The New Jersey Institute of Technology's
Electronic Theses & Dissertations Project

Title:	Samuel Florman and literature of technology
Author:	Sharke, Paul F.
View Online:	njit-etd1998-100 (viii, 91 pages ~ 4.7 MB pdf)
Department:	Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
Degree:	Master of Science
Program:	Professional and Technical Communication
Document Type:	Thesis
Advisory Committee:	Lynch, Robert Edward (Committee chair) Kimmelman, Burt (Committee member) Swanzey, Thomas B. (Committee member)
Date:	1998-05
Keywords:	Engineering--Philosophy. Engineering--Written works.
Availability:	Unrestricted
Abstract:	In 1996, engineer and author Samuel Florman asked why engineering and technology had been represented only lightly in literature. From a mere handful of books dealing with this topic, he named The Control of Nature (1989), by John McPhee, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974), by Robert Pirsig, and The Soul of a New Machine (1981), by Tracy Kidder, as being among the best examples of a literary expression of engineering. These three works are examined here in light of Florman's own four books on the subject of engineering, The Existential Pleasures of Engineering (1976), Blaming Technology (1981), The Civilized Engineer (1987), and The Introspective Engineer (1996), with particular attention directed towards Florman's search for an expression of the creativity and passion inherent to engineering.