PREFACE
In writing this book, I have tried to present for the general reader a
account of Victorian technology in the broadest sense of the term techno
ogy. The volume describes not only the development of such new forms o
the machine in the nineteenth century as the computer and the Interne
but also the complex ways that technological innovation was connected t
the values of the age. In the nineteenth century, as in our own time, the de
velopment of technologies was dependent upon the ideas of the society. I
turn, the new technologies shaped the culture. Our own machine-dominate
time, like that of the Victorians, still engages the problem of how to live
human and humane life following the rise of the machine.
Like the process of invention and innovation, the writing of a boo
depends on the work of others. In particular I would mention conversation
with fellow Victorianists Adrienne Munich, John Maynard, and Carole Si
ver. I had the opportunity to present material from this study and benefi
from helpful comments at the CUNY Victorian Seminar, Northeast Victo
rian Studies Association, and St. Louis University. Great thanks to my ed
tor Sally Mitchell for her unrivaled expertise and steady guidance. And, o
course, to Elisabeth.
