Technology and Society: A Canadian Perspective

Jeffrey Moon is head of the Documents Reference/Data Centre at Queen’s
University.

This informative, thought-provoking, and entertaining book draws on a
rich body of Canadian writing about the interactions between technology
and society. To enrich and update this material, the author makes
effective use of Statistics Canada publications, survey data, and a
range of other sources. His use of survey data is particularly
effective; in one table, for example, he combines telephone ownership
statistics (compiled by Robert Pike) with computer ownership statistics
taken from the 1994 Canadian General Social Survey. In some instances
(e.g., the occupation groupings on page 70), more details about which
variables were used and how they were recoded would have been welcome.
There is no bibliography, but the book does include endnotes, further
readings, a brief index, and a glossary. Unfortunately, Technology and
Society—or at least the copy provided to this reviewer—is poorly
bound (its cover fell off). Notwithstanding its physical shortcomings,
this well-written and thoroughly researched book deserves a wide
readership.