrates with interesting case studies—the variety of specialized and generalized archaeological research strategies that yield new insights into science. Throughout the book there are templates, consisting of questions, to help readers visualize and design their own projects. The manual seeks to be as general as possible, applicable to any society, and so science is defined as the creation of useful knowledge—the kinds of knowledge that enable people to make predictions. The chapters in Part I discuss the scope of the archaeology of science and furnish a conceptual foundation for the remainder of the book. Next, Part II presents several specialized, but widely practiced, research strategies that contribute to the archaeology of science. In order to thoroughly ground the manual in real-life applications, Part III presents lengthy case studies that feature the use of historical and archaeological evidence in the study of scientific activities.

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213

Publisher

Springer Science & Business Media

Published Date

ISBN 10

3319000772

ISBN 13

9783319000770

Power Struggles

Scientific Authority and the Creation of Practical Electricity Before Edison

By: Michael B. Schiffer

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Power Struggles

Scientific Authority and the Creation of Practical Electricity Before Edison

By: Michael B. Schiffer

Laying the foundation for Thomas Edison, the first electric generators were built in the 1830s, the earliest commercial lighting systems before 1860, and the first commercial application of generator-powered light in the early 1860s. This book examines some of these early applications of electricity.

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433

Publisher

MIT Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0262195828

ISBN 13

9780262195829

People and Things

A Behavioral Approach to Material Culture

By: James M. Skibo,Michael Brian Schiffer

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People and Things

A Behavioral Approach to Material Culture

By: James M. Skibo,Michael Brian Schiffer

The study of the human-made world, whether it is called artifacts, material culture, or technology, has burgeoned across the academy. Archaeologists have for cen- ries led the way, and today offer investigators myriad programs and conceptual frameworks for engaging the things, ordinary and extraordinary, of everyday life. This book is an attempt by practitioners of one program – Behavioral Archaeology – to furnish between two covers some of our basic principles, heuristic tools, and illustrative case studies. Our greater purpose, however, is to engage the ideas of two competing programs – agency/practice and evolution – in hopes of initiating a dialog. We are convinced that there is enough overlap in goals, interests, and conceptions among these programs to warrant guarded optimism that a more encompassing, more coherent framework for studying the material world can result from a concerted effort to forge a higher-level synthesis. However, in engaging agency/ practice and evolution in Chap. 2, we are not reticent to point out conflicts between Behavioral Archaeology and these programs. This book will appeal to archaeologists and anthropologists as well as historians, sociologists, and philosophers of technology. Those who study science–technology– society interactions may also encounter useful ideas. Finally, this book is suitable for upper-division and graduate courses on anthropological theory, archaeological theory, and the study of technology.

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176

Publisher

Springer Science & Business Media

Published Date

ISBN 10

0387765271

ISBN 13

9780387765273

The Material Life of Human Beings

Artifacts, Behavior and Communication

By: Michael Brian Schiffer

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The Material Life of Human Beings

Artifacts, Behavior and Communication

By: Michael Brian Schiffer

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182

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Routledge

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ISBN 10

1134637241

ISBN 13

9781134637249

The Archaeology of Science

Studying the Creation of Useful Knowledge

By: Michael Brian Schiffer

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The Archaeology of Science

Studying the Creation of Useful Knowledge

By: Michael Brian Schiffer

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213

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Springer Science & Business Media

Published Date

ISBN 10

3319000772

ISBN 13

9783319000770

The Portable Radio in American Life

By: Michael Brian Schiffer

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The Portable Radio in American Life

By: Michael Brian Schiffer

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281

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University of Arizona Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0816547688

ISBN 13

9780816547685

People and Things

A Behavioral Approach to Material Culture

By: James M. Skibo,Michael Brian Schiffer

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People and Things

A Behavioral Approach to Material Culture

By: James M. Skibo,Michael Brian Schiffer

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176

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Springer Science & Business Media

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ISBN 10

0387765271

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9780387765273

Behavioral Archaeology

Principles and Practice

By: Michael B. Schiffer

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Behavioral Archaeology

Principles and Practice

By: Michael B. Schiffer

Behavioral archaeology offers a way of examining the past by highlighting human engagement with the material culture of the time. 'Behavioral Archaeology: Principles and Practice' offers a broad overview of the methods and theories used in this approach to archaeology. Opening with an overview of the history and key concepts, the book goes on to systematically cover both principles and practice: the philosophy of science and the scientific method; artifacts and human behavior; archaeological inference; formation processes of the archaeological record; technological change; behavioral change; and ritual and religion. Detailed case studies show the relevance of behavioral method and theory to the wider field of archaeological studies. The book will be invaluable to students of archaeology and anthropology.

