Aramis, Or The Love Of Technology

''Aramis, or the Love of Technology'', was written by French sociologist/ anthropologist Bruno Latour. ''Aramis'' was originally published in French in 1993; the English translation by Catherine Porter, copyrighted in 1996, , is now in its fourth printing (2002). Latour describes his text as "scientifiction," which he describes as "a hybrid genre... for a hybrid task" (p. ix). The genre includes voices of a young engineer discussing his "sociotechnological initiation," his professor's commentary which introduces Actor-network theory (ANT), field documents - including real-life interviews, and the voice of Aramis—a failed technology (Latour, Bruno. (1996). Aramis, or the Love of Technology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. p. x).

The book is a quasi-mystery, which attempts to discover who killed Aramis (personal rapid transit). Aramis was supposed to be implemented as a Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system in Paris. Simultaneously, while investigating Aramis's demise, Latour delineates the tenets of Actor-network theory. Latour argues that the technology failed not because any particular actor killed it, but because the actors failed to sustain it through negotiation and adaptation to a changing social situation.

Table of contents

* Preface
* Prologue: Who Killed Aramis?
# An Exciting Innovation
# Is Aramis Feasible?
# Shilly-Shallying in the Seventies
# Interphase: Three Years of Grace
# The 1984 Decision: Aramis Exists for Real
# Aramis at the CET Stage: Will it Keep its Promise?
# Aramis is Ready to Go (Away)
* Epilogue: Aramis Unloved
* Glossary

See also

* ''Laboratory Life'' (with Steve Woolgar)
* ''Science in Action'' (book)
* ''Politics of Nature''
* ''We Have Never Been Modern''

References

{{Bruno Latour

1993 books
Actor-network theory
Harvard University Press books
Works by Bruno Latour
Science and technology studies works