Now in its second edition, this bestselling textbook may be the single most influential study of the historical relationship between science and technology ever published. Tracing this relationship from the dawn of civilization through the twentieth century, James E. McClellan III and Harold Dorn argue that technology as "applied science" emerged relatively recently, as industry and governments began funding scientific research that would lead directly to new or improved technologies. McClellan and Dorn identify two great scientific traditions: the useful sciences, patronized by the state from the dawn of civilization, and scientific theorizing, initiated by the ancient Greeks. They find that scientific traditions took root in China, India, and Central and South America, as well as in a series of Near Eastern empires, during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. From this comparative perspective, the authors explore the emergence of Europe and the United States as a scientific and technological power. The new edition reorganizes its treatment of Greek science and significantly expands its coverage of industrial civilization and contemporary science and technology with new and revised chapters devoted to applied science, the sociology and economics of science, globalization, and the technological systems that underpin everyday life.

詹姆斯·E·麦克莱伦第三(1946一)，1975年获普林斯顿大学博士学位，现为美国史蒂文斯理工学院科学与艺术学院副院长、科学史教授。著有《科学重组：18世纪的科学学会》、《殖民主义与科学：旧王朝时代的圣多曼格》等。论著《专家控制：巴黎皇家科学院的出版委员会(1700—1793)》获美国哲学会颁发的2003年度刘易斯奖。

哈罗德·多恩(1928一)，1970年获普林斯顿大学博士学位，现为美国史蒂文斯理工学院人文与社会科学系科学技术史名誉教授。著有《科学地理学》等。