
A thoughtful meditation on the rise of technology, this work invites listeners to pause and listen to the strange, beautiful chorus of the modern age. From the thunder of a locomotive’s headlight to the whispered pulse of a telephone line, the author explores how machines have become both tools and symbols, reshaping our sense of what is possible and what is poetic.
Divided into three sections, the essay first looks at the people who design and operate the machines, then turns to the machines themselves as unexpected poets and artists, and finally delves into the grand ideas they provoke—liberty, immortality, love, even the notion of a new kind of divinity. Each chapter weaves together anecdote, philosophy, and lyrical description, offering fresh language for a world increasingly defined by steel and electricity.
Listening feels like wandering through a meadow while a locomotive passes, hearing the familiar and the uncanny merge. The book challenges us to find new words for the awe‑inspiring presence of machines, encouraging a deeper, more human dialogue with the technology that surrounds us.
Full title
The Voice of the Machines An Introduction to the Twentieth Century
Language
en
Duration
~3 hours (200K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier, Lee Spector and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2007-01-15
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Subjects
1862–1944
A minister turned essayist and social critic, he wrote in a lively, conversational style about democracy, industry, religion, and everyday American life. His books often mix big public questions with a sharp eye for how ordinary people think and work.
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