Why Things Bite Back

Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences

By: Edward Tenner

Narrated by: Steve Kramer

In this perceptive and provocative look at everything from computer software that requires faster processors and more support staff to antibiotics that breed resistant strains of bacteria, Edward Tenner offers a virtual encyclopedia of what he calls "revenge effects" - the unintended consequences of the mechanical, chemical, biological, and medical forms of ingenuity that have been hallmarks of the progressive, improvement-obsessed modern age. Tenner shows why our confidence in technological solutions may be misplaced, and explores ways in which we can better survive in a world where despite technology's advances - and often because of them - "reality is always gaining on us."

For anyone hoping to understand the ways in which society and technology interact, Why Things Bite Back is indispensable listening.

©1996 Edward Tenner (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

A SINGULAR work on Technology and it's effects.

Why Things Bite Back is an incredible work of scholarship, and Jules Vernesque in it's prescience. It outlines a terminology that accurately defines the myriad ways that technology can go terribly awry; by giving us the term Revenge Effect, mr Tenner tells us EXACTLY how our shortsightedness & hubris have given us realities we hadn't quite bargained for. Required Reading for anyone who remains mystified as to why Modern Life isn't the Playland Of Tomorrow we were promised Yesterday. That, and why Red Fire Ants are Here. To. Stay.

1997 Book

This book is from 1997 and makes references to electromechanical calculators, and dial telephones.
The theory may still be relevant, but the book and its examples are not.