( 3 reviews )
-
( 2 of 4 found this review helpful ) Posted: Oct 16 2005
This book is a great single source on the issues surrounding ballistic missile guidance. A very important read for analysts of missile technology, especially in the context of proliferation. Only issue I had was that this book is getting dated. It would be great to have more information on Russian missile guidance in light of newly available sources. Likewise, I am curious to know whether the decline in the importance of the ballistic missile and rise of GPS-enabled weapons (like the TacTom) has opened the 'black box' permanently and reduced the most precise INS systems (like the beryllium baby) to a historical curiosity. But if you are interested in ballistic missiles, don't let those musings discourage you from purchasing this book. It is well worth the price and your time. One other note: I was worried when I opened the book and saw the name Bruno Latour staring back at me in the acknowledgements - a sure sign that the book would be irrelevant. However, I was able to ignore a lot of the history of technology jargon, references, and context - that seemed tacked on anyway, no doubt at the bequest of his advisor and/or mentor. The last few chapters seemed the most tacked on of all and I felt were only worth skimming. Some of this analysis was actually very important - understanding that enhanced accuracy is a political and technological question, as well as the preferences of the corporations and labs involved, is very useful for evaluating proliferation trends.
-
( 4 of 6 found this review helpful ) Posted: Feb 27 2003
This is a hallmark book, and not solely to those interested in the history of ballistic missile guidance systems (though it would be difficult for others to discover). Mr. MacKenzie's real contribution is to examine how theories compete, contend and clash, and how the "intellectual community" finds and/or accepts them. A careful reading of the book, with only a modicum of knowledge of the subject, could change the way one thinks about every aspect of life.I found it brilliant and revelatory, and I have recommended it to many people who sought to have their conceptual conciousness raised, as was mine.One of the few scholarly journals this "academaholic" would ever recommend to a general (though well-read) audience.Keep a copy around for some deserving late teen ager whose mind is in full bloom - you will find yourself rewarded.
-
( 10 of 12 found this review helpful ) Posted: Jan 7 2000
This is one of those very odd specialty books that always has you wondering who is the real audience.The author has done an excellent job of researching the topic, and appears to be from the missile guidance community (or at least aerospace). His style is dry, but frank.The book traces the US experience in missile guidance technology, then analyzes the sequence of RFP to field test to reveal the sociological dynamics of a technology.For the information revolution, and a society that is becoming increasingly more technological, this book is an early example of what will likely be reproduced elsewhere for other technologies.Throughout the book, the author debates what is accuracy. Traditionally, the Circular Error Probability (CEP) has been used, but some believe that a bias displaces the actual aiming point, and thus reduces the meaning of the CEP. Not addressed in this book is the debate concerning intelligence assets to support deep and strategic strikes, which accounts for many peoples belief in an accuracy bias. The author's bias arguement is along different lines than that used today, and is not well developed (the author argues against it).The arguement being addressed is how credible is a nuclear deterent if systems are perfected to hit a test target on a Pacific island where all the navigational variables are known. This arguement is revisited by more recent books dealing with smart weapons; weapons which contractually meet their requirements to hit targets in arid Nevada, but appear incapable of doing likewise in a misty European battlefields.The author does present an interesting sociological model that has a wide application: the certainty trough. This model implies that those with the greatest confidence in a technology are well informed on it, and between those that develop the technology, and those that know little about it.While dealing only with strategic ballistic missiles, the author's approach to technological sociology is well worth reading and applying to current day arguements with other weapon systems.