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231

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1134903650

ISBN 13

9781134903658

Power Struggles

Scientific Authority and the Creation of Practical Electricity Before Edison

By: Michael B. Schiffer

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Power Struggles

Scientific Authority and the Creation of Practical Electricity Before Edison

By: Michael B. Schiffer

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433

Publisher

MIT Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0262195828

ISBN 13

9780262195829

Technological Perspectives on Behavioral Change

By: Michael Brian Schiffer

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Technological Perspectives on Behavioral Change

By: Michael Brian Schiffer

Human societies have always been characterized by a dependence on artifacts, from prehistoric stone tools to modern electronic devices. Technology responds to and affects virtually all human behavior; yet the interdependence of behavior and artifacts has never been studied intensively. Archaeologist Schiffer now draws on his discipline's familiarity with artifacts--and the processes of change they reveal--to offer new insight into the study of behavioral change. Drawing on case studies that deal with changes in architecture, ceramics and electronic technology, he emphasizes the central idea that the explanations of change must focus on the nexus of behavior and artifacts in the context of activities.

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182

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University of Arizona Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

081655143X

ISBN 13

9780816551439

Draw the Lightning Down

Benjamin Franklin and Electrical Technology in the Age of Enlightenment

By: Michael Brian Schiffer

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Draw the Lightning Down

Benjamin Franklin and Electrical Technology in the Age of Enlightenment

By: Michael Brian Schiffer

Annotation A lively and entertaining study of early electrical technology, this book brings to life the technologies and inventors--most notably Benjamin Franklin--who forged the way for our modern electrical world.

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398

Publisher

Univ of California Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0520248295

ISBN 13

9780520248298

Spectacular Flops

Game-Changing Technologies That Failed

By: Michael Brian Schiffer

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Spectacular Flops

Game-Changing Technologies That Failed

By: Michael Brian Schiffer

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323

Publisher

Eliot Werner Publications

Published Date

ISBN 10

1733376933

ISBN 13

9781733376938

Archaeology

The Discipline of Things

By: Bjørnar Olsen,Michael Shanks,Timothy Webmoor,Christopher Witmore

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Archaeology

The Discipline of Things

By: Bjørnar Olsen,Michael Shanks,Timothy Webmoor,Christopher Witmore

Archaeology has always been marked by its particular care, obligation, and loyalty to things. While archaeologists may not share similar perspectives or practices, they find common ground in their concern for objects monumental and mundane. This book considers the myriad ways that archaeologists engage with things in order to craft stories, both big and small, concerning our relations with materials and the nature of the past. Literally the "science of old things," archaeology does not discover the past as it was but must work with what remains. Such work involves the tangible mediation of past and present, of people and their cultural fabric, for things cannot be separated from society. Things are us. This book does not set forth a sweeping new theory. It does not seek to transform the discipline of archaeology. Rather, it aims to understand precisely what archaeologists do and to urge practitioners toward a renewed focus on and care for things.

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266

Publisher

Univ of California Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0520954009

ISBN 13

9780520954007

Sound Business

Newspapers, Radio, and the Politics of New Media

By: Michael Stamm

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Sound Business

Newspapers, Radio, and the Politics of New Media

By: Michael Stamm

American newspapers have faced competition from new media for over ninety years. Today digital media challenge the printed word. In the 1920s, broadcast radio was the threatening upstart. At the time, newspaper publishers of all sizes turned threat into opportunity by establishing their own stations. Many, such as the Chicago Tribune's WGN, are still in operation. By 1940 newspapers owned 30 percent of America's radio stations. This new type of enterprise, the multimedia corporation, troubled those who feared its power to control the flow of news and information. In Sound Business, historian Michael Stamm traces how these corporations and their critics reshaped the ways Americans received the news. Stamm is attuned to a neglected aspect of U.S. media history: the role newspaper owners played in communications from the dawn of radio to the rise of television. Drawing on a wide array of primary sources, he recounts the controversies surrounding joint newspaper and radio operations. These companies capitalized on synergies between print and broadcast production. As their advertising revenue grew, so did concern over their concentrated influence. Federal policymakers, especially during the New Deal, responded to widespread concerns about the consequences of media consolidation by seeking to limit and even ban cross ownership. The debates between corporations, policymakers, and critics over how to regulate these new kinds of media businesses ultimately structured the channels of information distribution in the United States and determined who would control the institutions undergirding American society and politics. Sound Business is a timely examination of the connections between media ownership, content, and distribution, one that both expands our understanding of mid-twentieth-century America and offers lessons for the digital age.

