A Short History of Technology from the Earliest Times to A.D. 1900, Derry and Williamson. Oxford University Press, 1961.

That is the question that begins the third and final chapter (from a series of three lectures) in Lewis’s classic monograph. As I commented a couple of days ago, I read The Abolition of Man on the flight over, did a bunch of underlining, and made some margin notes. The quotes and notes I’m now transcribing into my commonplace book. Thought I’d share a bit.

Citing a couple of examples that work to his purposes, given his times, he answers the question most succinctly:

What we call Man’s power over Nature turns out to be power exercised by some men over other men with Nature as its instrument.

My favorite power over Nature at the moment (98˚F, 55% relative humidity outdoors) is running the air conditioning. In a few hours, it will be plopping two ice cubes into a glass and sipping a cool drink while we entertain ourselves by watching The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Six months ago it involved using diesel powered trucks to deliver liquid propane into our tanks, lighting that propane on fire, and using fans to blow warm air into our home.

All of these powers over Nature’s heat and cold reduce to Man’s conquest of the natural phenomenon of electricity. Man harnesses Nature’s electricity to service his own purposes. Until he can’t afford to pay his utility bill, or until TVA does rolling blackouts and the lights go out.

Aside: Happened upon the bridge illustration earlier and it looked at first like a drawbridge–the sort a troll might sit under and force you to pay to put down.