The significance of "technology" has been subject of continuous discussion. This selection of readings, ranging from primary sources to scholarly and critical works and literary renderings, is intended to furnish elements for that discussion. The history of the United States began with the advent of the industrial revolution, which, in turn, became an integral part of American national and cultural identity. Accordingly, that country provides an appropriate setting in which to examine the debate on technology. The reader is asked to relate the selected views herein included to his or her own notion of technology and progress as they both relate to the also controversial terms of culture, ideology, nature and gender.