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266

Publisher

University of Pennsylvania Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0812205669

ISBN 13

9780812205664

Public and Private Enforcement of Securities Laws

The Regulator and the Class Action in Australia’s Continuous Disclosure Regime

By: Michael Legg

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Public and Private Enforcement of Securities Laws

The Regulator and the Class Action in Australia’s Continuous Disclosure Regime

By: Michael Legg

This book undertakes unique case studies, including interviews with participants, as well as empirical analysis, of public and private enforcement of Australian securities laws addressing continuous disclosure. Enforcement of laws is crucial to effective regulation. Historically, enforcement was the province of a government regulator with significant discretion (public enforcement). However, more and more citizens are being expected to take action themselves (private enforcement). Consistent with regulatory pluralism, public and private enforcement exist in parallel, with the capacity to both help and hinder each other, and the achievement of the goals of enforcement in a range of areas of regulation. The rise of the shareholder class action in Australia, backed by litigation funding or lawyers, has given rise to enforcement overlapping with that of the government regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. The ramifications of overlapping enforcement are explained based on detailed analysis. The analysis is further bolstered by the regulator's approach to enforcement changing from a compliance orientation to a “Why not litigate?” approach. The analysis and ramifications of the Australian case studies involve matters of regulatory theory and practice that apply across jurisdictions. The book will appeal to practitioners, regulators and academics interested in regulatory policy and enforcement, and the operation of regulators and class actions, including their interaction.

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Page Count

428

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1509941533

ISBN 13

9781509941537

Art Deco

A mode of mobility

By: Michael Windover

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Art Deco

A mode of mobility

By: Michael Windover

This book argues that mobility is the central theme of the interwar mode of design known today as Art Deco. It is present on the very surfaces of Art Deco objects and architecture – in iconography and general formal qualities (whether the zigzag rectilinear forms popular in the 1920s or curvilinear streamlining of the 1930s). By focussing on mobility as a means of tying the seemingly disparate qualities of Art Deco together, Michael Windover shows how the surface-level expressions correspond as well with underpinning systems of mobility, including those associated with migration, transportation, commodity exchange, capital, and communication. Journeying across the globe – from a skyscraper in Vancouver, B.C., to a department store in Los Angeles, and from super-cinemas in Bombay (Mumbai) to radio cabinets in Canadian living rooms – this richly illustrated book examines the reach of Art Deco as it affected public cultures. Windover’s innovative perspective exposes some of the socio-political consequences of this “mode of mobility” and offers some reasons as to how and why Art Deco was incorporated into everyday lifestyles around the world.

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Page Count

516

Publisher

PUQ

Published Date

ISBN 10

2760535142

ISBN 13

9782760535145

Archaeology's Footprints in the Modern World

By: Michael B. Schiffer

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Archaeology's Footprints in the Modern World

By: Michael B. Schiffer

30. Undocumented Migrants Face the Arizona Desert -- XI. Contributing to the Physical Sciences and Engineering -- 31. The Mysterious Pigment: Maya Blue -- 32. Radiocarbon Dating -- 33. Nuclear Waste Disposal -- XII. Bolstering Biological Sciences -- 34. Origin of the Domesticated Sunflower -- 35. The Pygmy Rabbit and Applied Zooarchaeology -- 36. Microbiota of the Human Gut and Coprolites -- XIII. Furnishing Tools for Environmental Sciences -- 37. Tree-Ring Dating and Dendroclimatology -- 38. Dating Sunset Crater -- 39. Mass Extinctions of Animals: The Human Role -- XIV. Revealing Our Prehistoric Past -- 40. In the Beginning -- 41. From Foragers to Farmers -- 42. The Urban Revolution -- Notes -- References -- About the Author -- Index

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