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HIS 2129 B
History 2129: Technology, Society, and Environment since 1800 Professor: Jean-Louis TrudelOffice hours: Tuesday, 12:30-14:30, Room 9109, Desmarais
NAME Jonathan Prance NUMBER : 8687888
**Assignment 3 (due April 9, 2018) Option A: (double-spaced; outside sources may be used, but must be cited properly)
- Why did various U.S. governments attempt to accelerate the spread of "milky disease" starting in 1939? Explain fully. [1 point]** Various US governments attempted to accelerate the spread of milky disease as a way to supress the population of Japanese beetle grubs in the soil. Milky spore disease is an effective insecticide when introduced to colonies of the Japanese beetles; the bacteria spreads through the soil, and proves effective in killing the beetles (Cloyd, 2001). 2) Identify four (4) advantages of early radio over other communication technologies during the first halfof the 20th century. Elaborate as needed. [2 points] One advantage of early radio was its speed. Radio broadcasting allowed for instant communication; reporters in the field could transmit their story to a live audience. The radio also offered an advantage in range. Radio allowed for reliable communication between countries separated by long distances. Another advantage was the versatility. Radio communications did not require a wired infrastructure, and this allowed it to be implemented in places where other communication systems were not viable. The versatility of radio allowed for communication between more people than ever before. Finally, radio offered the advantage of portability. Small wireless radios allowed for people to communicate anywhere. (Trudel, 163) 3) Explain in your own words why Postman argues that we should be suspicious of capitalists like Bell,Edison or Ford. Provide at least one relevant example using the career or inventions of Bell, Edison or Ford. [1 point]
Postman argues that we should be suspicious of capitalist men because their actions are far more radical than their conservative appearance would suggest; he suggests that conservative capitalist men are the ones who influence the most change in technology and politics. Postman believes that the push for progress that is made by these men could ultimately be the undoing of their own conservative values. For example, Bell’s invention of the telephone changed the way people communicate; the telephone removes the variable of body language in conversation, leaving only oral communication; while the telephone allows people to communicate with ease, it causes a loss of information in communication. (Postman, Fourth Idea)
4) Identify four (4) proposed applications of nuclear technology that have yet to materialize in any usefulfashion. [2 points]
Four proposed applications of nuclear technology that have yet to materialize in any useful fashion are food irradiation, curing cancer, plant breeding, and blight and pest control. (Trudel, 184)
5) Identify four (4) signal uses of Canada's first Ferranti computer, imported by the University ofToronto in 1952. Elaborate as needed to justify the importance attached to each. [2 points]
Four uses of Canada’s first Ferranti computer were designing the Avro Arrow, developing Toronto’s traffic control system, operating a flight reservation system for Air Canada, and doing calculations for Ontario Hydro. Toronto’s traffic system may have been the world’s first computer controlled city system. The calculations being done for Ontario Hydro allowed for the planning of the St. Lawrence seaway; the United states did not have the computational power to accomplish this. (Trudel, 205)
6) How small (as a percentage of all plant life on Earth) may be the fraction of plant life found inecosystems unaffected in any way by human activity? [1 point]
At least 10% of plant life may be found in ecosystems unaffected by human activity. (Trudel, 217)
7) What fraction of the world's harvested croplands was occupied in 2012 by the top four cultivatedplants? [1 point]
In 2012, wheat, maize, rice, and soybeans occupied 57.2% of the world’s croplands. (Trudel, 248)
Sources Cited Cloyd, R. A. (2001, November 21). Milky Spore Disease. Retrieved from http://hyg.ipm.illinois.edu/pastpest/200120b.html
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