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Infinity, Limited

This is Jonathan Coopersmith's history of technology blog. An Associate Professor of History at Texas A&M University, Coopersmith’s latest book is FAXED: The Rise and Fall of the Fax Machine (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015).

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  • Feb 17, 2016 12:08 pm

    What if politicians acted like engineers?

    by Jonathan Coopersmith

    What if politicians acted like engineers and tried to pragmatically solve problems?  The pro-life movement has a great opportunity to reduce the number of abortions in America, not by trying to defund Planned Parenthood, but by supporting long-acting reversible contraceptives for women.  These contraceptives are very effective because they minimize human error.  A Colorado experiment providing these long-term contraceptives to low income women sharply reduced abortions and high-risk births.  
  • Dec 31, 2015 12:47 pm

    Why I Miss Old Fashioned Library Cards

    by Jonathan Coopersmith

    When the teenage library records of novelist Haruki Murakami were published the Japan Library Association criticized this violation of privacy.  But this information used to be public. It was useful. 
  • Feb 25, 2015 1:14 am

    Compromising Engineers and the Keystone XL Pipeline

    by Jonathan Coopersmith

    Compromise may be a career-ending concept in politics, but it is essential in engineering. 

    Every day engineers have to balance legitimate and conflicting interests.  What makes a great engineer is not only the ability to find the best balance but also to convince the appropriate people of the wisdom of that decision. President Obama's veto of the Keystone XL pipeline provides a similar opportunity for a grand compromise of political engineering:  Democratic support for the pipeline in exchange for Republican support of a carbon tax.  


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