Introduction
The Victorian era was a remarkably fertile period for the adoption, expansion, and transformation of technology. Photography, telegraphy, telephony, steamships, railways, electric lighting, and industrial control engineering are only a few of the many complex systems and processes developed during the era. While this technical ferment defies easy classification, historians have traditionally placed it in the overlap between the first and second Industrial Revolutions, defined respectively by the growth of steam power in the late 18th century and by emerging electrical and communications technology in the later 19th century. In recent decades, however, many critics have proposed multiple histories of Victorian technology that challenge triumphalist accounts of inevitable progress and modernization. These new approaches focus on forgotten innovations and on different models of cultural influence and transformation, based on reciprocal relations among science, technology, art, literature, and popular discourse. Moreover, the current Information Revolution has also prompted renewed attention to 19th-century media and information technology, sometimes through postmodern fantasies of alternate (or “neo-Victorian”) history. As these new approaches show, technology inspired and provoked Victorians both as a material reality and as a literary and cultural symbol. It provided artists and writers with absorbing models for narrative form, visual perception, human relations, spirituality, and scientific objectivity. At the same time, it fuelled energetic debate surrounding its role in culture, labor, aesthetics, labor, psychology, sexuality, and the natural world. This entry concentrates on technology in both Victorian literature and history, as a form of scientific practice supported through mechanical and artifactual systems, processes, and relations. Major forms of technology treated here include industrial, transport, engineering, electric, communication, visual, sound, military, medical, agricultural, and information, although considerable overlap exists among these categories.
General Overviews
These overviews of Victorian technology fall into two categories: historical approaches and literary approaches, which treat technology more explicitly in relation to language, literary works, and cultural representation.
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FAQs
What is technology? Technology is the application of scientific knowledge to the practical aims of human life or, as it is sometimes phrased, to the change and manipulation of the human environment.
What is technology best answer? ›
Technology is the application of conceptual knowledge for achieving practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word technology can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible tools such as utensils or machines, and intangible ones such as software.
What is information technology best answer? ›
Information technology (IT) is the use of computer systems or devices to access information. Information technology is responsible for such a large portion of our workforce, business operations and personal access to information that it comprises much of our daily activities.
What is technology in your own words? ›
Technology is the use of scientific knowledge for practical purposes or applications, whether in industry or in our everyday lives. So, basically, whenever we use our scientific knowledge to achieve some specific purpose, we're using technology.
What is technology in 5 lines? ›
Technology is the study of scientific knowledge in order to create tools and processes that may be used to change the world by increasing efficiency in nearly every aspect of our lives. Technology has made our lives easier, and all human beings have become entirely dependent on technology.
How is technology important in our life? ›
Technology has made it possible for people from all walks of life to have access to different resources. Further, technology is also being used to equip people who need a certain type of assistance to improve their quality of life and help them avail opportunities that would otherwise be inaccessible.
What is the concept of technology? ›
Technology is the use of scientific knowledge for practical purposes or applications, whether in industry or in our everyday lives. It includes everything from the wheel to computers to medicines to zippers and buttons on clothes.
What is information technology one word answer? ›
01), Information Technology means the use of hardware, software, services, and supporting infrastructure to manage and deliver information using voice, data, and video.
What is an example of IT? ›
Examples of information technology include computer hardware and software, networks and telecommunications systems, databases and information management systems, and Internet and web-based technologies.
What is the best explanation of technology? ›
Technology is a body of knowledge used to create tools, process things, and extract materials. Technology may be described in the form of products, processes, or organizations. People use technology to expand their capabilities, and that makes people the most civilized members of the technological systems.
The word technology comes from two Greek words, transliterated techne and logos. Techne means art, skill, craft, or the way, manner, or means by which a thing is gained.
What is a technology example? ›
Examples of technology includes phones, computers, wheels, and washing machines.
What is technology in simple words for kids? ›
Technology is the use of knowledge to invent new devices or tools. Throughout history, technology has made people's lives easier.
What is technology basically? ›
Technology is machinery and equipment that uses the application of scientific knowledge in a particular area for practical purposes, using technical processes, methods, or knowledge with, a function, purpose, or benefit, to improve human life.
What is technology in 500 words? ›
Technology provides innovative ways of doing work through various smart and innovative means. Electronic appliances, gadgets, faster modes of communication, and transport have added to the comfort factor in our lives. It has helped in improving the productivity of individuals and different business enterprises.
What is information technology in very short? ›
01), Information Technology means the use of hardware, software, services, and supporting infrastructure to manage and deliver information using voice, data, and video.
